Dota is an acronym that stands for Defense of the Ancients - a top-down multiplayer game that resembles the
Real-Time Strategy (RTS) genre at first, but streamlines the gameplay from controlling an entire army to
controlling a single Hero. Dota wasn't the first to have this sort of gameplay, but it sure popularized it, garnering
millions of fans all over the world before spawning similar games like League of Legends and Heroes of Newerth.
The game pits two teams of five players against each other.
Each team has a base with a central structure called an Ancient and the first team to destroy the
other team's Ancient wins the game - hence the game's title. There are three pathways called lanes that connect
the two bases and waves of soldier units called creeps are spawned on a periodic basis to travel these lanes, clashing
with the opposite team's creeps as they fight their way to the enemy's base.Each player is given control of one unique unit
called a Hero that they can select at the beginning of the game. There are over 100 different Heroes to pick from - divided
into Strength, Agility, and Intelligence types - and each Hero has four unique abilities a couple have more, some which provide
passive benefits and others which are actively used. By killing creeps, leveling up, purchasing items, and making strategic decisions,
the players vie for control of the map so they can ultimately break into the opposing base and destroy their Ancient.
