Dota 2 v. League of Legends

With that being said, let me head straight into my arguments. I. Map StylesI-1. Graphics Ahead of its CompetitionLet me show you some photos in order to give you a general idea of this topic. The above photo is the older version of the Summoner's Rift map, which has been updated countless times since its release, up to the newly reworked version (shown below) The newer version looks significantly better than the older (as many could agree). However, when it comes down to comparison between the two maps, Dota 2 provides a far more significant edge. This is the original form of the map that came out in 2011. LoL's newer SR came out late 2014, while it retained its older version up until that time. From this we can clearly see that the competition (Dota 2) was far ahead the graphical capability of LoL. While LoL has provided a good map with its new update, many players seem to consider it a "rip off" from Dota 2's map, as the resemblence between the two is clearly evident. As well, some of LoL's ability icons seem extremely cartoonish, and are hardly well drawn. This is probably up to the person's tastes, but I'm just stating. I-2. Map Layout/Fog of WarIn LoL, the map is relatively simple. Three lanes, three towers in each lane, a river, a jungle in each of the four corners of the map. In Dota 2, the layout is the same, however there are additional elements added: The map itself is relatively larger than the LoL map (in other words, it takes longer to cover a distance than it does in LoL). The stairs mechanic also plays a key role. If you're on top of the stairs you can see below, but not the other way around. This requires players to be careful in their choices to engage. As well, League allows "bushes" to conceal your presence. In Dota there is no such thing, however there are "trees" that are able to be cut down and traversed through, to open up new paths of ganking. In addition, there are "hard" and "easy" lanes. If you look in the map you'll notice that the river path goes astray and seems to go into the lane at an angle instead of a neutral path. If the lane was neutral in top and bottom, Radiant would be ganked easier in top, while Dire in bot. This allows for even MORE strategic thinking and decision-making in both hero picks and positioning. Speaking of which. .. II. Strategy is More PresentDota 2 has far more strategic elements than LoL. Wile it is undeniable both games have great amounts of strategy implemented in them, Dota 2 opens up more possibilities to strategy, such as "creep stacking" and "denying" creeps and towers. II-1. DenyingIn League, if you and your lane opponent farm passively, with no assistance from a jungler, then you both gain a huge gold advantage over the others, with virtually no one stopping you. With the chance to deny, you can stop your opponent from getting minions while still playing passively, opening up the possibility of your opponent not getting levels and XP and putting you ahead of them. Denying towers is also a huge deal. When you deny a tower, members of the opposite team only gain 100 gold each. When they destroy a tower, people end up getting a good sum of gold each, as well as the appropriate XP if a hero is near the tower. When you deny a tower, you end up denying the enemy 500-1000 gold. That is a HUGE deal, as that is about 1k gold the enemy could've obtained, but because of your efforts they were not able to get ahead and get that one Radiance they needed. Denying a creep causes the first two already but could potentially cause the third:You deny the enemy gold. You deny the enemy XP. You may lead them into a trap for a last hit, deny the minion, then kill the overextender. All of these reasons are GREAT reasons to deny. It opens up a broad spectrum of options for you to do if you can't find a good last hit. And if all else fails, and you can't deny, you just harass the enemy for getting their last hits! The existence of denying allows players to creatively outsmart their opponents in other ways LoL can't do. II-2. Creep StackingCreep stacking also allows for more strategic jungling. You aggro a creep and drag it out of its home before a minute hits. After it hits, a new pair of creeps spawn, because the game has detected no creeps are in the area. As well, there's unit collision in Dota 2 with the minions which allows the player to stand infront of their minions to prevent them from moving. During the beginning of the game, many pros do this, because it will push the lane closer to their tower, which allows for an easier gank for the jungler. Again, another evidence of strategy. II-3. Item Builds/Item StrategiesThe items and build strategies in Dota 2 branch out far more than LoL items. Many of the items in LoL have passive effects while many Dota 2 items have active effects. This requires the user to actually USE the item's active in order to gain a bonus out of it. Good examples of this are the Mask of Madness and the Blink Dagger (which is totally useless you activate it). As well, many items in Dota 2 are more powerful but more expensive. This requires you to last-hit creeps more, farm for more gold, and make sure you;re going to use the item properly. The most expensive item in LoL is 3800g (Infinity Edge/Mercurial Scimitar) [4], while in Dota it is a whopping 7720g (Dagon, level 5) [5]. It takes someone a lot longer to get a good item or two than in LoL, which requires for more persistend farming and gold gain. II-4. Complex Characters If you play Dota 2 you're sure to know of Invoker. Often considered one of the hardest characters (if not the hardest) in the game to master, he has a high skillcap and a lot of strategy and power in his kit. Invoker has 4 normal abilities: Quas, Wex, and Exort, three manipulatory spells. He can then cast Invoke to combine the currently manipulated elements into a spell. Invoker can have a total of FOURTEEN spells at his disposal. Here's a tree to help illustrate the complexity of his kit. With all of these spells, it is essential for the one playing Invoker to fully understand what the spells do and how they react with their agents in order to fully maximize its efficiency. The same could be said for Meepo, another hero in the game. Again, a well known member of the Dota 2 community for simply being OP if used correctly. He can control and manipulate up to four clones of himself which can earn gold and xp just as he does. However, if one of the clones die, they all die. This makes Meepo a highly-strategy oriented character. Which leads me STRAIGHT into my next point! II-5. Micromanagement Micromanagement also plays a key role in Dota 2. In LoL, you have very limited unit control, or control of other units. The closest I can think of are pets or clones (Annie's Tibbers and LeBlanc's Mirror Image), which can be controlled by hitting the alt key then right clicking while they are spawned. However, Dota offers much more, having illusions (which are meant to confuse opponents as to who the real enemy is), pets (Visage's Familiars, which summon two monsters that require lots of management and can give a hefty sum of gold to the opponent if used incorrectly), and clones (Meepo's ult, Divided we Stand, which makes Meepo have up to four clones himself, but if one of the clones die they all die). You can left click over a region to select all units in the area, and when you right click all units you control will follow that position as well as LONG as they are all selected. Illusions, pets, and clones can all be put into separate lanes from the original spawner, which allows a lot of pushing power as LONG AS you manage to use the clones correctly. A Naga Siren with her Q activated, a Manta Style and an Illusion rune picked up can have 7 illusions, which means 8 Naga Sirens on the map. Think about that. III - Equal Playing Field for AllIII-1. Rules/MasteriesWith LoL, you have the option of Runes and Masteries. They both give you extra stats that can help in the game. With Dota 2, there are no runes or masteries. This allows for an "equal playing field" where members don't rely on leveling up in the game, and instead on pure skill. While being a higher level means you have more skill (probably), it is not necessary, unlike in LoL with its runes/masteries system. III-2. All Heroes are FreeIn LoL, you are required to buy the champions in order to play them (with the exception of F2P champions for that week). You can purchase them with either IP or RP. The problem with this system is that it sponsors pay to win. It encourages you to pay for all the characters, and those with more characters have more options to choose from than those without. This is what encourages people to spend lots of money on the game. Take this as opposed to Dota 2, where P2W isn't present. As all the heroes are free, it gives newer people a chance to experiment and try out all the champs and not just buy it for 975RP and go "omg this champ sucks" and not be able to refund it (after 3 refunds, of course, at least Riot offers that). For the reasons above (3 main points, in which there are 9 sub-points), it seems pretty obvious why I feel Dota 2 is the superior game. Almost the max characters, phew! I await Con's arguments. :)Sources:[1] . http://riot-web-static.s3.amazonaws.com...[2] . http://img3.wikia.nocookie.net...[3] . http://www.extremetech.com...[4] . http://img1.wikia.nocookie.net...'s_Rift_jungle_map_with_monsters.png[5] . http://upload.inven.co.kr...[6] . http://www.leagueoflegends.wikia.com/wiki/Infinity_Edge[7] . http://www.dota2.gamepedia.com/Dagon[8] . http://s.pikabu.ru...