Defense of the Ancients ( Warcraft III map ) Defense of the Ancients , commonly known as DotA , is an " StarCraft " Aeon of Strife - style custom map created for the game Warcraft 3 . Originally developed for " Warcraft 3 : Reign of Chaos " by Eul ( US West ) , the map was later unofficially ported into the Warcraft 3 expansion pack , " " . Currently , several variants of the map exist under the name of DotA . Gameplay . Concepts . Since DotA ( Defense of the Ancients ) is a custom map , some of the game concepts are very different from the original " Warcraft III : Reign of Chaos " or the expansion " The Frozen Throne " . The original game and the DotA custom map , however , do share some similarities , such as usage of modified Warcraft characters , adaptation of Warcraft spells such as Heal , and items such as Boots of Speed . For the DotA map , two bases are set at opposite corners of the map . In each base is situated a central building known as the " Ancient " , from which the map derives its name . The goal of the game is to destroy the Ancient of the opposing team and to defend one ' s own ancient . Ancients used for each team are a Tree of Life / Necropolis which upgraded itself through the traditional Warcraft 3 upgrades over the course of the game , making it more difficult to destroy as the game dragged on . Additionally the Tree of Life / Necropolis would fight against nearby enemies - a feature which was removed in later variants . In the variations the Tree of Life / Necropolis were changed to The Frozen Throne / World Tree ( in the variant Allstars ) ; and the normal Town Centers for either side ( in the variant Outland ) . Three lanes join the two bases . A river runs diagonally through the center of the map , perpendicular to the three lanes . Each team has a number of defensive towers in each lane , placed on their side of the river . The teams consist of up to five players , each controlling a single hero , and a computer which controls " creeps " . Standard variants do not support the artificial intelligence ( AI ) for computer controlled heroes . A variant known as DotA Mercenaries has allowed more computer controlled players , and is commonly used for training purposes or when other human players are not available to play with . Some developers are coming up with test versions of DotA maps with variable - skill AI players . The latest being Cloud _ str who created dota allstars 6 . 27b AI . The opposing bases produce troops , known as " creeps " , every 30 seconds , beginning at 1 minute 30 seconds , except in dota allstars league mode and random draft , in which creeps spawn at the 3 minute mark . The creeps are produced in sets ( also known as " waves " or " spawns " ) composed of a number of melee units and a single ranged unit , and path down the three lanes available on the map towards the opposing team ' s base . The creeps for the Scourge are composed of several Ghouls and a single Necromancer , while the creeps for the Sentinel are composed of several Treants and a single Druid of the Talon . As the creeps travel along these lanes they will battle any opposing creeps , heroes , or towers they meet . Towers possess superior firepower compared to the creeps , so it is difficult for creeps to advance past towers without assistance of a hero . Certain versions of DotA ( e . g . Allstars and Mercenaries ) have Runes in the river which can be picked up by any hero to gain bonuses for a short time ( such as Double Damage , Regeneration , Haste , Illusion , and Invisibility ) , while other versions have different uses for Rune s ( e . g . challenge activation in Outland ) . Without the influence of heroes , the game cannot quickly be won by either team . Creeps will battle each other and then sacrifice themselves in futile attacks on the towers . However , in practice , there will usually be a slight imbalance of power over time due to the specific placement of towers , creep paths , and other variables ( due to slight tweaks over a number of versions , the " advantaged " side varies ) . This imbalance , however , is so slight that the presence of even a single hero for any amount of time will negate it . Introduction to Heroes . Heroes are ranked by level . Upon gaining a level , heroes receive bonus attributes ( see below ) and a skill point to be spent in learning a new or upgrading an existing skill . Heroes may gain levels during the game by earning experience . Experience can be earned by killing creeps , which is known as " creeping " or " farming " and by killing enemy heroes which is known as " pawning " which lets a hero earn much more experience points . Neutral creeps of varying difficulty are also planted throughout the map , and they may also be killed for experience and gold . Neutral creeps are not programmed to do anything except battle other characters who come too close ; as such , they exist only to be killed for experience and gold . These neutral creeps vary in strength from very weak level one creeps , to very powerful ones which a whole team of high level heroes needs to fight in order to win ( e . g . Roshan , in DotA Allstars ) . Although some heroes posses the capacity to defeat Roshan by themselves even at low levels ( e . g . Ursa ) Hero Attributes . Heroes possess three main statistics , known as " attributes " ( Strength , Intelligence , and Agility ) with every hero having a Primary Attribute . The Primary Attribute can be determined based on icons shown on the status panel , as depicted here ( Strength depicted by a " fist " , Agility by a " foot " , and Intelligence by a " mind " ) . Increasing the Primary Attribute of a hero will increase the hero ' s damage . In addition , increasing the attributes of a hero will enhance corresponding statistics for that hero . Hero Statistics . Heroes also possess a variety of statistics that may be altered by inherent skills , purchased items , or changes of attributes : ( A few heroes in dota allstars can attain this movement speed without a " haste " rune which causes the hero the move at the 522 movement speed mark regardless , those being Balanar the Night Stalker who has a passive run increase at night , Slardar the Slithereen Guard with his Sprint ability , Barathrum the Spirit Breaker with his Charge ability , Strygwyr the Blood Seeker who easily reaches 522 with his Strygwyr ' s Thirst ability , Anub ' seran the Nerubian Weaver with his Shukuchi ability , Bone Clinkz the Bone Fletcher with his Windwalk ability , Syllabear the Lone Druid with his Rabid ability , and Banehallow the Lycanthrope while in his Wolf form . ) . Note that speed also increases by use of boots of travel and Sange and Yasha ( DotA - Allstars ) . Summary of Attributes vs Hero Type and Statistics . A summary of the hero types based on Primary Attributes : Different Flavors of DotA . DotA Classic . This series is the original DotA , which began with Eul , the creator and first editor . This RoC map is considered by some DotA players to be the most balanced and best map series for DotA . Eul , the original editor and creator of DotA , has since declared his map to be open - source , and currently there is no official editor for the RoC DotA maps . However , there are still unofficial editors whose maps are hosted frequently . The most notable current editors are Quantum . dx ( 3 . 6d , as well as 3 . 95C and 4 . 0 for TFT ) , Fluffy _ Bunny ( 3 . 7 , 3 . 8x , and 3 . 9x series ) , Ryude ( 3 . 7x series ) , and Danite ' s ( Rumble 3 . x series , Danites Hell and Multimode 4 . 0 ) . DotA Classic for RoC has clans that continue to play against each other and also hold tournaments . The most popular version on most servers is 3 . 7 ( created by Fluffy _ Bunny ) , while 3 . 6d is still played in Asia . The 3 . 7x , 3 . 8x , and Rumble series are all played in decent numbers in public games . CHAOS . CHAOS is a Korean - language port of DotA , and is not popular outside of Asia , though it enjoys cult - like popularity there . Allstars . Development . The development of the classic Defense of the Ancients has been ended for quite some time , and most players have switched to DotA : Allstars . Currently , in most versions of Allstars , the map contains many more heroes and items than does the original DotA and is updated frequently , which may explain its ongoing popularity . However , this popularity sparked a controversy over who ought to be credited for its fame . For instance , a number of Classic players resent Guinsoo for having " stolen " their game , especially since he is alleged to have similarly " borrowed " most of his triggers , spells , heroes , and items from other people ; Guinsoo , for his part , maintains that the map was created from scratch ( besides the map layout ) and based only spiritually on Eul ' s work . Regardless , Allstars remains widely played on The Frozen Throne and is the most popular Warcraft 3 custom map . Bugs in version 5 of AllStars prompted many to offer fixes to Guinsoo , but the development of the code was opaque and release schedules were discretionary . As such , the map forked in version 5 . 84b . Guinsoo joined the mass movement to the popular MMORPG " World of Warcraft " and IceFrog has taken over as head of project since version 6 . Current player trends . Currently , players have shown increasing interest in the 6 . xx versions as with each consecutive version , more bugs are fixed and the map is believed to be more stable and balanced . Version 6 . 30 , the most current official version , is the most frequently played on Battle . net and LAN parties . It has been noted that only the Malaysians and the Turkish still frequently play 5 . 84c on the Battle . net servers . Many of the Turkish people prefer to stick to the 5 . 84c version due to the great changes of the map , the new balance of the heroes and the new items . The omni - present mode is the - allrandom ( - ar ) mode . Currently , DotA Allstars is popular among many players around the world , as observed on the Battle . net servers and the PvPGN network of private servers . Players of DotA Allstars , particularly in the Asian region , sometimes go to cybercafés for friendly matches and cash tournaments . DotA Allstars was also featured in the Malaysian and Singaporean World Cyber Games 2005 . Outland . DotA Outland is another Frozen Throne variant of DotA , mostly maintained by Softmints and JackOfBlades , but now work has passed onto emjlr3 for the time being , who is very experienced with JASS , and will be able to bring a new dimension of hero making to Outland . It is less well - known than Allstars , but updated far more frequently . It is more hero - based than item - based , a slightly slower - paced game than Allstars , and the heroes are entirely different . Development has re - started after much time was taken in fixing the lag spikes created in 4 . 4b . The next version will be released very soon . Unique characteristics of DotA Outland . " Some information partially adapted from the DotA Outland page ( as written by the Outland creator ) . " Challenges . " Challenges " , much like the Rune powerups in Allstars , are an interesting aspect of Outland . A player picks up a rune , and is then given a challenge to complete . If the player succeeds , he / she gains 750 gold ; failure will cause the loss of a level , which is more significant in Outland than other versions . This puts pressure on the player to complete the objectives . The current " Challenges " are : Only one challenge of each type can be active at any one time , but two challenges can be held at the same time by a single player . Heroes . The hero variants of Outland differ from other versions in many ways . Firstly , experience gain is slower at the start of a game , and items take priority . Secondly , the heroes are much more functional towards their purpose , for example , the Red Stain is an excellent " hero - killer " , yet its " pushing " ( See Lingo below ) skills are weak , unless its entire item build ( order and selection of items ) is focused upon it , causing it to become only moderate at both . Hero killing is also a harder task to perform , as heroes are generally more resilient , and all heroes have access to an " escape move " ( ability which aids in escaping from a hero trying to kill another hero ) . There are many " special " hero types in play from other heroes , most notably the " Shadowdancer " whose movement style is based on " blinking " ( short distance teleportation ) and Focus Monk , which needs to go into a " Trance " every 60 seconds to replenish his energies . This takes 5 seconds to activate , and his skills gain bonuses upon activation of this skill . Heroes with these abilities are designated by red text displaying the abilities when selecting the hero . This is somewhat akin to DotA classic where heroes are generally split up between three concepts : siege , control , and support . Siege heroes specialize in destroying structures , such as the scourge ' s Demon Magess or the sentinel ' s Fire Lord . Alternatively there are hybrid types , such as Rylai the Frost Maiden who can use her spells to disable her opponents while her ultimate ability can slowly wither all the structures around her in a large radius . Other control types are Mageslayer who drain ' s his opponent ' s mana upon attacking , can purge buffs and slow his opponent , as well as teleporting a short distance to catch or escape . Support heroes were able to teleport anywhere on the map at will and heal their allies with the exception of the Omniknight who specialized in group defense instead of mobility . Trivia . Swedish musician Basshunter has had chart success with a song about Defense of the Ancients entitled " Vi sitter i Ventrilo och spelar DotA " or simply " DotA " internationally . The song has been released with alternative lyrics now and is called " All I Ever Wanted " . The original song featured sound samples from the Defense of the Ancients addon and screenshots and action taken from the game are featured in the early video release of the DotA song as well as in the more mainstream video of the same song although to a lesser degree . There are no obvious references to the game in the video of the English remake .