DotA Allstars Hero Classifications

DotA Allstars Hero Classifications



Heroes in Allstars are given certain classifications which will influence their method of play. For example, stunners (heroes which can stun enemies) are usually accompanied by assassins or nukers to efficiently kill an enemy hero.




Assassins

Heroes which specialize at killing other heroes quickly through physical damage. All of them have some form of invisibility or ambushing suddenly. Any hero with windwalk, an invisibility skill, or blink can fall into this category.



Disablers

Heroes who possess the ability to disable other characters, basically forcing them into a disadvantage while they attempt to fight or flee. Disables include any spells that move the enemy without his or her consent, stun an enemy, reduce movement speed, disallow movement, reduce damage, reduce attack speed, reduce armor, prevent physical attack, or prevent spell-casting. Though many spells fall under these categories, the general rule of an effective disable is a spell that can extend an enemy's presence in combat against his or her will, which therefore only includes the first four of the listed effects. Also, passive abilities are often ignored as disables. Rhasta and Lion are two famous examples, both having two disable skills (Lion has impale and voodoo, rhasta has shackles and voodoo).



Nukers

Heroes who possess the ability to cause a significant amount of damage in a single instant via use of activated abilities in lieu of a physical attack. E.g. Lion with Impale and Finger of Death, Slayer with Dragon Slave and Light Strike Array+Laguna Blade.



Support


Heroes whose skills are meant to directly aid the rest of the team. Heroes with healing or protective skills fall into this category. Pushers can also be counted as support, although sometimes they can be used individually instead of working together with the team.



Pushers

Heroes which can quickly destroy enemy towers and creep generators due to their ability to summon additional units or deal damage to an area of enemy creeps. E.g. Prophet with Force of Nature, Warlock with Infernals, and Keeper of the Light with Illuminate and Ignus Fatuus.



Spammers

Heroes who spam offensive spells repeatedly in an attempt to kill an enemy hero or disrupt the opponents' play. This frequently causes enemy heroes to go back to their Fountain of Health to heal, thereby wasting time and causing the enemy hero to lose experience. E.g. Zeus with Lightning Arc and Death Prophet with Carrion Swarm and Witchcraft. A "spammer" is typically just a specific kind of nuker.



Stunners

Heroes who possess the ability to stun other characters. Certain heroes have passive skills enabling their attacks to have a chance of stunning. When such heroes are able to keep the enemy constantly stunned it is known informally as permastun. E.g. Lion with Impale, Leoric with Storm Bolt, and Sand King with Burrowstrike.




Tankers

Heroes who can absorb huge amounts of damage with either high health or armor count. Typically used to destroy enemy towers. E.g. Treant Protector with Living Armor, Centaur Warchief with high base Strength and Great Fortitude, and Morphling with Morph Strength.





Allusions

These are allusions present in the Warcraft III custom map Defense of the Ancients: Allstars variant.



Items



Aegis of the Immortal


A shield used by Zeus, the Greek god.



Aghanim's Scepter

Refers to Aghanim, the final boss in some of the Zelda games.



Burize-Do Kyanon

An item from Diablo II.



Dagon

A Semitic God.




Eul's Scepter of Divinity

A tribute to the creator of the original Defense of the Ancients, which included an item of the same name. The item "Guinsoo's Scythe of Vyse" derives from it. The fact that the latter is more powerful (using ESoD as a recipe ingredient, and is in a higher tier of items) may have been to imply Guinsoo's superiority, or simply to represent the development of the map over time.



Eye of Skadi

Skadi is the wife of the Van god Njord in Norse mythology. She was the Goddess of winter, and as a tribute to her the item causes a hero's attack to deal frost damage, slowing opponents.



Lothar's Edge

A tribute to Sir Anduin Lothar, the Champion of Azeroth, during the First War (in Warcraft and Warcraft II.)



Necronomicon


A fictional book of magic, by H. P. Lovecraft.



Nethrezim Buckler

The Nathrezim or Dreadlords are a race in the Warcraft universe of games.



Stygian Desolator

A weapon from the game Anarchy Online.



Hand of Midas

Midas is a character in Greek mythology who turned everything he touched into gold.




Heart of Tarrasque

A mythical creature resembling a dragon, lion and scorpion. Also a small boss from Starcraft, another Blizzard game.



Yasha

A type of demon in Indian mythology. Also refers to a sword from the game Phantasy Star Online.



Sange

Another sword from the game Phantasy Star Online.



Sange and Yasha


In Phantasy Star Online The Sange and Yasha could be combined to form a formidable dual sword weapon, and thus the same is allowed here.



Monkey King Bar

From the chinese folk tale Journey to the West, the Monkey King Bar was a staff used by the hero Sun Wukong and could alter its size to his will. The weapon also appears in Phantasy Star Online and maybe also be another reference to that game.



Black King Bar

Appears in the game Phantasy Star Online, however in that game it is an upgraded form of the Monkey King Bar.



Heroes

Note: This section only explains the possible allusions that exist in the DotA Allstars heroes and is not meant to be a hero guide/description/spell list.




Abbadon

1) Abbadon, the Despoiler, from Games Workshop's Warhammer 40, 000. He was the leader of the 4 great chaos.

2) Abbadon is the Romanized translation of the Hebrew Azrael, the Angel of Death. (Also known as the slayer of Egyptian first-borns)



Akasha

One of the five elements of Hinduism. Also the name of the Queen of the Damned from a book by Anne Rice.



Atropos

One of the three fates in Greek mythology, who literally "cut the thread of life" according to legend. This is characterized in Allstars with the ultimate skill Fiend's Grip which severely drains enemy life.




Azwraith

The Phantom Lancer. Uses a model/icon based on a Final Fantasy character, Kimhari.



Furion

The leader of the Night Elves, with his command of nature, in Warcraft III.



Bradwarden

Centaur character from R.A. Salvatore's book The Demon Awakens



Juggernaut


An orc blademaster whos ultimate is the derivative of Cloud Strife's omnislash.



Lina Inverse

Powerful spellcaster, whose name originates from Slayers, a famous manga and anime.



Kel'Thuzad

The Lich King's disciple in the original Warcraft III.



King Leoric

Skeleton King; his name comes from a character in Diablo whose son was possessed by the demon.




Krobelus

A character (missionary role) in the game Summoner 2.



Leviathan

Strength hero that looks like a sea giant. His name comes from a Biblical sea creature.



Lucifer

A Pit Lord, referring to the fallen archangel (the Devil) in Christian tradition.



Leshrac (the Malicious)


A character from the Ice Age saga of Magic the Gathering. (http://www.phyrexia.com/continuity/Leshrac.shtml)



Magnus

A reference to German physicist Heinrich Magnus who described a physical phenomenon called the Magnus effect, that is apt because of Magnus' (the Magnataur's) ultimate Reverse Polarity acting like the Magnus effect.



Medusa (the Gorgon)

A monster in Greek mythology whose gaze turned people to stone. This is represented in-game using the skills Purge and Gaze (certain versions only) which greatly slows enemies, however does not turn them into stone.



Morphling


A shapeshifter from Wizards of the Coast's Magic the Gathering, which is also adept at switching stats. More information on this card can be found here



Naga Siren

Derived from Greek Mythology, where sirens (half woman half sea creatures) were enticing men on ships to their island. In the game, her ultimate spell (Song of the Siren) causes all enemies in the surrounding area to sleep for a short period of time.



Rexxar

The wandering Beastmaster who played the main role in the orc campaign from the Frozen Throne.



Rikimaru

A stealth ninja in the game Tenchu: The Stealth Assassins.




Squee

Character from Magic, the Gathering. A goblin from the Weatherlight saga .



Syllabear

Syllabear is named after Syllable from clan TDA who worked with Guinsoo with the development of DotA.



VolJin

The leader of a band of trolls, the Darkspear tribe. Their tribe was saved from the humans by Rexxar, the Beastmaster.



Zeus


Leader of the gods in Greek mythology. Zeus was the god of lightning, and in Dota: Allstars the Zeus hero specializes in lightning-based spells