Xtreme Duty

This post, as the title entails, is completely related to how/why we suck at HON. If you don't play HON or don't want to try an improve, ignore it.

I highly recommend watching the 3 game series below, at least watch 1st and 3rd match. These are pretty much the top two teams in the world (Loaded is undeniably #1). I'm not saying we can play like they do but there are definitely some things worth noticing about the way the top teams play.

Match #1
Match #2
Match #3

First thing to notice, it's more important to know how to use your hero and it's capabilities than it is to have a particular item . Yes items are important but keep an eye on what those guys are doing with only early-game items. They execute some amazing gank/counters with nothing more than boots and some +stats.

Second, know your role. Notice in the "pro" matches how much support the support heroes provide. They are all buying wards and counter-warding; they're always double-stacking for the carries; in team fights, their main focus is making sure the carries stay alive to get the kills. If you're a support role and you're getting kills, your team is going to lose.

Third, one mistake usually turns the tide in the match . Loaded are the best in the world because they rarely make mistakes and honestly that just comes from practice. They are pros and they play 40-60 hours a week. We have lives and we like sex so we don't do that and nobody expects us to.

These are just very basic things. This game can get complicated pretty quickly and I think part of our problem is not having a strong foundation in the basics. Seems like we focus a lot on trying to do "advanced" things that have been done to us without really understanding what it takes to pull those techniques off. For instance, farming. I've only seen one hero in competitive play jungle instead of lane, Tempest (Ophelia is rarely used). You get more gold easier by last hitting creeps and being in the lane to get hero kills. In my opinion, only one person in XD can jungle properly and even then I've only seen them do it with one hero. It's not hard to do, but it takes practice. You have to have wards, you have to double/triple stack; you have to run to mid/bot for ganks.

Probably the single most important thing we're lacking is good communication. We've gotten better, but we need to start the match knowing what everyone is planning to do. For instance, if I'm playing Pollywog I'll never go 1v1 or initiate, I won't tower dive unless I know I'll get a kill and live. If I'm Pebbles, I'm going to get portal key and initiate. Essentially, we need to know what role everyone is going to take before we start, and we have to be prepared to change it up on the fly if it's not working. Micro-communication is even more important in terms of team fights/ganks. If you're coming in for a gank don't just say "Get him!" Tell us who you want to go for and when you're ready, make sure that the lane you're going to gank on knows if you're coming from the side or behind and is ready with a stun/slow to initiate. Pretty simple really, but when we don't do it the ganks fail.

The replay system is down right now, but when it's working it's an incredible system. You can track any player's games as any hero and see their build/buy order and just download the file, watch it at 4x speed and learn what they do. Slow it down and see how they execute combos. How do they execute ganks, how do they farm, how do they survive (hint hint hint.... Mana Battery is probably the best early item any hero can get).

The following are some links to some useful posts on the HON forums, maybe you've seen them, maybe you haven't. Every one of us could stand to re-read them. I'm a mediocre HON player and have no delusions that I know what to do in every situation with every hero etc, but we got into the 1600's recently because of open beta and if we're going to start playing people in the 1600-1700 PSR ranks and have a chance at winning, we need to get better. Otherwise all those open beta nubs will start kicking our asses!

HON Strategies & Terminology by Senatic
DotA Basics by Kaution
Juking like the 1950's by Viole

Peace in the Middle East, bitches.

You might see a new HoN player around. His name is persblad. He's from the Philippines and said he will teach me words other than "bobo." Welcome.

Did the 3d ultrasound today and found out I'm having a girl...Alexes Mae Edens is due mid Aug.

From FAQ emailed out earlier by S2Games regarding pre-purchased accounts and open beta. Basically, if someone has the account name you want and they don't purchase be the end of open beta, you can take their name. and if you don't purchase by the end of open beta you lose your account. Also, you'll lose the pre-purchase perks of golden shield/name and ability to taunt if you don't purchase by the time open beta starts on Wednesday, March 31 (tomorrow) @ 4:00 PM PST

3.) I want to pre purchase but the nickname I want is not available. Can I ever change my name?

Yes, all pre purchased accounts will have 1 nickname change (all existing pre purchases will also be given 1 additional nickname change). 7 days prior to the end of Open Beta and the game going retail (requiring payment to play) we will allow all pre purchased accounts to take the nickname of non pre purchased accounts. In order to successfully secure your name we suggest you pre purchase now!

6.) If I don't pre purchase the game prior to launch, what happens to my account?

When Open Beta ends all accounts that did not pre purchase will be purged from the database, this includes your banlist and your friends lists. All pre purchased accounts will keep those lists intact when we go retail.