Dota 2 Scripts: With the growth comes problems
Esports has been growing fast and stable. However, what can be a great stumbling block for Electronics sports? Like every other thing running on a computer, each Esports game has their fair share of bugs and cheats.
Though having a good almost 10 year period of time around the Esports scene, Dota 2 still got its own trouble. Apart from community toxicity and occasional game glitches, scripting and exploiting remain a head-aching problem for game Devs.
One of the most common cheats in Dota 2 is scripting. It works on a long string of commands and Dota 2 scripts based on the console function in Dota 2. The console function in Dota 2 was intended to help players with getting information and customizing their own gameplay.
However, cheaters and scripters use it to their own advantage and construct their own version of cheat. Abusers then sell the tool on their websites and gain money illegally.
If you type “Dota 2 script” on google, you instantly get about 4,100,000 results ( in 0.46 seconds). They are abundant on the Internet and in all kinds of website. The same goes for Youtube with various videos depicting all kinds of cheater and abuser.
So, what is a cheat/ Dota 2 script?
Simply put, a cheat gives you absurd advantages by automatically doing stuff in-game. Cheats in Dota 2 can vary a lot, from automatic item using, auto-combo skills, auto last hit/deny, auto-blocking creeps to map hacking, gaining vision in the fog of war.
Auto last hit/deny
The Dota 2 script calculates the damage output and enemy situation. By doing the math, the script deduces the “optimized” decision on when to do last hit or when to deny.
Normally, we do that by our “instinct”, through the experience of trial and error. It may take years to master the art of last-hitting and denying. Now cheaters can do that with ease, simply activating the script to do it with startling precision.
Auto creep block
The Dota 2 script gives a large number of commands on moving the hero, precisely repositioning the hero right ahead of a creep. This considerably slows the speed of the creep wave, gaining them the advantage of the high ground position in the middle lane. This again is a high-level skill of Dota 2, which may require years of experience to do well.
Auto item use
This is a really tricky tool. Dota 2 items have no cast time, it can activate instantly within a click of your mouse. Eul's Scepter of Divinity and Scythe of Vyse are two of the most abused scripted items. They instantly disable enemy when cast, thus giving a ridiculous advantage for script users as surprise is an important factor in Dota 2. It is like scripts unlock one player’s “ultra-instinct” to react with “inhuman” speed.
That is really common among script users and lots of complaints are made about such heinous act.
Another abused item is Soul Ring, which gives mana at the cost of health. Scripts often gain you advantage by dropping every mana increasing item before using Soul Ring then pick them up to gain more mana. This is a trick which is already common in Dota, reducing your maximum mana pool before using Soul Ring to gain a better value of the item.
Imagine you have 600/1000 mana with all items equipped, which is 60 percent of your total mana pool. Then you drop your Arcane Boots, which decreases your total mana pool by 250. Now your mana is 450/750, still 60 percent. Then use your Soul Ring to restore 150 mana to your mana pool, making it 600/750, 80 percent of your mana pool. Then take back your Arcane Boots, now you have 80 percent of your mana pool, 800/1000 as compared to 600+150 = 750 out of 1000.
That gives you an extra 50 mana to use with just a few clicks. However, in a real game where things get chaotic, the trick is often neglected due to its complexity. It requires people to act extremely fast with their hands, even with precision. Yet again, such skill is “granted” to script users within a few clicks within tenths of a second.
>>> Read more: Everything About Dota 2 Leaderboards And Rank System
Auto-combo skills/ cast skill
The most notable example of this scripts is Skywrath Mage. He possesses a good combo of skill dealing “sky-high” amount of magic damage to an enemy with zero cast time skills. The Dota 2 script is often used together with auto item use. The combo often goes like this: First, Rod of Atos is cast to immobilize the target. Then Ancient Seal will follow up to amplify the magic damage output. After that, tons of skills are thrown to the prey, Arcane Bolt, Concussive Shot, Mystic Flare. The combo deals tremendous amount of damage within a second or two. The point is that all those skills and items are used almost concurrently, leaving no room for mistake.
Another infamous example of auto-combo/ cast skills is Arc Warden. Arcwarden is a hero notorious for his high level of micro-management to master. His ultimate, Tempest Double, creates an exact clone of himself, with abilities and items like one real hero. It is like two heroes within one player, dealing a large amount of damage but demanding a high level of skill to use.
Also, Arc Warden is a fast farming hero, getting utility items like Scythe of Vyse or Bloodthorn really quick. With Dota 2 scripts, one Tempest Double alone can singlehandedly kill any hero with his own skill set.
One more often abusing hero is Techies. He is notorious for his invisible bomb plants, dealing a high amount of damage. However, what is enough to kill one hero or what is not? Scripts can do it for you easily without even a blink of one eye, literally. You don’t have to look all the map to do anything, once an enemy hero walks nearby a cluster of bombs, the script will Detonate just enough number of bombs to kill off that hero.
Maphack/ wallhack
This cheat is the most serious exploit in the game. Maphack gives you unobstructed vision in the whole map. You get to know the position of every enemy, every single ward on the map. This way, the game is totally unbalanced. The most notorious example of this is with invoker. With his Sunstrike ability, he can deal damage to any unit in any place on the map. Any low heath hero will instantly be “Sunstruck”.
Also, with map hack, you get the know the location of wards and heroes position. That would be tremendously advantageous to script users as things can’t escape from their eyes.
In most of these clips or videos, the most evident indication of cheat is their mouse/ pointer position. It often stayed far from where the script users took actions. This means the script actually did it for them.
Dota 2 scripts: What future awaits us where cheat exists?
The strange thing with cheating is that it still prevails in Dota 2 nowadays. Valve hasn't come up with any long-term solution to prevent script or cheating behaviors in the game. They only provided a temporary solution by manually banning those explicit cheaters.
Luckily, most cheats exist in servers where Russians play. It is understandable as Russian are notorious for their cheating and exploiting in practically everything. Also, the price for Dota 2 script and cheating tool is expensive, discouraging Dota 2 players from ruining their own game.
>>> Also check out: Dota 2 System Requirements: How To Start Playing The Game
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