Axe Says Good Day Sir!

Well I guess while the boss is away I might update the old blog post which has been slightly neglected! I was supposed to be doing A-Z on Dota and I am pretty sure I am up to Axe so I will continue on with this and try and make my blog posts much more regular.

Why is it only Thursday?? Wish it was Saturday!

Also the weather has been horrible... I have been at home with the air con all day every day and I can just feel the electricity bill climbing through the roof L Thank God I am at work a lot which provides air-conditioning!

Axe is a hero I haven't played in a while so I will need to refresh myself by looking at his profile.

Axe is a melee strength hero who is tanky as hell and I have played against so many great Axe players that can easily crush me. Axe is also an efficient jungler with his Counter Helix attack. It's a 17% chance to release this passive attack and the cool down to proc it increases slightly each level up so I wouldn't bother with it too much early on.

So the best advice to give is have on point in Counter Helix for early harass especially if you're up against another melee and then chuck as many points in Battle Hunger as possible. I would be getting a stout shield, some tangos, a salve and a soul ring recipe for starting items and obviously building into a soul ring and then treads. I would have the treads in mana apart from when using the soul ring as Axe has pretty bad mana.

Battle Hunger along with a soul ring is pretty spam able. If you have three levels of Battle Hunger you are doing 350 damage (25 damage over 14 seconds) if they don't kill a creep. You are also receiving an increase in speed of 10% while the enemy is slowed by 8%. It is very useful early on and against another melee, you will surely win the lane. It is most effective to go hard lane and shut down their safe lane carry early on.

Axe is a snowball hero and getting early kills helps immensely. Getting Vanguard is when you start your ganking. If you're in the hard lane and they have a jungler, seek them out. Natures Prophet can't teleport if you use Bersker's Call and you will kill him with this plus you're Battle Hunger and right click power. Ganking mid lane is also a good idea if you can set it up with the mid hero in your team.

A situational item would be Blade Mail; you would get this against heroes with spells/attacks that do a lot of damage in one hit. For example getting against Husker will mean he can't use his ulti on you or will kill himself in one go. Ursa and Bloodseeker are also good examples. Blink Dagger is a must and I would get this before Blade Mail if you were going to get it. Blink Dagger allows you to blink in, Beserker's Call, spin a few times with Counter Helix and chop down any left over's with your ultimate Culling Blade.

I would upgrade Culling Blade whenever possible. It easily finishes off an enemy. If an enemy is killed with Culling Blade your cool down is automatically reset and your team receives a 40% speed increase for 6 seconds. The mana is also relatively low and if you use it to kill enemies you have no cool down so it easily spam able.

If your farm is going well get yourself an Ahgs Scepter, this will improve your stats and is beneficial to your ulti. I would pick up EITHER Assault Cuirass if no one else has built this or a Heart of Tarrasque. A Pipe of Insights is also useful and beneficial to the whole team. Shiva's Guard is another item I would be trying to pick up on Axe.

Well that is it from me about Axe. I will be doing another post over the weekend to give you a preview of how my Templar Assassin cosplay is going because I have actually started sewing it together! It is so far from being finished but it is coming along slowly!

Enjoy your week :D

The progress is slowly progressing

I know I have been super lazy as of late but that's just me I guess...
Anyways so I have actually began working on my Templar Assassin cosplay but it isn't much just yet, mostly just pieces of fabric cut out and stuck to a pattern at the moment but that's ok.
I have also just remembered that Wai con is on in three weekends time and I am really really really wanting to go. I want to save a buy a VIP ticket but we shall see. If I go to that I will quickly put together a Mikasa from AoT cosplay to go in. Its more an anime convention so I want to go as an anime character rather than a video game character.
Unfortunately, I have work soon so I just wanted to make a short little post to share with you guys what I have been up to as of late.
I have started a facebook page:
https://www.facebook.com/pages/Staceys-gaming-page/232540103568969
or
https://www.facebook.com/staceys.gamingpage
So hit me up as a friend or like me.
I have also started a twitter that I will be updating a lot more often:
https://twitter.com/Staceypickachu1
And if you want to check out my Youtube that would be muchly appreciated as well:
http://www.youtube.com/channel/UCQULucUFm9vYadvHQmj_S-A
Please let me know what you would like to see more or/less of and just leave feedback in general.

P.S I will do a Dota A-Z on Axe when I have some more spare time and stay tuned for a livestream later tonight.

Bye for now :)

Stacey

The Fun Ends Here

Hello lovely reading people,

So I usually do a blog post on Mondays and I am pretty sure it is now Friday. You may or may not have noticed that no blog post was done for this week.. I know right! Well there was a reason behind this and I shall explain and then go onto my usual ramblings on how I like to play Anti Mage fufufufufu.

So the reason was I wanted to wait until I got my new keyboard, mouse and headset! I am super happy with them that I had to make a not about them. Well the headset and mouse came in a little pack together and are both a lovely orange color (which is the best color and the same as my PC). To be more specific it was the SteelSeries Heat Orange bundle pack:

It came with the neat mouse pad as well! I love the matte material on the side of the mouse, it is so silky smooth to use... I am in love!

Oh but did I forget to mention my new keyboard. Gosh! Words can't describe how in love I am with this inanimate object... The Ducky Shine Zero! It is just beautiful with a black light underneath, it clicks so quietly and just is amazing to type with. At work I have a crappy Microsoft keyboard that just makes me sad to come to work. I sometimes think about bringing my keyboard with me. I think the sheer amazingness of it would destroy my work computer though which is about 7 years old... boss time for an update I think!

Isn't she beautiful! *o*

Did I mention that I like orange????

One other large purchase I made was my sewing machine! Cosplaying is so close I can taste it. I am just so excited and I have planned the costume I will make. It will be awesome so please stay tuned for that fun adventure. 

Okie dokie so now that we have cleared that up lets talk about Magina the Anti Mage. He is one bad ass dude who is so awesome when he gets farmed. So his skills and how I like to build them. I generally would start with blink, if I get ganked escaping is easy enough. I usually don't max it out till later on and try and get a few points into Mana Break and Spell Shield. I would especially try and max out Spell Shield if I was up against high damage nukers such as Zeus. In early laning try and get some safe hits off on enemies to break their mana a bit. So finally there is Mana Void which I level up where possible. It deals AoE so using it in a team fight to finish off one enemy can affect other enemies near by. So items that I like on AM early on would be a Stout Shield due to his awful strength stats, Tango, 3 Iron Branches and a Healing Salve. Many heroes will try shut you down early as they know what the wrath of a farmed AM is like so having regen is important and blink as well. In early laning you will need to get some boots and I like treads as well as a Ring of Regen. These should be obtained by the time laning is over. If you feel like your getting too heavily harassed get a wand with the Iron Branches. Anti Mage then needs to get a Battle Fury and I like to have this before the 20 minute mark. Farm farm farm! Manta Style is also one of AM signature items of choice so pick this up next for some illusions and some great stats. Well late game I like to look at getting a Skull Basher and/or a Heart of Tarrasque and/or a Butterfly. The earlier you get your Battle Fury the faster you can farm and get more of the luxury items. Abyssal Blade is also an effective item on AM which can be built from the Skull Basher. If you feel like you can't die and you are carrying hard then you can try your luck and grab a Divine Rapier. Apart from this I would also grab boots of travel late game to split push with your Manta Style if you need to push towers. 

This basically how I play AM and the main thing to keep in mind is early on stay away from team fights, try to avoid ganks and farm, farm, farm! 

Please remember I am still a noob and have just scratch the surface of my Dota 2 learning! I appreciate all and any feedback.

See y'all next post :) 

A-Z:Ancient Apparition

When I play a game of Dota one of the things I struggle most with is my map awareness. I can ward pretty well and when I support I keep them wards coming all game every game. The thing that I am still trying to get my head around is predicting movements and trying to be in the right spot at the right time with my hero. This lacking of skill I have in this area really impacts my game play with every hero but especially one such as Ancient Apparition. AA is hero where map awareness is paramount. Not only keeping an eye on your own surroundings and what is happening in your lane but keeping an eye on everyone elses lanes and positioning. Having this skill makes AA a deadly ganker and can make or break a team fight without being present.

To start with AA is an inteligence hero. He is an effective solo mid laner but will be used to his full potential if paired with a carry with a stun. His abilities are great for assisting kills. Cold Feet is essentially a hex that does damage over time and can freeze a hero solid for 4 seconds if the hero stays within the range of the hex. If the hex is placed and then another hero stuns the enemy won't have time to escape the area before being stunned. That is basically six seconds of no movement.

Ice Vortex is a slow. What people don't also take advantage of though is that this spell increases magic damage that is done to an enemy. Increased magic damage and a slow will give other heroes around AA an easy kill on the enemy.

Chilling Touch is great to use in team fights just as they are about to commence. Used in conjunction with Ice Vortex will increase magic damage that the enemy takes and increase the magic damage that the allied hero inflicts. It does however slightly lower allied heroes attack speed.

AA's ultimate ability, Ice Blast, is a deadly ball of ice that is great for many functions and which is the main reason for great map awareness. The further the Ice Blast is shot the larger the area of damage. This ability will make all regeneration stop, making mekanism, urn of shadow, skill heals and even the fountain useless. Any heroes under 10% HP will instantly shatter and die. This ability is great for scouting, finishing off enemies and causing havoc in team fights. If the ice ball travels over enemy heroes but the AoE does not hit them they are still affected by frost bite which does a small amount of damage over time. It should be spammed as often as possible as it has a low cool down and low mana cost.

AA doesn't require many items to be an effective support. I like to go with my three iron branches, a clarity or two, a set of tangoes and a courier. Next I would go with a magic wand, boots and urn of shadows. In most cases I would upgrade the boots to treads and keep them on strength as this hero is quite squishy. I like Eul Sceptor as the hero can be cast with cold feet and kept in place by Eul Sceptor. Force staff is great for chasing and helping team mates as a support hero. If you can afford it sheeps stick is a great investment and helps with AA's mana issues. Another item I would get if possible is Eye of Scardi. The passive of this item couples well with all of AA's skills.

This is a really long post I know and basically just goes over the hero abilities and the items but AA is a very usedul hero to learn and I am basically trying to consolidate my knowledge through blog posts. If you think I could add or change something please let me know because I am still struggling through the learning phase of Dota.

I have started a few series of Let's play on Youtube which can be seen on my channel. I hope to add some new videos tonight before I go to basketball but we will see!

Anyways, thanks for reading J

A-Z: Alchemist

Well it is week two of the challenge and I have played a few games with Abaddon. Unfortunately they were all terrible which is why have not uploaded anything yet. Anyhow I decided to move onto Alchemist. Alchemist is one of my favorite carries. If he gets enough farm he can slay basically anyone he comes into combat with. He has a great stun in unstable concoction although it can backfire easily if not thrown quickly enough. I really like Acid Spray as well because it is useful when you are in laning phase and getting harassed a lot. Greevil's Greed is awesome for getting Alchemist farmed up and when maxed out gives a heft bonus gold. Alchemist's Ultimate Chemical Rage is basically a transportable fountain. Just pop this and it is extremely difficult to kill you. One thing I have learnt since starting this A-Z blog is that you should not follow guides on how to build heroes. It is useful when first starting out but using these as an ultimate guide is a huge mistake. For example I was playing with one of my friends the other night and the first thing he does is max out Greevils Gold and Unstable Concoction and doesn't put any points into Acid Spray. Although maxing out Greevil's Greed will help your farm early game this particular Alchemist was laning against Dark Seer. Alchemist fed like crazy and ultimately lost us the game. If I was laning against Dark Seer in this case I would have put my first couple of points in Acid Spray. I could have harassed from a distance and picked up some gold while not getting near enough to be affected by Dark Seer's shield. The Alchemist just could not come back from the early game loss of farm. It is really important to make sure to upgrade your skills when they are needed and not because a build told you that was the best possible order. Alchemist items can be varying but what I like to go with when starting is tangos quelling blade and ring of protection. Quelling blade is great with Alchemist and gives him 32% chance of extra damage. I like to then phase into a hand of midas before 10 minutes. I feel a hand of midas is not as effective if purchased after 10 minutes and can really boost your farm. Boots are an obvious must and I will generally go with phase or even treads depending if i need extra speed or bonus to my hp/mana. Maelstrom would be my next item of choice as it also helps to increase your farming speed, damage and movement speed. After this I will usually go for a Shadow Blade as it is really useful for sneaking up on enemies and stunning them. If needed I would go with a Black King Bar. Generally I would then move to increase my Armour and would get Assult Cuirass which makes you hit extremely fast OR a Heart of Tarrasque to boost my health. I like to also get a Monkey King Bar if I am facing up against Phantom Assassin or Windrunner whose abilities can make me miss hits or go with a Daedalus. Among this I would also be aiming to upgrade my Maelstrom into Mjollnir which upgrades your attack speed as well. 

I think these items are all very well suited to Alchemist and I have usually won using this build. 

On another note I have started my Tomb Raider 2013 let's play. I am really excited about it and can't wait to make the next episode!

Here is the link https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H2UGKvleVd4

My favorite cosplayer Eve Beauregard did a really cool Lara Croft cosplay:

You can check her stuff out here : https://www.facebook.com/EveeBeau

I really admire her, she has made me want to become a cosplayer which is what I am working towards this year!

Thanks for reading/visiting!

A-Z: Abaddon

My headache is finally subsiding for me to be able to make some Youtube content and write my first A-Z Dota blog.
This week was intended to be Abaddon week but I kept playing Enchantress and it is really frustrating. I have played a few games with Abaddon but I will make another today and link it below to watch.
What have I learnt about Abaddon? People think that Abaddon can be a hard carry and I completely disagree in most circumstances. I feel like if Abaddon got farmed enough and had the right items he could be a secondary support carry. If the other team has a hard carry such as Alchemist or Phantom Lancer than the Abaddon hard carry would easily be out carried by an equally farmed Alchemist or Phantom Lancer. Abaddon is definitely a support, he can be a tanker with his shield and protect his team easily.
When I play Abaddon I always max out Aphotic Shield and Mist Coil first. Sometimes I will put a point in Curse of Avernus as well but depends who I am up against.
Abaddon's items will usually focus around support such as magic wand, courier, clarity, tangos and wards to start with and transition into power treads, Eul's Septor, Urn of Shadows and Mekanism, Aghamins Scepter and Scythe of Vyse. I also don't mind Arcane boots if they are more appropriate for the situation. Late game I might also grab a Linkins Sphere I feel there are too many stuns and he needs more survive-ability.
So this is my basic Abaddon build. I have read a few different guides on how to play him best and have come up with my basic guide on how I like to play him. Each situation is different I will play him in a different way when needed.
If you have any comments on this please let me know and I will be posting the video shortly so stay tuned.

Happy Holidays!

Well hello anyone reading my blog!

I know I have been MIA a lot recently but hopefully all of that is about to change. I have found my to do list and I am ready to make some Youtube videos and livestream A LOT.
I actually thought that I would have a lot of time to do some work on my gaming stuff but these holidays have been hectic! I am lucky to have another 10 days to do as much as possible.
So to start this blog I want to talk about the changes that will be happening.
1. I know I started this blog and posted a lot and then didn't post much at all but I will be regularly posting once every week.
2. Dota will stop ruling my life and I will stop playing random games here and there. I will start the A-Z challenge next week and I will do a blog post each week on all of the important little things that I have learnt.
3. I will be a regular visitor to my minecraft server which I have neglected badly. I want to start a project that is determined by my audience.
4. All my social media sites will be continuously updated.
5. I will start a let's play with one of the many games I have neglected to play due to Dota.

If you have any ideas for my minecraft project please comment here or on youtube and let me know. I will be releasing a video later today to show where I am at the moment and what landscape I have to deal with.
Youtube: http://www.youtube.com/channel/UCQULucUFm9vYadvHQmj_S-A

Also I want to post some art from Tumblr page here to spruce it up a bit so here is todays:

This is by ArtGerm one of my favorite video game artists. He is extremely talented and I will be posting lots more of his stuff!

If you would like to see more art work and what not please visit my tumblr (please note none of it is mine unless I state so)

http://mipetgaming.tumblr.com/