Neutral Creeps - Where Dota 2 Pros Get Owned

Dota 2 on Linux

Dota 2, one of the most awaited games of the decade will run natively on Windows, Mac and Linux platforms.



"We want to make it as easy as possible for the 2,500 games on Steam to run on Linux as well. It's a hedging strategy."
-- Gabe Newell, Valve Corporation's Chief Executive Officer

In 2011, a team was formed within Valve to explore the possibilities of porting the Steam Client and Left 4 Dead 2 to the Ubuntu operating system. Ubuntu was the most popular Linux distribution for desktop computers during that time period.

By February 2013, the Steam client was shipped to Linux gamers with the following playable Valve titles: Counter-Strike: Source, Half-Life, Counter-Strike and Team Fortress 2.


"We’re looking forward to seeing AAA games developed with Ubuntu in mind as part of a multi-platform day and date release on Steam.”
-- David Pitkin, Canonical's Director of Consumer Applications

Once Dota 2 is ready, there would be no need to run WINE just to play Dota 2.

Dota 2 penguin courier anyone?

Dota 2 Genuine Items

Genuine Dota 2 items are exclusive Dota 2 cosmetic items that can be obtained by purchasing Dota 2 related merchandise. The Genuine item quality was introduced to promote items exclusively bundled with specific promotions and could be activated with the use of codes or with the purchase of specific in-game tournament tickets.



Genuine Dota 2 Couriers
1. Genuine Dolfrat and Roshinante
How to obtain:
Purchase the Dota 2 Wizard and Donkey T-shirt from the Valve Store.

2. Genuine Braze the Donkey
How to obtain:
Purchase the Dota 2 Donkey Courier plush from the Valve Store.

3. Genuine Ramnaught of Underwool
How to obtain:
Purchase the Defense 3 ticket from the Dota 2 Store.

4. Genuine Wynchell the Wyrmeleon
How to obtain:
Purchase The Premier League Season 4 ticket from the Dota 2 Store.

5. Genuine Star Ladder Grillhound
How to obtain:
Purchase the Star Series Season V ticket from the Dota 2 Store.

Genuine Dota 2 Weapons
1. Genuine Berserker's Witchslayer (Axe Weapon)
How to obtain:
Get codes during The International 2012 tournament in Seattle, Washington.

2. Genuine Wyvernguard Edge (Axe Weapon)
How to obtain:
Purchase from Dota 2 Axe T-Shirt from the Valve Store.

3. Genuine Kantusa the Script Sword (Juggernaut Weapon)
How to obtain:
Purchase the Steelseries Dota 2 Mouse + Mousepad Bundle

4. Genuine Bow of the Howling Wind (Drow Ranger Weapon)
How to obtain:
Purchase the Dota 2 Drow shirt from the Valve Store.

5. Genuine Recluse Reef Denizen (Tidehunter Weapon)
How to obtain:
Purchase the Dota 2 Tide Hunter Tshirt from the Valve Store.

6. Genuine Battlefury (Faceless Void Weapon) *
How to obtain:
Purchase the Plantronics Gamecom 780 Headset
*Pending "Genuine" status

Other notes:
* All approved Genuine Dota 2 items can be sold via the Steam Market.
* All Genuine Dota 2 virtual items have the hexadecimal color code #4D7455.

Tusk Dota 2 Guide
This is a Dota 2 hero guide for Tusk.

Dota 2 name: Tusk
DotA name: Ymir - Tuskarr
HoN Counterpart: None
Affiliation: The Radiant
Primary Attribute: Strength


"Who's ready for a fight? The first hit is free! Anyone?"

Listen to Dota 2 Tusk's Voice

Dota 2 Lore - Tusk:
It had been a brawl to remember. There stood Ymir, the Tusk, the Terror from the Barrier, the Snowball from Cobalt, the only fighter to have bested the Bristled Bruiser in a fair fight, and now the last man standing in Wolfsden Tavern. What started as a simple bar bet of supremacy ended with four regulars, a blacksmith, and six of the Frost Brigade's best soldiers writhing against the shards and splinters of almost every bottle, mug, and chair in the building. The Tusk boasted and toasted his victory as he emptied his brew.

No sooner had the defeated regained consciousness than the cries for double-or-nothing rang out. The Tusk was pleased at the prospect, but none could think of a bet bigger than the one he just conquered. Horrified at the damage to his tavern and desperate to avoid another brawl, the barkeep had an idea. As skilled as he was, Ymir had never taken part in a real battle, never tested himself against the indiscriminate death and chaos of war. He proposed a wager to the fighter: seek out the biggest battle he could find, survive, and win it for whichever side he chose. The stakes? The next round of drinks.


Dota 2 Tusk Guide

Tusk Skill 1: Ice Shards (Q)
Tusk compresses 5 shards of ice into a ball of frozen energy that damages all enemies it comes in contact with. If the ball comes in contact with an enemy hero or reaches its maximum range the shards are released, creating a barrier that lasts for 5 seconds.

Tusk Skill 2: Snowball (W)
Tusk and any nearby allied heroes roll in a quickly growing snowball towards the target enemy unit. Any victims caught in the snowball's path take damage and are briefly stunned; the final target takes extra damage and extra stun duration.

Tusk Skill 3: Frozen Sigil (E)
Tuskar summons a Frozen Sigil by calling upon the deepest cold of winter. The Sigil creates a snowstorm which slows all enemy units within 600 range.

Tusk Skill 4: Walrus Punch (R)
Tusk prepares his mighty Walrus Punch; his next attack will do a critical strike and launch the victim into the air. The victim will be slowed upon landing and take damage.

Dota 2 Tuskarr Strategy Guide

Tusk Skill Build 

1- Snowball
2 - Ice Shards
3 - Ice Shards
4 - Snowball
5 - Ice Shards
6 - Walrus Punch
7 - Ice Shards
8 - Snowball
9 - Snowball
10 - Frozen Sigil
11 - Walrus Punch
12 - Frozen Sigil
13 - Frozen Sigil
14 - Frozen Sigil
15 - Stats
16 - Walrus Punch
17 to 25 - Stats


Help build this Tusk guide.
What is your suggested Tusk Hero and Item Build?

Comments
Limit your discussions to Tusk.


Related: Dota 2 Heroes

Cluckles the Brave - Dota 2 Courier

Valve has finally added the much awaited DotA chicken courier to the Dota 2 Store.

The chicken courier has been the Neutral Creeps' mascot since 2008 so we caught up with Andrew Helenek (tG.Helenek) to find out the story behind the port of the iconic chicken to Valve's Dota 2. 


Hi Andrew. How long have you been in the Dota 2 beta?
I got my invite last in the group that put the chicken together but we’ve all be playing the game for quite a while, since early 2012. We’re all avid fans of the game and play together whenever we get the chance.

Did you guys have any prior Warcraft 3 DotA experience?
We all played the original DOTA, but we’ve always loved the series and were overjoyed when we found out Valve was going to behind it.

Tell us the story on how you guys got together to work on the project.
Its funny, our little online group have been playing video games for years together. We’re all friends there except one but on the day Valve released the Workshop, we started jokingly talking about how we could make some items for the game and maybe get them accept into the game. I started thinking about what we could create and noticed the lack of Chicken in Dota 2. A few nights later, I gathered everyone up and told them, "Lets do it, for real."

Everyone in our little online group had a skillset that could be used in its creation. Bewsii was an all-star modeler, Cherrii was a fantastic rigger, I focused on animation and co-led the group with Qwiggalo who was our generalist and quality control guy. But we lacked a texture artist, thankfully we were good friends with Cyborgmatt who happened to know one, J4CK, and put us in contact with him. Our team was assembled and we got to work. We did run into a few problems and luckily ‘Bert came in the clutch right at the end and helped us get it working in game.

How long did it take for you guys to go from an idea to the final addition to the Dota 2 store?
It was quite a long process and there were some hurdles we overcame. We started the chicken on June 4, 2012 and we didn’t get what it looks like right now until December. We spent months perfecting every little detail and waiting for Valve's response from time to time. (haha!) By the end of December, Valve gave us the confirmation that they did plan on shipping it, but it took another month or two to get it polished and ready for shipment.

Message to all Chicken courier fans / Valve:
I want to thank everyone that supported us while we were creating this! We made this for the fans of the original DOTA that miss calling the chicken, chicken! All of the comments shouting at us to get it done drove us to its completion, so thank you guys so much! We’re very happy we can give something to the community that we ourselves take part in! I also want to give a big shoutout to Team Gabe! Valve for creating what will become one of the greatest games in gaming history, and for having the workshop and allowing its users to participate in the creation of items for their game.

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To see more of Andrew's Dota 2 Workshop creations, you can:
Subscribe to AndrewHelenek on YouTube
Follow Helenek's Workshop creations on Steam

From the Neutral Creeps:
Congratulations to the Cluckles the Brave team!
Qwiggalo, 'bert, tG.Helenek, Cherrii, bewsii, J4CK

Watch the courier in action (credits: Matthew Bailey - cyborgmatt.com):



Buy your own Dota 2 chicken!