Dota 2 is a very complex game that has a steep learning curve. Players struggle to progress their rank without proper guidance. As such, the rise of online tutorial platforms for games like Dota 2 has commenced. One of these platforms is DOTABUFF.
Today, we’ll take a look at DOTABUFF and see if you should consider using it.
What Is DOTABUFF?
DOTABUFF is a statistics website service where Dota 2 players can obtain in-depth statistics of their gameplay, download and share games, see their profiles, and get a better understanding of the game that they all love. The service turns raw statistical data from nearly millions of Dota 2’s public matches into information that players can use to improve themselves. DOTABUFF is pretty much in the lead as one of the biggest and most useful Dota 2 community resources not only for new players but also for experienced ones.
Who Created DOTABUFF?
DOTABUFF is the brainchild of Elo Entertainment. DOTABUFF is their platform to help players with their game through stats and analysis. The developers of the website share the passion that the players have for Dota 2 and pride themselves on creating DOTABUFF in a way that gives support and improves the Dota 2 community.
How Does the Service Work?
DOTABUFF tracks every single public game that’s ever been played in Dota 2. The service then presents unique and distinctive stats and outlines for every Dota 2 player, based on the available information alongside the billions of supplementary data points collected from various game replays, Steam, and other community resources. Players can see their Dota 2 player profile by logging in on DOTABUFF with Steam or looking for your name or Steam ID.
Hardcore Dota 2 players can also upgrade their account to DOTABUFFPlus if they want more in-depth statistics as well as some additional features.
If you’re looking for more Dota 2 guides, here is our review of GameLeap and our guide to increasing your Dota 2 MMR.
How to Sign Up and Link your Dota 2 Profile For DOTABUFF
DOTABUFF has a great way for players to sign up. The only thing players need to do is to synchronize their Steam Accounts with DOTABUFF.
Through the login option, simply select a login and then type in the Steam account name and password of the Dota 2 profile you wish to have on DOTABUFF. After that, players only need to ensure that their game profile allows the use of data tracking.
How to Use DOTABUFF To Improve Your Game
The first thing you have to do to use DOTABUFF is to ensure that you allow it to see the results of your match. This is how you do that:
- Start Dota 2 and go to the game’s settings.
- Select Options and then go to the game’s Advanced Options.
- Make sure to check the box with the prompt “Expose Public Match Data.”
- The user now has given third-party tools like DOTABUFF the ability to track the profile’s progress.
DOTABUFF Plus
DOTABUFF is available for free. However, if you want to have everything that DOTABUFF has to offer, the premium version called DOTABUFF Plus requires users to pay a monthly subscription, with the price of $6/month or $56/year.
DOTABUFF Plus has several features that are not available on the free version, which we’ll talk about below.
List of DOTABUFF Features
First things first, DOTABUFF has a free version that anyone can use without paying a subscription fee. However, the things that users can do with the free version are incredibly limited and some advertisements can disrupt users.
Thus, we’re going to discuss what the available features are on DOTABUFF, and the differences between the free version of DOTABUFF, as well as DOTABUFF PLUS.
Available on Both the Free Version and DOTABUFF PLUS
- Player Profile: Both the Free and Plus versions of DOTABUFF allow players the ability to see their Player Profiles. This is a nice addition to the features and is a building block to the rest of the features available in the service.
- Public Statistics: Players also can see the public statistics of their games. Said statistics include the players’ creep scores, the gold they earn, the EXP they get in a match, and more. Unfortunately, that’s all that you can see on the free version. The Plus version of DOTABUFF has extra stuff that’s going to be talked about below.
- Mobile Support: Both the Free and Plus versions of DOTABUFF can be used on mobiles. It’s a simple matter of opening your phone, logging in to DOTABUFF, and seeing the matches.
- Advertisements: Unfortunately, the Free version has advertisements. If users don’t want to see ads, upgrading to premium is suggested.
Only Available on DOTABUFF PLUS:
TrueSight Match Analysis: The first thing that players can get is TrueSight Match Analysis. TrueSight is a match analysis platform for Dota 2. TrueSight immediately downloads the game’s replay file and then works on compiling detailed statistics and data that are far beyond what’s normally available after a player’s match. Matches that have been analyzed with the use of TrueSight have tabs that are chock full of additional statistics and info created to help players get the most out of each match and improve faster.
Why Is This Useful?
This is useful since it gives players an avenue to assess their performance per match. Instead of downloading and seeing the replay of a player’s last match, they only need to go to the matching page that’s on DOTABUFF if they permitted it to download it. New page tabs like Kills, Farm, and Vision will appear and show players a detailed summary of what occurred in the game.
Who Is This for?
TrueSight is for players who want to improve their in-game performance. It is also a great way to keep track of their usual mannerisms while playing the game. With the use of TrueSight, players can quickly understand what occurred, identify how they can improve, and then use these revelations on their next match. It also provides a good way for in-game friends or other community members to give the players feedback on their matches without them having to download said match for themselves.
How Can Users Have Their Matches Analyzed by TrueSight?
TrueSight immediately analyzes all tournament matches that happen on Dota 2 as well as matches that have one or more verified players. Matches that have one or more DOTABUFF Plus subscribers also get analyzed. TrueSight analysis is also publicly available for all the tournament matches that are on Dota 2.
How Long Does It Take?
TrueSight will immediately begin to download and analyze a player’s matches as soon as they’re played. This is because TrueSight uses both Dota 2’s API and replay servers. Normally, this should take only a few minutes, with longer times being due to network difficulties in Dota 2.
Why Is TrueSight Only Available on DOTABUFF PLUS?
TrueSight is an incredibly detailed and accurate service for DOTABUFF. However, it requires more work than usual.
This is because parsing all the matches in Dota 2 simply isn’t possible at this time because there might be thousands of matches happening per minute. There are currently plans, however, to add more public features based on the data that was gained from TrueSight, examples of which are new categories of detailed aggregate statistics.
Personal Dashboard
The DOTABUFF Plus service also includes a Personal Dashboard. This means that in addition to a Personal Profile, they are also allowed the ability to see more detailed data on their matches and performance.
Detailed Hero Rankings
Here, you’ll be able to see the stats for every hero in the game. It’s the best way for players to track how they’re improving, allowing them to find successful strategies from various top players all over the world. It also helps players set personal goals on how they wish to improve in the game.
How Does This Work?
Each of the heroes on Dota 2 has its ranking list. This Ranking list has all the qualifying players that use said hero constantly. The system updates itself instantly after every match that players play and shows how a player’s ranking has changed based on a variety of statistics.
How Do Users Find the Rankings?
Rankings are available for every hero in the game. DOTABUFF Plus users can see this on the top eight players located on the hero’s page on the website. They can also find this on the top 100 alongside a player’s statistics located on the dedicated rankings page.
Lifetime Data Retention
DOTABUFF Plus allows the users the ability to keep the data of their matches and analysis forever, even when you don’t subscribe to DOTABUFF Plus anymore.
Item Build Timelines
In addition to farm statistics (which we’ll discuss below), DOTABUFF also can see the exact timing in which the players obtained their core items. The service will then compare the item timings with various pros and show you the comparison before following it with the farm statistics.
Interactive Vision Map
DOTABUFF Plus also can show allied and enemy vision throughout the map and when said vision is placed.
Farm Statistics
DOTABUFF PLUS allows users to see their farm statistics. Now, this isn’t the typical farm that people are talking about: farm in MOBAs is how much gold and experience the player has accumulated throughout a Dota 2 game, as well as how they got that gold and EXP.
Advantages of Subscribing to DOTABUFF
There are a lot of advantages when users subscribe to the DOTABUFF Plus subscription. The aforementioned perks are features you don’t usually get anywhere else, and these can definitely help you up your Dota 2 game by leaps and bounds.
DOTABUFF vs Competitors
DOTABUFF isn’t the only website service that allows players to learn Dota 2. There are others that players can use, and it’s up to them to pick which one they’re gonna be using. If you’re unsure with which service to use, we’ve got you covered by comparing DOTABUFF with its competitors.
OpenDota
Let’s talk about OpenDota first, as it’s the first thing people talk about when comparing various websites that allow players to learn Dota 2.
OpenDota is a pretty useful web service if you’re playing Dota 2. OpenDota has a few similar features to DOTABUFF, one of which being the ability to link your account to the website service as well as see the match replays of the matches you play on the player’s account. However, OpenDota also allows players to see the matches of professional players, as well as their stats.
Finally, OpenDota allows users to download the matches that they want to see and analyze for themselves, which is a great training tool if you want to improve in Dota 2.
GameLeap
Next on the agenda is GameLeap.
GameLeap, above all else, is a website that allows players of different competitive multiplayer games to learn more about the games they’re playing through the use of informative clips and videos discussing various game mechanics. An example of this are the videos about creep cutting and blocking for Dota 2, skillshot videos on the League of Legends part of their website, aim help videos on Valorant and CS: GO, and others. They, like the first two sites mentioned before, also have videos of pro games, which might be some interesting and educational material to watch.
However, GameLeap is not a dedicated web service for Dota 2. The site has other games that they’re offering help on. This means that the help they offer isn’t as specific in comparison to DOTABUFF, which is a website for Dota 2-related content exclusively.
GamerzClass
Last but not least would be GamerzClass, and this is an interesting one.
GamerzClass is a website that gives classes to players of four games: Dota 2, League of Legends, FIFA, and Counter-Strike: Global Offensive. Similar enough to GameLeap in its premise, the website offers classes that players of the games can access for free. Of course, users have to pay a monthly subscription fee if they want to see everything their courses have to offer.
The thing that differentiates GamerzClass from GameLeap and DOTABUFF, though, is that the coaches that they have for games are legitimate, professional players.
An example of these is Dota 2’s N0tail, Topson, Boxi, Nikobaby, and Cr1t.
