Defense of the Ancients (DotA) is a custom map based on the AoS (Aeon of Strife) map on Starcraft. Created for the game Warcraft III, DotA can be played as a multiplayer game, either on Battle.net, private servers or local area networks. AI "bots" are available for the DotA Allstars variant. The original map has spawned several variants, including DotA Allstars. DotA Allstars v5.84c was featured in the Malaysian and Singaporean World Cyber Games 2005 national finals and the Cyberathlete Amateur League now runs an Open, Intermediate, Main and Invite division using DotA Allstars v6.41.Gameplay
Defense of the Ancients is a team game with two opposing sides. Unlike regular Warcraft III games, in which many units are controlled by the player, in DotA each player must choose or randomly select a single hero - with its own skills, strengths, and weaknesses - and control only this hero in order to achieve victory. The objective here is to destroy the opposing team's main structure (the "Ancient"), thus giving rise to the game name. To reach the Ancient, each hero must defeat waves of units, structures and enemy heroes. Along the way, the player may upgrade his or her hero by defeating enemies in combat, which supplies gold and experience points. These are both necessary in order to purchase upgrades either from shops or the hero's ability list.
Each hero can learn three "standard" abilities, and a special "ultimate" ability in all versions. The heroes are split into three classes, each emphasizing one of the three parameters: strength, agility, and intelligence.
Defense of the Ancients variants
Throughout the history of the Defense of the Ancients map development, various DotA map titles were created by map developers, either successors or spin-offs of the original version. These include:
DotA Allstars
Gamebox DotA
DotA Outland
DotA Darkness Falls
DotA Classic
DotA Extreme
5v5 or 6v6 DotA (This map was not official, and had money codes in it)
DotA Rumble
A variant of DotA with only one lane (through the middle), with towers scattered throughout.
DotA: Danite's Hell
A variant of DotA in which each hero is missing its normal magic abilities. Instead, abilities are randomly assigned from the pool of all possible abilities for heroes on the team (that is, the Scourge or Sentinel).
DotA SC (alternatively, DSC or AoS II)[citation needed]
A Starcraft-themed variant of DotA, with the fantasy themed heroes of regular DotA variants replaced with heroes representative of units from Starcraft and its expansion. Heroes are easier to kill, games are finished quicker, and there is the use of "Combat Buildings" to sweep for cloaked or camping players.
