Pro Guide: Fog Of War By:Katzkie

Table of Contents:
. I. Introduction
. II. Terrain Review
. III. Blind Spots
. IV. Fog Characteristics
. V. Round About
. VI. Forest Illusion
. VII. Stop and Go
. VIII. Neutral Help
. IX. Uphill Sidestepping
. X. Disappearing Act
. XI. Countermeasures
. XII. Things to Remember
. XIII. Credits

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I. INTRODUCTION

Hi its me katzkie, today I would like to teach you how to use the fog of war. The fog is a defensive mechanism designed to give realism to the game. Now, whenever I play, I often see players running straight towards the base whenever they encounter a life threatening situation. You think you can escape better if you run straight home right? But I see over and over how heroes die because they were running straight along the lane as the enemy chases and catches with a spell.

The idea of using the fog is deception. Most heroes have spells that cannot be used unless you are able to click on the person. That’s the advantage I want to teach to you. Your enemy may have an idea where you are, but by using the fog, you can loose them and escape from their grasps. But first you must be extremely familiar with the terrain.

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II. TERRAIN REVIEW

A. Basic Terrain



By now, you should already know this mini map. The white lines indicate the 3 major battle lanes where creeps travel and the blue line shows the river lane. Now this I’ll tell you, if you have an enemy on your tail, I wouldn’t recommend you to pass straight through these lanes unless you don’t have any other choice. You can cross in and out but I suggest not all the way because if you’re being hunted by your enemies, I’m sure they’ll be blocking these basic paths. I assume that you know the small red and cyan squares along the lane are siege towers. As long as you have them standing, they can be your point of safety.


B. Side Paths



This is the layout of the major side paths in the forest. With this you can organize your escape routes in case you get in trouble. Knowing these routes, you can choose a breaking point where you can loose your opponents. You can decide where you want to exit towards the major lane going back to the base. It is not accurate since I simply traced it but it can give you an idea where and how to flee.

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III. BLIND SPOTS

A. Behind the Trees



This type of fog is usually used to maneuver across and around the forest.

B. Inside the Trees



This type of fog gives the ability of penetration escape. For forests that have branching exits your enemy will never know where you left.

C. Uphill



An uphill fog gives you enough time to break into pivot turn where you enemy least expects it.

D. Upper Cliffs



This type of fog is very popular with heroes who have blink. Enemies will have to run around just to catch them.

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IV. FOG CHARACTERISTICS

1.) Knowing what your enemies see and do not see is an advantage. When playing tag, always remember that if you can’t see them, they can’t see you as well. Not unless they have wards, amplify damage, track or blood thirst which in case, you’ll have no use of the fog then you have to run as fast in the shortest possible distance to safety. This doesn’t apply on cloaking heroes. A split second you loose sight of them gives you the open window to hide or break turn where your enemy would least expect.

2.) The range of your view differs according to the time. The range of your sight during the day is wider than when it is at night.





As you can see, when it comes at night, your sight range becomes shorter; hence it is better to hunt at daylight so you can see your enemies more clearly.

3.) Higher ground gives more sight distance compared to flat and lower grounds which are the reason why optimal ward placements are located on higher grounds especially in the river crossing because it will give farther range of security for you and can cover more grounds.




Lower ground is always disadvantageous not only in sight but also in attack. Ranged heroes have more chances to miss on lower ground when attacking someone higher.


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V. ROUND ABOUT

This kind of escape technique is using the trees to circle around the trees and loose your tail. You will be coming out from the same side and will look for another route back to base. Here’s a demonstration how.



As you can see, in a split second your enemy does not see you, you can escape them instead of running straight with clear vision from your enemy. This technique only works on single enemy on your tail. This strategy requires precision timing. You can gauge the speed you will take from the distance your enemy is from you and the movement speed of both parties. Once you move too early or too late, this technique might not work. By running towards the opposite direction of your enemy without him/her knowing it, you’ve already lost them.


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VI. FOREST ILLUSION

This kind of technique requires the full knowledge of the terrain. Your aim is to loose him inside the trees. Make sure the forest you will enter has lots of exits points such as this example.




This strategy is very effective when being chased by 1 or two enemies. By running inside a full forest, your enemy has nothing else to think other than you trying to escape from them. They will try to anticipate the direction you are taking and try to follow it. Unlike the first example, this technique won’t give your enemy a glimpse of you once you enter the trees. Make sure to observe your enemies’ movements before you loose sight of them. Anticipate where they are going to enter and avoid the path they will take.


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VII. STOP AND GO

This technique requires guts and courage. This usually works when your enemy is extremely near you and you are in extreme danger. This is the time when your enemy’s adrenalin is up and senses go down. This is an all or nothing move. If you don’t succeed, it’ll be either you’re dead or you’ll be in greater danger. Here’s a demonstration:




This trick is a very funny one, and I’m sure you’ll laugh once you pull this off against your enemies. It is a very embarrassing move to be fooled with this and requires great skill to make this work. There are lots of hiding places in the map, make sure that it is a corner where your enemy can anticipate a false move by not seeing you or a simple fog extension so that your enemy won’t see you move in to the hole.


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VIII. NEUTRAL HELP

Neutral spots are also good hiding places. Although, make sure its night time so that you won’t draw fire from them and get attention. Here’s one demonstration



The reason why enemies won’t think you’ll hide among neutrals is that, neutral spots are most likely to be a dead end. It will depend on your enemy’s judgment to look for you there. As I have always been saying, fog is a very good tool, because of temporary blindness, your enemy will think you’ve gone far already and try to pursuit you.


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IX. UPHILL SIDESTEPPING
Uphill in the previous lesson gives a wide range of blind spots. Everything on higher ground cannot be seen unless you have an ally there. However, this is your moment of chance to deceive your enemy and move on to your escape.




This technique requires good knowledge about fog characteristics. When being chased by an enemy from the lower ground, always remember that even though you can still see him, you are still invisible being on upper ground. So once you’ve reached higher ground, you can already make your move.


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X. DISAPPEARING ACT

This technique is very important when being ganged by more than 3 - 5 heroes. There are some cases that you can’t maneuver your way to safety, you have to get a safe spot and use your town portal. Here’s one:



The main objective for this is to get yourself a safe spot so that you can cast your TP or wait for your friends to come and help. By entering a dead end, you are closing the curtains. Your enemies will anticipate you running away where in fact you’re standing still casting your TP. By the time they realize that you’re not running, you’re already at home regaining your HP.


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XI. COUNTERMEASURES (chasing Houdini)

Now these techniques aren’t always perfect. It is just designed for you to have an edge when dealing with these kinds of situations.

1.) You can counter act your enemy hiding by using “attack ground” function. 1st rule in following an enemy is DO NOT use the auto follow function because once your enemy enters the fog, your hero will simply stop because he has lost his target. What you do is to anticipate your enemy’s movement. Instead of using “right click” to move to a position, press “a” then left click to the ground you want to progress to. This case, your hero will auto follow any enemy within range and you don’t have to worry about losing your target.

Disadvantage: when encountered with multiple enemies, your hero has the chance of changing target. In this case, you have to use your instincts to follow your enemy and lock on to him.

2.) Use the ALT function. By holding the alt function, you can see the life bar of your enemy. However, you can’t see the life bar if they are in the fog. So why use it? Well, during my demonstrations, it isn’t always zero visibility. Some of them are simply virtually invisible. By using the trees as camouflage, you can hide and distract your opponent. Within these glimpse of vision, when you’re holding your alt key, you will see your opponent’s directional movement giving you the greater chance of following them.

Disadvantage: while holding your alt key, your hand will be restrained and casting spells using shortcut keys will be slightly harder. Make sure you practice casting while holding your alt key.

3.) Always check your mini map. Your camera view and range restricts your sight against your opponent. By checking your mini map, you can track your enemy’s movements even though they are far from your sight range. There are some instances that your enemy shows a glimpse of his position in the mini map, considering passing through the sight range of an allied unit.

Disadvantage: looking too far from your own camera makes you miss things like shorter paths or the status of your hero. Make sure you spot the bigger picture and not only focusing on a single view.


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XII. THINGS TO REMEMBER

1.) Never run on clear vision of your enemy. Always remember not to give them a clear shot or a good target. Remember that enemies won’t follow if they don’t have a target. Use the fog to loose them.

2.) If you can’t see them, most likely they can’t see you as well. What you can see isn’t always just your sight range view but also your allied units’ views. Make use of what you see and what your enemies can’t see.

3.) Do not just watch your movements but also your enemy’s. Distance and speed are good points of judgment when using the fog. This will determine your time and direction to where you will be able to escape.

4.) Always trust your instincts. Never let fear cloud your judgment. Its better to die trying than to die running. If all else fails, means you just need more practice.

5.) Have a good knowledge of the terrain. Check out hiding spots for yourself and determine which are effective or not. I didn’t place all hiding spots in here because if I did, this will be a very long guide. I simply taught the techniques and its for you to learn the spots and try it.

i totally in-love with this thread !!