If you were a big fan of the very first auto battler game, Dota 2’s Auto Chess or even Dota 2 itself, then the Dota Underlords is the perfect game for you. The game is like the second version of Dota 2 Auto Chess. Hard-working couriers in dota games live in a little island - Drodo Island. Busy jobs do not prevent them from having fun themselves in spare time. A casino opened on Drodo Island recently, after the TD house and Rink! You can pick dota heros as your chesses and they will automatically fight for you on a 8.8 chessboard. Dota Auto Chess is being hailed as one of the fastest growing games of 2019, and is especially unique since it is essentially a 'game within a game' that has seen record-breaking player numbers since it's.

This strategy guide focuses on the basic principles of Auto Chess strategy. We have a Strategies Tier List if you're interested in the best strategies for the current metagame!

In this article, I’ll try to lay out the general strategy in an Auto Chess game chronologically so that you get an idea of how the game usually develops. I’ll also include some details of the most popular synergies at different stages of the game.

Lvl1-5

The early game is all about a strong opening strategy. The better it is, the easier you will be able to get an early winning streak going which will boost your economy, and the faster you will be able to reach the mid game.

Don’t forget that you can sell lvl1 units for full price. This means you don’t have to stick to the first units you buy. If you see something better in the next draws, just sell the old ones and buy the new ones.

Make use of your bench. Buy multiple units (even ones you are not currently using) so that you can possibly combine them in the future. If it turns out you’re not going to use them – sell them off.

Opening Strategies:

Establish your frontline consisting of tanks is the number one step you need to take care of. There are a couple of ways you can go about it depending on what units (Chesses) you draw at the first few rounds.

Above: Axe, Tusk, Tiny, Slardar, Jugg, Lycan

Easyopening because of the high number of warriors available in the game and verystrong because of the armor synergy (most of the damage in the early-mid gameis physical). It gives you the option to go for an all-warrior strat or totransition into something else mid-late game relatively easily.

Above: Clockwerk, Tinker, Timbersaw, Bounty Hunter

Probablythe strongest opening – the Mech and Goblin synergies make your early-game armyalmost impossible to kill. The fact that you use both the class and species ofyour units makes it a bit harder to transition into another synergy seamlessly(your starting units wouldn’t have synergy with new units unless the new unitsare also Goblins or Mechs). This means you would usually have to sell and replace them at some point unless you're going for the (6) Goblins strat.

Above: Enchantress, Treant Protector, Furion,

An easy opening because of the low amounts of units you need to upgrade your Druids. The dream is to get a quick two or three star Lone Druid – he is arguably the most powerful tank in the game and can buy you a lot of time to build a great backline and transition into another synergy in the mid-late game.

Having two Beasts (Lone and Ench) also makes it easy to get the Beast bonus. Lycan is great for even more summons besides those of Lone and Furion - the units will get the bonus damage and if they survive till the end of the round will deal a lot of damage to your opponents. Getting a unit with high base physical DPS (like Terrorrblade or Troll) is also a good strategy if you have a high Beast bonus.

Above: Batrider, Luna, Chaos Knight, Omniknight, Abaddon

Probablythe hardest starting strategy (knights are fewer and generally more expensive),but very strong if you get the pieces you need. Like the Warrior opening,knights are relatively self-sufficient (damage from Luna with items, tankinessfrom the other knights and the class synergy), but also give you the option toeasily transition into other strategies like Trolls (thanks to Batrider) and Dragons (thanks to Dragon Knight).

You can check out our in-depth Knights guide here.

Above: TImber, Beastmaster, Bounty Hunter, Anti-Mage, etc.

Instead of establishing a synergy right from the get-go, you can simply go for high-value units - Timbersaw, Beastmaster, Bounty, etc. DO NOT put low-value variety units in your army – you are playing without synergies, the quality of your units needs to be able to compensate. A couple of those could do the job well enough initially, and you will be able to transition into a more coherent strategy in the mid game depending on your draws. This opening requires the most thinking on the spot – a lot of placeholder units in your army and bench that you will sell or combine later on depending on what you get.

lvl6-7

The mid game is the most important part economically. Ideally, you want to slowly start hoarding gold around lvl6 to take advantage of the interest. Once you reach 50, spend any extra gold on slowly upgrading and building your army and buying levels.

Above: Shadow Shaman, Batrider, Witch Doctor, Troll

4Trolls arearguably the strongestsynergy in the game. Troll Warlord is the key unit here, which makes thisstrategy easiest to play after the Knights opening (because of Batrider) or theWarriors opening (because Troll is a warrior and you could get a Warrior synergybonus as well).

Above: Puck, Viper, Dragon Knight

A powerful three unit synergy. It’s easiest to build after a Knight opening because a high lvl Dragon Knight is the key unit from the bunch. Needing only three units means you will likely have space for another synergy (or simply strong variety units). A great example is going for the Mage bonus if your Puck is high level.

Dragons are extremely strong in the late game - a two-star Dragon Knights with items can deal insane AoE damage.

Above: Anti-Mage, Terrorblade, Chaos Knight, Queen of Pain, Shadow Fiend, Doom

If you have a strong high-lvl Demon in your lineup as well as Terrorblade/Anti-Mage, it’s a great idea to try to find the other demon-hunter in order to introduce other strong demons in your draft without losing the Demon species bonus. This will allow you to run a Doom, Shadow Fiend, Chaos Knight, Queen of Paing, etc. while all of them have the Fel Power bonus.

This strat is usually hard to go for because Demons are relatively rare and many people contest them.

Above: Witch Doctor, Venomancer, Shadow Fiend, Necrophos, Alchemist, Enigma

The key unit that shows you that you can go for the strat is usually a high-level Shadow Fiend.

Warlocks are really more of a late-game synergy, but you can get yourself in a good position to use this class bonus by preparing Warlocks from early on – you might even keep them on the bench until you can make use of the synergy bonus. To make Warlocks’ lifesteal work, you also need a strong front-line that is tanky and deals damage.

Above: Bounty Hunter, Morphling, Queen of Pain, Slark, Riki, Sand King, Phantom Assassin, Viper, Templar Assassin

Assassins are a bit hard to pull off because to be efficient you usually want to aim for the full 6-unit synergy. It’s probably easiest to do out of a variety opening in which you already have 1-2 high-value early game assassins (Bounty, Queen). A high-level Templar Assassin, as well as crowd control from Tide or Kunkka is great with Assassins because it buys them time to deal damage.

You can check out our in-depth Assassins guide.

Above: Ogre Magi, Crystal Maiden, Puck, Lina, Tazor, Keeper of the Light, Lich

You usually commit to this strategy after a high-level Razor(s) in your army. Don’t try to use too many mages straight from the early-mid game simply because the cheap mage units are weak. Make sure your frontline is strong enough, store Mages on the bench if you need to (e.g. prepare a Crystal Maiden for the late game). Fully commit to the strat in the mid-late game and try to get your hands on a two star Lich.

It's worth noting that the Mage bonus is amazing for other magic damage dealers in your army - great examples are Shadow Fiend and Kunkka.

An additional tip - if you have a high-level Puck, going for the Dragon synergy is a great idea. It will allow your Puck to use his spell right away and will provide you with a decent tank in DK. Viper Strike, although not amazing, also deals magic damage.

Our In-Depth Mages Guide.

Above: Drow, Beastmaster, Mirana, Sniper, Windranger, Medus, Tide

Going for Hunters is a bit awkward in the mid game because the mid-game Hunters (Sniper and Mirana) are not great. Beastmaster, however, is very strong, which means a popular way to get the (3) Hunters bonus is to get Beastmaster early on and to get two additional ranged Hunters like Drow and Windranger.

Drow could be used as a way to get the (2) Undead bonus, which is very decent.

Our In-Depth Hunters Guide.

Above: Troll, Kunkka, Disruptor, Shadow Fiend, Doom, Templar Assassin

Still sticking to variety picks at this point is a bit scary – you need to at least start building synergies in order to secure the late game. Even minor buffs from two or three unit synergies are extremely valuable. Pay attention to species bonuses - e.g. Naga, Undead, and Human are powerful, easy to get and easy to forget about.

The units mentioned above are usually good enough to use in a draft on their own. That being said, this is no excuse for totally ignoring synergies. Units that participate in multiple good synergies are very valuable in this situation because they give you options. Two great examples are Witch Doctor (can go for Trolls, can go for Warlocks), Necro (an easy 2-Undead bonus, can use in Warlocks).

Lvl8-10

You could reach this stage without dipping below 50 gold if you get great draws and manage your army and economy very well. If you manage to do this on a winning streak you are most probably winning hard. In the end, the player who wins is the player with the strongest late game army. Having a great economy like that increases your chances because you will have the extra gold to cycle through a lot more units than your opponents, which gives you a higher chance to get what you need.

Often, however, this wouldn’t be the case and the signal that the late game has come would be that other players are starting to defeat your mid-game army convincingly. Late game losses are costly in terms of HP, so you need to take measures quickly.

Use all of your gold to refreshing the shop. This way you will find upgrades to your army as quickly as possible - reaching three stars on at least a few units and two stars on everything else is crucial. You will also find missing key pieces to your strategy (important legendary units, etc.). In harder games, you might not even have the luxury to get to 50 gold before you need to start spending on shop refreshes to search for units.

Don’t forget to try to reach lvl10 – the final one or two bodies on the battlefield are important for their stats, but even more so for the synergies they can provide. If you are rich and can get to lvl10 early this will also increase your chances to get rare units. A two-star legendary shouldn't be underestimated!

Nonetheless, if you’re desperate it is definitely possible to win a game on lvl9. If you don’t have powerful units on the bench, upgrading to lvl10 might be a very big cost that will cripple you more than it will help you - it might be a better decision to spend your gold in the shop to try to upgrade the units you already have.

What will help you decide whether to lvl-up or search for units is how well your army is doing against the enemy players. If you are winning comfortably, try to press that lvl-up button regularly so that you reach lvl10 before your opponents. If you are struggling, getting your army in order is a priority (of course, sometimes you need the extra slot more than you need new units because you have great units on the bench).

Thanks for reading! If you're interested in more DAC content, you can check out our Auto Chess Tier List or our Dota Auto Chess Positioning Guide.

If you're interested in getting better at Dota as well, we urge you to check out the rest of our website!

This page will serve as a basic how to play guide for Dota Auto Chess. New information is being added all the time! Feel free to edit this guide with any tips, tricks, and suggestions.

• 2Basic Gameplay

Introduction[edit edit source]

The game of Autochess is an 8-player PvP game mode in Dota 2 based around an 8 by 8 chess board, where the individual chess pieces are Dota 2 heroes. Each round, every player gets a random set of heroes from a limited pool to choose from and place on their side of the the board (4 by 8).

The players are then matched against each other (or against neutral creeps every 5 rounds) where the chess pieces battle against each other automatically. If a player loses the battle, he then loses 1 health points from each enemy hero left on the board (2 or 3 if the enemy hero is powerful). The game is won when only one player is still standing.

Basic Gameplay[edit edit source]

Heroes[edit edit source]

At the start of every round, each player chooses from a selection of 5 random heroes, or chess pieces. The player buys some of these heroes with gold and places them on the board to battle. The player can spend 2 gold to re-roll their 5 heroes to buy other heroes.

The bought heroes are placed on the player's 'reserve' tiles and can be moved from the 'reserve' tiles onto a board tile to fight the enemy. Only one hero can occupy a single tile.

Every hero starts with one star, representing its level. Heroes with higher stars have more health, more damage, and upgraded abilities. If you place 3 equal heroes on the board, you will upgrade the 3 heroes into a hero with one higher star (with the exception of druid), up to 3 stars.

• For example, placing 3 Level 1 Axe onto the board makes one Level 2 Axe.
• For example, placing 3 Level 2 Luna onto the board makes one Level 3 Luna.

Every hero is characterized by at least one species, one class, and one ability. There are 15 species and 11 classes in the game.

• Controlling different heroes of the same species provides beneficial effects (with the exception of ogre, demon, and dwarf).
  • For example, beasts give all allies +10% attack damage if there are 2 different beasts on your board.
    • +20% if there are 4 different beasts.
• Controlling different heroes of the same class provides beneficial effects (with the exception of priest).
  • For example, mages reduce the magic resistance of all enemies by 35% if there are 3 different mages on your board.
    • An additional 45% if there are 6 different mages.
• Abilities are unique to the hero and work like a normal DotA 2 ability. Active abilities require mana, which is earned every time the hero hits or gets hit by another unit.

The number of heroes that the player can have on the board is limited. The player can have a maximum of 8 heroes on their reserve slots, plus a number of heroes on their board based on courier level.

• For example, if the player's courier level is 5, the player can only have a maximum of 5 heroes on their board (plus 8 on reserve).
• For example, if the player's courier level is 9, the player can only have a maximum of 9 heroes on their board (plus 8 on reserve).

The player's courier level can be increased by gaining experience.

• 1 exp is gained at the end of each round. There are a total of 50 rounds.
• The player can spend 5 gold whenever they want to gain 4 exp.

Because the number of heroes the player can field onto the board is limited, the player must manage the space they have in order to upgrade heroes to a higher level. The player must also constantly be selling less powerful heroes to get back gold to buy more powerful heroes. Level 1 heroes can be sold for the same amount of gold that they were initially bought for.

If the player starts a round with having placed too many heroes on their board (more than the limit), heroes are randomly selected and sent back to the reserve slots, or automatically sold if there is not enough space on the reserve slots, until there is no overflow of heroes.

Additionally, there's a limited pool of heroes for every game, shared by all players.

• For example, for chess pieces that cost 1 gold, the chess pool size for each hero is 45.
• For example, for chess pieces that cost 5 gold, the chess pool size for each hero is 10.

Therefore, if someone in the game has a lot of some heroes, you're less likely to get those heroes. The strategy is to keep track of what types of heroes your enemies are buying and buy lesser used heroes, or even buying heroes to deny the opponents from getting them.

Gold[edit edit source]

Gold is earned at the start of each round from 3 sources:

Dota Auto Chess Download

• Basic income for each round
• Win or lose streak (up to 3 gold)
• Interest (10% of your current gold, rounded down to the nearest integer, up to 5 gold)
  • For example, if you have 6 gold, you get 0 interest (10% of 6 is 0.6 which is rounded down to 0)
  • For example, if you have 25 gold you get 2 interest
  • For example, if you have 61 gold, you get 5 interest

Gold is earned before the end of each round from 1 source:

• 1 gold for beating the enemy (winning the round)

Creeps[edit edit source]

The player fights against neutral creeps in the first 3 rounds and in every fifth round except for Round 5. Creeps can drop items when killed, which can be be picked up by the courier and equipped onto heroes for bonus effects.

Sometimes, heroes must be repositioned to be more effective at fighting against specific neutral creeps. Creeps that you really need to worry about repositioning your heroes are:

• Round 15 wolves, which behave like assassins, cutting into your backline
• Round 35 Black Dragon, which does splash damage

Controls[edit edit source]

Q-select your piece and move it to the board

W-retrieve your piece from the board

E-sells your piece for gold

F-spend 5 gold to get 4 experience

D-spend 2 gold to refresh your hero pool

Space-pulls up your hero pool

Dota Chess Guide

Tab-cycle through opposing boards

Alt-with your courier selected, shows XP / XP needed for the next level at the bottom of the courier portrait

Tips and tricks[edit edit source]

Learn all the combo effects and synergies to utilise the chesses.

Determine your team combos (Ex: Goblin - Assassin, Knight - Troll, Warrior, Mage, etc...). You should change your build depending on the situation (Ex: If you want to go Goblin - Assassin build but 2 or 3 people are building that team/Your rolls are pretty bad and have a lot of unnecessary cheeses - You should change to another combo).

Buy things you need to buy for your future team. You can buy some heroes that is not for the combo you wanted but can help you survive early game, and can sell it later.

From round 7 you must not buy anthing unless its really necessary,if you do that, in round 14 you will have 50 golds to maximum the interest golds each round (+5 gold), you will have a really good economy afterward to build your team. Dont let your gold drop below 50.

In early game you shouldn't roll.

In mid game you should roll max is 3 times for 1 round to not hurting your economy. The rest of gold should go for leveling up your courier.

In late game spend all your gold for courier to level max and rolls for last pieces of combo you need.

You can also check out community's guides and strategies. You can discuss and add your own there.

Game mechanics[edit edit source]

Some tribal synergy can have underlined mechanic that may work differently from how you expect them to, which is described on each tribe's page. You can also check out how some other concepts and game mechanics work.

Matchmaking Rating[edit edit source]

See also[edit edit source]

so far this game is kinda hard, if only there was a wiki