Detection & Couriers: A n00b's Guide

INFO:  The Courier. This creature has 75 HP, 350 Movement Speed, and costs 150 gold.

USES: This friendly creature will deliver items to and from allied players. Usually purchased by players acting in a support role, it allows players to stay in lane while still having access to items. Not just limited to delivery, the courier is often used by advanced players as a sort of mobile chest: switching out items in the early game depending on the situation.

INFO: An upgrade for the normal courier, the Flying Courier costs 220 gold, can fly over obstacles, and the option for a temporary speed boost. Can be purchased after 3 minutes.

USES: Same as the normal courier, but with a speed boost ability. Often used by heroes playing in the mid lane to quickly refill Bottle charges. In the original DoTA, the Flying Courier was called a 'crow'; heroes in a carry role will often ask for supports to purchase a crow as soon as it's available. Due to its ability to fly, crows are often used to scout out the map. However, if the courier is killed, it does not come back for 3 minutes; the items it was carrying inaccessible until it respawns.

 INFO: Observer Ward. Provides vision in a 1600 radius that lasts for 7 minutes. Costs 150 gold, is invisible, and has 200 HP.

USES: Another item usually purchased by support heroes, this ward is used for map control, most commonly in the form of rune vision and gank protection. Though invisible to the enemy team, they can be revealed by True Sight, so it is often best in higher-level games to place them in unusual (yet hopefully still effective) spots. The shop will only carry 2 sets (each set containing two wards) of wards (though it only starts with 1), and the stock is replenished after 6 minutes.

INFO: Sentry Ward. Provides True Sight in a 800 radius that lasts for 4 minutes, as well as 150 ground vision for 12 seconds after placement. Costs 200 gold, and has 200 HP.

USES: Detection (a.k.a. revealing invisible heroes/wards). Unlike Observer Wards, Sentry Wards do not provide permanent vision--after the 12 seconds of initial vision, you will need another source of vision (hero, courier, Observer Ward) to see invisible objects. Usually used either in-lane to counter invisible heroes (Rikki, Bounty Hunter, Weaver, or heroes with the Invisibility Rune), or to remove enemy wards.



INFO: Dust of Appearance. Prevents enemy invisibility in a 1050 radius and applies a 15% movement speed slow for 12 seconds. Costs 180 gold and comes with 2 charges.

USES: Preventing/revealing invisibility on enemy heroes. Does not have any effect on wards. It's most common usage is in teamfights, preventing escape or discovering initiating heroes.


INFO: Gem of True Sight. Grants True Sight to the hero carrying it, and that hero's illusions. Costs 900 gold, and drops upon death. Cannot be destroyed.

USES: Detection. This item is very situational; used in late game when the gold cost isn't that much of an obstacle, usually with the intent of pushing or preventing a push. As it drops on death (thereby allowing the enemy team to pick it up), and has a 10 minute purchase cooldown in the shop, care must be taken when deciding to purchase this item, as the ability to see invisible units can greatly influence the tide of battle.

Salve, Clarity, Tango: Starting Regen

INFO: A tango is an item that regens 115 health points over 16 seconds by 'eating' a tree. It costs 125 gold comes with four charges, and is pretty much your most basic form of regen.


USES: Other than the obvious HP restoration, tangos can also be used to destroy trees. An example would be if you are trying to pull neutral creeps through to a lane, and you need to get rid of that pesky tree blocking your way. Another example would be to escape Nature's Prophet's "Sprout" ability. It's fairly rare not to include this in starting items, unless you don't expect to be vulnerable to constant damage (while jungling, perhaps). Support heroes also find this useful due to the ability to cast a tango on another allied hero, giving them a single charge for their use.

INFO: A more potent health regen item, a salve heals 400 HP over 10 seconds. It costs 115 gold and it is a great item for early-game regen.

USES: The main difference between a salve and a tango is that the health regen of a salve is stopped when the hero it's healing takes damage. For this reason, it's not always the best decision for a role where you expect to trade a lot of hits. Salves are good for allowing you to stay in lane, and not have to return to the fountain. Of course, once the laning phase ends, heroes are better off relying on other items for health restoration.

INFO: A clarity restores 100 mana over 30 seconds. It costs 50 gold, and is another common starting item.

USES: Like the salve, a clarity's regen stops if the hero it's restoring takes damage. But as the only other forms of mana regen are percentage-based (heals less the less you have), or stat-based (only increases your base regen by a little, so not very good for quickly healing), the clarity remains the best early-game form of mana regen.
           
Not all heroes need grab this, though: as you will only have access to very few spells in the early levels, and those spells being relatively weak, only heroes with low-cooldown or utility (stun, slow, disable) abilities will get proper use out of this item. If your hero doesn't have at least one of those two types of abilities, it's often far better to wait until you can afford a better regen item.