How to play guide for Dota Underlords

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This page will serve as a basic how to play guide for Dota Underlords. While there is very little information available at this time, we urge you to check back often, as new information is being added all the time! Feel free to edit this guide with any tips, tricks, and suggestions.

Basic Gameplay

Each player in Dota Underlords has their own board and starts with 100 health. Each round consists of a preparation phase and a combat phase.

Each player has access to a shop which contains 5 heroes for players to purchase with gold. The player can also buy 4 XP for 5 gold. The shop refreshes at the start of each preparation phase and can be refreshed (rerolled) manually by the player for 2 gold. A free reroll of the shop is also granted after a combat loss to an opposing player. The shop can be accessed and purchased from at any time.

The preparation phase is at the start of every round, and is the only time players can interact with their board. This time is used to place or rearrange heroes and items on the player's board and bench. The maximum number of heroes a player can place on the board is equal to their level. The maximum number of heroes a player can have on their bench is 8. Players can level up to place more heroes by gaining XP.

The combat phase takes place after the preparation phase. During combat, each player is paired with another random enemy player. The two players' teams of heroes will fight each other on one board. If all the player's units die, the player is defeated and will take damage proportional to how many enemies are still alive. Likewise, if the player's units survive the combat, they win the round and will deal damage to the enemy player.

Each hero selected by the player will have their own unique ability, attacks and Alliances. Players can make their heroes more powerful in combat by combining them to upgrade their stats, or by matching their Alliances to gain a bonus.

At the end of each round players are awarded 1 XP and some gold. The amount of gold depends on the outcome of the round, and other bonuses like streaks and interest.

The aim of the game is to be the last player standing by reducing the health of all other players to zero.

Controls

All actions in the game can be performed by clicking with the mouse or using the touch screen. Hotkeys can also be used for the actions below.

The default keys are:

Sell the selected Unit: E
Open/close the shop: Space
Buy the 1st/2nd/3rd/4th/5th unit or item from the shop: 1 / 2 / 3 / 4 / 5
Re-roll the shop unit options: R
Lock the shop, preventing it from re-rolling at the start of the next round: Q
Purchase 4 XP for 5 Gold: T
Send a unit to an open bench slot: W
Show the scoreboard: TAB
Scroll up/down between DPS, Item, and Alliance tabs: Mouse Wheel Up / Mouse Wheel Down
View the Alliances/DPS/Item tab: P / O / I
Select and view your board: F1
Scroll up/down through enemy boards: Page Up / Page Down
View the board of your current opponent: S
View the board of the player defending against your army: A
Chat Wheel: Y
Place the selected unit: Right-click
Open the Menu: F10
Developer Console: ` (Grave Accent)

Core Game Functions

Neutral Rounds (Loot Rounds)

Rounds 1, 2, 3, 10, and every multiple of 5 after that are loot rounds.

If you win against the creatures in the loot rounds, you get to choose between 3 items.

If you lose to the creatures in the loot rounds, you must choose between 3 worse items. These items are chosen from the pool 1 wave lower.

Your level, as well as two items can affect future item options:

Embarrassment of Riches — Adds a 4th item choice at the end of the round
Smuggler — Quality of items from neutral rounds are offered from 1 wave higher

Loot Rounds:

Round 1: Warmup
Round 2: Sparring Match
Round 3: Gear Up
Round 10: First Intermission
Round 15: Dog and Pony Show
Round 20: Bear Trap!
Round 25: Survival of the Fittest
Round 30: Big Dinos, Big Rewards
Round 35: Things Are Really Heating Up
Round 40: You're About To Be Trolled
Round 45: We've Reached the Endgame
Round 50: Correction, Now We've Reached the Endgame
Round 200: Correction, Now We've Reached the Endgame

Acquiring Gold

Gold is used to buy units, XP and reroll the shop. You are rewarded gold at the end of every round, based on the following conditions.

Base Gold

You start the game with 1 gold. You earn 2 gold after the first round, 3 gold after the second round and 4 gold after the third round.

From then on, you earn 5 gold per round. You gain 1 more gold if you win the round (defend your board successfully).

Win Streaks

Defending your board for several consecutive rounds will earn you a win streak. You will earn the following gold at the end of each round until you lose a round or complete the streak:

3+ Round Streak: 1 Gold
5+ Round Streak: 2 Gold
7 Round Streak: 3 Gold
8 Round Streak: 4 Gold

After reaching a streak of 8 rounds, the win streak is "completed" and resets to 0. You will not gain any more bonus gold until you start a new streak by winning 3 rounds.

You are not rewarded win streak gold on Neutral Rounds. Winning Neutral Rounds will not increase the streak, and losing will not end the streak.

Loss Streaks

Taking damage in several consecutive rounds will earn you a loss streak. You will earn the following gold at the end of each round until you win a round:

3+ Round Streak: 1 Gold
5+ Round Streak: 2 Gold

You are not rewarded loss streak gold on Neutral Rounds. Losing Neutral Rounds will not increase the streak, and winning will not end the streak.

Interest

You will be rewarded 1 gold for every 10 gold that you had at the end of the preparation phase. Once the combat phase has begun, you may spend more gold and still be rewarded according to what you had at the end of preparation. Maximum interest is 5 extra gold per round.

Examples:

If you start the round with 30 gold, you will get an extra 3 gold at the end of the round.
If you start the round with 39 gold, you will get an extra 3 gold at the end of the round, and 4 gold if you win that round (+1 victory gold is counted towards interest).
If you start the round with 30 gold, but you spend 5 gold in the shop while your heroes are fighting, you still get 3 gold at the end of the round.

Item Effects on Gold

The following items have an effect on earning or spending gold:

Poaching Knife — Equipped hero has a 30% chance of producing 1 gold when they kill an enemy.
Friends and Family Discount — Reduces all unit prices by 1

Upgrading units

Units can be combined by purchasing and combining several of the same hero. Upgrading a hero will increase their stats and make them more powerful.

There are 3 levels of units:

Level 1 is signified by a bronze star
Level 2 is signified by two silver stars
Level 3 is signified by three gold stars

When you own 3 of the same level of unit, it will automatically be combined and upgraded into 1 unit of the next level. For example:

Three Level 1 units become a Level 2 unit
Three Level 2 units become a Level 3 unit (requires 9 Level 1 units)

All units purchased from the shop are Level 1.

Units are also upgraded by the Druid Alliance bonus at the start of the combat phase.

Alliances

Each hero belongs to at least 2 alliances. These alliances provide a unique bonus when units with matching alliances are placed on the board. Alliances are represented by an icon on each hero in the shop and hero's info, and progress to the bonus appears in the shop and Alliance tab. A solid bar represents a unit on the board and an outlined, empty bar represents a unit on the bench.

Most Alliance bonuses require 2 or 3 units with matching Alliances to be placed on the board. Many bonuses also have multiple levels, which increase in power with more matching units on the board. The exception to this are Demons who require only 1 unit, and lose their bonus if more matching units are added.

The full list of Alliances is as follows: