With Auto Chess coming out on the Play Store, we thought it’s appropriate to write an article that would help people used to the Dota 2 mod to transition easier to the mobile app version.

Before we begin with the overview of the app and the differences, it’s worth saying that Drodo came out with a statement that they would continue supporting the Dota 2 mod. In fact, right now Dota Auto Chess is a few balance versions ahead of the app, which adds a level of frustration when you’re playing the game on your phone (e.g. at the time of writing this the mobile version doesn’t have Gods yet, which eliminates one of the most popular strats from the game). That said, it’s likely that when more major things get fixed and polished with the app (which is still in beta), Dragonest will update the mobile version to the latest Auto Chess patch.

There are, generally speaking, two big differences you need to get used to on the mobile app. The first one is the controls, the second one – the heroes.

Controls

The mobile app controls are quite intuitive (drag and drop), and the app does a great job of walking you through them so I won’t discuss here how to do every single thing. Instead, I’ll talk mostly about the differences:

Benefits

Items: You can combine items instantly. You don’t even have to put the last component on the hero - when you click on the item, the game sees that you have the needed components and you can upgrade with a click instantly. This is good not only in terms of convenience – upgrading instantly makes items more useful because you don’t have to wait a whole round for the upgrade, which could be crucial in the late game.

Upgrading heroes: if you have two heroes on the bench and a third one on the field, an “upgrade” button appears above the unit, which makes upgrading units a bit more convenient.

Drawbacks

Upgrading heroes: The upgrade button has one big drawback, however. With Auto-Combine active on the PC, you can buy a third unit without having a slot on the bench, and it will instantly upgrade. You cannot do that on the mobile app, however. You need to put the new unit on the bench or field for the “upgrade” button to appear, which means it’s much harder to roll the shop and upgrade units during the round (you might have to lock the shop).

Bench Management: Drag and drop is very intuitive, but it is much slower than the PC controls which allow you to throw units to the bench and sell them with a single click. This means that rolling the shop multiple times while taking some units from the bench to the field to increase your chances and upgrade units quicker is much, much harder to do. It’s not only the drag and drop that’s slower – the fact that you need to click on a unit twice to sell it means it’s very hard to sell off a bunch of units before the round starts.

Heroes

Whether you like the new art style or not, in general, the heroes feel well made.

The new models and names, however, could make it very confusing in your first several games on the mobile app. It’s very easy to miss units you are searching for simply because they are not that easy to recognize (especially under time pressure, which is a problem because as we mentioned bench management is already a bit slower on the app).

In my opinion, it’s easiest to learn to recognize the races (with their new names) because they follow a visual theme and are easy to remember. For example, if you remember that the Elves are the white guys with feathers (called Feathered), it’s easier to recognize the individual units based on the cost and class.

Goblins:

Goblins retain the race name and in general, are quite easy to recognize visually.

Bounty Hunter = Soul Breaker
Clock = Sky Breaker
Tinker = Heaven Bomber
Timbersaw = Ripper
Alchemist = Venomancer
Techies = Devastator

The most confusing unit by far is Venomancer (in Dota: Alchemist). The old Venomancer is called Poisonous Worm.

Elementals = Spirits:

In the mobile version, Elements are called Spirits. They are generally speaking easy to recognize visually, with the exception of Enigma (Dark Spirit), yet he is a legendary unit so there aren’t many others you can confuse him with.

Tiny = Stone Spirit
Morph = Water Spirit
Razor = Thunder Spirit
Enigma = Dark Spirit

Naga = Marine:

Naga in Dota Auto Chess become Marine on the mobile version. Moreover, Slark (Abyssalcrawler) is still in the game, which returns the possibility for the (4) Nagas (Marine) magic resistance synergy.

Slardar = Abyssal Guard
Slark = Abyssalcrawler (aww…)
Medusa = Siren
Tide Hunter = Tsunami Stalker

Undead = Egersis:

The Undead become Egersis (meaning resurrection in Christian theology) and are in general a bit difficult to recognize.

Drow = Egersis Ranger
Abaddon = Evil Knight
Necrophos = Soul Reaper
Lich = Blight Sorcerer

It’s worth noting that Death Prophet is still not in the game.

Dwarf:

Dwarves retain their name and are quite easy to recognize because their models and names are similar to the originals.

Sniper = Dwarf Sniper
Gyrocopter = Helicopter

Beasts:

The Beasts retain their class name. The units are:

Tusk = Tusk Champion
Enchantress = Unicorn
Sand King = Lord of Sand
Venomancer = Poisonous Worm
Lycan = Werewolf
Lone Druid = Razorclaw

Because of the older patch, you have more beasts here = Sand King is still in the game. This adds not only an additional Beast but also an additional Assassin. He’s still not a particularly good unit (the reason why he was removed before a rework in Dota Auto Chess).

Human:

Humans keep their name. Probably the hardest ones to recognize are Omni Knight (Argali Knight) and Keeper of the Light (Tortola Elder) because of non-similar names and because of the fact that Omni gains a mount, while Keeper exchanges his horse for a turtle shell. It’s worth noting that all knights in the mobile app are mounted.

Crystal Maiden = The Source
Lycan = Werewolf
Omni Knight = Argali Knight (the Argali are a type of Asian wild sheep (Ram))
Lina = Flamming (Flaming) Wizard
Kunkka = Priate (Pirate) Captain
Dragon Knight = Dragon Knight
Keeper of the Light = Tortola Elder

Dragons:

Dragons keep their name. The hardest one to recognize is Viper (Venom) because of the quite different proportions and outlines than the Dota model.

Puck = Shining Dragon
Viper = Venom
Dragon Knight = Dragon Knight

Orcs = Cave Clan

Orcs become the Cave Clan. They are quite easy to recognize because they are all red-skinned, and the weapons make it easy to deduce the individual hero.

Axe = Redaxe Chief
Jugger = Swordman (Swordsman)
Beastmaster = Skull Hunter
Disruptor = Storm Shaman

Elves = Feathered:

The Elves are in general one of the most visually changed races. They are now called the Feathered. They are visually easy to recognize (all white with feathers), so once you remember that the Elves are now the Feathered it’s quite easy to deduce the individual units.

Anti-Mage = Taboo Witcher (I hope his real name is Geralt)
Puck = Shining Dragon
Luna = Lightblade Knight
Treant = Warpwood Sage
Furion = Wisper Seer
Windranger = Wind Ranger (creative)
Phantom Assassin = Shadowcrawler
Templar Assassin = Shining Assassin (it’s probably hard to assassinate people when you’re constantly shining)

Trolls = Glacier

Trolls, now Glacier Clan, follow winter theme and have blue/purple skin, which makes them easy to recognize.

Batrider = Frost Knight
Shadow Shaman = Defector
Witch Doctor = Desperate Doctor (patients don’t get better by the casks he throws at them)
Troll Warlord = Berserker

Dazzle is still not in the game.

Demons:

Demons retain their name and are relatively easy to recognize:

Chaos Knight = Hell Knight
Queen of Pain = Phantom Queen
Shadow Fiend = Shadow Devil
Terrorblade = Fallen Witcher
Doom = Doom Arbiter

Ogre = Kira:

The Ogre becomes Kira. In newer versions of Dota Auto Chess Alchemist (here Venomacer) is also an Ogre, but in the mobile version, this hasn’t happened yet.

Ogre Magi = Ogre Mage

Hope you found the article useful! You can check out our other Auto Chess content in the Blog or Library.