Find the game in Dota 2
Launch Dota 2, click Play, then select Custom Games from the game mode picker.In the search box type
Legends of Dota Redux and press Enter. The game should appear in the results. Click Find Game to join an existing lobby, or Create Lobby to host your own.If you want to practice alone first, create a lobby and set it to single-player mode in the lobby settings. The game will fill the remaining slots with bots automatically.
Configure the lobby
As the host you can configure options before the game starts. The most important settings for a first game:
Once all players are ready, click Launch Game.
| Setting | Recommended for beginners |
|---|---|
| Number of abilities | 4 (default) |
| Balance mode | Off — less restriction while learning |
| Banning phase | Off — skips the banning phase |
| Bot difficulty | Medium |
| Mutators | Off — learn base game first |
Vote on game options
At the start of the match the Option Voting phase lets all players vote on game-wide settings — shop type, mutators, ability categories, and more. Each option is shown with a yes/no vote. The majority vote wins.For your first game, vote for the defaults or simply wait for the timer to expire.
Pick your hero and abilities
This is the core of Redux. During the Selection phase you:
- Pick a hero — Your hero determines your base stats and your hero perk. The hero’s own abilities are replaced by your picks.
- Pick ability slot 1 — Any regular (non-ultimate) ability from any hero.
- Pick ability slot 2 — Another regular ability from any hero.
- Pick your ultimate — Any ultimate ability from any hero.
- Pick your perk — A passive bonus tied to a specific hero (shown in the perk tab).
Review your build
After all players finish picking, the Review phase shows everyone’s completed builds. Use this time to check your ability ordering and think about your item build.The match starts automatically when the review timer expires.
Play
The game plays like standard Dota 2 from this point. Lane, farm, draft items, and fight — the main difference is that every hero has a custom ability loadout.A few tips for first-timers:
- Level abilities in the order you planned — some ability synergies depend on level thresholds.
- Check troll-combo warnings — if two of your abilities are a known broken combination, the game may show a warning during selection.
- Use
-helpin chat to see available chat commands mid-game. - Vote for options you want — type
-dc(double creeps) or-ar(anti-rat) in chat to start a vote.
What to do next
Game phases
Understand every phase of the match from loading through in-game.
Ability selection
Deep dive into the ability picker, categories, and build strategy.
Mutators
Explore the optional game modifiers you can enable before the match.
Chat commands
All commands you can type in chat during a match.