Latest Version: v6.48b (Sept 6, 2007)

DOTA aka Defense of the Ancients is quite possibly the most popular Warcraft 3 custom game played today. At any given time on Battle.net, half the custom games being played are usually DOTA. In fact, it even has it's own following, with entire clans and websites devoted to this game. Believe it or not, there's also a Wikipedia.org article about this game. It's that good. Because of the popularity of this game, as well as the frequent updates it receives, it has been given it's own section.

In DOTA, there are 2 teams - the Sentinel and the Scourge, with a maximum of 5 players per team. The goal is to destroy the opposing team's towers, production buildings, and finally the main building. Each player has a hero with which to help accomplish this task.

There are waves of creeps, towers, and of course the opposing team all trying to stop you. The entire gameplay revolves around your hero. Each hero has their own special abilities, which increase as you go up in levels. You gain gold and experience over time, and by killing creeps and opposing players. You can use gold to buy various items throughout the game, some of which can be combined to create new, more powerful items.

Scroll down to continue

Games often last from 30-60 minutes (assuming players don't leave prematurely which unfortunately happens quite often). For those who have not played before, keep in mind that the game is very competative, and most Battle.net games are filled with experienced players. It is a good idea to either let your team know that you are new to the game, or to play the game solo before playing with others on Battle.net. DOTA is an extremely fun game, but there is a lot to learn, so the first few games can be extremely frustrating.

Latest Version:
DOTA Allstars v6.48b 2mb

Older Versions:
v6.42 v6.41 v6.38 v6.37 v6.36 v6.34 v6.33 v6.32b v6.32 v6.31 v6.30b v6.30 v6.29b v6.29 v6.28 v6.27b None of the older 6.xx versions of DotA work with the latest version of WarIII.

Other popular versions:
DOTA Allstars v5.84b 1.7mb - Seems to work with WarIII v1.24.

To save, right-click on the above link, and choose "Save As". Browse to your maps directory and save there (usually C:\Program Files\Warcraft III\Maps\Download).