If you are a competitive or even just a casual gamer, you should always be looking for the best ways to improve your gaming performance. The first that I do before I play a PC game is take a look at the settings. I want to make sure that I can get the best performance and best gameplay out of any game that I am playing.
These tips and tricks will help you find the best DOTA 2 settings to optimize your FPS, your gameplay, and your overall experience. Keep in mind that you may not need all of these settings, especially if you have a powerful gaming PC. Regardless of your graphics card, make sure that you check out the gameplay settings that the pros use to give you some insight if you ever want to try out some DOTA 2 betting.
Graphics and Video settings
Graphics presets
There are four premade graphical presets in the Video tab in the settings menu. They range from Fastest to Best Looking. If all you want to do is ensure that you have the smoothest gameplay possible with the least drops in framerate, you should select the Fastest setting. This sacrifices all visual quality.
If you have powerful enough hardware and want to make sure you have some more detail, you can increase the visual quality. Keep in mind that you will still have to deal with a dip in framerate, this may impact your gaming performance. For this option, the best DOTA 2 setting is a lower graphics preset.
Vsync
This video setting should always be turned off. This may be the opposite of the best DOTA 2 setting. Turning on Vsync will introduce input delay. Vsync stops frames back from being shown on screen until it can match the refresh rate of your screen. This may make the gameplay on single player titles look smoother but when it comes to esports titles, all it does is increase the time between your inputs and what happens on screen. Avoid this setting like the plague.
Framerate
Regardless of what your monitor’s refresh rate is, you should always set your minimum frames per second allowed slider to at least 120 frames per second. This is a result of the way that the Source Engine deals with frame timing and frame rate. If you lock it to 60 frames there will be a decrease in frame timing performance regardless of whether you reach the max framerate.
Hotkey settings
New players
If you are a new DOTA 2 player and want to get the most out of your hotkeys, we recommend sticking with the default keys Q, W, E, and R for your hero abilities. Always make sure that the last key is mapped to your hero’s ultimate ability.
This removes the need to memorize specific hotkey configurations for every ability and hero and makes it much easier to learn new heroes and their abilities.
Players from other games
If you are a seasoned World of Warcraft player or a fan of any other game that relies on hotkeys, you may find it easier to map the hotkeys to locations that you are more used to. Make sure that you keep the abilities to your favoured standard row and always make sure that you assign your ultimate ability to the last key in the row.
Double Tap Ability to Self-Cast
This is a great option for players with main heroes that casts spells on allied units. Normally you would have to press the spell key button, point the mouse over the hero, and click. If you choose to use the double tap setting for your hotkeys you will be able to use that ability on yourself without having to move your mouse at all.
Make sure that you are careful when using this setting, if you are too quick and double tap on accident, you could end up wasting a spell.
Should you use quick cast?
New players
If you are coming to DOTA 2 from other MOBAs like League of Legends or Heroes of the Storm, activating quick cast is the obvious choice. It is the best DOTA 2 setting for new players. It allows targeted abilities to trigger as soon as their hotkeys are pressed down. This reduces the input between activating the spell and the spell landing on the target. The spell will simply head to wherever the mouse cursor is positioned.
Returning players
If you are a returning player from DOTA Allstars, you may not be used to the quick cast option. Instead, we advise you to turn this setting off. Pro players will use quick cast to increase the speed at which they cast and improve their DOTA 2 odds but, like the double tap setting, if you are not used to it, it could end up wasting spells.
Other quality of life settings
Mini map
If you want to improve your awareness in the game, you should select Use Simple Mini Map Background in the options tab. This will allow you to increase the visibility of the heroes in the in-game mini map. The map may not be as detailed, but the locations will be far clearer during gameplay.
Right-Click to Force Attack
This DOTA 2 setting allows you to attack allied units without any extra key presses. It would usually take a little bit more time but if you are in a rush and need to deny some enemy heroes this could be a fantastic option.
Standard Auto Attack
This option allows players to toggle auto attacking using the stop/hold key. If the setting is toggled to always, you will have a harder time avoiding enemies and keeping yourself safe. This setting makes sure you get the best of both worlds when it comes to the ease of getting attacks off and the ability to turn and escape.
