A quick guide to Auto Chess, the popular new Dota 2 game mode

The hype around Dota 2 custom game Auto Chess continues to build. But just what is it all about?

Since its January 4 release, the new custom game has generated significant attention around the Dota 2community. New players have even installed Dota 2 just to play the custom game. Developer Drodo Studio consistently maintains interest around the game with its regular balance updates and content additions.

Auto Chess is a turn-based strategy game using Dota 2 heroes and abilities as chess pieces. The goal is to create the strongest units that synergize well with each other, winning fights and eventually staking a claim as the last courier standing.

A good understanding of the game’s classes, species, and economy is a key component in winning the battle.

There are ten classes in the game: Assassin, Demon Hunter, Druid, Hunter, Knight, Mage, Mech, Shaman, Warlock, and Warrior. Each class can be very strong against a specific lineup, but each can also be countered.

Classes greatly synergize with species types to maximize buffs and best utilize abilities. There are 15 species in the game: Beast, Demon, Dragon, Dwarf, Elementals, Elf, Goblin, Satyr, Human, Ogre, Orc, Naga, Troll, Undead, and God.

Players can mix and match classes and species based on the hero roles that were made available for them.

Some of the most contested classes are Warrior, Knights, and Mage. Recently, Assassins were highly prioritized due to a recent buff. However, the Assassins’ perk was then rebalanced and players immediately saw a decline in the class’ success.

The God species is the newest type and is tricky to best utilize, but a combination of strong units can make it look overpowered.  Gods reduces up to 75% of ability cooldowns if there are no species buffs activated in the player’s field. This limits players to use only class synergies to successfully pull off a Gods lineup.  

Some notable class/species combos to start with are Troll/Knight, God/Mage, Goblin/Mech, and Hunter/Warrior.

Overall Auto Chess player ranks are, in order of advancement, Pawn, Knight, Bishop, Rook, King, and Queen. Players ranked at Queen are the top players in the leaderboard.

This up and coming game is clearly making huge strides just a few months after its release.

With its huge player base already established and still growing, the esports scene of Auto Chess is also starting to look promising. Twitch Rivals boasted a $25,000 prize pool for its second and latest edition of Twitch Rivals Auto Chess.

The AutoChess subreddit on social platform Reddit provides the community of players with a place to share tips and discuss gameplay. This is also a great avenue for beginners to learn from more advanced players.