Donation Method - Ask a bot for a Spare Key!
There is a Steam Community bot that people donate extra DotA 2 keys to. You can add the bot as a friend and send him the private message "give dota" to get a DotA 2 key sent to you. You can donate any extra keys you end up with afterwards.
New Method - Buy the access to Dota 2 Beta
Valve gives now the possibility to buy directly an early access bundle through Dota 2 Store. The bundle contains the beta access key and some collectibles.
Old method - Join contests/giveaways
Beta Giveaway Contests (by Dota 2 communities)
One legal and legit way, is to participate to one of many contests available and hope to win. The official community of Dota 2 is PlayDota. I suggest you to register to to that site, because since the launch of Dota 2 Beta it was the main beta key distributor, through random beta keys giveaway (hundreds if not thousands key already distributed).
There are many other places around to check and it has no much sense list all sites here. Just check PlayDota forum and Dota 2 Reddit Channel, that are the two main Dota 2 international community sites at the moment. If a new giveway starts, it is usually advertised there.
SteamGifts is also an interesting community driven gift website (that support Steam logon) that often has Dota 2 keys.
Beta Tester Selection (by Valve)
If you don't have time, skill or attitude for a contest, you can try to install Steam and fill this survey.
It is an hardware survey followed by a simple questionnaire that will be used by Valve to target potential beta testers. Identified subjects will receive the beta access and 2 additional keys to invite some friends.
Other sources
Be aware of scammers sites or people that try to sell you fake keys, there are many around. Also buying valid keys infringe Steam rules, so just avoid it.
Ok! I figured it out myself. For those having a similar problem, here is what I did
Stage 1
- Downloaded MPQMaster
- Opened DotA 6.77 map with MPQMaster
- Deleted War3mapMap.blp file
- Imported the Dota 2 War3mapMap.blp file
- Hit Operations->Compact(Flush)
Stage 2
- Downloaded WinMPQ
- Opened the newly modified DotA 6.77 map
- Hit Compact->Yes->Yes
That's it. The second stage is to reduce the filesize and bring it down to under 8MB
Best Answer
On the following image I additionally marked wards i use on regular basis in above average MMR (~3700).Works on AP mode on public matchmaking where counterwarding is less common.
Read full guide here for more detailed explanations about the marked colors and places.
For average skill games with low warding and no counterwards,you should focus mainly on red dots especially 2 hills near the runes with the priority of upper one in early game and lower one later when killing roshan becomes more likely.
Wards should be placed as early as it gets and replaced just a bit before they expire(you can see the timer),it is the best if you can go grab a rune and place new ward at the same time so you don't lose much "lane time",if it is on opposite lane you could port there and combine it with a gank or push attempt.
There are 2 types of wards Observer wards and Sentry wards the ones you need are observer ones the other is used to reveal invisible enemies and is placed directly on the line near combat(pink)
If you want more advanced video guides you should check XV Rogues channel