Switch's First MOBA, Arena Of Valor, Will Kick Off Its EU Closed Beta on 27th Jan

I've been enjoying it on mobile. Just hit Gold, never hit gold rank on a MOBA before!

I had to check google to see what MOBA stands for.

@Kalmaro Do you play League or DoTA? Trying to figure out how it compares to those. I'm a gold/plat support in League so I'm kinda entrenched there.

@dimi, Multiplayer online battle arena

These games are super popular, and I know this game is by the same parent company who owns League of Legends (think that's the one?).

There's like, certain rules for these games. Gotta read up on how to play. Fortunately this game's players have made guides helping newcomers learn to play (and I'm sure the game teaches you and has AI bots for solo or co-op play to learn)

Someone described this genre as such: it's basically a chess game with 10 players in a 5 vs 5 to destroy each others BASES. The hero kills are not the final goal. Play to win!

@Indielink I played league about when it first came out. This game is very much like a streamlined version of LOL. You still have things like the pages to alter the stats of heros using 'arcana' like in LoL. You'll have recommended builds suggested to you from the development team. You can also chose builds that are popular and even make your own builds.

During a match when you have enough gold to buy an item you can just click on it as it appears on the left side of your screen. No need to port back to the shop. Plus, it pulls up two items so if you want a tanker one first you can build down that path.

Fog of war is less limiting and there's no wards so you have to be more aware.

I'll say this, in the 4 or so years I played LoL I could never get out of silver. I played this game for about 3 weeks, did ranked last week and got to gold in no time. Climbing feels easier. Your skills in LoL will transfer over to this game very well I believe.

This could be a big win Arena of Valor. Consoles aren't necessarily the best way to play a MOBA, but I still think, the big 3 competitors should be trying to get there (League of Legends, DOTA 2, and Hearthstone)

So I finally have a reason to make a European account =)

@JaxonH Tencent owns Riot Games who made League of Legends and Tencent made Arena of Valor for mobile. Something like that. So, it's a weird arrangement but they are very similar.

It's interesting though because it would be difficult to make a Switch version of LoL eSports compatible anyway, so... yeah, I don't know.

The Multiplayer Online Battle Arena (MOBA) genre used to be called "like DoTA" thanks to the crazy popular custom map for Warcraft III on PC. The whole thing grew out of real-time strategy and specifically the hero-centric kind that Warcraft III introduced. The base-building, overcoming defenses, and smaller unit production is all streamlined into (generally) three lanes with preset walls and defenses and constantly advancing smaller armies, while each player concentrates on maneuvering their hero to advance against the opponent.

It relies on careful balance of teams (heroes that support each other), working together at critical moments and responding to different strategies, and is punctuated by plenty of drama so it's ideal for eSports.

I don't have time to deal with the "training" to play well in the LoL or DoTA and they have traditionally had extremely toxic player communities, so I play Heroes of the Storm which isn't as big and tends to be a little friendlier. The other communities are better now, I think, but it started even with earlier Warcraft III maps.

Back in the day, I always preferred the lesser known BattleTanks and Battle Ships variations on DoTA which were basically better in my opinion, but importantly had much more agreeable communities because they were always trying to draw in more players (away from DoTA)

At the time, it was very impressive and rare how popular a custom map like DoTA, made by players could get, though it's a more frequent story nowadays.

Anyway, I guess I just felt like giving a historical outline from a limited perspective for anyone who cared.

@aaronsullivan

Im glad you did. I plan on giving this game a shot and I don't know much about the genre so insight is appreciated.

@JaxonH I edited that post to finish the paragraph about what I do play now, instead, and why: Heroes of the Storm. I'm on and off playing so it's just for fun.

@dimi They are hard to get into, but when you find one you like it sticks with you for a long time

Ever since League of Legends it seems like there are new MOBAs every 2 hours. Surprised it took this long to get one on the Switch. Baffles me how ANYONE would willingly want to play a MOBA on mobile though.

@Heavyarms55 when you need your LoL / DoTA2 fix and your PC isn't around, a phone will do XD

There are a lot of hardcore MOBA enthusiasts in my area (I am not one of them) and I see them playing on their phones at restaurants. It's a bit silly, but then again I can't criticize them when I've got a Switch in my hands. XD

so wish I could get in to the NA beta for this. It would give me a break from League of Legends.

Switch's first MOBA? What happened to Splatoon 2?

@SomeWriter13 Yeah but games on mobile are trash. Games on Switch are not. A MOBA especially would be low quality with highly limited control options of a phone game.

Miitomo's being cancelled 😯

Think I'm gonna love this one:)

The game has DC characters: Superman, Wonder Woman, Batman, and the Joker. Plus, some dynasty-based heroes like Lu Bu and Diao Chan (I think?) are also available to play as. There are plenty of characters to choose from.

OH GOD NO I'M STILL WEANING OFF THIS GENRE!!!

Seriously, I've spent too much time with MOBAs lately. Fun stuff, but I've got other games to play, dangit...

Only thing that sucks about this is all my progress and money I've accumulated on the mobile version won't be able to be transferred to the switch version

Oh boy here we go. Played HoN (Heroes of Newerth) for about 5 years and finally managed to stop when Splatoon2 released. If this is any good I might stop seeing the outside world. Send help.

@ALinkttPresent Splatoon is not a MOBA.

Well, that trailer made me not want to ever touch whatever this is.

I’m always a bit gutted to see the Switch getting ports of mobile games. Surely this isn’t the way forward

I was able to play in the beta. Though I was not in europe, so in occasions the ping was too long (~190ms) so I had some hiccups and lags. It kicked on 27/1/18 at 12:00 AM 8midnight) until 29/1/18 at 12:00 Am (midnight). The heroes selection was wide, although I did not see any of the DC Comics heroes available. The system took from 5 -60 seconds to find players for a match. Never player it before, but afterwards I downloaded it on my tablet, and I must say both experiences were very similar. Looking forward to an official launch.