How to Make Computers Have Heroes in DotA

By Erin McManaway

Updated September 22, 2017

“Defense of the Ancients,” or DotA, is a user-created custom scenario for the “Warcraft III” computer game. By default, computer-driven opponents in DotA do not have the artificial intelligence abilities to compete with real players, such as using heroes as enemy troops. However, you can alter the computer AI in DotA by installing an AI map from the official DotA website. This will allow your computer opponents to play more aggressively and use heroes when you play against them.

Navigate to the official DotA website at getdota.com.

Click the “AI Maps” link from the left menu.

Log in to the DotA forum when prompted. The file for the AI map is a download listed within the official forums.

Click the link to the “[OFFICIAL] DotA v6.71b AI VENGEANCE” thread at the top of the forum thread list.

Click the “DotA v6.71b AI – English” link to download the AI Map file. This will save as .w3x file on your computer.

Right-click the downloaded file, and click “Copy.”

Navigate to your “Warcraft III” downloaded content folder, which is “ProgramFiles/WCIII/Maps/Downloads” by default.

Right-click within the folder and select “Paste” to install the AI Map into your DotA game. Now when you choose to play a single player game against the computer, the computer will have access to heroes.

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