Ask any guy in Singapore about multiplayer online battle arena (MOBA) Dota 2, and he can give you a rough idea of what it is.

Although still relatively repressed in South East Asia, Dota 2 is already widely recognised in the west, with million-dollar tournaments organised every 3 months.

Learning Dota 2 overall is difficult, but here’s how you can understand some Dota 2 heroes through office analogies.

Accountants – Dazzle (Support)

The backbone of companies, which explains why theirs are often bent out of shape, accountants are absolutely necessary to the existence of any company.

Support heroes form the backbone of any Dota 2 Team, spending the gold they get on items that help the team achieve objectives. In that vein, supports are expected to sacrifice themselves in order to help their team win.

In Dota 2, Dazzle is a lifesaver – he heals people to keep them going, much like how your accountant will have to rectify the company accounts to keep it going. He has a skill called Shallow Grave which will prevent you from dying, much like how accountants prevent the company finances from dying by keeping track of all the money.

Dazzle’s responses as you interact with him are short and sweet, at most times literal: making him the very picture of a curt, no-nonsense person handling the lifeblood of your company.

Senior Manager – Gyrocopter (Carry)

Highly paid, above your head and often much older than you, Senior Managers teach you valuable lessons over the course of your office life and are specialists in solving problems.

The carry position involves collecting gold most of the game – killing enemies gets you gold – eventually, the carry will have so much gold as to buy powerful items to destroy the enemy with, thus winning the game.

Often sounding quite cranky and full of witticisms about his pension money, revenge was on Gyrocopter’s mind when he decked out his machine with weapons – just as Senior Managers are sure to have time-won methods of dealing with pesky newcomers.

That said, with retirement on the mind of many Senior Managers, you hopefully won’t catch one of them saying “There goes my pension” after a market crash.

Sales – Invoker (Mid)

“How did she make the sale?”, “What? I can’t even“. Salespeople always seem to be able to take more then they’re giving, making the company’s products seem like the best in the market.

Mid in Dota 2 is a unique role, you’re matched up against another hero and you are both trying to outplay each other. A good mid creates an advantage for the team so that the carry can gain gold faster and win the game before the enemy does.

The egotistical Invoker is a swiss army knife, having ten spells compared to a usual hero’s four. Just like how a salesman can recall obscure details to boost his sales pitch, access to the Invoker’s spells involve a specific combination of orbs spelled out by Q,W and E.

You wouldn’t be surprised if Invoker was able to conjured up a BMW suddenly, just like how your salesmen always seem to be able to drive one to work.

Slacker – Tidehunter (Offlane)

Admist the bustle of “We’re running out of time! Make a decision now! Do it!”, you might find one of your colleagues sitting down with the morning paper and a cup of coffee. Not too worried about the mortality of the company, slackers always find a way to relax.

The Offlaner also sacrifices but in a different way – often facing down 3 enemies so that Mid and Carry have an easier time. Keeping the enemy close to you away from your team while managing to gain gold quickly makes for a great offlaner, making it one of the more difficult roles to execute in Dota 2.

If you’re familiar with Dota 2 lore, the often depicted as lazy and greedy Tidehunter is actually terrifying sea beast with a vendetta against mankind. In spite of his imposing back story, Tidehunter’s stature is rather comical, with a huge head and a small body, much like a chibi character.

Like Tidehunter, no one tries to understand slackers, but rather try to accept them as they exist relative to everyone else in the company. If you can’t find any slackers in the company, chances are that you’re the slacker.

When Gaming Meets Reality

As a avid fan of Dota 2, I’ve always found it interesting how the characters are so distinctly modelled but yet relatable. As Dota 2 becomes more and more popular in South East Asia, it’s a gamer’s dream to see more references to its characters in public!