"Battle Arena" redirects here. For the specific video game, see
Battle Arena Toshinden.
Part of a series on:
Strategy video games
Sub-genres[show]
History[show]
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Multiplayer online battle arena (
MOBA), also known as
action real-time strategy (
ARTS) or
Hero Brawler, is a sub-genre of the
real-time strategy (RTS) genre of
video games, in which often two teams of players compete with each other in discrete games, with each player controlling a single character through an RTS-style interface. It differs from traditional RTS games in that there is no unit construction and players control just one character. In this sense, it is a fusion of
action games and real-time strategy games. The genre emphasizes cooperative team-play; players select and control one "hero", a powerful unit with various abilities and advantages to form a team's overall strategy. The objective is to destroy the opponents' main structure with the assistance of periodically
spawned computer-controlled units that march towards the enemy's main structure via paths referred to as "lanes".
The genre traces its roots to
Aeon of Strife (
AoS), a custom map for
StarCraft[1] where four players each controlling a single powerful unit and aided by weak computer-controlled units were put against a stronger computer-controlled faction.
[2] Defense of the Ancients (
DotA), a map based on
Aeon of Strife for
Warcraft III: Reign of Chaos and
The Frozen Throne, was one of the first major titles of its genre and the first MOBA for which has been kept sponsored tournaments.
[2] It was followed by the two
spiritual successors League of Legends and
Heroes of Newerth, and eventually a sequel,
Dota 2, as well as numerous other games in the genre.
Gameplay[edit]
There are two opposing teams whose goal collectively as a team is generally to destroy their enemy's base to win,
[24] though some games have the option of different victory conditions.
[25] Typically, there is one main structure which must be destroyed to win, though destroying other structures within the opposing team's base may confer other benefits. Defensive structures are in place to prevent this, as well as relatively weak computer-controlled units which periodically spawn at each base and travel down predefined paths toward the opposing team's base.
[26]
A player controls a single powerful in-game unit generally called a 'hero'. When a hero stands near a killed enemy unit or kills an enemy unit, it gains experience points which allow the hero to level up. When a hero levels up, they have the ability to learn more powerful skills and abilities. When a hero dies, they have to wait a designated time, which generally increases as they level up, until they revive at their base.
[27]
Each player receives a small amount of gold per second from their base. Moderate amounts of gold are rewarded for killing hostile computer-controlled units and larger amounts are rewarded for killing enemy heroes. Gold is used by heroes to buy a variety of different items that range in price and impact. For the most part, this involves improving the combat viability of the hero, although there may be other items that support the hero or team as a whole in different ways.
[28]
As the heroes of each team get stronger, they can use multiple strategies to gain an advantage. These strategies can include securing objectives, killing enemy heroes and farming gold by killing A.I. units. The stronger a team gets, the more capable they are at destroying the enemy team and their base.
Members of the genre do not generally feature several other elements traditionally found in real-time strategy games, notably base management, and army building. Some video games have certain heroes which control a few specialized units. The RPG genre has a much closer resemblance to the gameplay, only limited to an arena.