Has an unusual "vertical" map layout with varied base sizes.

The original 'DotA 2'. It has a large battlefield with distinct towns to capture: each contributing different lane troops and selling its own items.

Emphasises rich and engaging hero combat. The game has many unusual skill-shots, and there no stuns or randomness. Combat instead focuses more on displacement and environmental or situational damage.

The jungle is a persistent team objective rather than an economic space for a single hero to occupy, and a variety of different creep camps and reward structures have appeared in the game over the years.

The game had an unusually refined item system, with a fullscreen shop interface, typed shortcuts, recommended items, recipe autocompletion, all items stacking with each-other (at reduced efficiency), and custom item stats like bonus ability radius or duration.

Has multiple bosses, and various combinations of beating them levels up your army. Also the first lane-pushing game to introduce quest items.