The Best MOBA Games For PC

Multiplayer online games have been a hit on consoles and PCs for many years. But there is a shift in the market: While most people used to play MMORPGs like World of Warcraft, so-called MOBA games now dominate the market. The abbreviation MOBA stands for Multiplayer Online Battle Arena. They differ from classic real-time strategy games in that players do not control an entire army of warriors, but only a single figure.

Since individual players can hardly win an entire battle, the team idea comes to the fore, because the fight in the arena always takes place in teams of the same size. Today we will introduce you to some of the best MOBA games for the PC.

League Of Legends – One Of The Most Popular MOBA Games In The World

The game, often abbreviated as LoL, is considered the top dog among MOBA titles. The game can be played for free, but there are paid extras such as skins, outfits and new champions to purchase. Different game modes are available. In classic mode, two teams, each consisting of five players, fight, shown from a bird's eye view. The playing field is divided into two halves and each team tries to destroy the opponents' base.

The game characters are called champions and must be purchased in the shop within the game. You don't necessarily have to invest real money, as playing games is rewarded with an in-game currency. However, many items are only available for Riot Points, which cost real money. Each champion has a total of five abilities, four of which can be improved as the game progresses. Because the champions have different strengths and weaknesses, the fights are relatively varied.

A game usually lasts between 20 minutes and an hour, with characters gaining new equipment and becoming stronger as they battle. League of Legends has an unusually large fan base and is the basis for several e-sports leagues. The championship, which takes place once a year, has already attracted viewership of more than 100 million people.

Dota 2 – A Classic MOBA Game

Defense of the Ancients, or Dota for short, was originally a modification for Warcraft 3 released in 2003. The standalone MOBA game Dota 2 was released ten years later and is free-to-play. As is usual in this genre, players control their characters from a bird's eye view. Five players each form a team that is assigned to one of two factions. Depending on whether you belong to the Radiant or Dire faction, you have to protect the so-called Ancient of your own faction and destroy the other one.

The game characters can progress in two ways. Killing enemies both human and AI players generates gold, as does destroying their buildings. In addition, every player receives a kind of basic income in the form of gold, which can be used to purchase equipment and items. The heroes, however, reach new levels by gaining experience points.

The higher the level, the better the character's endurance, resilience and skills. The appearance of game interfaces and characters can be customized using skins, which are available for real money. However, these do not bring any advantages in the game.

Heroes Of The Storm – Perfect For Casual Gamers

This MOBA game, also known as HotS, has often been declared dead in the community. And in fact, it has been in maintenance mode since mid-2022. The publisher no longer provides new content, only technical updates. Nevertheless, Heroes of the Storm is still considered a perfect free-to-play MOBA for casual gamers. In contrast to many of its competitors, it was not convincing in the e-sports scene, but for casual players and beginners it can be mastered without much training time due to its relatively low complexity.

Before each game, the player must select his preferred hero from the list. As is usual for MOBA games, two teams of five players each are formed who have to defend their respective headquarters against the other group. In addition to the active players in the team, there is unlimited support from so-called servants with different skills. Killing enemies and destroying buildings generate experience points to level up the heroes. Since experience levels are always applied to the entire team, it is important to be a good team player.

A charming peculiarity of the game concept is the fact that heroes from different computer game universes meet in Heroes of the Storm. For example, characters from Warcraft and StarCraft can be found in this MOBA game

Pokémon Unite – The MOBA Dream For Nintendo Fans

Unlike most MOBA games, Pokémon Unite is not yet available for PC, but only for Nintendo Switch as well as Android and iOS devices. It is aimed at all fans of the little monsters that have accompanied many players since childhood. It is designed as pay-to-win and, like most MOBA games, offers the classic scenario with two teams of 5.

The game rounds last ten minutes. The aim of the game is to collect as many points as possible by cooperating with other team members. The team with the higher score wins. If at least half of the playing time has expired, a team can actively forfeit following a prior majority decision.

Before each match, gamers can choose from a range of playable characters. These become available either by purchasing them in the game shop or by completing missions. There are also Pokémon that can be played using the rotation principle. Depending on the character's abilities, the gamer is assigned a specific role in the team as an attacker, jumper, all-rounder, defender or supporter.

Smite – A Pearl Of Tactics With A Lot Of Variety

This MOBA game differs from many of its competitors in terms of its appearance. Instead of the usual isometric bird's-eye view, the player takes on a third-person perspective. The game characters mainly consist of mythological figures that have their roots in different religions. In the portfolio you will find, among other things, Egyptian deities, figures from the Arthurian legend or Chinese, Greek and Roman mythology.

The combination of special skills and tactical maneuvers makes this game particularly interesting. In addition to other game modes, Smite also has the classic team mode with five members per side. What is being defended here is not a building, but a Titan. In addition to the active players, there are computer-controlled servants on the field. By killing gods and servants, players gain gold and experience.

You can use the gold to improve your own game stats. The average game duration is between 30 minutes and an hour, but there are also significantly longer games if both sides are very tactically adept.

Conclusion: MOBA Games Are A Nice Pastime For Team-oriented Tacticians

The MOBA gameplay has long since overtaken the classic real-time strategy game with large armies and the usual MMORPG. It impresses with its relatively short game rounds that you can squeeze in every now and then. Classics like League of Legends enjoy an extremely large fan base. Some of the games are firmly anchored in the e-sports scene and therefore delight not only active players but also spectators.

Almost all titles are initially free-to-play and generate in-game currency as the game progresses. However, you can usually also help with real money to pimp the game characters or to progress faster. An exception is Pokémon Unite, because the pay-to-win principle applies here. You can play for free, but in order to be really successful in the foreseeable future, sooner or later you will be asked to pay.