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Like any other MOBA, Dota 2 is ultimately a game of resources.
The endgame is to destroy the enemy’s Ancient before the enemy side attains the same goal. But to get there, what transpires through most of a Dota 2 match is an attempt on both sides to create an imbalance in resources. Simply put, a gold and XP advantage over the opposite side makes the team more likely to win in Dota 2.
Gold is essential in Dota 2 because much of a player’s in-game impact can be gauged through their net worth.
What is ‘reliable’ and ‘unreliable’ gold in Dota 2?
The unspent gold of a player is divided between ‘reliable’ and ‘unreliable’ gold. Without delving into the complicated details, the easiest way to understand it is that the higher unreliable gold a player holds, the higher amount of kill bounty they will offer and lose upon death. This makes it a good practice to ‘buy out’ items and spend as much gold as possible when death is imminent.
Buybacks in Dota 2 function opposite; they spend gold from the reliable gold pool first.
There are only two sources of reliable gold in Dota 2: tick gold and bounty runes.
Tick gold
Each player receives a certain amount of gold over time passively in Dota 2. As long as the player has not abandoned the match, this gold keeps accumulating by itself.
Thus dubbed ‘passive gold’ or ‘tick gold,’ the amount of gold varies depending on the in-game time. It starts at 100 gold per minute (GPM) after the horn announcing the beginning of a Dota 2 match. The passive GPM goes through four tiers of increment throughout the game, capping out at 128 GPM after the 62nd in-game minute.
Bounty runes
Grabbing bounty runes gives each member of the team 40 gold at the start of the game. Spawning every three minutes afterward, the value of the bounty runes increase throughout the game.
Unreliable gold
All other methods outside passive gold and bounty runes add to the unreliable gold pool. This means that core players with higher farm priority tend to have more unreliable gold. This includes Hand of Midas, creep bounty, kill bounty, building bounty, as well as abilities that grant gold, e.g. ‘Greevil’s Greed.’
