Why Does Pudge's Hook Look Like It Curves?

Pudge's hook does not curve. Meat Hook flies in a straight line on the map, from Pudge to the point you aimed at. When it looks bent, the cause is the camera. Dota shows the map from a tilted angle, not from straight above. Height makes this worse. A hero on high ground is drawn in a different spot on your screen than a hero on low ground, so a straight hook between the two can look like it bends or slides past.

Does Meat Hook really fly in a straight line?

Yes. The hook is a point-target skillshot. It leaves Pudge, travels in a straight line toward the spot you chose, and grabs the first unit it meets. There is no homing and no bend. If nothing is on the line, it comes back empty.

The straight line is drawn on the flat map, the way the minimap sees it. Your screen is not the flat map. It is a picture taken from a camera that sits above and behind the action, looking down at a slant. That gap between the map and the picture is where the "curve" comes from.

Why does the hook look curved on screen?

Dota's camera looks at the map at a slant. Things near the top of your screen are further away, so distances there look shorter than distances near the bottom.

Now add height. The map has ramps, ledges and slopes. The hook passes over them, since cliffs do not stop it. A unit standing up on a ledge is drawn higher on your screen than a unit on low ground at the same spot on the map. So the chain can seem to lift or dip as it crosses a slope, even though its path on the map never changed.

Most players notice this in one of three cases:

• A hook thrown from low ground up onto a ledge.
• A hook thrown down from a ledge onto a lane or river.
• A long hook aimed toward the top of the screen.

Why do hooks between high and low ground seem to miss?

Aiming is where the camera really hurts. When you click, the game picks a point on the ground under your cursor. If you click on a hero's head, the point you get may not be under that hero's feet. On flat ground the gap is small. Near a cliff it can be large, because the ground under your cursor may be on a different level than the hero you see.

So a player clicks right on an enemy who stands on a ledge, and the hook flies a little off to the side or falls short. It feels like the hook bent away. In fact, the aim point was not where the player thought it was.

Vision adds to the confusion. Low ground cannot see up onto high ground without help. A target on a ledge may only be visible for a moment, then vanish. You end up aiming at the last spot you saw, while the hero keeps walking. The high ground hooks guide covers how to find and use those ledges.

How do you aim hooks across height?

The fix is to aim at the ground, not at the model. Good habits:

• Aim at the feet. Look at where the hero stands, and click on that bit of ground. Ignore the head and the health bar.
• Watch the path, not the body. A hero walking along a slope keeps moving while the hook flies. Pick a spot on the ground ahead of them.
• Move the camera first. Slide the view so the target sits near the middle of your screen. The tilt distorts less there. The camera control guide shows how to do this fast.
• Get vision before you throw up a slope. A ward or a teammate on the ledge lets you see the target the whole time.
• Check your range. Long throws are where the tilt fools you most. Check the current values on the abilities page.

How can you train your eye for this?

Practice in a lobby. Stand on low ground below a ledge and throw at a unit on top. Then swap and throw down. Watch where the hook really goes compared to where you clicked. After a few rounds, you start to feel how far the screen lies near cliffs.

Replays help too. Pause right before a missed hook and look at where your cursor was. Many "curved" hooks turn out to be clicks on a model that stood on a different level than the ground under it. The hook practice guide has drills you can reuse.

FAQ

Is the hook curve a bug?

No. The hook path on the map is straight. What you see as a curve comes from the tilted camera and the height of the ground.

Why did my hook pass right by a hero on a ledge?

Most often the point you clicked was not under the hero's feet. Near cliffs, the ground under your cursor can sit on a different level than the hero you see.

Does the hook slow down or change path over cliffs?

Cliffs and trees do not stop the hook. Only units do. The path stays a straight line from Pudge to your aim point.

Checklist

• Trust that the hook flies straight on the map.
• Click on the ground under the target's feet, not on the model.
• Lead moving targets along the path they walk.
• Center the camera on the target before long throws.
• Get vision before you aim up onto high ground.
• Practice cliff hooks in a lobby until the tilt stops fooling you.