You just landed a perfect Black Hole that wiped the entire enemy team, your carry secures a rampage, and the chat is blowing up with excited pings. What’s better than spamming “gg” to mark that huge win? Learning how to high five in Dota 2 is one of the simplest, most satisfying ways to share that high with your teammates, even if you’re queued solo with randoms. I’ve played Dota 2 for over 7 years, and I still get a kick out of a random support high fiving me after I save them from a gank, or we pull off a crazy backdoor win no one saw coming. This guide breaks down exactly how to use the high five emote, plus little-known tricks to make the interaction even more fun for everyone on your team.
How to High Five in Dota 2: Step-by-Step Basic Instructions
First, you’ll need to make sure you have the high five emote unlocked and equipped in your in-game armory. The standard high five emote is often given away for free during seasonal events like Diretide or The International Battle Pass, and you can also pick up a permanent, cheap version from the community market for just a few cents if you don’t already have it. Once it’s equipped, open your emote wheel (the default keybind is G, but you can rebind this in your settings to a more convenient key if you want) and select the high five icon. A request will pop up for nearby teammates, and if they select their high five emote within 3 seconds, you’ll both see a fun animation of your heroes slapping hands, plus a playful sound effect.
You can only high five teammates, not enemy players, even if you want to congratulate them on a really impressive outplay. That’s a common mistake new players make, so don’t waste your emote trying to high five the enemy mid who just killed you 3 times in lane. High fives work in all official game modes, from ranked all pick to ability draft and turbo, so you can use them to celebrate no matter what kind of match you’re in.
Fun Situations to Use a Dota 2 High Five
High fives aren’t just for rampages or winning the entire match. There are tons of small, underrated moments in every Dota 2 game that deserve a little celebration, and a high five is way more personal than a generic chat wheel line. I’ve used high fives for everything from my support successfully blocking the neutral camps at the start of the game, to my carry finally buying a Black King Bar after 30 minutes of me pinging it nonstop. Some of the best times to send a high five request include:
- After a successful team fight win that secures a key objective like Roshan or a T3 tower
- When a teammate saves you from a sure death with a well-timed glimmer cape or force staff
- At the start of a match to say hello to your random teammates and set a positive tone
- After you and a teammate pull off a silly, unexpected play like a Techies mine stack that takes out 3 enemies
- Right before the ancient explodes to cap off a great game, win or lose
I’ve found that using a high five in low-stakes casual games can turn a toxic random queue into a fun match almost immediately. Even if you’re down 20 kills and three towers, a quick high five after a good play can stop teammates from typing angry messages and get everyone focused again. Don’t overuse high fives though – spamming them every 2 minutes will get annoying for your team, and they’ll start ignoring your requests entirely. Save them for moments that actually deserve recognition, and they’ll feel way more meaningful when you do send them.
Common High Five Mistakes to Avoid
Even though the high five emote is pretty straightforward, there are a few common mistakes that can leave you hanging without a response. First, a lot of players don’t realize that high five requests expire after 3 seconds, so if you send one when your teammate is in the middle of a chaotic team fight, they probably won’t see it, and you’ll be left waiting for a response that never comes. Another common mistake is trying to high five someone when you’re both too far apart. If you’re more than 1200 units away from your teammate, the high five won’t trigger even if they accept it, and you’ll get a small error notification in your chat log.
If you’re playing a hero with a very large model, like Primal Beast or Tiny, you can high five from slightly further away because their hitboxes are bigger, so you don’t have to stand right on top of each other to make it work. Also, some custom game modes disable emotes entirely by default, so if your high five isn’t working, check if the mode you’re playing allows custom emotes first before you start messing with your settings. I once spent 10 minutes trying to fix my emote wheel in a custom Ogre Magi ability roulette game, only to realize the mode had all emotes turned off completely. That’s a waste of time you don’t want to repeat.
How to Customize Your Dota 2 High Five for Extra Flair
The default high five emote is fun, but you can easily customize it to match your personal style if you want. Themed high five emotes are released all the time during seasonal events and Battle Passes, with designs ranging from spooky Diretide pumpkin high fives to glittery International-themed ones that shoot confetti when you connect. Most of these custom emotes are available on the community market for less than $1, so they’re a really cheap way to add a fun personal touch to your matches.
If you use high fives often, you can also bind the emote to a separate hotkey instead of keeping it on your emote wheel. Just go to your hotkey settings, scroll down to the emote section, and assign a key to the high five emote directly. That way you can send a high five request in half a second, no need to open the wheel and search for the icon mid-fight. Custom high fives are only visible to you and the player you high five, so enemy players won’t see your fancy themed emote even if you’re standing right next to them. That means you don’t have to worry about showing off to the other team, it’s just a fun little shared moment between you and your teammates.
At the end of the day, Dota 2 is a team game, and small, positive interactions like high fives make the whole experience way more fun, even when you’re on a 5-game losing streak. You don’t need fancy skins or 10,000 MMR to enjoy connecting with your teammates, and learning how to high five in Dota 2 takes less than a minute to set up. Next time you land a great play or your support pulls off a perfect stun to save you, send a high five request – you might be surprised how many people will send one right back.