Dota 2 Guide: Positions Explained
5 Players, 5 Roles, 5 Positions, what are they?
Game Guide by Arne on Sep 05, 2024
Dota 2 is a complicated game that isn't a secret. It also happens to be a team game. Including you, there are 5 players in a team. And these 5 players are supposed to take on 5 positions. These positions have been there since the game's inception and, over the years, have grown to be core parts of the game. These positions have a distinct purpose that fulfills key elements of each match and generally have heroes suited to be played in these roles.
These positions may seem confusing and convoluted to the uninitiated, but upon some analysis, a clear picture can be observed. There are 5 positions in Dota, numbered in their order of importance in-game. These are:
- Position 1: The Carry
- Position 2: The Midlaner
- Position 3: The Offlaner
- Position 4: The Soft Support
- Position 5: The Hard Support
Each of these roles starts off in a specific lane and is usually paired in twos. Except for the Midlaner, they stay alone. They're cool like that.
The Carry
The Position One role means they are the most important. As you can judge by the name, carries are meant to 'carry' the team to victory. They mainly do this by killing enemy heroes as fast as possible, which is their main job. A carry starts the game weak, needing a babysitter [the Hard Support] in the lane. And they end the game as absolute powerhouses.
Carries need to be able to farm for a while, last hitting creeps, enemies, and towers to build items until they can eventually effectively kill enemies. They need to be able to farm efficiently; time is of the essence, and every team fight they miss is another step toward losing. A carry shouldn't participate in rotations and ganks in the early game; it is generally risky, as it can go either way. If the enemy ganks them, their priority should be staying alive. It's the same if a fight is going on nearby.
As the game progresses, a carry needs to be able to stand on their feet and start making plays; they need to be able to get into team fights and get important kills. During the early stages, this might be the enemy supports, who are generally easier to kill. Carries are known for their ability to deal a lot of damage, usually physical. So, keep that in mind when picking your hero.
The Midlaner
The Second Position is a flashy playmaker that needs to level up fast. So, they go to the midlane, and they go alone. This allows them to level up earlier than anyone else, save for the enemy midlaner. Unlike other lanes, the midlaner needs to win his lane to effectively participate in the team, and since it is a one-on-one matchup, this lane is incredibly skill-dependent.
The Midlaner acts as a second carry that occasionally leaves their lane to go around and get kills on other lanes. This usually happens when they reach level 6. This isn't a necessity, and often, midlaners wait until they get a key item before they start rotating. As a position 2, the midlaner needs to be able to farm well and fast.
Generally, heroes that rely on levels perform well in the midlane, and more often than not, these heroes are magic damage dealers with stable damage or some kind of nuke. They should be able to rotate often and help out other lanes after a while. So, unlike the carry, they're less static throughout the game.
The Offlaner
The third position and the last of the core roles, the offlaner, is an initiator and a tank in the easiest meaning of the terms. An offlaner needs to be durable, almost like an island. They remain isolated in the offlane, pitched against enemy carry and hard support. Their job in the early game is to make the enemy carry's life as bad as possible. Constant harassment, disrupting farms, and ganks that kill the enemy hard carry are crucial to the role.
An offlaner needs to make do with little gold, so they usually need to be critical of the items they get. An offlaner cannot get complacent; they are also space-makers and need to lengthen the game if the enemy starts pushing for their hard and soft carries to farm.
Offlaners need to be inherently tanky as they pivot to draw the enemy's focus on them. They also usually have a large area of effect spells, making them initiators. They are the first to start a fight, using their ultimate to disrupt the enemy.
The Soft Support
The soft support role is the most underrated role in Dota 2 and is underappreciated as the game's playmaker. Position four starts off similar to the offlaner, only they need to rely on their spells rather than any items they might get. The soft support has to be annoying and deeply strategic. They have to disrupt enemy farms and pulls and also set up ganks with the Smoke of Deceit.
Their reach also expands to other lanes as they rotate often to help out the mid or bottom lanes. They can also specialize in disrupting opponents, saving allies, or setting up aggressive positions. They usually do this with smaller items and their spells.
The fourth position usually needs a lot of disabling spells, which can be stuns, roots, or anything in between. They also often act as soft initiators and place deep wards to set up for pushes and ganks.
The Hard Support
The Hard Support starts the game in the safe lane with the hard carry. Their primary job is to protect the carry at all costs. They usually do this by harassing enemy offlaners, pulling camps, and having an arsenal of defensive items and spells.
They really rely on their spells and abilities, as position five is the lowest in the order of importance, and they generally do not farm. So, they remain gold-starved for most of the game and lack items. For this reason, they need to make do with cheap utility items that focus on helping the core roles.
The hard support is a sacrificial role that buys most of the wards. It is often a thankless role, dying a lot to save their allies and often being the first victim of enemy carries. That being said, they are, in a way, the most important. There's a reason most esports teams have their position five as the captain.
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