What are the 5 signs you should be playing offlane in Dota 2?

The offlane role in Dota 2 is also referred to as “position 3” and rightly so, as the role possesses the traits of both the carries and the supports. You often end up in sacrificial lanes while still being expected to get enough farm and experience, hold your lane, and hopefully not feed. The nature of this role makes it tricky to play.

Take a look at this checklist to see if you’re cut to be an offlaner.

1. You do not mind being outnumbered

What goes against a safe lane trilane isn’t always an aggressive trilane. Oftentimes, it’s an offlane hero. Most novices would be terrified of the idea of going against three heroes alone. They usually try to get a last hit, which then gets them in a compromising position where they either take too much damage or die. Good offlaners, on the other hand, are not overwhelmed by numbers because they have this next trait.

2. You have a good understanding of how lanes can be won

People often believe that if you’re unable to farm, you automatically lose the lane. This isn’t always the case for offlanes, though. A good offlaner understands that getting one last hit is not worth dying for. He also understands that it’s usually enough to hold the offlane and not die, and knows how to use this knowledge to his advantage.

3. You can make the most out of your resources to survive

Offlaners are usually hot targets for the enemy teams because of their disadvantages in a lane. Since the supports are busy taking care of the other two cores, the offlaner usually has to depend on himself to survive. This means he needs to properly make use of his resources to last as long as possible. And by this, I mean all resources available—from skills, items, cliffs, fog, to experience leeching radius, to name a few. An offlaner with a good understanding of the game’s mechanics doesn’t only survive better, but can also carry out the next trait.

4. You like (and succeed in) being a nuisance to your enemies

This is what makes the master troll Daryl “iceiceice” Koh one of the top offlaners in the world. His understanding of how Dota 2 is played and of the current meta allows him to be a pest to the entire enemy team. Aside from being a nuisance in his lane, he can also disrupt the opponent’s play with little things such as walking in the right place at the right time to break the enemy smoke. This was a simple move, but resulted to the enemy wasting their smoke and their time, and pinpointed their location on the map.