The Mid lane, Safe lane, and Off lane are the 3 paths that you can choose to play in Dota 2. These 3 lanes need your constant attention to become a pro player among your friends. You can focus on leveling up in any of the 3 lanes based on the hero you have picked to score a ton of kills.

Playing a hero in the right lane can drastically increase your chances of winning. Dota 2 has a vibrant world of jungle creeps, ancients, and runes that are dispersed throughout the 3 lanes to make matches unforgettable for its gaming community.

You can select your lane during the hero loadout at the start of each game. Move your mouse over to either the Mid lane, Off lane, or Safe lane in the mini map and click on the lane to highlight your choice. Players also make it a point to type their lanes in the chat window before the game begins to prepare the team for battles.

Dota 2 has a friendly environment for beginners. New players can join a party at any time with up to 5 players in a team. If you’ve just started playing Dota 2, it’s best to head towards the Safe lane or Off lane to avoid getting killed.

Mid lane is for carry heroes

Carry heroes take the Mid lane to get their ultimate ability before anyone else in their team. The Mid lane has 1 hero per team, giving heroes plenty of chances to take last hits on creeps. You can gain more gold and experience by staying in the Mid lane.

Players in the Mid lane have a responsibility to give their team an early advantage. Destroying the tower in the Mid lane can provide a huge gold bonus to help your allies buy items in Dota 2. Many people who have played hundreds of Dota 2 matches have found that leaving the Mid lane before the enemy tower has collapsed can be detrimental to the team’s victory.

You can avoid toxic behavior like teleporting to the Mid lane when your carry hero is leveling up for a smoother session. Mid lane heroes alert their allies with a “Mid is missing” message in the chat. If you see this message from your carry heroes, restrain your movement to your tower for protection.

Safe lane is for farmers

The Safe lane is referred to as the top lane for the Dire and the bottom lane for the Radiant. It has a number of creep camps that provide easy gold for farmers. Playing heroes like Beastmaster can be loads of fun in the Safe lane.

Beastmaster can stack several creep camps together in the Safe lane and launch his Wild Axes to cut through them. Wild Axes have a cast range of 1500, extending the reach of their attacks to multiple neutral creep camps. Each instance of Wild Axes deals more damage per stack, making Beastmaster an ideal hero for the Safe lane.   

Items like Vanguard can decrease the amount of damage dealt to heroes. You can access the Secret Shop near the Safe lane to purchase a Vitality Booster for 1000 gold and a Ring of Health for 700 gold from the base to complete your Vanguard. It grants 250 health and 4.5 health regeneration to heroes. You can also buy a Hand of Midas for Safe lane heroes to Transmute creeps, gaining 160 gold per spell.     

Off lane is for support heroes

Support heroes can choose the Off lane for fast kills. Ranged heroes can farm gold from a distance in the Off lane without taking damage from enemy heroes. Melee heroes can level up faster by getting last hits on enemy creeps in the Off lane.

You must guard your allies in the Off lane since they’re prone to being attacked by the enemy team. Crystal Maiden is an Intelligence hero with abilities that can mitigate enemy heroes in her lane. She can max out Arcane Aura to increase the mana regeneration rate of her allies on the map. Teammates near Crystal Maiden regenerate mana much faster due to her abilities. You can buy a Headdress for Crystal Maiden in the Off lane to help her restore health to her allies.

Melee heroes like Riki can farm gold in the Off lane. Purchasing a Quelling Blade grants bonus damage to Riki. You can also buy a few Wraith Bands to provide bonus attack speed and Agility attributes to the Stealth Assassin.  

Communication is key to winning

Choosing 1 of the 3 different lanes can be hard at first. Once you’ve farmed quite a bit of gold in your lanes, look at the mini map to assist your allies in team fights. Dota 2 players can use the chat option or the mic on their headphones to communicate their next steps to their party members.