Dota 2 is arguably the most complex of all MOBAs to learn and master. It’s a 5v5 game where every single position has a specific role to play. While hero matchups certainly are a huge deciding factor, in most cases, which team wins depends on who does their job better.
Learning your role in the game, depending on your playing position, is essential to securing victory in Dota 2. Wondering how it all works? We’ve compiled everything you need to know about Dota 2 positions and roles right here to make things easier for you.
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All Positions & Roles in Dota 2
There are a total of five positions in a game of Dota 2:
- Position 1 (Carry)
- Position 2 (Midlaner)
- Position 3 (Offlaner)
- Position 4 (Soft Support)
- Position 5 (Hard Support)
You’ll find more information about how each of these roles works below:
Position 1 (Carry)
Position 1, also called the Carry, is the hero that takes up the most farm on the map. It's the Carry's job to close out the game, whether by attacking the opponent's high ground, split-pushing the lanes, or taking part in team fights to kill the enemy heroes.
Position 1 heroes in Dota 2 are usually weak early on but grow stronger with levels and items. Most Carry heroes in the game have some sort of farming ability or spell, such as Sven's Greater Cleave or Gyrocopter's Flak Cannon. Heroes that don't have innate farming abilities usually like to build items that boost their farm speed. Anti-mage is a prime example, often rushing the Battle Fury for his first item so that he can speed up his item progression.
In the current meta, the Position 1 Carry goes to the safe lane with the Position 5 hero to offer backup. His priority during the laning phase is to get as many last hits as possible to build the early-game items. Once he has his key items, he usually goes to the Jungle to farm and plays around the safe parts of the map.
Every Carry hero in Dota 2 has different power spikes. When you're playing as Position 1 in your team, your main responsibility is to hit your item timings for the hero. For example, when you're playing Medusa, you want to get your Manta and either Eye of Skadi or Butterfly before minute 20:00 to start threatening the enemy high-ground with your team. Some of the popular Carry heroes in the current meta are Lina, Weaver, Clinkz, Terrorblade, and Phantom Assassin.
Different Carry heroes have different item timings and power spikes. Make sure you understand the strengths and weaknesses of the Position 1 hero that you're playing.
Position 2 (Midlaner)
Position 2, or the Midlaner, is usually the tempo-setter in the team. Similar to Position 1, Position 2 also tries to hit their item timings and power spikes. However, the Midlaner role is usually a lot less greedy compared to the Carry. Heroes in this role prioritize levels over gold.
The Midlaner goes to the middle lane to go up 1-vs-1 against the opponent's Midlaner. Individual skill, game knowledge, and hero matchup play a huge role in deciding which Position 2 comes out on top.
The job of this role depends almost entirely on the hero. Heroes like Shadow Fiend, for example, play a bit greedy and focus on completing their core items first. On the other hand, heroes like Husker want to start getting kills by rotating to the side lanes after getting his Armlet of Mordiggian. There are also heroes like Dragon Knight and Death Prophet who like to push the enemy towers instead of actively hunting for kills on the map.
Some of the popular Position 2 heroes in the current meta are Monkey King, Brood Mother, Primal Beast, and Earthshaker.
For the middle lane, the hero matchup is what matters the most. If your hero gets countered, try to push out the lane and fall back to the Jungle to keep up with the enemy's farm and levels.
Position 3 (Offlaner)
Back in the early days of Dota 2, the team’s Position 3 was usually the hero with the lowest farm. But things have changed drastically over the years, and in today’s games, the Offlaner is responsible for controlling the tempo and making early aggressive plays on the map.
Position 3 heroes typically go to the Offlane with Position 4 as their lane partner. While Position 3 is also a farming core like Positions 2 and 1, their main job is to bully the opponent’s Carry, deny as much farm from the enemy team as possible, keep the enemy under constant pressure, and kill threat. All these responsibilities can make Position 3 a difficult role to master for a beginner.
In most cases, the Offlane duo of Position 3 and 4 is stronger than the enemy Safe Lane duo. Position 3 heroes usually have an early power spike, which they use to try and force the enemy Position 1 to fall back to the Jungle. During the mid-game, Position 3 roams around the map with the two Supports to look for kills. The main job of Position 3 is to create as much space as possible for Positions 1 and 2 of the team.
Some of the meta Position 3 heroes in Dota 2 are Beastmaster, Brewmaster, Primal Beast, Centaur Warrunner, and Axe.
Creating space on the map is the Offlaners primary responsibility. Don't play static when you're playing as your team's Position 3
Position 4 (Soft Support)
If there’s a role that’s just as versatile and flexible in Dota 2 as the Midlaner, it would have to be the Position 4 Soft Support. Although the role is considered a Support role, most Soft Support heroes play like a pseudo-core, getting as much farm from the map as possible.
Soft Support heroes usually come with one or two high-damage nukes and crowd-control abilities. They don’t rely as much on levels or gold to be effective. However, with some mobility items, these heroes can control the tempo of the game just as well as the Offlaner.
The Soft Support's role depends mostly on the hero you pick. Heroes like Rubick or Windranger as the Position 4, can offer a lot of crowd control during team fights. On the other hand, heroes like Clockwerk or Spirit Breaker usually like to play as the initiator. You’ve also got heroes like Hoodwink or Marci that scale to turn into a complete damage-dealing monster in the late game.
Dark Willow, Shadow Demon, Rubick, Tinker, and Bounty Hunter are the current meta's most popular Position 4 heroes.
Don't be afraid to secure some farm for yourself when you're playing Position 4. Also, remember to carry detections and Observer Wards in your inventory to secure map vision.
Position 5 (Hard Support)
The Position 5 role in Dota 2 is another one that’s been through a ton of changes. Once dubbed the sacrificial role, the Hard Support is now the hero that makes sure the lanes are won, and the map is secured for the other heroes in the team.
The Hard Support hero usually goes to the Safe Lane with Position 1 and tries to secure the lane by pulling creeps, getting vision, and preventing the enemy pulls. If the lane is static, Position 5 tries to run to the jungle to stack camps. While the right Position 1 and 5 combos can certainly create kill opportunities, the main goal of the Hard Support is to make sure the Position 1 can farm up the items that he needs without dying.
Most Position 5 heroes in Dota 2 come with some sort of spell to save or heal the allies. They also usually have an early power spike and usually come with some crowd-control and nuke abilities.
Winter Wyvern, as a Position 5, is a good example of how these heroes like to play. The hero offers a decent nuke with his second ability, a powerful slow with his first, and his third ability can also heal up the Carry if things turn south.
In the mid-game, it’s the Position 5’s job to make sure there are enough wards and sentries on the map to secure the vision. These heroes usually don’t scale well into the late game and focus more on control and sustain instead of trying to dish out the damage themselves.
Some of the popular Position 5 heroes in the meta are Treant Protector, Omniknight, Tusk, and Abaddon.
Remember to rotate towards mid during the Power Rune spawn timers to help your Midlaner secure a lane advantage.
Dota 2 is anything but easy, but you’ll get the hang of it with some time and practice. Now that you understand how the five positions work, you’re one step closer to climbing up the MMR Ranks.
Dota 2
- Released
- July 9, 2013
