Do you have trouble knowing when to leave the safe lane?
A game of many intricacies, Dota 2 has many aspects that new players must learn to climb the ranked ladder. One of these aspects is knowing when to turn back when things get rough. With the help of this article, you can figure out When to Leave the Safe Lane in Dota 2.
It is incredibly important to know when to progress from the Laning stage to the mid-game. However, if not considered in detail, these crucial timings can cause huge differences in winning or losing the game.
Positioning yourself correctly along with being familiar with the dangers your hero will face in battle is essential in winning. These game mechanics can help elevate your gameplay further. Thus helping you secure objectives much faster while maintaining your awareness of the game.
Read through this article if you want to learn When to Leave the Safe Lane in Dota 2. This article will also cover where one should play on the map depending on the conditions they face. Apart from this, this article will guide you on the proper measures to take so you can establish an early advantage.
What is the Safe Lane?
Also known as the easy or short lane, the safe lane is the path where the tower is farthest from the ancient. Furthermore, players call this lane the safe lane because it provides the best cover for a retreating ally. Enemies also have no clear openings to perform a gank on someone under the safety of the tower present in this route.
Also, the fact that the small camp is quite close for effortless creep pulls also contributes to its name. This lane is traditionally occupied by the hard carry (position 1) and hard support (position 5) duo. These heroes face the enemy Offlaner and a Soft support who may rotate out of the lane based on the enemy positioning and team play.
Hard carries have the task of being the pillar and being in charge of farming for the team in the late game. The one’s acting as the catalysts in winning fights as well as the ones pushing towers can all fall under this role. Often being underwhelming and extremely weak early on, the carry relies on the support helping them overcome the Laning stage.
Position 5s or the Hard Supports have the lowest farming priority on the team. They’re in charge of making sure their team survives the early game by using their support abilities. Though not a roamer, Hard support also needs to play a part in other lanes. Therefore, it is absolutely crucial to know When to Leave the Safe Lane in Dota 2.
Watching and Gaining Control of the Map
Taking efficient fights and knowing what your enemies are planning all boils down to impressive map awareness. Map awareness is an essential skill that a player is only able to hone through practice. It comprises constantly checking the mini-map and ensuring you know what’s taking place in other lanes.
Map awareness is also essential in order to gain control of the map as a team. Watching the map ensures that you are aware of missing heroes or potential moves that endanger a player. Timing is not the only factor influencing when a player should leave a lane. For example, a missing Midlaner at the 10-12 minute mark is often a sign of a potential gank.
Although optional, looking out for good opportunities to make things happen on the map is vital. Pushing towers with siege creeps at 5-minute intervals is a good sign to leave the lane. On the other hand, finding good chances to escape opens opportunities for bonus gold that one should definitely leave a lane for.
Leaving the Safe Lane as a Support
As a Hard support, one of the first responsibilities that fall upon a player is securing gold, XP, and creeps for your carry. This means is that you should be in charge of controlling the tempo of the lane as well as maintaining the creep equilibrium.Â
After about 6-8 minutes, most carries successfully purchase basic items that let them sustain and play the lane alone. At this point, it is a good decision to move to an adjacent lane or to stay away from the XP range of lane creeps. By doing this, enemy supports could make attempts to counter, allowing your carry to get the free farm.
In an average game, the Laning stage favors neither team, and both teams have a passive approach to the lane. Cases like these need support to stay in lane for up to 10-15 minutes to ensure enemies do not aggress. These mainly occur in low MMR brackets where players are still learning the game and are timid in their playstyles.
Apart from this, map awareness proves to be an irreplaceable skill for support who need to watch over other lanes. There are often times when supports have to choose between their carry and other lanes. In cases like these, it can be a good idea to help out other lanes to balance out the game since carries can easily farm the jungle when left alone.
Lastly, teleporting to help your Midlaner or Offlaner is highly encouraged, especially in high MMR gameplay. Moreover, creating a playable environment for your other teammates only leads to more overall room for your carry.
Leaving the Safe Lane as a Hard Carry
The second member of the safe lane duo is the hard carry, who has the highest farm priority on the team. Compared to the hard support, carries have the pleasure of staying in the lane much longer. In addition, unlike supports, carries decide when to leave the lane depending on the game’s condition.
The Supports have to help others out while carries stay for up to 20 minutes in-lane. Although this is not always the best course of action because it costs you a lack of vision and allows lethal power spikes from the enemy. It also leaves the carry useless since it’s just stuck in one position.
For hard Laning phases, leaving the lane before 10 minutes and repositioning to a safer area to farm is optimal. On top of that, constantly changing positions confuses enemies, therefore making you impossible to gank. With the current meta, many professionals also prefer to be an integral part of team fights from minute 20.
This not only lets you farm faster, it also puts you ahead of lazy carries who stay in one lane. Average games, however, can be a bit different regarding what farm you can gather in your lane. Additionally, upon investigating player trends, it is highly advantageous to stay in lane till you build your first item. Doing this allows your team to push enemies easily.
Nowadays, good map awareness and planning are not enough to win games anymore as the skill cap gets refined every day. Perfecting all the minor details of your gameplay is what puts you above the rest. Therefore, considering other things like When to Leave the Safe Lane opens more opportunities for you to win in Dota 2.
