Dota 2 FAQ : How do you Offlane?

What should I remember when I'm offlaning? We're joining small lan tournaments 4fun and I'm really new to offlane, can anyone give me some advice?

Do not go for last hits (deny) when you are solo unless you are 100% beyond any doubt absolutely sure you'll survive it

If you don't know for SURE where the supports are, they'll be all over you the moment you get slightly closer. Literally the worst thing an offlaner can do is die, it's a disaster. Just leech XP at the periphery of the XP range and start roaming once you hit the desired level. If you aren't getting anything, (like if Bounty Hunter is forced out with sentries), go and do something useful elsewhere, like gank mid or stack woods.


Always ask yourself "what should I be doing in this moment to further the team?" Is it stacking, helping/ganking an other lane, warding, exploring the enemy jungle to cancel the enemy nature's prophet's clarity? If you died a couple times, feel free to abandon the lane if appropriate, there's no point in giving them more kills. You might be useful somewhere else.

Carry a Town Portal Scroll always and watch the minimap, dont be afraid to TP mid or safelane to help them. It's easy to turn fights around with a quick Town Portal Scroll.

 

The most important thing is to know the opponent's heroes and how many are on the safelane so you don't die

The primary objective of the offlane isn't to farm mindlessly; it's to get whatever you can without dying. If you're completely zoned out, it's way better to jungle/stack camps than dying and feeding the safelane carry.

If you don't see heroes with the initial creepwave, do a count on how many are visible on the map. If there are missing heroes, especially ones with stuns, play safe. This applies to all lanes, but the offlane is generally the most vulnerable. The other really dangerous time is the 4 min mark when the first night starts. It becomes really easy to smoke gank so watch out (especially your mid).

If you're on radiant, learn how to do the large camp pull. Even if it gets contested by the enemy supports, you can still leech xp by standing in the river.

Usually take a observer ward to block the pull camp or give you vision in the fog so you don't get ganked

You wanna hit lvl 6 before the other teams offlane. Once your good at not dying and getting xp your next goal could be to mess with the other teams carry mess up his farm. If you can mess up his farm and not die then you won your lane. Once your lvl 6 go wreck havoc and make your presence felt on the map Also call missing on the supports your against. If they are gone and the wave wasnt pulled then they are ganking so warn your mid player

Don't go for it if you're going to get harassed for free, or possibly killed

You'll be getting very few last-hits. In essence, only pick up last-hits outside of your opponents right-click range. One way to make it easier is by aggroing creeps to bring them closer to you. To do this, simply a-click an enemy hero while standing near enemy creeps. The enemy creeps will aggro to you, and you can draw them towards the back of your creep wave, making it a bit saver to last-hit (note this technique is not limited to offlane)

If you can afford it, ward their pull camp as often as you can. It'll make you less susceptible to ganks, and depending on the skill of your opponents, could push the lane towards your tower.

Ask for rotations for your mid/support. Generally speaking, your power curve ramps up faster than their carry, and if you can slow their income, the midgame will be much easier.

Most importantly, don't do anything ballsy. Getting yourself killed is much worse than leaving lane to heal.
On that note, buy all the regen you think you'll ever need with your starting gold. Stout is also good if you're melee.