In any team, there is a permanent place for Dota 2 Offlane Heroes. This hardy breed of players braves death and injury to shelter spell casters and DPS players. While some are traditional and beefy, others are annoying and chaotic. Dota 2 employs these tank stereotypes and refers to them as offlaners. You know these offlaners better as Position 3.
Offlaners are special, treading the line between core and support. When the offlaners perform their role, they can be menacing. But if offlaners fall off, they tend to have no impact on the game throughout. Position 3 is a key role in Dota, signifying the initiators and durable parts of the team. They can specialize in spells and other areas, but their core concept remains the same.
Consider This…
Underlord can be one of the most interesting Dota 2 offlane heroes. His specialty is magic damage and global movement and heavy physical damage. Any player can be good at Underlord, but good players can capitalize on their strengths.
Firestorm deals a percentage of HP damage, coupled with his pit, which makes roots and disables effective. Fiend’s Gate makes for a two-way transportation option, make sure to be strategic in its usage.
Slardar can be quite the bruising experience for the enemy team. Physical damage man fights are the specialty for Slardar. His kit works well with other physical damage kits like Templar and Phantom Assassin.
The name of the game for Slardar is to chase and beat down initiations. Movement in the river is better than all heroes, and his bash is patterned like Wukong’s Jingu Mastery. Corrosive Haze is the greatest armor reduction skill in the game so use it well.
Believe In…
Axe is an all-time favorite for the offlane position. While other heroes see more appearance in offlane, Axe’s reliability is unquestioned. His primary role as an offlaner is disruption and physical damage mitigation.
His spinning passive makes him thrive in fights, and successful ultimates give him permanent scaling armor. Add this to an irritating DoT slow spell and his kit makes him a physical damage sponge. Make sure to take down enemies with Culling Blade to get permanent armor.
Tidehunter is a great big watermelon, a distinction given by the community. While Tidehunter is known for his iconic ultimate, his x-factor is his passive. Kracken shell gives him a damaged block, and when he blocks enough, he hard dispels himself.
This allows him to soak disables without consequence and allows him to build durability items instead. His true weakness is magic damage, but that can be circumvented with item builds.Â
Abuse This…
Lycan is a plague that plays similarly to other Dota 2 offlane heroes. His forte among the pack is his ability to run down the backline with physical damage. Shapeshift allows his group to run at maximum speed, with critical strikes.
If that isn’t good enough, his wolves are good at sieging towers. Aghanim’s Shard spawns a wolf on a random lane, whose cripple can affect towers. If it becomes nighttime, Lycan can howl, making units lose armor and hit softer.
Razor is a classic offlane pick. His kit specializes in anti-physical mechanics such as damage transfer and minus armor. The revenant is great at chasing down enemies with his passive, which boosts his movement.
His static link steals damage from a target, so he can use it. This allows him to hit and run, perfect for his ultimate ability. Eye of the Storm strikes the lowest HP unit in the area, prioritizing heroes and more so static-linked heroes.
