The offlane in Dota 2 can be interpreted as the role, the heroes that specializes in it, or the lane itself. Regardless of which, we will be going through what they mean because in a diverse Dota 2 game, anything can be ‘offlane’ if necessary. So where is the offlane in Dota 2?

The role, the heroes, or the lane

When it comes to the offlane role and even the heroes that specializes in it, the concept is relatively straightforward. The offlane role is of a position-3 carry, which means the carry player has the third highest priority in the game when it comes to resources, behind only the hard carry and mid roles.

Secondly, Dota 2 offlane heroes typically have to be able to survive and even dominate the offlane lane. While traditionally, most offlane heroes are characterized by their durability and high health pools, strength-based heroes, such as Tidehunter, Axe, and Bristleback. These days, in Dota 2 patch 7.36, however, even elusive heroes, such as Weaver and Bounty Hunter can be proficient heroes when played correctly, albeit requiring an unorthodox playstyle.

Players who play the offlane role still must have a sufficient farm, measured by their gold-per-minute (GPM) and XP-per-minute (XPM) to have relevant item build and levelling fit for a carry. Yet, they still have to compete in the toughest lane in the game.

Besides surviving the lane, players levelling up to level 6, have an impact on kickstarting the game’s momentum in their favor. Notably, Tidehunter’s ultimate, Ravage, serves as a deterrent against the enemy team to be in team fights, in fear of that skill. This lets Tidehunter’s team take objectives relatively safely together.

Where is offlane in Dota 2?

With the various concepts of this lane in mind, we can finally answer the question: where is offlane in Dota 2.

In most scenarios, if you are on the Radiant side, your offlane is the top lane. Whereas on the Dire side’s, you will have to go to the bottom lane. However, this standard dynamic can change depending on the scenario and match-up. For instance, if a hard carry player is struggling in their safelane, the team can request for the offlane to go to the safelane instead.

Essentially, the most difficult lane is the offlane in Dota 2. After all, the role is crucial as the sacrificial lane, where the player struggles but still require to not feed in the offlane.