Dota 2 Role Guide: Tips on How to Play Mid Lane

Here are some tips that every new Dota 2 player can use to their advantage.

Even though it’s true that every role in Dota 2 is important, the vast majority of players prefer to play mid. This used to be the most vital role back in the days because it was purely one versus one. However, modern-day Dota is very different, so the one vs one scenario rarely happens. In fact, you can often even come across double-lanes in mid, especially with certain hero combinations.

With that out of the way, let’s take a look at a few general things that you need to implement if you want to become a decent mid laner. This is by no means professional advice, but it might be useful to many players out there.

Pick the right hero for the situation

If you play a lot of pub games, you’ve probably noticed that the mid laners usually pick last. This gives them a lot of advantages because they know what heroes they have to play against. If you have the last pick yourself, it's crucial to utilize this to your advantage, since you know the hero you're going to lane against.

Needless to say, you have to try and make the most out of your last pick. What this means is that you need to think carefully about which hero will fit your lineup and will also be good against the enemy lineup. For example, if you’re playing against Spirit Braker and TA, it’s probably a good idea to pick something tanky.

One thing that you shouldn’t really put that much emphasis on is countering the other mid laner hero. This is a very common mistake that people do and it usually results in a loss. There is no point to pick a hero just to counter a single enemy. That's because once the laning stage is over, this matchup advantage doesn't really matter much.

Know how your hero works

This tip is applicable to pretty much any lane and position in Dota 2. However, it’s even more important when it comes down to the mid lane, particularly in some scenarios.

Knowing the limits of your hero can be the difference between scoring a kill and doing the “walk of shame”. In fact, this also implies to the hero that you’re playing against. If you don’t know what to expect, there is a pretty high chance that you will get yourself killed. For example, whenever you’re laning against Storm Spirit and the hero turns level six, he is capable of running and/or jumping on you. What this means is that you need to play a little bit more defensively when this happens.

Always try to snowball

Snowballing is a very interesting mechanic that exists in most MOBA games. It is a term that describes a situation where a hero becomes out of control after gaining a couple of kills in a row.

In most cases, nearly every single mid hero out there has the potential to snowball. Of course, some of the mid laners are a lot more prone to that, which is why you should always aim at snowballing.

There are many examples here, but perhaps the best ones are Storm Spirit and Templar Assassin. Both of these heroes are capable of winning effortlessly as long as they have a good start.

On the other hand, whenever you’re laning against such heroes, you have to do everything in your power to prevent this from happening. In other words, don’t die for no reason, because it will have bad consequences.

Always be aware of which heroes are missing

As we’ve said in the beginning, the mid lane nowadays is not what it used to be. Today, there are so many roaming heroes out there that it’s pretty much impossible not to get ganked at least one time in the laning stage. Depending on what hero you’re playing, you might be able to escape, but you shouldn’t count on that.

Always make sure to know the positions of the enemy heroes, especially those that can harm you. To do that, simply look at the minimap regularly, and when you see that some of the heroes are missing, play a little more carefully.  Of course, you should always have an Observer Ward to help you out, but don’t always count on that by itself. Every good ganker will buy a Smoke of Deceit and you’ll often see them when it’s too late.

Try to gank only when it’s worth it

The last point that we want to focus on is ganking. Usually, the mid laner is the one that people expect to make ganks around other lanes after he gets a couple of levels. While this is a good idea in some cases, that’s not always the case. It really depends on what hero you’re playing because, sometimes, it might be a better idea to just farm.

At the end of the day, it’s up to you to decide whether or not it’s worth sacrificing your time to gank. Think about all the farm that you’re going to lose beforehand. If you do decide that the kill is worth, definitely do it though, as that can have a huge impact on the game.

Having said that, you have to try and make this decision without being under stress from your teammates. People may try to flame you for not ganking, but you can ignore the calls and focus on your own game.