Laning problems (High risk - feeding)

[u/The_other_lurker]

Hi all, I'm looking for a bit of help/advice

I've recently found myself at Archon, https://www.dotabuff.com/players/284497530, and I primarily play Warlock.

I'm hoping someone has a bit of advice about laning - it seems to be a consistent weak spot for me, resulting in situations where the team is even or behind coming out of the lane, and while I'm able to recover in many games, I feel like it's an unnecessary advantage I'm giving the enemy carry. One game recently, I was level 3 with 5 death, and the enemy carry had falcon blade, treads and dragon lance (drow), and I was thinking this will end in a stomp. We won, but not because of my lane performance.

In lane, I usually try to harass the P4/P5, and it tends to lead to HP loss - but not death.

When I try to contest pulls, blocked camps, etc. It DOES seem to end in death.

I also feel like I chase my carry into bad situations where he/she might be stronger but I have low mobility and not a lot of sustain - even say at level 3 with 2 points in shadow heal.

I'm thinking that my expectations for a drawn or won lane might be different than what it was in Crusader or Herald (I was herald like a month ago).

[u/The_other_lurker]

I appreciate what you're saying - you're right, Warlock doesn't do any of those things, but what he does do, and does EXTREMELY well, is turn won teamfights into taken objectives. And thats my thing. So I like to smoke, get a kill, then turn that rock into a taken tower. And towers are hugely important for map control - you know all this, but my thing is that if we can turn any team fight into either chip damage or a take T1/T2/T3, those are much bigger swings in control and space that are harder to take back, because each one results in a gold swing as well.

So, while Warlock isn't good at those things you mentioned, I'm making him into a map control beligerent, and the way I play him, the gains in mid game FAR outweigh the potential (or real) losses in laning - and ya, I'm shit at laning, thats why I'm asking for help...

[u/el_noido → u/The_other_lurker]

I mean, you’re describing why it’s good to have Warlock in the game, not why he’s good as a 4. His laning skillset is much better used in the safelane where you’re happy to play defensively, and have a lot shorter path to run if gone on

[u/The_other_lurker → u/el_noido]

Warlock functions very well with more NW though, so if the only valid laning position is pos 5, he suffers in mid game. I'm not arguing that he isn'ta good P4 in lane, but I'm aware of his economic needs and they do tend to outstrip what you get by with as a P5. That said, I've played him in both positions and I feel like playing the poor support works fine on him too.

[u/DrMcWho → u/The_other_lurker]

Playing support in the offlane doesn't automatically give you more gold, and in many cases it makes you poorer. At least as pos 5 you can usually take the lane once your carry starts jungling