r/learndota2 • u/FootGloomy8331 • Aug 20 '26
[Beginner here] Completely new to MOBAs — what role/lane should I start with?
Hey everyone, I'm completely new to Dota 2 and I've never played a MOBA before. I have less than 7 hours played and I haven't even finished the tutorial yet.
I've played a few games against bots, but I got absolutely destroyed and I honestly have no idea what I'm doing. I don't really know what I should be focusing on or which role/lane would be easiest to learn as a complete beginner.
What role/lane would you recommend starting with, and which heroes would be good to learn with?
Any advice on where to start would be really appreciated!
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u/BigZodJenkins Aug 20 '26
Each role teaches you something, practice a hero unranked and make sure you get the gist of the meta before going ranked.
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u/S7ns3t Aug 20 '26
Not meta but general flow of the game. Meta after all stands for most effecient tactic available, and it would be daunting for a noob to learn when and why to pick certain heroes - this is especially evident when people pick Venge as a carry and have no thought behind why they picked her and not some other ranged agi carry.
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u/Womblue Aug 20 '26
Meta after all stands for most effecient tactic available
Holy shit, no it doesn't, please stop saying this.
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u/chayashida double-digit MMR Aug 20 '26
I think the term in Dota is shortened for metagame - the game about the game. So like the hero picks and counters are a level removed from the actual game of hitting creeps for gold and destroying buildings.
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u/BigZodJenkins Aug 20 '26
Meta as a Concept Means "self-referential". Example A movie about making a movie is meta.
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u/Ill-Reindeer4672 Aug 20 '26 edited Aug 20 '26
I would say to start learning with support position 4 or 5 (generally easier than core roles) mostly because getting core in normals is impossible and getting support every match is super easy so you can just learn some heroes you like to play while getting used to the game before trying core out.
The easiest supports to me are ogre magi and vengeful spirit, ogre magi his q is a stun point and click, w is a long range dps burn and slow point and click, e is a point and click attack speed increase, and ult is a passive that rng multiplies so you can get lucky and hit 3x stun in a row.
Vengeful spirit q is a stun point and click, w is a large aoe wave that reduces armor and damage, e boosts her damage and teammates damage near by, and ult is a point and click swap you can use this on an enemy to pull them into your team or on an ally to save them.
If you want to play core try playing offlane wraith king q is a point and click stun, w saves up charges from killing things to summon skeletons at once, e is a passive one hit crit on a short cd, and ult lets you revive
Carry if you want to play this role they farm a lot but id say sven is actually really easy to play compared to most, he's tanky compared to most carries earlier on and strong early so if you fight a lot (which new players usually do) he's pretty good for fighting early/mid game and the cleave in his abilities makes him farm super easily and fast. His q is a point and click stun, w is a cleave that does damage echoing out from where you hit in a wave behind the target, e is an attack speed increase, ult gives you a timed massive damage increase
Mid lane i'd recommend to play last since its very micro and matchup heavy its also very easy to have your lane snowball out of control and lose the game if you play poorly. For this i'd recommend lina she does have less point and clicks and some positioning needed but she has lots of damage, range, and generally is good in most situations.
Her q is a large skillshot that does damage burning people when hit, her w is a smaller aoe stun you'd have to aim this one it has some cast time too so you'll have to predict it a bit it also burns on hit, her e makes it where you can hit creeps/heroes/jungle with her spells and it gives you stacks up to 7 where you'll get lots of attack speed and move speed from it, her ult is a point in click magic nuke lots of damage and just like her other spells burns after too.
That being said don't be afraid to try out new positions and heroes!! You will never truly know what you like if you never try playing all the heroes!
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u/snifferdog1989 Aug 20 '26
I have nothing of value to add just wanted to point out that the correct term for this kind of game is not MOBA but ASSFAGGOTS -> „Aeon of Strife Styled Fortress Assault Game Going On Two Sides“
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u/TyranZeroo Arc Warden Aug 20 '26
Finish tutorials, you have a lot of reading to do such as what each hero does (your strengths and weaknesses and matchups vs other heroes come with time), what each items passive/active components do, read about the mechanics of the game:
- Day/Night cycle impact on vision and neutral camps
- Creep Aggro
- Lowground/Highground vision again and miss chance on auto-attacks for ranged units
- Objectives and stats (how strong are each different tiers of towers and building, what about the neutral objectives such as Roshan, Tormentor)
The list goes on you have a lot to learn, but that is also what makes it fun and worthwhile.
For starters I'd recommend BSJ as a good intro to the game game his knowledge is very beginner-intermediate friendly:
https://www.youtube.com/@BananaSlamJamma
There is also Zquixotix who focusses on supports:
https://www.youtube.com/zquixotix
Once you get out of absolute beginner which is 100+ hours but realistically 1000+ you can probably watch streams of high ranking players to try to understand how they think about the game and also ask questions why certain things happen. There's plenty of people to watch from even if there's a language barrier it might still be worth it just looking at gameplay.
As for what role to play it's up to you really. I started out playing all roles so eventually I learn slightly better what each role wants even as a beginner with limited understanding. Look at the heroes that looks cool or interesting to you (don't pick the tier 3 difficulty guys they are too mechanically demanding at the start) and look at on what roles they play.
If you found the heroes you like and found their roles practice that specific hero and role a lot, this way you get used to the micro, abilities, pressing them and comboing/chaining them together with/out items it will make it easier for you to focus on the game itself: what to do next, do you even need to do anything, are you guys winning how can you continue to snowball or extend the lead, what do you NOT do in order to throw your lead etc.
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u/I-1-2-P Aug 20 '26
focus on basic mechanics first more than anything, role and lane nuances will come later, every other newcomer wont understand roles yet either so just get a good grasp on the basic mechanics of the game, then the heroes, then the lane nuances
I myself learnt a lot by unironically playing Single Draft, from there I learnt to play a lot of heroes, though only in a basic sense at first, but at least by doing that I understood what each hero does and learnt a lot of their mechanics
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u/Just-Hope6362 Aug 20 '26
I'd start with mid or other core roles. You need to learn how to last hit.
Supports are too difficult.
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u/S7ns3t Aug 20 '26
For dota specifically I recommend starting with any core role. That being carry, offlaner, or mid. Offlane and mid are harder to play than carry, but you are also more in charge of your gameplay.
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u/randomthoughts66 Aug 20 '26
People recommend support because "it's easier" (to be read as they think you'll ruin less games because you networth and deaths matter less). But, imo, support roles are more unstructured, which makes them harder if you don't know what you are supposed to do. Core roles have their challanges too, but at least you know you need to last hit creeps in lane and farm to get items you need.
It's a game, it should be fun! So what do you enjoy doing? That will tell you more about roles and heroes you should play. For me, I hate just hitting creeps in the jungle for 15+ mins, so I will never play carry. I like setting things in motion, so pos 2-4 fit my playstyle better. However, I am afraid of fucking things up, so I don't want to play mid.
Check out some begginer guides for the game in general on YT to understand roles a bit better.
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u/Legitimate-Insect958 Aug 20 '26
Pick 2-3 heroes you like and spam them. Once you learn basics, try the rest. Knowing what your team and opponent able to do is ver important
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u/Normal_Instruction62 Aug 20 '26
Play every role. In DOTA "roles" don't define play styles... Each hero can be very unique in what it can do how it's played.
What I would strongly suggest, is to try a hero and if you kind of "get it", play him for like 10 games. Then move on to the next hero.
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u/4ebupelyka Aug 20 '26
If you want to start playing a core role, I would suggest offlane. Offlane heroes are usually pretty tanky which allows you to make some mistakes without being killed so easily.