The laning phase roughly covers the first eight to ten minutes, until the first turrets fall. You don't win the game, but you can gain enough gold and experience to win it afterwards. Everything that follows applies to all three lanes, gold lane, exp lane and mid lane; the jungler and the roamer have their own guides.
What the lane really brings
A lane produces three resources: gold, experience and pressure on the opposing turret. An kill is just a way to get more quickly. A player who is two waves ahead, one more level and an enemy turret started has won his lane, even with zero kills.
This is the first idea to remember: don't judge a lane on the scoreboard. The score says who killed whom; it does not say who let waves pass or who lost a turret while chasing someone in the river.
The first seconds
Even before the first wave, the game has started. The enemy jungler chooses his first camp, the roamer looks for an invasion or a bush, and the Turtle appears at 2:00 near the exp lane.
- Arrive in lane on time: a failed first wave means coins and experience that you won't get back for several minutes.
- Do not cross an unchecked bush at the very beginning: this is the moment when the opposing roamer is most often waiting.
- Look at the opposing composition before choosing your position: faced with a hero who wins exchanges at level 1, you let the wave come to you.
Trades: when to hit, when to back off
A successful exchange means inflicting more damage than you receive, without leaving any waves. The good times are always the same:
- when the opponent finishes off a minion: his attack animation is engaged, he cannot respond immediately;
- when his main skill has just been launched: as long as it recharges, he loses his best trading tool;
- when your wave is bigger than his: his minions hit less hard than yours, and every second of combat leans towards your side.
Conversely, move back when your wave is smaller, when your skills recharge, or when the opposing jungler hasn't appeared on the minimap for a while. An opponent who accepts an unfavorable trade for no reason is often waiting for someone.
To find out who wins a given duel even before the game, the matchup matrix and the hero comparison give the results measured between two heroes.
The turret, your ally
At the start of the game, a turret is the most powerful weapon in the lane. Each consecutive shot on the same hero hits harder than the previous one: staying under an enemy turret, even for a few seconds, quickly costs half of your HP. A turret also suffers much less damage when no enemy minions are within its range: you do not take it without its wave.
Concretely:
- in difficulty, let the wave come under your turret and finish off the minions up close: the opponent following you gets shot;
- when ahead, push the wave to the opponent's turret, then move back: the opponent must choose between losing his minions and losing HP.
The site map shows where turrets, bushes and camps are located, and what each point yields.
Recalling to base
Getting back to base at the right time is a skill in its own right. The right moment meets three conditions: the wave has just been pushed, you have enough gold to finish an important item or component, and no objective will appear in the seconds that follow.
The worst moment is the opposite: an enemy wave arriving at your turret, an item barely touched, and a Turtle appearing. In this case, it is better to stay with few HP than to lose an entire wave and a turret.
Communicate without writing a novel
A laning phase is also played with five players. Three signals are almost always enough:
- absent opponent: as soon as your opponent leaves the lane, report him, even if he returns three seconds later;
- need for help: only if help can arrive before the situation deteriorates, not after;
- objective: warn about fifteen seconds before the Turtle if your lane is pushed and you can join.
The most common mistakes
- Pursuing a low HP opponent out of the lane, across the river: the gain is a possible kill, the cost a lost wave and an enemy jungler who was just waiting for that.
- Stay in lane with 20% HP “so as not to lose the wave” against an opponent who has his ultimate: the wave returns, death costs much more.
- Push constantly without looking at the minimap: a pushed lane is a long lane to defend for the opponent, but also a lane where you are far from your turret.
- Buying items out of order: the first components are used to win the lane, not just to finish an item in twenty minutes. The build simulator shows what each purchase changes.