Why is no one playing offlane in Dota 2 after Patch 7.40?

In Dota 2 patch 7.40, players who’ve been queueing for all roles in ranked have noticed that they’ve been getting offlane often. This means that fewer players are willing to take the hard lane than in previous patches, especially when compared to the two more heavily contested core roles.

It’s called the hard lane for a good reason, as players in this role are at a natural disadvantage. Recently, this dynamic has worsened. What happened in patch 7.40 that forced offlaners to reconsider their main role entirely?

Position 1 heroes default to the safe lane because it’s where the creeps crash closer to their tower, giving them more safety as they’re less exposed. Traditionally, the offlane duo has a higher power budget in laning, and they’re expected to bully their opponents out of the lane.

Yet, in the current meta, since patch 7.40, many safelane carries are simply too strong during the laning phase:

Most of the time, hard carries get priority in the draft, often going last. This is another disadvantage for the offlaner since they can choose heroes that will counter them in lane.

An item that has been quickly gaining popularity in Dota 2 patch 7.40 is Phylactery. The item has a passive called Empower Spell, which adds a separate 150 bonus damage nuke on top of a slow.

This item, alongside reworks and buffs during the patch, has brought back heroes like Spectre and Phantom Lancer, alongside other heroes with a unit-targeted ability. The reason why it became much more popular this patch is that Valve changed the recipe, now requiring a Perseverance. So, even if the lane is going badly for the carry, they just need to save up 700 gold to buy a Ring of Health, solving their regen.

Since the item is relatively cheap, most hard carries can farm up the item in 9-10 minutes. 

If the laning stage isn’t over for the offlane duo by then, it is now. There isn’t much counterplay to getting spammed by Spectre and Phantom Lancer’s amped up nukes that early in the game.

Since aggressive hard carries are back in the meta, the popular hard supports want to match their lane partners’ energy. Heroes like Lion, Witch Doctor, Jakiro, Crystal Maiden, and Venomancer have become commonplace, wreaking havoc with their bursty spells and obnoxious harass.

Not only that, but Dota 2 patch 7.40 buffed Holy Locket, so you’ll also see more high-sustain hard supports like Omniknight, Dazzle, Warlock, Treant Protector, and even the newest hero, Largo, in the mix. Headdress as a first item is becoming increasingly popular after Valve decided to nerf sharing tangos.

The most played heroes in position four right now lack the early-game presence of their counterparts. Popular soft supports like Pudge, Techies, Windranger, Skywrath Mage, Spirit Breaker, Rubick, Zeus, Bounty Hunter, and Hoodwink will have a hard time competing in this meta.

It doesn’t help that position four is the role most likely to be filled in by players farming role queue tokens. As an offlaner, it’s immediately obvious when your partner is just farming tokens when they aren’t performing support fundamentals, such as trading and contesting pulls.

In traditional Dota 2 theory, offlaners were expected to at least go even with their lane opponents and find ways to catch up if behind. That meant surviving harassment, snagging jungle farm, and rotating to help other lanes once you’d clawed some gold and experience back. However, the tempo-driven meta punishes slow offlaners before they can stabilise.

Hard carries like Clinkz, Spectre, and Kez can quickly transition from laning into team fights and objectives once they hit modest item thresholds. Simultaneously, popular mid laners like Ember Spirit, Shadow Fiend, Queen of Pain, and Invoker are also roaming the map early for rotation.

When the other two cores fall behind, they can catch up by farming the jungle. However, the offlaner is expected to dictate the tempo of the midgame, leaving them without any grace when falling behind.

Is position 3 doomed? Of course, not. This is nothing compared to what offlaners endured during the trilane era, yet they were still able to find parity or even thrive back then. 

Last year, offlane was the oppressive role; therefore, this is merely a simple shift in power. Right now, offlaners have to adapt and accept that most of the safe lane duos have better kill synergy in this meta.

First, curate an offlane hero pool that’s sturdy enough to go even in lane, yet doesn’t lose relevance going into the mid game. Ideally, pick offlaners that can quickly take ancients so you can ask your support to stack instead of forcing a losing lane. Heroes like Axe, Tidehunter, Centaur Warrunner, Mars, Dark Seer, and Dawnbreaker can stay relevant even with crumbs for resources.

Second, learning how to manipulate the lane is a tactic every offlaner needs to know. Don’t solely rely on your support to keep the hard camp unblocked and buy a sentry yourself.

If the matchup is that bad, buy an early boots and start dragging the wave behind your tier 1 tower. If that isn’t possible, be prepared to jungle early, but always keep a TP handy to counter gank.

Veterans of Dota 2 recall when the “hard lane” was an underwhelming way to describe the suffering they had to endure. While modern offlaners aren’t back to the dark ages just yet, they’re temporarily reminded of those times with all these overpowered hard carries running amok.

However, as more and more players dodge the role, now is the time when true offlaners will make the biggest difference.