Dota 2 is an esport loved by millions of people around the globe. But to master it, you need to understand all of the 5 roles: carry, mid, tank (or offlaner), roamer, and support. Among them, the tank is often the most important one in the first half of any match. This guide will tell you more about how to play it.
What Is a Tank in Dota 2
In Dota 2 and MOBA games in general, the tank is a fundamental role that you need to understand whether you play it or not. Being familiar with the mentality and the strategy of tank players can offer you an edge when competing against or as part of a team that has at least one tank.
A tank is a hero whose natural attributes and abilities give him excellent durability and the potential to either initiate or prevent a team fight. Some of the best-known tanks in the game are Tidehunter, Underlord, and Axe. They all have great survival tools that can be further enhanced by buying the right items.
If you’ve been following Dota 2 tournaments for at least several years, you probably still remember Ceb’s Axe performance from The International 8 and The International 9. Thousands of fans made a lot of money during those two events by betting on Dota 2 matches, predicting a victory in favor of the underdog.
Three Fundamental Goals of a Tank
The 3 most important goals of a tank are these:
Make yourself more survivable
The more damage you can absorb and the longer you can stay alive, the easier it is for your team to do what it needs to do to win the team fights. Enemy heroes will assault you with physical damage, magic damage, disables, and much more. Your goal should be to become capable of dealing with all of that, so that you can be where you need to be: in the front line, baiting spells and attacks, and tanking for your team.
Tanks can be made stronger and more survivable by buying the right items. Make sure you itemize relative to the enemy lineup. Ask yourself: what is the enemy’s main source of damage? What will I need to absorb and survive? If the enemy has a lot of magic damage, buy magic resistance. If it has a lot of physical damage, buy armor.
In both cases, two other things you’ll need to buy are HP and HP regen. If you can regenerate quickly and have a lot of HP, that alone will keep you alive for much longer. But keep in mind that raw HP can be doubled and even tripled with enough armor and magic resistance. What really matters is not your raw HP but your effective HP.
Make your team more survivable
In some cases, and especially in late game scenarios, you might realize that keeping your team alive requires you to buy items that benefit not only you but your teammates as well. Anything that heals or offers some kind of protection is a nice addition to your inventory.
Some of the most underrated items in the game are those that offer mobility. A Blink Dagger is good for yourself but a Force Staff will help you save others as well. Many tank players often buy both if the situation allows it. For example, prior to the Aghanim’s Scepter on Earthshaker, everyone was buying Blink and Force on him. Now, some people skip even the Blink Dagger to rush the Ags.
Be able to initiate a fight or stop its initiation
Your cores will often wait for you to do something and bait some important enemy spells before engaging. Otherwise, they risk getting killed at the start of the fight. And without your main damage dealers, your team cannot win team fights.
Always ask yourself: what would allow me to be a better initiator? And then build your hero accordingly.
In some situations, another hero on your team will be the initiator and you’ll be expected to simply tank or stop a particular enemy hero from dealing damage to your cores. Or perhaps you’ll be considered an important damage dealer yourself. Whatever the case may be, make sure you understand what is expected of you and then fulfill your role as best as you can.
Some tank players love buying invisibility items to help them position themselves properly ahead of a team fight. Shadow Blade can win you games if it’s used properly but the problem with it is that your opponents might place Sentry wards at the location of the fight and then catch you off-guard instead of the other way around.
Being invisible often makes you imprudent. Because it’s hard not to assume that you’re invisible when you’re using an invisibility item. If having a guaranteed way of surprising your opponents is important for you and if you need to activate some ability in a split second when you’re next to an enemy, consider buying a Blink Dagger instead of a Shadow Blade.
Leave a Reply