The early game, often referred to as the laning phase, is all about securing resources and gaining an advantage in your assigned lane. This period sets the foundation for the rest of the match.
Objectives:
- Last Hitting and Denying: Prioritize landing the killing blow on enemy creeps for gold and denying your own creeps to deny the enemy gold and experience.
- Harassment: Use your hero's abilities and attacks to chip away at enemy heroes' health, forcing them to use consumables or retreat.
- Rune Control: Contest and secure Bounty Runes (at 0:00 and every 3 minutes) and Power Runes (every 2 minutes after 2:00) in the river.
- Vision: Supports should place Observer Wards to gain vision of key areas, preventing ganks and spotting enemy movements.
- Stacking and Pulling: Supports can 'stack' neutral camps (luring creeps out of the camp just before the minute mark) to create larger camps for cores to farm later. 'Pulling' neutral creeps into your lane can manipulate creep equilibrium.
- Survive and Farm: For carries, the primary goal is to survive the lane and accumulate as much gold and experience as possible.
Effective laning involves a delicate balance of aggression, farming, and map awareness. Avoid unnecessary deaths, as they grant gold and experience to the enemy.