Easiest heros to play in each Dota 2 position as a beginner

Most MOBAs are difficult to get into, and Dota 2 takes the cake in that department.

Dota 2 has 121 heroes, and about a third of them are locked for a beginner. Even so, it can be a daunting task to find the right pick for the right game. Heroes in Dota 2 themselves take numerous games to understand fully, let alone master. Thus, a newcomer should restrict their primary hero pool to a few straightforward heroes while learning the game's other mechanics.

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How to play the best beginner Dota 2 heroes for their respective positions

5) Hard support: Ogre Magi

The hard support player pairs with the allied carry and go into the same lane, but the goals of the two are wildly different. In Dota 2, the hard support's goal is to carry access to as much farm as possible.

Ogre Magi goes about this task by being an all-around nuisance to the enemy laners. He stuns with his Q, one of the deadliest damage-over-time abilities of Dota 2 with his W, and an attack speed buff for his carry on his E. Ogre's R, Multicast, amps up his spells even further with multiple casts.

• Unlike most hard supports in Dota 2, Ogre Magi is naturally tanky. In lanes where the opponent does not have burst damage, he is nigh unkillable. The right way to utilize this in Dota 2 is to simply put yourself between the carry and the enemy laners while not pulling creep aggro.
• In the lane, Ogre maxes out Ignite (W), spams it at the hero with low regen, and drives them back.
• Later on, your job in teamfights is pressing your stun (Q) on the enemy damage dealer or offlaner and buffing up your core with Bloodlust (E).

Item suggestions:

• Tranquil Boots
• Glimmer Cape
• Hand of Midas (in games that are going very well)
• Magic Wand
• Force Staff
• Scythe of Vyse (lategame)

4) Soft support: Spirit Breaker

Spirit Breaker is one of the most gank-heavy roamers in Dota 2 (image via ArtStation)

The position 4 in Dota 2 is called a roamer. Like League of Legends, the roamer ideally does not sit in a lane. In Dota 2, the task of this non-laning player is to find the weakest enemy lane that can be exploited and create kill opportunities.

• Spirit Breaker is the easiest roamer in Dota 2 because he does not need to travel to other lanes manually. As a Spirit Breaker, you max out your Q (Charge of Darkness) first with a point in W and E.
• The playstyle remains the same throughout the game. Communicate with a laner who wants to go for a kill, charge (Q) at the target, whittle them down with Right clicks.
• After you get your R (Nether Strike) at lvl 6, cast it after your Charge of Darkness connects to chain-stun them.

Item suggestions:

• Phase Boots
• Spirit Vessel
• Blademail
• Lotus Orb
• Pipe of Insight (situational)
• Crimson Guard (situational)

3) Offlaner: Bristleback

Bristleback is potentially the tankiest hero of Dota 2 (image via Valve)

The offlaner tends to be the most chaotic role of Dota 2. The basic goal of the offlaner is to overpower the enemy carry and force the enemy to commit rotations on them. Bristleback fits this role perfectly while remaining extremely easy to play. Throughout an entire Dota 2 match, Bristleback has three basic tasks.

• Spam W (Quill Spray) and Q (Nasal Goo) in the lane. Purchase mangos for mana management when necessary.
• After you get R (Warpath), Bristleback gains extra attack damage with each spellcast. When Q and W stacks upon an enemy, you deal absurdly high amounts of damage to them both with your spells and right clicks.
• To become tanky, turn your back on the enemy. Thanks to his passive, Bristleback receives only about half as much damage when it is dealt behind him. Therefore, the gameplay is a dance of aggressive posturing when the enemy can be killed and defensive retreat when things get hot.

Item suggestions:

• Phase Boots / Arcane Boots into Guardian Greaves
• Crimson Guard
• Pipe of Insight (situational)
• Lotus Orb
• Aghanim's Scepter
• Bloodstone
• Kaya and Sange
• Shiva's Guard
• Heart of Tarrasque

2) Midlaner: Sniper

The midlaner is arguably the most difficult role of Dota 2. It involves controlling the runes, gaining some level advantage, and then controlling the game's tempo by invading sidelanes.

In that case, how does a beginner approach such a difficult position? By simply picking Sniper. The obvious issue with the hero is that he is a glass cannon. In Dota 2, there are myriad counterpicks and counterplays to glass cannons, but most of them do not come into play for beginners in the lower brackets.

• Sniper is extremely easy to last hit with, thanks to near-instantaneous projectile travel time. With his W (Headshot), he can gain more creep score than the opponent midlaner with minimal effort.
• Sniper is extremely slow, so that rune control might be difficult on an even lane. One way to do this is maxing out Q (Shrapnel) and pushing in the creepwave before each even minute (i.e., minutes 2, 4, 6, and 8). Purchase an observer ward to determine which side the power runes spawn on.
• In a fight, your job is to stay in the backline and deal damage with the E (Take Aim) active and snipe out low-health escaping enemies with R (Assassinate).

Item suggestions:

• Power Treads
• Maelstorm into Mjolnir
• Daedalus
• Monkey King Bar
• Silver Edge
• Satanic
• Eye of Skadi
• Hurricane Pike

1) Safelaner: Wraith King

Wraith King's arcana calls back his old 'Skeleton King' model from the earlier Dota 2 days (image via Valve)

The safelaner's job is theoretically the most straightforward in Dota 2. It is to gain more farm than the enemy cores and get an advantage to win fights from the midgame onwards. Wraith King is the easiest carry for beginners due to two reasons.

• Wraith King is among the most durable Dota 2 heroes. He gains a free instant respawn every minute, thanks to his ultimate, Reincarnation. Due to this, he also counters other Dota 2 cores that rely on taking out the target instantly - like Faceless Void or Enigma.
• He picks up the farm very easily, thanks to the skeleton summons from W (Vampiric Aura).
• When the laning stage breaks down, farm the jungle, and release skeletons by pressing W at a maximum charge (8).
• In the teamfights, Wraith King seeks out his target, presses Q on him, and lets the high crit damage from his E do the job.
• If you have Black King Bar, it is generally better to use them on the second life (after reincarnation triggers).

Item suggestions:

• Phase Boots
• Blink Dagger into Swift / Overwhelming Blink
• Armlet of Mordiggian
• Radiance
• Sange and Yasha
• Desolator
• Silver Edge
• Black King Bar
• Mjolnir
• Assault Cuirass

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This article reflects the opinions of the writer.