Does lane choice matter?
In other MOBAs I play (mostly DOTA) lane choice can make or break certain heroes. And specific hero combos and soloing with the right hero are important for the overall game. Some heroes do better in mid, while others do better in long or short lanes. But in HotS, it seems that all heroes level up as a team. Also, the lanes seem to be about the same length in terms of distance between and meeting areas of creeps.
Other than not putting a squishy hero solo, and trying to pick decent combos for heroes laning together, does lane choice make any difference? Do any heroes do better or worse in any particular lanes?
Solution 1:
Not as much as other MOBA's. While there is still a META forming in HotS, it's still not completely clear what kind of lanes are going to form game-to-game.
And because there are different maps, it adds a completely new complexity to the game that usually wasn't there before.
The general consensus from my experience playing the game is:
- Assassin + support
- Specialist + Warrior (then the specialist goes off and does something else mid game)
- Random solo lane
The random solo lane could be something like a fully offensive Tassadar who has good wave clear and goes for Archon ult. Another solo lane could be Zagarra with extra banes and focus on creep spread.
Lets focus on certain maps, though.
Blackhearts Bay. You want 3 top and 2 bottom. This is because of the size of the map and you don't want to leave someone bottom by themselves. There is also a merc camp and a treasure chest down there so you have to prioritize it.
Cursed Hollow. Generally a 2-1-2. That 1 in the middle lane will rotate for the curses.
Dragon Shire. 2-1-2, but I've seen 1-2-2. Some games you want to go for control of the shrines, but I've seen games where teams have put 2 in the mid lane for dominance over the dragon shrine. It's almost impossible to take control of it when you are outnumbered, so teams sacrifice control over the shrines and roam a specialist.
Haunted Mines. 2-2 with 1 roam. I constantly have 1 person roaming getting vision of enemies and trying to get jungle camps. Then I usually have 1 person staying out of the mines to create map pressure in other areas.
Sky Temple and Garden of Terror. These are similar to Blackhearts Bay.
Solution 2:
I'm gonna go with the answer "No, lane choice doesn't really matter".
Lane choice for any hero depends heavily on the map, your team composition and enemy team composition. The most important part is as long as there are no objectives, there should be at least one person each lane to soak XP.
Then again, some heroes prefer to go together such as Uther-Hammer or in Blackheart's Bay, Tassadar/Valla/Nazeebo/Azmodan goes bottom lane. I have seen many pro teams go 4/1 on Haunted Mines. Also it is not wise to leave healer alone in a lane (given that there is not a combo like Nova-Zeratul is present in your team to roam together and leave 1 person each lane).
As long as you don't make the mistake of leaving a lane empty or not countering a heavy push enemies, you are good to go any lane.
Solution 3:
Nowadays, it matters a lot.
Depending on the map, there are lanes that you want to weaken faster than the others, or defend more than the others.
Also, the meta is more like a 1-4 team where the solo either roams two lanes and the four pressure another lane, or the solo keeps soaking a lane and the four are roaming around the map to gather XP
You also want to time your merc camps to apply pressure right before an objective pops out.
Let me give some examples
- Tomb of the spider queen's high priority lane is the top lane because of the boss, and then, it's bottom lane because of the giants - Here, you either want a 1 top 4 roam mid-bot, or a 4 roam top-mid 1 bot
- Cursed Hollow top priority lanes are top and bot because of boss and giants pressure, mid is just so-so - here, 1-1-1 and two roamers are fine, you just have to be able to get the your giant camp before the first objective pops if you want it so badly
- Warhead Junction's high priority lanes are top and bot as well, for the same reasons as Cursed Hollow... Once that lane is clear, boss pressure will be dangerous for the enemies, and those are the only lanes pushed by mercs
- For Dragon Shire, you want your solo to be top because it is quite dangerous to retreat on that straight line bridge before your keep entrance, you wouldn't want to lose more than a hero when getting ganked by surprise
- Garden Terror has no particular priority lane as each one can be equally pressured by mercs
- Blackheart's Bay, the best laning is a 1 top-mid and 4 bot as most of the fights will happen near Blackheart
- Sky Temple, bot lane
- Volskaya Foundry, top lane
- Towers of Doom, bot lane, then top, because of the sappers who can deal damage to the core
- Infernal Shrines, top lane
- On two lane maps, you just want to match the number of enemy heroes on each lane
This is just another way to see the macro game, maybe someday, these strats may change