The three lanes#
The current map has three lanes, each with its own colour: York (yellow, a side lane), Broadway (blue, the middle lane, with the Midboss beneath it) and Greenwich (green, the other side lane). Your minimap is flipped so your base is always at the bottom, which changes which side lane appears left or right.
Lane partners#
With six players and three lanes, most lanes start as two against two. A good lane pair covers each other’s weakness: one hero who secures souls safely from range and one who can threaten a kill, or a sustain hero with a fragile damage dealer. Talk to your partner about who takes which orbs — fighting over your own team’s orbs wastes both of your time.
Securing souls in lane#
- Every trooper drops orbs. Shoot your green orbs to secure them before they pop.
- Deny orange orbs when it’s safe — each deny is souls for you and a loss for them.
- Stay close enough to your wave that unclaimed orbs still reach you.
- Last-hit troopers yourself when you can; letting your Guardian kill them wastes orbs.
The full economy is explained in souls and farming.
Trading and pressure#
- Trade when their key ability is on cooldown. Every hero guide lists the kit, so you know what to wait for.
- Don’t melee carelessly — a parried melee stuns you and makes you take extra damage.
- Use your Guardian. Enemies who chase you under it take heavy damage.
- Buy one early sustain or defence item if you’re losing every trade.
When to leave lane#
- After you push your wave into theirs, you have time to clear a nearby camp or break crates.
- When a big event is coming — the Urn at 10:00 or the Rift around 11:00 — be close to it.
- When your team calls a fight or objective nearby. Arriving late to a fight is worse than missing a wave.
- Once your lane’s Guardian falls, lanes open up and the game shifts to rotations — see the macro guide.
Matchups#
Every hero has a counter guide listing the abilities to play around and the items that answer them. Use the counter-pick helper to plan against your lane opponents. We don’t publish lane win-rate numbers without a named data source.