What is Roshan in Dota 2
Roshan stands as one of the pivotal elements in Dota 2, often determining the course of a match. Defeating this powerful boss can significantly shift the game's momentum, offering strategic advantages that may lead to breaching the opponent's defenses.
Understanding Roshan's abilities and location is essential for any Dota 2 player aiming to utilize his defeat to their advantage. Situated in a cavern within the north-west section of the river, Roshan poses a formidable challenge, requiring precise strategy and timing.
What is Dota 2's Roshan?
Roshan is the most critical neutral objective in the game Dota 2. This formidable neutral creep serves as the boss of the map. Comparable to Baron Nashor in League of Legends and Legendary Pokémon in Pokémon Unite, defeating Roshan provides a substantial advantage.
Unlike many other creeps, Roshan drops valuable items that can turn the tide of the game. However, bringing down Roshan requires the right items and hero levels, as he overpowers virtually all heroes without proper preparation.
Fun Fact: The name Roshan comes from a bowling ball brand, indicating the strong impact he has in the game.
Roshan's Importance and Drops
Roshan holds a unique position in Dota 2 as a crucial neutral boss. Defeating him offers significant strategic advantages due to the powerful items he drops. These items provide various benefits that can turn the tide of the game.
Items Dropped by Roshan and Their Effects
The items dropped by Roshan, along with their effects and the conditions under which they drop, are as follows:
| Item | Drop Condition | Effect |
|---|---|---|
| Aegis of the Immortal | Upon Roshan's Death | Grants the holder an extra life, allowing them to resurrect with full health and mana after a five-second delay. The Aegis vanishes after five minutes. |
| Cheese | On Roshan's 2nd & 3rd death (Dire side) | Restores 2500 health and 1500 mana instantly when consumed. |
| Roshan's Banner | On Roshan's 2nd & 3rd death (Radiant side) | Sets up a banner making lane creeps immune to damage for 120 seconds. |
| Aghanim's Blessing | On Roshan's 3rd death (Dire side) | Provides a consumable Aghanim's Scepter, enhancing the hero’s abilities. |
| Refresher Shard | On Roshan's 2nd & 3rd death (Radiant side) | Offers a one-time use Refresher Orb, refreshing all of the hero’s abilities and items. |
The Aegis of the Immortal is notably the most sought after. It remains in the player's inventory until used or reclaimed by Roshan. This item essentially grants a second life, allowing the player to return to full combat readiness shortly after being defeated.
Strategic control over Roshan and his drops frequently dictates the pace and outcome of the game, making him a central objective for both teams.
Locating Roshan in Dota 2
Roshan's whereabouts in Dota 2 depend on the time of day in the game. During the daytime, he resides in the Radiant pit, which is situated at the safe lane corner on the Radiant side of the map. At night, he moves to the Dire side pit, located at the opposite safe lane corner. The transition between these pits happens at dusk and dawn, where Roshan travels via the Twin Gate to relocate.
The Roshan pit can be distinguished by its unique layout. It is an enclosed area, equipped with a watcher and located on low ground near the Twin Gate. Visibility is restricted, making it impossible to see into the pit from outside unless there is a ward or allied vision inside. Conversely, those inside the pit can't see outside. Typically, a few heroes will engage Roshan inside the pit while others remain outside to provide support and maintain vision.
Roshan's Abilities
Roar of Retribution
This is Roshan's initial and newest ability. When Roshan's health drops below 80% against the last team that defeated him, he lets out a mighty roar. This roar is audible to both teams and amplifies Roshan's damage by 25%, adding 50 extra damage to every hero within a 900-unit vicinity.
Slam
Slam is Roshan's primary active ability. It involves Roshan slamming the ground, causing area-of-effect damage and slowing enemies. The base damage starts at 70, increasing by 10 every minute. This ability also reduces enemy movement and attack speeds by 50% for two seconds.
Bash
Bash is a passive ability and is one of Roshan's most terrifying features. It grants a 15% chance to stun an enemy for 1.65 seconds with every attack, delivering an additional 50 damage. This ability can be quite frustrating for players when repeatedly triggered in crucial moments.
Spell Block
Spell Block serves as Roshan's version of Linken's Sphere. This passive ability blocks one targeted spell, with a cooldown of 15 seconds, slightly longer than the item's cooldown. Additionally, it reduces the duration of all status effects on Roshan by 25%.
Strength of the Immortal
This passive ability makes Roshan exceptionally tough to defeat. It provides him with 55% resistance to magic damage and reduces damage from illusions by 80%. Moreover, every minute, Roshan gains:
- 0.375 armor
- 130 maximum health
- 6 damage
- 20 experience bounty
On the Move
On the Move is another passive ability that activates with the day/night cycle change. When the cycle switches, Roshan relocates to his alternate pit on the map. During this transition, he gains phased movement and can knock back any hero that crosses his path.
