Advanced laning: orb tech, trade windows and lane tempo
The small edges that turn an even lane into a 3,000-soul lead by minute ten.
Updated · Patch Nov 4, 2026
Orb tech
When a trooper dies its soul orb pops into the air for a moment. Securing it with a shot gives you the full value; if the enemy shoots it first, it’s denied. In a contested lane the orb is the real target — the trooper is just the timer.
Pre-aim the orb’s spawn point rather than the trooper. Land the killing shot, flick upward, secure. Against heroes with slow projectiles or burst weapons, you can often deny their orbs reliably because they commit to the last-hit before they can react to the orb.
- Count the trooper’s health, not the orb — start your shot one bullet early on high-damage weapons.
- When both of you go for the same orb, the deny is worth as much as the secure. Shoot theirs first if yours is safe.
- Heavy melee is a guaranteed last-hit on low troopers and leaves your gun free for the orb.
Trade windows
A trade window is any moment the enemy can’t answer. The four most common: they’re reloading, they’ve spent their stamina, their main damage ability is on cooldown, or they’ve just walked forward to last-hit.
Every hero page lists exact ability cooldowns. Learn the one ability in each matchup that decides trades — when it’s down, walk forward; when it’s up, respect it.
- Trade on their reload, retreat on yours.
- Use your cheapest ability to trade and keep your escape for when they commit.
- A trade you win by 50 health but lose two orbs for is a lost trade.
Lane tempo
Tempo is who’s pushing. The side that shoves its wave into the enemy Guardian gets free time to jungle, shop or rotate, while the defending side has to stay and last-hit under tower.
Shove when you’ve just bought, when an objective is coming, or when you want to leave. Hold the wave near your Guardian when you’re behind or expecting a gank. A lane that’s always shoved by one side is a lane that side is winning, even if the kill score is even.
Duo lanes
Two heroes per lane means focus beats damage. Agree on one target per trade, stagger your crowd control so it chains instead of overlapping, and let the hero with stronger waveclear shove while the other zones.
Lane-partner synergy is real: every hero page lists the teammates with the highest shared win rate. Pairs that combine a reliable stun with burst damage tend to win lanes outright.
Reading the minimap
An enemy missing from your lane is an enemy walking toward someone. Ping it. An enemy missing from the lane next to you is an enemy that might arrive in yours — back off the wave until they show up.
The best laners glance at the minimap after every last-hit. It costs nothing and prevents most early deaths.
Your first spike
Your first Tier I item and your first ability unlock are both power spikes. If you hit them first, look for a trade immediately; if the enemy hits theirs first, play safe for thirty seconds.
Check the scoreboard often. An 800-soul lead is a full Tier I item and usually wins the next fight.