Who Roshan is
Roshan is the strongest neutral creature in the game. He belongs to neither team and lives in his pit on the map. Killing him alone and early is nearly impossible: Roshan has a lot of health, hits hard and only grows tougher over time. But his reward is special, which is why the fight over Roshan often decides the whole game. If you're still learning the basics, start with the getting started in Dota 2 guide and then come back to Roshan.
Roshan has two pits — a top one on the Dire side and a bottom one on the Radiant side, both in the river by the side lanes. For the first 15 minutes Roshan sits in the top pit; from 15:00 he walks from pit to pit every time day and night swap: night falls at 15:00, so that is when he first heads down. Which pit is live shows as an icon on the minimap, and that is the only reliable guide: right now it is the top pit by day and the bottom one by night, but in patch 7.38 it was exactly the other way round and 7.41 swapped the preference. Learn the habit of checking the minimap, not the side. One more thing: while Roshan crosses the river, a hero caught in his path gets grabbed and hurled away — a one-second stun and 200 pure damage plus 0.5% of current health for every minute of game time — and every throw makes him faster. Standing in his way when day and night swap is a bad idea.
Where the pits are and when Roshan moves
The pits sit in the river by the side lanes: the top one closer to the Dire, the bottom one closer to the Radiant. Since patch 7.41 Roshan starts the game in the top pit and stays there until 15:00. After that he moves every time day and night swap, which is every 5 minutes: by day he is up top, at night down below. The Tormentor stands on the opposite side of the map the whole time — handy if your team plans both objectives back to back.
| Time | Roshan | Tormentor |
|---|---|---|
| 0:00–15:00 | top pit, never leaves | not up yet |
| 15:00–20:00, night | bottom pit | not up yet |
| 20:00–25:00, day | top pit | bottom right corner, Radiant side — first spawn |
| 25:00–30:00, night | bottom pit | top left corner, Dire side |
| after that | top by day, bottom at night | bottom right by day, top left at night |
What you can see in the pit. The entrance to both pits is lined with vision blockers: neither a ward nor a hero outside can see what happens inside, and vice versa. Since patch 7.41c that also applies to flying vision — Clockwerk during Jetpack, Night Stalker during Dark Ascension, Treant Protector's Eyes in the Forest. Wards can't be placed inside the pit, so vision goes on the approaches to the live pit. Also, since patch 7.39 Roshan's Roar of Retribution comes with a message every player sees.
The Aegis and other rewards
Why bother going to Roshan at all — the Aegis. That's the whole reason for the effort:
- Aegis of the Immortal. The hero who lands the killing blow on Roshan gets the Aegis. After dying, that hero revives on the spot once, 5 seconds later — effectively a second life. But the Aegis does not wait: leave it unused for 5 minutes and it expires, healing its carrier on the way out.
- Gold and experience. The kill gives the team bonus resources — a nice addition to farm and last-hitting. How resources turn into power is in the GPM and XPM guide.
- After that it goes by death count. The first kill drops the Aegis alone. From the second Roshan always drops Roshan's Banner as well — a banner that makes nearby creeps immune to damage for two minutes. From the third, Cheese (2500 health and 1500 mana at once) and a Refresher Shard are added. The pit no longer settles the loot: the side-based drops went away in patch 7.37, and Aghanim's Blessing was taken out of his drops in 7.38.
The Aegis's main value isn't the item — it's initiative: with a "spare life" the team enters fights and sieges the base more boldly, and the enemy has to play more cautiously.
When to take Roshan
The mere fact that "we can kill Roshan" doesn't mean it's time. Good windows look like this:
- The enemy is dead or can't see you. The best Roshan is when the enemy is respawning or has lost track of you. A few seconds without resistance decide it.
- Someone can tank. You need a hero who can absorb Roshan's damage while the team finishes him. That tank is often set up back in the draft and pick-ban; without one the attempt drags on and turns risky.
- Ahead of an important goal. You take the Aegis for a concrete plan: a push, an objective fight or a decisive siege. An Aegis "just in case" often goes to waste.
- You have map control. Before entering you need to see the approaches and know where the enemy is. That ties straight into warding.
- You trust the timer. After dying, Roshan respawns in a random 8–11 minutes. The icon by the minimap counts down to the earliest possible respawn first and to the guaranteed one after, so vision goes up around the pits at the start of that window, not at the end.
Don't take Roshan "just because we can". The Aegis is valuable when you use it in the next few minutes. With no plan, an extra trip to the pit more often gives the enemy a chance to catch you than helps.
How to enter safely
Technically Roshan is "tank and finish", but safety is decided beforehand, before the first hit:
- Clear enemy vision. Remove the enemy's wards near the pit with sentries so they can't see your attempt. Vision control is half the success.
- Set your own sight. A ward on the approaches shows if the enemy is coming to contest. Better to cancel Roshan than die as a team in the pit.
- Decide who takes the Aegis. Agree in advance which hero finishes Roshan — it's painful to hand the Aegis to the wrong player.
- Keep an exit. The cramped pit is a trap: if the enemy arrives in numbers, you need to get out in time, not die in the corner.
Common mistakes
Most failed Roshans aren't about "too little damage" — they're about preparation and timing:
- Entering without vision. The team dives into the pit blind — and the enemy catches them at the worst moment.
- Giving away the Aegis. The enemy interrupts the finish and steals the Aegis with the last hit. That flips the situation.
- Greedy Roshan. An attempt at low health or without a tank drags on, and the team dies without finishing.
- Aegis on the shelf. You took it and did nothing until it expired. The advantage melted away for nothing.
Composure in the fight over Roshan matters too: a lost Aegis is no reason to fall apart. How to keep it together is in the how not to tilt guide.
