The Road to Monolith (Part 2): Safe Lane

The primary function of a “safe lane” is to act as a safe place for high-economy scaling Heroes (which we will refer to as carries) to set up shop in the laning (early phase) of a match. Carries can use the safe lane to ensure their success in the later phases of the game by safely building up their economic advantage. 

In Paragon, we have Heroes that fit comfortably into this mold. Heroes like Murdock, Sparrow, GRIM.exe and Twinblast scale very well with economy but are relatively weak in the early stages of the game. Pairing these carries with a strong supporting Hero can offset much of their early game weaknesses. In Monolith, a carry and support can team up to control the safe lane. Together they form what we refer to as the “safe lane duo.” 

MOBAs handle the specifics of the safe lane in a variety of different ways and we’re excited to share how we’ve reimagined this idea in Paragon.

The Safe Lane is safe!
Or rather, “safer,” than the other positions on the map. Players should be able to identify the safe lane as a low risk farming area that is more defensible than other lanes. The natural, defensible position of this lane makes it easier to avoid aggressive rotations from the enemy team and allows for a greater focus on last-hitting. 

The Gold Buff
Well, that name isn’t very good. We’re working on it. The Gold Buff is a new objective for the safe lane that we feel meets our design goals of giving players more control over team economy. 

Regularly claiming the Gold Buff can ensure a strong economic advantage for the carry. The safe lane duo will also need to protect the Gold Buff from the oppressive Offlaner (we’ll talk about that role later) and Jungler (that one too) in order to keep it out of the hands of the enemy team. Placing a new, high value, objective on the map has made for some exciting new gameplay that we can’t wait for you to experience.

That concludes a quick overview of the safe lane. We’re excited about how these new positions and roles are shaping up and we’ve got more coming to you soon as we continue to roll out Monolith.

Next week, we will take a look at the art and visual design of the map, and where we see that going.

Kevin Abbott
Systems Designer

@ Paragon Blog