Lane

Basic Lane
A Lane is one of three paths connecting the two strongholds, Creeps will spawn and push along these paths until one team wins the game.

Top, Middle and Bottom Lane
There are three lanes in between the Strongholds. There is the Top lane (As it runs across the top of the map), Middle lane (As it runs through the middle of the map) and Bottom lane (As it runs across the bottom of the map). These lanes are usually referred to as "top", "mid", or "bot".

Short, Long and Solo Lane
As players begin to play more they may hear of the "Long Lane" and the "Short Lane".

Long Lane
Long The long lane is the lane where a hero sits furthest from his/her own tower, therefore being more vulnerable to attacks and ganks by enemy heroes. For the Radiant, this is the top lane. For the Dire, this is the bottom lane.

Short Lane
The short lane is where a player can hug their own tower to reduce the chance of being sprung upon. For the Radiant, this is the bottom lane. For the Dire, this is the top lane.

Solo Lane
Solo Lane is the middle lane as it commonly played Solo, Professionally the short lane can also be a solo lane. For both teams, this includes the middle and their "short" lane.

Lane Objectives
There are four "Tiers" of towers, three of which are stationed in each lane. The remaining tier guards the Ancient in each base. Tier 1 towers are positioned closest to the river. These are the weakest of the towers but also the most important in early game phases. After the first tower in a lane is destroyed the enemy team then has the option of attacking the next tier, positioned about half way down the lane, closer to the base. Once this tower falls the team may continue on to the third Tier. This tower guards what is known as the "Rax", a term derived the word "Barracks". Once these two buildings are destroyed, the team's lane creeps grow stronger in the respective lane in which the barracks fell in. For example, destroying the bottom lane barracks will result in stronger bottom lane creeps. This allows the stronger, or "Rax'd" lane to dominate the lesser enemy creeps and push toward the base.

Should your team destroy all 3 enemy barracks, your creeps will become Mega Creeps. This version of the lane creep gains a boost to their size, health, and attack, easily overpowering enemy lane creeps. They also award less gold and experience to killers, making it much more difficult for the enemy team to push back.

The Tier 4 towers guard the primary structure, the Ancient. There are only 2 of these towers situated next to the most important structures in the game. The team must destroy these towers in order to attack the Ancient and secure victory.