Roshan



Roshan, sometimes also referred to as Roshan the Immortal, is the most powerful neutral creep in Dota 2. It easily outmatches most heroes in one vs one combat. A team generally waits until later in the game where the damage dealers have better items, or tries to take it on with the entire team.

Every 5 minutes (starting at first lane creep spawn) Roshan gets stronger, gaining: +500 hp, +10 damage and +0.5 armor (given by an aura). He will reach his maximum strength at the 45 minutes mark.

Respawning


Like all other neutral creeps, Roshan does respawn. However, he does not respawn at fixed times but instead exactly 10 minutes after he was killed. His respawning cannot be stopped (like other neutral creeps) by placing wards and/or standing in his area.

Abilities
Roshan has four abilities at his disposal:

Aegis and Cheese
When Roshan is killed he will always drop an Aegis. Once picked up this item can't be dropped or given to another hero. When the carrier of Aegis is killed, a tombstone will spawn on the corpse. After 5 seconds the hero will respawn with full hp and mana on top of the tombstone. Aegis will be consumed by this. If Roshan respawns before the carrying hero dies (and thus uses Aegis), then Aegis will be removed from the hero.

Beginning with the third respawn of Roshan, he will drop not only Aegis but also a Cheese. The Cheese can be shared with allies just like any other consumable, or sold for 500 gold. When used it will instantly give the user 2500 hp and 1000 mana.

Protected area
To attack Roshan the units must be within his spawning location, Roshan on the other hand can attack anyone anywhere if you happen to lure him away. The vision into the spawning location is restricted, and you have to really walk into the spawn to be able to see whats going on in there. Observer Wards and Sentry Wards can not be placed inside the spawning location either, so a team is generally safe from being spotted while fighting Roshan (exceptions consist from hero skills like Spin Web, Psionic Trap and Call of the Wild).

Tactics
There are many strategies involving early Roshan kills, these can range from level six to even level one. The most common strategy used to kill Roshan at level one is to use Skeleton King's Vampiric Aura and Ursa's Fury Swipes ability. An example of this strategy can be found here.

Trivia
In Farsi, Roshan can literally mean "bright" or "on", it is also a common Persian name.