Season 2 introduces completely new starting positions and openings.

This Conquest 101 guide introduces the prominent openings and starting positions for Season 2 and details them with map schematics, in-depth walkthroughs, and commentaries.



In addition to the starting positions below, the Combo Breaker patch introduces brand-new openings which can be found here.

What follows are the starting positions and openings organized by role. The close of the article offers a compact excursus on the changes to the map layout in Season 2.

AD Carry, Mid Laner, Support

Standard Opening (AD Carry, Mid Laner, Support) AD Carry, Mid Laner, and Support start at the damage buff camp, clearing it together. Mid Laner takes over the camp for the last hit on the big creep while AD Carry and Support leave for the attack speed buff camp. Mid Laner picks up the damage buff and enters the middle lane.

AD Carry and Support start clearing the attack speed buff camp, with Support using Hand of the Gods (HOG) right away on all three creeps. After clearing the camp AD Carry picks up the attack speed buff, and both AD Carry and Support enter the duo lane together. Classic, fast opening. Each laner gets his respective buff right away, and there is the option of giving the damage buff to an aggressive support instead. The timing for the mid laner between clearing the damage buff camp and entering the middle lane is rather strict. Any delay in clearing the camp or leashing the camp to the wrong side (towards the duo lane) when the damage buff is about to drop should be avoided.

Jungle, Solo Laner

Standard Opening (Jungle, Solo Laner) Jungle and Solo Laner start at the speed buff camp, clearing it together. Jungle uses Hand of the Gods (HOG) on all three creeps and, once the camp is cleared, picks up the speed buff. Both players leave for the mana buff camp.

Jungle and Solo Laner start clearing the mana buff camp together. If available, Solo Laner uses Hand of the Gods on all three creeps. The player who pulled the creeps breaks line of sight while staying inside the aggro circle. After clearing the camp, Solo Laner picks up the mana buff, and both Jungle and Solo Laner enter the solo lane. Classic, fast opening. Each player gets his respective buff right away. There is a higher risk of being successfully invaded by the enemy team at the mana buff camp if the solo laner doesn’t also run Hand of the Gods (HOG) as an active item like the jungler. The creeps at the mana buff camps are ranged attackers so breaking line of sight (by hiding behind the wall toward the lane) helps to avoid minion damage.

Triple Camp Opening (Jungle, Solo Laner) Jungle and Solo Laner start at Back Harpies, clearing the camp together. Jungle uses Hand of the Gods (HOG) right away on all three creeps. Once the camp is cleared, both players leave for the speed buff camp.

Jungle and Solo Laner start clearing the speed buff camp together. Solo Laner uses Hand of the Gods on all three creeps. After clearing the camp, Jungle picks up the speed buff, and both Jungle and Solo Laner leave for the mana buff camp.

Jungle and Solo Laner clear the mana buff camp together. The player who pulled the creeps breaks line of sight while staying inside the aggro circle. After the camp is cleared, Solo Laner picks up the mana buff, and both players enter the solo lane. Greedy opening giving an experience and gold advantage, but requiring both the solo laner as well as jungler to have Hand of the Gods, decent level-one clear, and spot-on timing. Each player gets his respective buff right away. Any delay in clearing the camps may result in losing first-wave creeps to the solo-lane tower. The creeps at the mana buff camps are ranged attackers so breaking line of sight (by hiding behind the wall toward the lane) helps to avoid minion damage.

Excursus: The Conquest Map in Season 2

The changes to the map layout relevant for the starting positions and openings in Season 2 can be summed up as follows: Mid Harpies spawn for the first time at the three-minute mark; the mana buff on the duo lane side was replaced by the attack speed buff (purple icon); the speed buff can be found on the solo lane side now; and the buffs are aligned in identical fashion on both Chaos and Order side.

The identical buff arrangment on both sides is also the reason why no one team has a lopsided start anymore. For example, previously in Season 1, the duo lane on Chaos saw itself being too easily outpushed under the tower at the beginning of the match due to how the buff camps were aligned on each side and how the timings of the different starts per side played out.