Solo lane is typically thought of in respect to its isolation, even being referred to as “Solo Island”. This is true, as the only company that you have is the occasional gank from the jungler. So if you find yourself getting particularly lonely in solo lane, you can always consider rotating out of lane.

For the sake of this article, I will be writing as if you are a frontline tank in the solo lane, as the meta is. This consists of mostly warriors, like your Bellona or Tyr, but can also be mages like Hades. We won’t talk about Rat. This is not to say other things don’t work in the solo lane, but different strategies need to be employed to make it work, especially in a ranked setting.

Why Rotate?

This is a pretty basic question, and with the meta being what it is now, I can understand. With the amount of farm that solo lane is getting relative to the other roles, it is not uncommon for both solo laners to be ahead of the curve when it comes to gold and experience. So why would I, as a solo laner that is ahead, want to leave the lane that is getting me ahead? The answer is to get even more farm. The object of solo lane from early and into the mid game is to win lane. If you are winning lane, you will already be ahead of your lane opponent, but with that comes the ability to position. When leading in solo lane, it is important to maintain your lead and be the frontline force that your team will need going into the team-fighting phase. A fed solo laner can swing a fight by drawing abilities and actives, which can potentially help compensate if your carries happen to get behind.

When Should I rotate?

This is a difficult question to answer, as there is no one right answer. Some times are better than others, but it is largely dependent on what is happening mid lane, if your teleport is up, if you are winning lane or not, and which camps are up.

One thing to consider before rotating would be proxy farming. For those who don’t know, proxy farming is when you clear a wave behind the enemy tower. This will give you more time between waves and allow you more time for rotating, not enough to get to gold fury and back without teleport, but you will lose overall less farm. By proxy farming, you get more farm and get more time to rotate, but lose none of the lane control that you would otherwise risk by rotating, so it is always worth attempting. The easiest way to time it is to look at where your next wave is. If it is behind tower, then so is theirs.

The first target for invasion should always be the enemy blue buff, as it provides the most benefit to the enemy laner, save for fire giant. If the blue buff is down, then you have a choice to make. If you rotate and gain nothing from it, then you lose farm time that your opponent didn’t, and that can allow them to get a lead on you or shorten your lead. You can go for the jungle invade on their back camps or speed buff, taking the guaranteed farm and taking it away from the opposing jungler or solo laner. When doing this, you should consider vision and clear time. If the jungler is ganking duo lane, then you can feel safer taking the back camps. If your team has no eyes on the jungler, then it is risky to go as deep as the back camps. With proper warding, you can see if the jungler is hanging around the enemy blue buff, making it safer to take, as well as requiring less time to get to and back from it.

Photo Credit @PonPon

Another option is to rotate to mid lane. If the enemy jungler is not in lane, and your jungler is in the area, or even if they aren’t, then you have a numbers advantage on the enemy midlaner. This should result in a kill, or at the very least an increase in lane pressure for the enemy. This could be good for the mid laner, but if you rotate and get no assists or kills, your lane opponent now has even more time to catch up to you or even pass you in farm. If you can force the mid laner out of lane and secure mid camps with your mid laner, then your rotation will have been successful.

A third rotation location is if your team is contesting a gold fury. The solo lane is generally one of the roles responsible for zoning objectives come late game, and a properly timed rotation can serve a similar purpose in the early- and mid-game as well. Due to the sheer distance the solo laner needs to travel in order to be at Gold Fury, it is almost guaranteed that teleport needs to be up. If your teleport is not up and you try to rotate to Gold Fury, then you will lose multiple waves to tower or, if the opposing Solo laner rotates, to the other creep wave. This is worth the trade if it helps secure the Gold Fury, but is harder to time and requires communication to execute with any consistency.

How to Rotate:

A good way to route your rotation is from the opening closest to you. You can potentially trick your lane partner into not realizing you have rotated by going into the jungler after every wave you push into tower. Whichever route you use to get to mid is dependent upon the positioning of the midlaner. If your midlaner is pushing, you may want to join and put pressure on that tower for a wave (Route A on the map, assuming you are order side). If the opposing mid laner is pushing, then you can enter the lane behind them and possibly get a kill or assist off of it, as well as let some of the pressure off (Route B in map, from Order side). If their mid laner is somewhere in the middle, then use a route that would put you behind them, as if they do not see you coming it will be easier to kill the mid laner. This is often the first step towards rotating to Gold Fury as well, and getting a pick on the mid laner is a great way to help confirm the Gold Fury.

Sorry for the poor editing job, tried to update for patch 3.8, with a speed buff, moved blue buff and single camp in the Fire Giant Pit. I could not do change to position of the back camps in Paint, but note that they also exist further back, and will now need longer to get to if you decide to invade them. It is worth prioritizing enemy speed buff over back camps, as it gives more experience. Priority order should be Blue>Speed>Back Harpies as far as the jungle goes. Rotation to lane should always take precedent if there is an opportunity for a kill or if a fight is going on.

Conclusion

Rotating as a solo laner can be a key part of securing wins in SMITE. By having a fifth man present at the fights, you can zone big objectives, like Gold Fury much more effectively. By rotating and gain farm from other points on the map, you can get even further ahead than you already would being a solo laner. By utilizing proper rotation, the solo laner can be a force that controls the game from start to finish, and whose presence serves as area denial.

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