Have you seen a large creature dwelling in a dark, vision-less cave right smack in the middle of Dota 2’s map? Or perhaps you’ve heard of Roshan’s name and you are now curious about this enigmatic creature? 

If you’ve played Dota 2, Roshan may have crossed your path. Killing this creature is no walk in the park, but if you manage to do so, your team reaps a valuable item that can give a significant advantage to win the game.

So who is Roshan? Where and when can you find this large creep, how do you kill him, and what rewards can you get? We have broken down everything you need to know about Roshan, so those just learning about the game, or those revisiting this topic, dive below!

Roshan's Abilities

Unlike other average neutral creeps, Roshan is a boss creep that grows stronger over time. Players can kill Roshan, but it will ceaselessly respawn, living up to his Immortal name. Roshan has multiple abilities, some it passively uses and some that it activates when players launch an attack.

• Roar of Retribution: When facing the team that last killed him, Roshan releases an angry roar, heard everywhere on the map, that damages everyone around him, disarms them, and increases all damage they take.
• Slam: Roshan slams the ground, damaging and slowing all nearby enemies
• Bash: Roshan's attacks have a chance to stun and deal increased damage.
• Spell Block: Roshan blocks and completely negates most single-target abilities targeted at him.
• Throw: Roshan grabs the target hero and violently throws them away, dealing damage ands tunning them.
• Strength of the Immortal: As time passes, Roshan grows in power, gaining permanent attack damage, health and armor bonus every minute.
• On The Move: As day turns to night and vice versa, Roshan moves towards the other pit. Stays in Radiant's pit during daytime and in Dire's pit during nighttime. The current pit is highlighted on the minimap.

When Does Roshan Respawn?

“What is the Dota 2 Roshan respawn time?” is likely one of the most-asked questions among players, as the answer isn’t quite straightforward. Roshan spawns once the game begins, and players can actually attack Roshan and contest the pit before the horn even blows, though that’s rarely the case.

Once Roshan is slain, he will respawn at any random moment between 8 - 11 minutes. Here’s what it means. After 8 minutes of Roshan’s death, there is a possibility that Roshan has respawned, and players often check the pit from time to time to make sure. But on the 11th minute, Roshan is guaranteed to respawn.

While traditionally players need to rely on memory, the new Dota 2 7.38 update, has made Roshan’s timer much easier to track. This update introduced a new Roshan icon located on the top-right of the minimap, which when hovered over, informs you of Roshan’s status. The icon will either inform you of the countdown to Roshan’s respawn, that Roshan may have respawned, or that Roshan is alive. The icon will also inform Roshan’s current location.

Where is Roshan in Dota 2 Now?

Roshan has two pits located at the top and bottom of the mid river - specifically, one in the north-west and the other located in the south-west. The top pit is closer to Dire, thus it is the Dire Pit. Meanwhile, the bottom is closer to Radiant, making it the Radiant Pit.

During the start of the game, Roshan will be in the bottom pit (south-east) by default. Once the timer hits 15:00, Roshan will begin following the day and night cycle. During the day, Roshan will reside in the top pit, and otherwise during nighttime. The creature will travel via the middle river and toss any heroes in its path.

This is a relatively new Roshan system in Dota 2 which was implemented in the recent 7.38 update. Previously, Roshan was located in the corner of the map and it would travel from one pit to another via the Twin Gate.

As the Roshan is relocated, many players would travel to the corner of the map to find the boss, thinking is “Dota 2 Roshan removed?”. That would be a crazy objective change to the game, but fret not, Roshan is alive and well - he just moved out.

Over the past two decades, there have been substantial Dota 2 Roshan changes. So this current Roshan system, including timer and location, may change in the future.

Killing Roshan: Item Drops and Rewards

What does killing Roshan do? Killing Roshan rewards players of the team with various elements and items that you cannot obtain anywhere else. 

Roshan primarily drops the Aegis of Immortal, a non-shareable item that gives the user a second life. Once the user dies, they will resurrect in 5 seconds with a fully regenerated Health Pool (HP) and Mana, consuming the Aegis.

Other items that Roshan drops include:

• Cheese: Drops on Roshan’s second death if slain in the Dire Pit. Cheese has Fondue ability, which when consumed, grants the user 2500 Health and 1500 Mana. 
• Roshan’s Banner: Drops on Roshan’s second death if slain in the Radiant Pit. Can be planted anywhere on the map to give invulnerability to creeps around it.
• Aghanim’s Blessing: Drops on Roshan’s third death if slain in the Dire Pit. Can be consumed to give Aghanim’s Scepter upgrade to the user.
• Refresher Shard: Drops on Roshan’s third death if slain in the Radiant Pit. Can be consumed to refresh all ability and item cooldown.

Apart from item drops, you may be wondering, does Roshan give XP or gold? The answer is yes, killing Roshan earns players hefty experience and gold. The killing player will get 200 - 290 gold. A bonus 135 gold will also be rewarded to all players in the team, including the player who slayed Roshan. On top of that, Roshan gives 400 + 20 XP to nearby heroes of the killing team.

Is There a Roshan Backstory?

The Roshan Dota 2 lore isn’t as intricate as many other characters in the game, making the neutral creep boss largely mysterious. Fully called, Roshan the Immortal, this creep is merely known as being powerful. 

However, Roshan did appear in a mini-game in The International 2018’s Battle Pass, called The Underhollow. The game tells a story that Roshan had dived into the Underhollow, a maze-like cave just below his lair, in search of a rare cheese, Roshefort. His expedition into the deep cavern caused tunnels to collapse. This also indicates that there are hidden tunnels underneath Roshan’s pit.

That wraps up our piece on Roshan in Dota 2. Hopefully you have all your questions regarding the neutral creep boss answered!

Roshan Changes in History

If you feel like traveling down the memory lane, here are some of the biggest Dota 2 Roshan changes that have been implemented in the past. 

Roshan was created in 2004, even before the Dota 2 version existed. The neutral creep boss was introduced together with many classic heroes like Zeus, Juggernaut, Lifestealer, and Terrorblade. Unlike the Roshan we know now, the first version of Roshan is significantly weaker and possessed different abilities. 

In 5.53, Roshan received a handful of changes. It is buffed with increased health, damage, and more. The creature's Blood Gush spell, which releases spikes and stun enemies, was replaced with Critical Strike. This is the first version of Roshan that received the Spell Block ability. In Patch 6.38, the iconic Cheese was added. 

But when did Roshan started taking up shape to what it is like now? In Patch 6.42, released in 2007, Roshan was given plenty of rework. The Aegis of Immortal was created as one of the primary item drops. The boss creep was given the Strength of Immortal passive, which remains until today, with tweaked functionality of course.

The Refresher Shard kill reward was added in Patch 7.07, released in October, 2017. Two years later, Roshan's item drop expands with the addition of a consumable Aghanim's Scepter. In April 2021, the Aghanim's Shard was added as part of Roshan's kill rewards.

Find more Roshan changes history here.