Before picking a hero in Mobile Legends: Bang Bang there is one question to answer: what job will you do for the team? The game puts every hero into one or two of six roles and expects a different task from each member of a five-player team. A strong hero picked without knowing its role simply melts away alone in the wrong lane. This guide explains what the six roles do, which role stands in which lane, and which role a new player should start with.
What Do the Six Roles Do?
The in-game hero screen shows each hero's role and difficulty rating; some heroes carry two role tags, such as Tank/Support or Fighter/Assassin. The role describes the hero's base stats as much as what the team expects from them:
- Tank: The most durable class. Starts the team fight, absorbs enemy damage and protects the team with crowd control such as stuns and knockbacks. Starter picks: Tigreal and Franco.
- Fighter: Balances offense and durability. Most are melee and sturdy enough to hold the EXP lane alone. Starter picks: Zilong and Balmond.
- Assassin: High mobility and burst damage. Hunts the enemy's fragile targets, the Marksman and the Mage; being fragile itself, it needs good timing. Starter picks: Saber and Hayabusa.
- Mage: Relies on ability damage, levels up early in the mid lane and rotates to help the side lanes. Starter picks: Eudora and Nana.
- Marksman: Deals sustained damage from range. Weak early on, but once the items are complete it becomes the team's biggest damage source. Starter picks: Layla and Miya.
- Support: Provides healing, shields and vision; gives up its own gold to empower teammates. Starter picks: Rafaela and Estes.
The role tag alone doesn't decide how a hero is played. Dual-tagged heroes can switch between two jobs; a Tank/Support, for instance, can both start the fight and protect the team. If you're new, also look at the difficulty rating on the hero screen: low-difficulty heroes need fewer button combinations and make the logic of the role easier to learn.
Lanes: Who Goes Where?
The map consists of three lanes and two jungles, and the standard split is five assignments. You can mark your lane on the draft screen and see your teammates' choices, so no two players should pick the same lane:
- Gold Lane: The Marksman's lane. Minions here give more gold; the Marksman completes its items here and prepares for the late game.
- EXP Lane: A Fighter or a durable Tank. Holds the lane alone, collects levels and, because it's the lane closest to the first Turtle fight, drops into the river early.
- Mid Lane: The Mage. The shortest lane, so it levels early and rotates to both sides to pressure the side lanes.
- Jungle: An Assassin or a Fighter. Takes the Retribution battle spell, clears jungle monsters and is responsible for the Turtle and the Lord.
- Roam: A Tank or a Support. Takes the roam item, leaves lane gold to a teammate and moves around the map providing vision and starting fights.
This split isn't a strict rule; depending on team composition a Fighter can go jungle or a Mage can take the gold lane. But for a new player, memorising the standard split is the shortest way to understand who should be in which lane and who goes where to help.
Which Role Should a New Player Pick?
Each role teaches a different skill, so trying the roles in turn during your first weeks develops you faster than locking onto a single hero. Here is the order we suggest:
- Marksman (Gold Lane) for your first matches: Because you attack from range, you learn to kill minions without dying, to back off and to buy items. Start with Layla or Miya.
- Tank (Roam) to contribute the most to the team: You don't wait for gold, you move around the map and you see when a fight should start. Start with Tigreal; his kit is simple and opens a team fight with one button.
- Mage (Mid) to learn the map: The mid lane shows you both side lanes; this is where you learn when to rotate. Eudora or Nana fit well.
- Leave the jungle for last: The jungle sets the pace of the match and draws the most criticism. Entering the jungle before understanding what the other roles expect usually ends badly.
Try a new hero in the in-game practice mode rather than in ranked; move to classic matches once you know the range and cooldown of the abilities. Entering ranked only when you know your role's job by heart protects both your nerves and your team's.
Common Mistakes When Picking a Role
The most common mistake is having two Marksmen or two Assassins on a team: a team without a tank can't start a fight, and a team without a roamer gets no vision. The second mistake is the roamer killing minions in the Marksman's lane and stealing the gold; the roam item was designed precisely to leave that gold to a teammate. The third is the jungler not taking Retribution, or an Assassin charging into the front line like a Tank. Looking at the lane markers on the draft screen and at your teammates' picks prevents most of these mistakes before the match even starts.
Conclusion
Mobile Legends has six roles and five assignments: Tank and Support roam, the Fighter goes to the EXP lane, the Mage to mid, the Marksman to the gold lane, and an Assassin or Fighter takes the jungle. If you're new, start with Marksman, then try Tank and Mage, and leave the jungle for last. Once you know your role's job, picking a hero gets easier too.
We explained how the lanes, the Turtle and the Lord work in our Mobile Legends map and objectives guide; once your role is settled, take a look at our Mobile Legends ranks guide for the climb.