Dota 2 Roshan and Tormentor Guide (2026): Timers, Pits and Drops

Two neutral bosses shape the middle and late game of every Dota 2 match. Roshan drops the Aegis of the Immortal, a second life, plus extra items on later kills. The Tormentor gives a free Aghanim's Shard and gold to the whole team. Since the 7.38 map, both walk between two locations with the day and night cycle and always stand on opposite sides of the map, so taking one usually means giving the enemy a window at the other. This guide covers where each one is on patch 7.41f, their timers, every reward, how the fights work, and when your team should go.

Where they are: pits, chasms and day/night

Patch 7.38 put Roshan back in the river, "with one pit located near each sidelane". From 15:00 he follows the day/night cycle, walking across the river to the pit for the current time of day, and only the active pit shows on the minimap. The same patch made the Tormentor a single boss that also depends on day and night, "so Roshan and Tormentor are always on opposite sides". Patch 7.41 then flipped both starting positions: Roshan "now begins in the Top Pit" and the Tormentor "now begins in the Bottom Chasm".

The chasms sit next to the offlane areas; 7.41 moved them closer to the Lotus Pools and onto low ground. 7.40 added a Tormentor timer next to the minimap that works like the Roshan timer, and a single Tormentor icon showing where it is or will spawn, so you don't have to track the cycle by hand.

Roshan's respawn timer

Roshan comes back between 8 and 11 minutes after he dies, at a random moment hidden from both teams (Valve's 7.38 notes). Liquipedia describes the HUD timer as 480 seconds in red, when he can't be alive, followed by 180 seconds in yellow, when he may be. A worked example: Roshan dies at 24:10, so he can't be up before 32:10 and is certainly up by 35:10.

Write the kill time in chat or use the timer above: your whole team should know when the window opens, because the minute before it is when you ward the entrances and push the side lanes so you can walk in.

What Roshan drops

Every kill drops the Aegis of the Immortal. Later kills add more: Valve's 7.37 notes say that "starting from his second death, Roshan now always drops Roshan's Banner", and that from his third death he drops a Refresher Shard and Cheese (by day; the night alternative, Aghanim's Blessing, was removed from his drops in 7.38). Liquipedia lists the Aegis, Cheese, Refresher Shard and Banner as his current drops; check Roshan's tooltip for the exact items of the kill you're on.

Kill rewards come on top: Liquipedia lists 135 gold for every player on the killing team plus 200–290 for the hero who lands the last hit, and experience of 400 + 20 a minute for nearby heroes of that team.

How the Roshan fight works

Roshan gets tougher with time (Liquipedia lists health, damage, armour and experience bounty rising every minute) and has four tools worth knowing:

One more 7.40 change matters for lifesteal heroes: "Roshan is no longer considered a hero for Lifesteal mechanics", so plan your sustain in the pit as you would against other non-hero units. BoostPirate's advice for the kill itself: everyone who isn't needed to tank stands so that Slam hits at most two of you, the hero with the most sustain takes aggro, and someone watches the minimap the whole time, not Roshan's health bar.

When to take Roshan

Valve publishes no rule, so this is BoostPirate's checklist. Take Roshan when most of these are true, and skip him when they aren't:

• You just won a fight, or at least three enemies are dead or shown far away.
• Your wards cover the pit's entrances and you've cleared theirs.
• Your side lanes are pushed out, so the enemy has to deal with waves if they want to contest.
• Your damage can finish quickly: a slow Roshan is a Roshan the enemy walks into.
• You know who gets the Aegis: usually the carry; decide before, not during.
• The Tormentor isn't the better trade: it's on the other side; can the enemy take it while you're busy?

Defending is the mirror image: if the enemy has gone missing as the window opens, assume Roshan. Show up with vision, not with one hero walking in to check. Our planned objectives and high ground guide covers how the Aegis is spent on a push.

The Tormentor: how it works

Patch 7.33 added the Tormentors as bosses that don't move or attack but punish whoever hits them. The current one, after the 7.41 rework of its numbers, has three abilities, all growing with the game clock:

Valve's 7.41 notes (24 March 2026) and 7.41b (Reflect growth 2% → 1.5% a minute). Bars compare the base values only.

The barrier starts at 3,000 and regenerates 20 a second (plus 5 a minute), so damage has to arrive faster than it heals. Reflect sends a share of the damage it takes back at the attackers (7.33 described it as spread among the heroes nearby); since 7.41 you can see its radius by holding Alt. The Shining only starts once it's attacked (7.40) and no longer damages neutral creeps (7.41). It has 25% status resistance, and 7.41e made it disjoint projectiles when it moves between chasms.

The practical consequence: bring several heroes, so the reflected damage is spread, and burst it down rather than chipping it alone. A lone core at 20:00 can lose half its health doing it.

Tormentor rewards

After it dies the Tormentor leaves an aura that heals units in the area (7.38); 7.41c raised it to 2.25% of max health a second for 15 seconds. It respawns 10 minutes later (Dota 2 Wiki), on whichever side the cycle puts it.

Roshan or Tormentor? Playing the trade

Because they're always on opposite sides, every boss attempt is also a question: what does the enemy do meanwhile? BoostPirate's way of thinking about it:

Done right, the two bosses give you a rhythm: Tormentor, then Roshan as his window opens, then a push with the Aegis. Taken blind, either one is how a winning game turns around.

Related guides: warding · objectives and high ground · teamfights · farming patterns · patch 7.41