Dota 2 Carry Guide — Farming, Fighting & Closing Games

Farming Patterns

The Triangle

The Triangle is the three jungle camps near your safe lane tower — two medium/large camps and one ancient camp. This is your primary farming area from minutes 8-20. A good carry clears the entire triangle in under 60 seconds and then moves to lane for the next creep wave.

1. 1.Start with the camp closest to your tower, then move to the second camp, then the ancient camp.
2. 2.Time your rotation so you arrive at the lane just as the next creep wave meets. Missing a full creep wave to farm one jungle camp is always a net loss.
3. 3.Stack the ancient camp at :53 every minute. Stacked ancients are worth 2-3x a normal camp and accelerate your farm dramatically.
4. 4.Ask your support to stack for you if they are not busy warding or ganking. A triple-stacked ancient camp can give you 800+ gold in one clear.

Lane + Jungle Rotation

The key to efficient farming is never standing still. After clearing a wave, immediately move to the nearest jungle camp. After clearing the camp, move to the next wave. You should be farming a creep wave AND a jungle camp every 60 seconds.

• •At 600 GPM you are farming well. At 700+ GPM you are playing nearly perfectly.
• •If your GPM drops below 500 after 15 minutes, you are fighting too much or dying too often.
• •Use illusions or summons to farm additional camps. Heroes like Naga Siren and Phantom Lancer can farm 3 locations simultaneously.

Map Awareness While Farming

• •Glance at the minimap every 3-5 seconds. If you see 3+ enemies on the opposite side of the map, push a lane aggressively.
• •If you see NO enemies on the minimap, retreat to safe farm areas. Missing enemies usually mean a smoke gank is coming.
• •Carry a TP scroll at all times. If your team gets into a fight near a tower, you can TP in and turn the fight.

Itemization — Timing-Based Decisions

When to Fight vs. When to Farm

The answer is always based on item timings. You should fight ONLY when you have just completed a major item and the enemy has not completed theirs. This is your power spike window.

1. 1.After completing your first big item (e.g., Battle Fury, Manta Style, Desolator), check the enemy cores' inventories. If they are 500+ gold behind on their item, FIGHT.
2. 2.If you just died and lost gold, do NOT fight. Farm until you recover the lost net worth.
3. 3.BKB is a fighting item. The moment you buy BKB, you must fight within the next 2 minutes. Do not buy BKB and then farm for 5 minutes — you are wasting charges.
4. 4.Track Roshan timer. Your second major item + Aegis is the strongest power spike in the game for carry players.

Item Builds by Carry Archetype

• •Farming carries (Slark, Faceless Void, Drow): Prioritize farming items first (Battle Fury, Maelstrom, Mask of Madness) then transition to fighting items.
• •Fighting carries (Shadow Fiend, Clinkz, Templar Assassin): Prioritize early damage items (Desolator, Crystalys) and fight from minute 15.
• •Timing carries (all carries eventually): Identify your 2-item timing and tell your team when you are ready to fight. Communication prevents 4v5 fights while you are farming.

Patch 7.40c Item Priorities

• •Desolator is the highest win-rate first item for physical damage carries. Armor reduction synergizes with Roshan attempts.
• •Black King Bar second or third — never later. In 7.40c, games end before 35 minutes. Late BKBs with 5-second duration lose fights.
• •Satanic is the best late-game survivability item. Unholy Rage heals you for 200% of your damage for 6 seconds — this wins man-fights against other carries.

Fight Selection — Only Take Fights You Win

The Pre-Fight Checklist

Before joining any fight, run through this checklist in your head. If more than one answer is "no," do not join the fight — farm instead.

1. 1.Do I have my key item completed? If you are 300 gold away from BKB, farm a camp and then join.
2. 2.Is my BKB off cooldown? Fighting without BKB against stun-heavy lineups is suicide.
3. 3.Do I have buyback gold? After 30 minutes, NEVER fight without buyback. Dying without buyback loses games instantly.
4. 4.Can I reach the fight within 10 seconds? If the fight is across the map and you need 15+ seconds to arrive, do not go. The fight will be over before you get there.
5. 5.Is this fight near an objective? Only take fights that lead to towers, Roshan, or barracks. Random jungle fights where nothing is gained are not worth your time.

Target Priority

• •Kill the enemy support who has the save spell first (Oracle, Dazzle, Omniknight). If they are alive, your damage on the enemy carry gets negated.
• •Do NOT tunnel-vision the enemy carry if they have BKB active. Hit whoever is in range and not spell-immune.
• •Switch targets when someone pops BKB. BKB lasts 6-9 seconds — fight around it, not into it.
• •After the first kill in a fight, immediately assess: push or disengage? Two kills = push a tower. Three kills = take Roshan. Wipe = go high ground.

Positioning

The biggest difference between a 3K and 6K carry is positioning. You should NEVER be the first person to walk into a fight. Let your offlaner initiate, let your mid create chaos, and then enter the fight from the side or behind after key enemy spells have been used.

• •Stand behind your offlaner. Never in front.
• •Wait for the enemy to commit their stuns before you walk in.
• •If the enemy has Clockwerk, stand far back — Hookshot range is massive and getting caught in Cogs as a carry is usually death.

Late Game Execution

Buyback Management

After 30 minutes, buyback is the most important resource in the game. A carry dying without buyback at 40 minutes means the enemy gets a free high ground push (60+ second respawn timer). Always keep buyback gold available.

1. 1.Buyback costs your current level multiplied by a base amount. At level 25, buyback is roughly 1,200 gold.
2. 2.Never spend gold that would put you below buyback threshold. This means sometimes you sit on 1,500 gold and do not buy a component.
3. 3.If you die and buyback is on cooldown (8-minute cooldown), your team MUST play defensively until you are alive again.

High Ground Siege

• •Never walk up high ground without Aegis. The uphill miss chance and limited vision make high ground the most dangerous place on the map.
• •Use summons, illusions, or Necronomicon to test high ground before committing. If the enemy uses key spells on illusions, then push.
• •Split push with one hero while 4 heroes pressure a different lane. The enemy cannot defend both lanes simultaneously.
• •If the first high ground attempt fails, reset and take Roshan again. Do not repeatedly throw bodies at high ground — this is how teams throw 20K gold leads.

Item Slots & Moon Shard

When you are six-slotted, consume a Moon Shard for 60 bonus attack speed. This is the most cost-efficient damage upgrade available once you have no inventory space. After Moon Shard, sell your cheapest item for a more expensive one (e.g., sell Mask of Madness for Satanic).

Win Condition Awareness

• •Know your hero's win condition. Faceless Void wins by landing a 3+ person Chronosphere. Slark wins by picking off isolated targets. Drow Ranger wins by standing behind her team and right-clicking.
• •If the game goes past 50 minutes, every fight is potentially the last fight. Play accordingly — one mistake ends the game.
• •Communicate your Roshan timer, your BKB status, and your buyback status to your team before every engagement.