Dota 2 has become the most popular MOBA in the CIS over the past decade. In addition to the direct hands of your teammates, the distribution of roles in the team is extremely important.
In this guide, we will tell you in detail how to play carry in Dota 2. We will also consider which characters experienced players recommend.
Who is Dota 2 Carry
Kerry (from the English “carry” – to carry, to transfer) is the one who takes on the main task of “carrying out” the game and leading his team to victory.
As a rule, at the beginning of the game, carries hit slowly and luck on the lane (in farming and kills) depends on the actions of supports, among other things. As the game develops, skills are pumped up and necessary items are purchased, the strength, damage and impact of the carry on the game increase exponentially.
Carry, also known as position 1, has the highest farming priority. Carry players focus on accumulating gold by last hitting creeps in the lane or in the jungle, i.e. “farming”.
Types of Carry
There are 3 types of carry heroes in Dota. Not every character is engaged in 40-minute farming in the forest.
Hypercarry/Hardcarry
This is the most standard form of the carry role. Although fairly weak in the early game, hypercarries become nearly unstoppable in the late game.
Such heroes are almost useless in fights until they farm the necessary items. Hypercarries with two or three serious items are sometimes even capable of fighting entire teams alone.
Examples of hypercarries include Anti-Mage, Void, Medusa, Terrorblade, and Spectre. These heroes should not be too aggressive early on, as they are designed to be useful in the mid to late game.
Semicarrie
This is the complete opposite of a hypercarry, as they can fight from the start with a limited amount of items. Semicarries are designed to be active on the map early on, leaving the midlaner to do most of the farming. Their leveling up means more than just the items in their backpack. These heroes often have abilities that give them early damage. They also have ways to kill enemies on their own, without relying on other heroes.
Semikors are less interested in just farming, and are more inclined to engage early and often, which can help with pushing and achieving a quick win.
These include:
- Slark;
- Mortra (Phantom Assassin):
- Juggernaut;
- Ursa;
- Traxa (Drow Ranger);
- CC (Chaos Knight);
- VRka (Windranger);
- Weaver;
- Troll (Troll Warlord);
- Ursa;
- Alchemist.
Tactics of playing for carry in Dota
initial stage
In the early game, as a carry, you have one goal – to get as much farm as possible. This is not always easy to achieve, especially if you have to play against an aggressive offlaner and an equally annoying support.
At the start of the game, you rely heavily on your team’s support. However, if your support doesn’t know what to do, you’ll have a hard time.
If you are prevented from farming in the lane, then there are 2 development options:
- The first is to play less aggressively and periodically pull so that the lane pushes in your direction and you can calmly finish off creeps under the tower. If the opponent makes a mistake or is aggressive, it is worth telling your allies to “fly in” and help.
- Second: if the hero you have chosen, for example Sven, Templar Assassin, Gyrocopter or DK with the aspect of the red dragon (Dragon Knight) allows you to farm stacks, then do not hesitate to ask the support to make them or make them yourself when your creeps have gone under the enemy tower.
In any of the options, your main task is not to feed (like all your teammates) and to manage to farm the necessary items by the middle of the game.
Ask your support to “create space” and stack or pull neutral creeps for your farm.
Mid game
What you do next depends on which hero you’ve chosen. Some heroes require more farm to be effective.
Players who like late game “monsters” like Anti-Mage, Morphling, Spectre, etc. will have to keep farming until they have all the items they need. This doesn’t mean not participating in team fights, but the main goal is to get the items they need.
On the other hand, there are carries who only need a couple of items to do “dirt”. And the more they kill, the faster they level up and farm. Such heroes include Ursa and Slark, for example.
Late game
One of the most important things for a late carry is to not die without a reason. Getting killed while farming or when you are out of position is the worst thing that can happen to you and your team because the enemy team will use it to their advantage.
Another important thing about the late game that you should know as a carry Dota player is related to buyback. Dota 2 is a unique MOBA in this aspect because it allows players to use this feature and not wait until 2 minutes while they are dead. Any carry MUST always have enough gold to buyback, regardless of whether his team is leading.
Having a carry die without a buyback in the late game is enough to lose the game, especially if your enemies decide to push.
A good quality for the first position is the ability to calculate risk and command the actions of the other players. There are many moments in the game when a decision can snowball, lead to a bad situation and to a loss. As well as to a victory.
Which carry should a newbie pick in Dota 2
There is no single clear indication of 1-2 heroes that are ideal for a beginner. Skilled and experienced players always have their own opinion on this matter. Most often, the choice depends on control preferences. Some cannot play melee, and some do not like “thin” heroes.
Some of the easiest heroes for a beginner to play as a carry:
Sniper
The simplest character to take on as a carry. It is on him that newbies are trained in the starting tutorial in the game. The sniper can hit enemy heroes from a safe distance thanks to the innate ability Keen Scope, which passively increases his attack range and improves with the pumping of the Assassinate ultimate.
The character has two aspects:
- Ghille suit – when attacking an enemy and activating the third skill Take aim (E), the sniper will not be visible to the enemy, and he will not understand where he is being shot from.
- Scattershot – Increases damage and slow from the first skill Shrapnel (Q), but reduces its duration to 1 second.
Capabilities:
- Shrapnel (Q) — the first skill, with which the character releases a projectile in the form of lead rain on the selected area. Shrapnel lasts 10 seconds and has 3 charges.
- Headshot (W) is a passive ability that has a 40% chance to knock back an enemy, deal additional damage, and slow them down.
- Take aim (E) — the third skill, which passively increases armor and gives a little attack range. When activated, it increases the chance of Headshot to trigger by 100%, but slows the hero down.
- Assassinate (R) — an ultimate ability aimed at one character. Shoots from a rifle, dealing magic damage. Improved with Aghanim’s Scepter, reduces the shot preparation time by 4 times and stuns the enemy on impact.
- Concussive grenade (D) – an additional ability that appears when purchasing or receiving Aghanim’s Shard. The sniper throws a grenade at a selected area, dealing damage and pushing back all characters. Including his teammates.
The gameplay of the character is very simple: stand behind your team, shoot at enemies and finish them off with your ult. Sniper has a low health increase, thus not allowing himself to be on the front lines. You throw Shrapnel (Q) in a teamfight and deal damage with your hand, trying not to expose yourself to enemy abilities.
Sniper is especially deadly at lower ranks in pubs. This is because teams are less coordinated at lower MMR and cannot properly “turn him off”. Often, you need to get past a wall of 4 teammates to get to Sniper.
But his usefulness drops off as you rank up, so try not to get too used to him as a carry.
Wraith King
A simple hero, previously called “one-button”, as it had one active skill and three passive ones. Now everything is different and you can activate almost all abilities.
- The innate ability of the character Vampiric Spirit gives the hero vampirism from attacks and increases movement speed. Turns Leoric into a ghost when receiving lethal damage. You are in the ghost form for a short time, but you can use abilities and hit with your hand.
The character received 2 aspects:
- Bone Guard – Gives the second skill the ability to summon skeleton minions.
- Spectral Blade – the second skill gives the attack an evil eye when dealing damage to the enemy. The damage from it wears off after 3 seconds.
Active abilities:
- Wraithfire Blast (Q) — provides a useful stun (or stun) to a single target. The first skill helps both to stop the enemy for a kill and to escape from a “duel” (in case of low HP).
- Bone Guard (W) – You gain charges, one for every two creatures killed. Using the ability, you will summon skeletons that can help with farming or demolishing buildings.
- Spectral Blade (W) is a passive ability that applies a curse that deals pure damage over time. Useful in the early game for periodic health exchanges with the enemy. During combat, you may not finish off the character and he will run away, but after a while he will receive damage.
- Mortal Strike (E) is another passive ability that gives the hero critical damage. It has a cooldown, thus preventing you from critically hitting 2 or 3 times in a row.
- Reincarnation is an ultimate that gives us a second life. At the moment of your death, all enemies around you are slowed down and you are resurrected. The ability can be activated, which will allow you to die even with full health.
A fairly simple carry hero – durable, deals a lot of physical damage and can farm quickly.
The gameplay is not difficult, the character is durable and has a high armor per level. This allows you to be aggressive in the lane and constantly damage opponents. The ultimate allows you to rush in first, initiate fights, allowing your team to take better positions.
Juggernaut
Juggernaut is a versatile carry, occupying an intermediate position between hypercarry and semi-carry. His skills allow him to be relevant at any stage of the game.
- Duelist is an innate ability that allows Jaeger to deal 10% more damage when fighting an enemy face to face.
The character received two aspects:
- Bladestorm – Grants the first skill Blade Fury the effect of the third ability Blade Dance. This allows you to crit with the help of the spinner.
- Bladeform – the hero receives bonuses to agility and movement speed while no one hits him.
Active abilities:
- Blade Fury (Q) — 1 skill or, in common parlance, a “twist”. Deals a huge amount of magic damage to nearby enemy units. It also protects Juggernaut from magic, allowing him to easily escape by pressing Q and teleport.
- Healing Ward (W) — 2 skill, supports Jagger and teammates in fights. The totem restores HP based on the character’s health percentage.
- Blade Dance (E) — passive 3 skill that gives the character critical hits. Ideal for dealing fast and high damage.
- Omnislash (R) – Ultimate, makes the character invulnerable when he jumps from enemy to enemy, dealing damage.
- Swiftslash (D) – buying Aghanim’s Scepter gives a mini version of omnislash, lasts 1 second, but mechanically – exactly the same ultimate.
Lifestealer
Lifestealer or Ghoul is one of the simplest characters in Dota. All abilities are aimed at fighting and healing at the same time.
- Feast is an innate ability, previously it was the third passive ability. Allows you to restore health from the enemy’s maximum HP, dealing damage to them with your hand. When finishing off a creep, it gives 1 unit of health, when killing a hero – 15 units.
Aspects of:
- Rage (Q) – the first skill makes the hero immune to effects and increases magic resistance.
- Unfettered (Q) – the second version of the first ability, which can be activated even in a stun. It casts a strong dispel on yourself and increases magic resistance.
Capabilities:
- Open Wounds (W) – Applies a slow to the enemy and increases lifesteal when dealing damage to that creature.
- Ghoul Frenzy (E) is a passive ability that increases movement speed and increases attack speed.
- Infest (R) — an ultimate ability that allows you to hide in a creep or ally. When exiting the creature, Ghoul deals damage around himself. When purchasing Aghanim’s Scepter, the skill is supplemented with the ability to crawl into the enemy, attacking him from the inside and applying a debuff on him with the inability to hit.
The game is based on farming creeps, as the innate ability rewards us for each finished off unit. The character is great against enemy tanks from the hardline. Since he can easily exchange with them, replenishing health.
Luna
A moon rider with excellent agility and damage. She can quickly clear forest stacks, thereby “snowballing” opponents with a large number of items.
- Lunar Blessing is an innate ability that increases damage to Luna and allies within a certain radius of the hero.
A couple of aspects:
- Moonshield – When activated, Lunar Orbit (W) reduces incoming damage to the character.
- Moonstorm – Increases damage from Lucent Beam (Q) and Eclipse (R).
Active abilities:
- Lucent Beam (Q) – Deals damage to the selected character with a pillar of light and stuns them. Useful if the enemy tries to escape you by teleporting.
- Lunar Orbit (W) – Creates 4 flying glaives around itself, which deal damage to the enemy and reduce incoming damage to the Moon.
- Moon Glaives (E) – The glaive in your hands begins to bounce between several enemies. Each subsequent bounce deals less damage.
- Eclipse (R) – Activates a lunar eclipse and casts Lucent Beam (Q) around itself. These beams do not stun enemies. Aghanim’s Scepter increases the number of beams and allows you to cast them on an area.
One of the fastest farming characters in the game due to his third ability. The innate ability passively increases your damage with each level and makes you stronger. In the lane, you can be aggressive, as Lunar Blessing also works on your support, which makes your skirmishes more productive.
We also want to add a small list of top Dota 2 carries that are suitable for beginners in the game:
- Mortra (Phantom Assassin);
- Anti-mage;
- Ursa;
- Void;
- Ghoul (Lifestealer);
- Medusa;
- Lancer (Phantom Lancer);
- Spectra;
- Troll (Troll Warlord).
Don’t forget to consider enemy picks and your character’s counter picks, of course. Don’t pick Lancer after an enemy picks Shaker.
Tips for playing carry in Dota 2
- At the draft stage, if the choice of the hero is left to you, choose the one that will best fit into the gameplay. But if you have a small list of heroes that you understand well, it is better to entrust the final choice to another team member.
- You need to think about the late game, not just how to win the lane. You can be a good laner with your hero, but be useless in the late game.
- Buying a healer will be expensive, so you can rely on a good support and natural health regeneration. This will help save gold. But even in the early stages of the game, if you prefer an aggressive game, six tangus and Healing Salve will help put pressure on the enemy hero from the lane and on the towers.
- Use creep aggression to draw creeps away, making it easier to last hit them. It also protects you and your farm from enemies, who will have to get past your creep wave before they can reach you.
- Failure in the lane does not mean automatic defeat. Don’t give up right away, even if you have bad creep stats and several deaths. You can always catch up with enemy carries by farming in the jungle.
- Don’t forget to help other lanes, especially if you can quickly teleport and use a strong ultimate, such as Void’s Dome or Gyrocopter’s ultimate.
- When upgrading skills, consider how much mana is required for the maximum upgraded skill. Treat skill points as a valuable resource and upgrade “unnecessary” skills only when they are really needed.
- Don’t waste your mana and use abilities against creeps. They can come in handy if an enemy roamer or mid suddenly attacks. Unfortunately, you can’t always rely on your teammates, as not everyone will write CC or say in the voice.
- One of the most important tips is to carefully plan your jungle farming route. If you are wandering around the map and don’t know where to go, you are wasting valuable farming time, experience, and gold.
- Be smart about choosing items for your hero, considering the current situation in the game and the meta. Don’t just buy items mindlessly, following recommendations. Sometimes they suggest things you don’t need at the moment.
- Wise advice: Don’t swear or blame your teammates, at least until the end of the game. You don’t want any of them to get upset and start feeding or go AFK.
The Strongest Dota 2 Players in the Carry Role
To hone your skills as a carry and rank up, you need more than just hours of practice. It is highly recommended that you watch what professional players do in their matches. Here are the strongest professional carry players in the team:
- Ilya ” Yatoro ” Mularchuk;
- Ivan ” Pure ” Moskalenko;
- Egor ” Saika/Nightfall ” Grigorenko;
- Anton ” dyrachyo ” Shkredov;
- Wang ” Ame ” Chunyu;
- Du ” Monet ” Peng;
- Oliver ” Skiter ” Lepko;
- Amer ” Miracle- ” al-Barqawi.
In conclusion, we will quote Egor “Saika/Nightfall” Grigorenko, who demonstrated his skills best in the carry role, but is now an offlaner in the BetBoom Team:
“You need to be able to think with your head, make the right and quick decisions in critical situations. Not get lost in the game, know your gameplay well. You need to play with your head, so that you understand your hero, so that you see the game globally. Be able to say something confidently.”