Camp stacking and Creep pulling in Dota 2

Creep pulling and camp stacking are two important mechanics any Dota 2 player should learn. Understanding these maneuvers is crucial for any player aspiring to climb the ranks of Dota 2.

Creep pulling helps control creep movements, maintain equilibrium, and make enemy creeps move toward your tower, it also helps deny your enemy of gold and experience. Camp stacking on the other hand is exploiting the respawn time of the neutral camp creeps and making a new camp spawn even though the previous camp is still alive.

If you are new to Dota and came from other MOBA, creeps are Dota 2’s version of minions which are AI-controlled units in the game.

Why is creep pulling important?

In the Safelane, during the early laning phase of the game, Hardcarries are usually vulnerable and weak. After a few waves of creeps, both creep waves would inevitably meet at the middle area of the lane. This is bad for the hardcarry because it will put him in a vulnerable spot for ganks and ambush. The carry would also be easier to harass outside of the tower’s aura and protection.

The support, sometimes the carry if the support is not near, would hit the small camp near the tower between time x:15-18 (another timing is x:45-48) to pull the ally creeps and delay their advance. Some of your ally creeps will die in the process which effectively denies your opponent of gold and experience.

How to counter creep pulls?

The easiest counter is to block the camps with a ward or simply stand inside the camp before the minute mark to stop neutral creeps from spawning. No neutral creeps, no pull. If you are a support hero, bringing sentry ward is a good practice to be able to deward the area and stop this kind of shenanigans.

A Safelane creep pull can also easily be countered by the enemy support or offlane by doing a pull on the hard camp( the timing is x:18 and x:48). This will maintain equilibrium and prevents the Safelane hero from safely farming near his tower.

When to pull the creeps?

Just remember that pulls are double-edge swords, they are not always good. If you pull the camps when your enemy creeps are near the tower your hard carry will be left defenseless and would need to tank damage from the enemy creeps. The carry would be also pressured by the enemy offlane if you pulled your ally creeps too early.

You would want to pull the creep wave when you notice that the creeps are already moving within the enemy offlane tower. Don’t pull the creeps if the number of ally creeps is doubled or triple that of the enemy’s. Just harass the enemy offlane and support and let your creepwave hit the enemy tower and let them die under the tower. If the enemy offlane and support are properly pressured behind their tower, they will lose gold if the tower kills the creeps.

To maximize pulling you might need to do any of the following: stack and pull, double pull, or half pull.

Stack and pull are done by first stacking the small camp at x:52-53 and then pulling the lane creeps at x:15/18 or x:45/48. This will control the lane equilibrium and effectively deny your enemy offlane of a creep wave of gold and exp.

Double pull happens when you pull the lane creep with the small camp and then before the last neutral creep dies you pull the hard camp and guide it towards the pulled lane creep. This will also deny your enemy with a wave of creeps.

Half-pull is done by pulling the small camp at least 2 seconds after the usual pull timing, (x:17/47 for Dire and x:20/50 for Radiant). This is much harder to do. It will pull only one melee creep and the range creep, denying the enemy with half exp and gold for that wave. This can be detrimental to your next pull because there would be less neutral creep to kill at least one lane creep or significantly damage the wave. You will need to stack this camp after doing a half-pull.

Understanding Creep Stacking or Camp Stacking

Camp stacking involves pulling neutral creeps out of their camp at precisely the right moment to create a larger group of creeps, the timing is usually around 8 seconds before the end of the minute(X:52 during daytime). This can be particularly useful for resourceful players who want to maximize their farm or for supports looking to stack camps for their carry to later clear for an injection of gold and experience.

Executing a successful creep stack requires impeccable timing, as well as an understanding of the specific spawn times for each neutral camp. By stacking, players can efficiently increase the value of each camp, creating a buffet of resources for their team to feast upon at the opportune moment.

Just remember that during nighttime, lane creeps and neutral creeps gain a movement speed bonus. This will change the stack timing, just add a second to the daytime pull timing.

Double stacking

Double stacking is done by stacking two separate camps at the same time. Though some heroes can double stack and even triple stack with ease, this can only be done with skills and illusion.

The camps that are easy to double stack are the hard and ancient camps on either Radiant and Dire near the river.

Conclusion

Creep pulling and stacking, though seemingly arcane at first glance, are essential tools in a Dota 2 player’s arsenal. These maneuvers go beyond mere mechanics; they represent a deep understanding of the game’s ebb and flow, an artful dance that can sway the tides of battle. For college students venturing into the world of Dota 2, mastering these techniques is not just a choice; it’s a necessity.