Babysitting the core in Dota 2: when to stay and when to leave

Babysitting is when a support stays in lane next to a core and protects him: harasses the offlaner, chases off the enemy pos 4, heals, saves him from ganks. The goal is simple — your core last-hits in peace and doesn't die.

It's not "standing next to the carry for ten minutes". Creep experience is shared between all heroes nearby, so a support who just stands in lane slows down his core's levels. And while you idle there, your team gets no pulls, stacks, wards or rotations. A good support stays with the core exactly when the core is in danger without him, works the map the rest of the time and comes back on time.

In 7.41, until 7:30 the creeps meet closer to the offlane tower. The safe lane naturally sits further from your tier 1, so your core is more exposed there than in older patches. That makes a support in the safe lane more important in the first minutes, and pulls that drag the wave back to your tower are now the main way to make the core self-sufficient.

Stay with your core when without you he either dies or can't get near the wave. Most often that's the first minutes of the game and lanes where he faces two enemies.

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• Levels 1–3. Heroes have little HP early, while the enemy duo already has a stun and damage. Leaving your core now hands him to their offlaner and pos 4.
• Your core is facing two and you're gone. If the enemy pos 4 is in lane and you aren't, it becomes 1v2 — your carry can't last-hit and risks dying.
• The enemy has a kill lane: double stun, strong right-click harass, heroes that kill in one go. You need to be close to answer with a disable or a save.
• Their mid or pos 4 keeps showing up. A gank every few minutes is a reason to stay closer and ward the approach.
• Your core is weak in lane. Late-game carries that live on farm and can barely fight at low levels — for example Spectre, Medusa, Anti-Mage. Their job is to leave the lane alive and with last hits; yours is to let them.
• No regen. A core on half HP with no tangoes or salve — give him yours or stay close until the courier arrives.
• The lane is being lost: your core is behind on last hits, the wave sits at their tower, he's zoned out of experience range. Win the lane back first, think about rotations later.

You can leave when the lane is under control and you have a clear target. Leaving without a target is just time lost away from the lane.

Even after leaving, watch the minimap. An average support watches his target; a good one also watches the lane he left.

• Leave: the wave is at your tower or you just pulled it back — your core can last-hit safely.
• Leave: your core last-hits on his own, backs off on his own and stands near the tower, and the enemy lane has no kill threat without their pos 4.
• Leave: their pos 4 has left the lane — it's no longer 2v1, and you're more useful somewhere else.
• Leave if there's a target: a bounty rune (every 4:00 in the jungle), the 6:00 power rune together with your mid, a gank on a hero with no escape, a stack or a pull.
• Come back: an enemy has gone missing and their support has left his lane heading your way.
• Come back: your core is low with no regen, or two enemies have started on his lane.
• Come back: the wave got pushed toward the enemy and your core is standing far from his tower without vision.

Pos 5 is the main babysitter. They're responsible for the safe lane until the laning stage ends, but they protect the carry by working around the lane, not by standing next to him. Pulling the small camp at xx:15 drags the wave back to your tower and takes experience away from their offlaner. A stack near the lane is banked farm for the carry when the wave is far away. A ward on the gank path gives your core time to back off. Pos 5 only steps away briefly and not far — close enough to be back in lane within seconds.

Pos 4 is tempo. Usually they play the offlane with the offlaner, and from minute 4–6, once their lane is under control, they start rotating: to the 6:00 rune with your mid, onto an enemy mid with no rune and low HP, onto an enemy carry with no escape. If your pos 4 never showed up on another lane before 10:00 while their own lane was even or winning, that's lost tempo.

Resources near the lane for a support: your side's bounty rune every 4:00, lotuses in the pond by your offlane tier 1 (free regen for the pos 4 and the offlaner), and the Shrine of Wisdom on your offlane side from 7:00. The first Shrine gives little experience, from 14:00 it's noticeably more, and part of it goes to the ally with the least experience — usually a support.

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• Pos 5: a pull at xx:15 is safer than at xx:45 — the camp clears in time for the new minute.
• Pos 5: stack at xx:53–:55 near the lane — the carry takes it between waves.
• Pos 5: never put your ward or sentry in your own camp's spawn box — the camp stops respawning.
• Pos 4: leave once the lane sits near your tower, and only for a target you can see.
• Pos 4: no kill? Grab a rune, place a ward or stack a camp on the way back.

Leaving isn't just turning around and walking off. Before you go, set things up so your core can hold alone for the next half a minute to a minute.

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• Move the wave: pull at xx:15 before leaving — the lane comes to your tower, where the enemy can't stand comfortably.
• Ward the gank path — where their mid or pos 4 usually comes from.
• Leave some regen: hand your core a tango or salve if he's out.
• Keep a TP: if two go on your core, a teleport to the tower turns their gank into your fight.
• Say where you're going and when you'll be back. Example: "Going mid for the rune, lane is pulled, back for the next pull."
• Pos 5 example: "Stacking the camp behind you, take it between waves. If their mid and pos 4 go missing, back off to the tower."

Almost every babysitting mistake is either "staying when it isn't needed" or "leaving when you shouldn't have".

• Standing in lane and taking farm. Every last hit a support takes next to the core is gold that didn't go into his item. Your core also falls behind on levels: two heroes on one wave split the experience.
• Leaving while your core is getting zoned 2v1. A pos 4 rotation is worth nothing if your carry died and lost two waves meanwhile.
• Abandoning the lane at levels 1–3. An early core death costs more than any rune.
• Empty rotations: you came without a target, found nobody and left. The lane is being lost without you meanwhile.
• Both supports leaving at the same time. If pos 5 is pulling and pos 4 is ganking mid, the safe lane is left alone against two enemies.
• Leaving and not watching the minimap. Their pos 4 walked to your lane — and you found out from the carry's death message.

Before leaving the lane, answer these. If any of the first three is a "no", stay.

• Past levels 1–3?
• Your core isn't facing two (or their pos 4 has left)?
• Your core has decent HP and regen?
• The wave is at your tower, or you just pulled it?
• There's a ward on the gank path?
• You have a concrete target — a rune, gank, stack or pull?
• The other support isn't away from his lane right now?

The lane review looks at the first ten minutes like a coach would: how many times you and your core died and how (gank, under their tower, alone without vision), how the lane ended by net worth at 10:00 against the opponent, how many pulls and stacks you made, how many last hits you took next to your core, and whether your pos 4 visited other lanes and got kills from it.

The review also flags when your lane core died to two or more enemies before 8:00 while you were far away with nothing to show for it — no kill, no assist. That is exactly "left when you shouldn't have". The lane map marks that spot with an exclamation mark.