Where to ward in Dota 2: patch 7.41 warding guide

We compared 1,238 team-games longer than 20 minutes from matches reviewed on DotaLeak. Winners place 46% of their observers on the enemy half; losers place 26%. Vision on their half shows where their cores are heading before they get to you, so you have time to back off, group up or catch someone alone.

The second number is blind time. The median share of the game after minute 10 with not a single observer up is about 13%. If your team is well above that, you regularly play whole minutes without information, and almost any death in those minutes is a death in the fog.

Below is how many wards positions 4 and 5 place per 10 minutes at each rank. Compare yourself with your own bracket, not with pro games.

Lane, 0–10 minutes. Your first observer goes where the gank on your lane comes from, or on the rune if your mid controls it. The offlane support can drop a ward or sentry in the enemy pull camp's spawn box before 1:00 — while it stands, the camp won't spawn and their lane gets pushed toward your tower. Your team should have at least one observer up before minute 5.

Mid game, 10–25 minutes. Vision moves from the lanes into the jungle: entrances to your jungle, river forks, the triangle. By 14:00 and 21:00 — vision on the Shrine of Wisdom; before Tormentor spawns — on its low ground; before Roshan respawns — on the approaches to the active pit.

Late game. The enemy high ground before a siege, their base exits to each lane (you see who walks or teleports where), Roshan approaches. A ward that shows the enemy engage in advance is worth more than any deep ward that gets a support killed.

Observer and Sentry WardsSentry Ward

• Ahead: observers past their tier 1 and in their jungle, triangle and ancients — they can't farm outside their base.
• Ahead: sentries on their wards along your paths — killing their vision beats placing one more observer.
• Behind: observers at your jungle entrances and on your tier 2/tier 3 high ground so your core farms safely.
• Behind: no solo deep wards — a support death while behind costs the whole team tempo.

60–90 seconds before the attempt, place observers on the approaches to the pit from the enemy side, not inside the pit: you need to see who's coming, not Roshan. The minimap icon shows which pit is active. Sentry and dust their vision around the pit first, then hit Roshan.

Since patch 7.39 Roshan roars at 85% health and both teams get a message. There's no quiet Roshan anymore: either kill it fast while they're far away, or be ready to fight at the pit.

In 7.41 Tormentor sits on low ground with three staircases: to the Lotus Pool, to the lane and up to the Twin Gate high ground. Cover two approaches with vision and keep the third as your way out.

Sentry WardDust of AppearanceSmoke of Deceit

Without an observer up top you can't see where the defenders stand — there's no vision up a slope from below. Place an observer on their high ground as your creep wave reaches the tower, and a sentry where they usually put their defensive wards. Our review flags every high-ground push without an observer up top and counts how many heroes it cost.

A sentry grants true sight in a 1050 radius and lasts 7 minutes. Plant them where the enemy wards for their own game: your jungle entrances, cliffs above your core's farming spots, the Roshan pit and their smoke paths. An enemy observer that lived its full 6 minutes on your side is a separate mistake in our review — six minutes of them watching your farm.

Dust reveals invisible heroes around you for 12 seconds. Against Riki, Clinkz, Bounty Hunter or Weaver, carry dust and sentries from the start, and get a Gem on the team later.

Sentry WardDust of AppearanceGem of True Sight

If you were seen planting, the ward is gone within a minute. Don't walk straight to the spot from an area where you're visible — plant from the fog. Don't put an observer where one was just dewarded: they know that spot. Shift wards a few steps off the standard spots — behind trees, to the other edge of a cliff.

Refresh key spots 30–60 seconds before the ward expires, not after. And don't die for a ward: a solo deep observer while behind almost always ends with a dead support.

These are the mistakes our coach-view warding review catches in a match:

• The team spends minutes with no observer up, and the deaths happen exactly then.
• You died next to an enemy observer and the killers came from far away — you were simply seen.
• You died seconds after placing a deep ward alone.
• A ward in your own camp's spawn box — the camp doesn't spawn for 6–7 minutes.
• One support places all the wards; the other buys none.