DotaLeak › Position guides › Carry
How to Play Carry (Position 1) in Dota 2
The carry is the team's main farm sink: the safe lane, your side of the jungle, the stacks your supports make. Your job is to turn gold into key items as fast as possible without feeding along the way. Early on, fights, towers and Roshan serve your timing; later, you pay the team back.
Position 1 norms by rank
median across real matches| Rank | Last hits @10 | Net worth @10 | GPM | Time dead, % | Deaths | Fight participation, % | XPM | players |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| All ranks | 48 | 3828 | 670 | 12 | 6 | 50 | 915 | 634 |
| Crusader | 37 | 3308 | 637 | 12 | 6 | 46 | 915 | 41 |
| Archon | 45 | 3727 | 635 | 13 | 6 | 50 | 897 | 93 |
| Legend | 47 | 3823 | 682 | 13 | 7 | 51 | 926 | 177 |
| Ancient | 49 | 3930 | 705 | 11 | 6 | 50 | 946 | 151 |
| Divine | 49 | 3666 | 675 | 11 | 7 | 43 | 866 | 43 |
| Immortal | 58 | 4097 | 695 | 10 | 5 | 54 | 871 | 95 |
Medians across matches analyzed on DotaLeak. Missing ranks — not enough data yet.
What to do at each stage
Laning · 0–10 min
Get every last hit you can and don't die: the lane is your starting capital.
- Last hits are priority one. A creep you miss in the first 10 minutes is gone for good. Denies matter too: they cut the enemy offlaner's gold and XP.
- In 7.41, until 7:30 the creeps meet closer to the enemy offlane tower, so your lane naturally drifts away from your T1. Ask your 5 for pulls at xx:15 to bring it back under your tower.
- Trade hits when the enemy walks up to last-hit and when your support is nearby. After hitting a hero, step back to drop creep aggro.
- Don't go back to base for regen: you have a courier, tangoes, salves and a stick. A trip home costs one or two waves.
- Common mistake: standing still waiting for a wave that's pushed to the enemy. If there's a safe camp nearby and your hero can clear it, take it between waves.
Mid game · 10–25 min
Get your key item on time and farm where it's safe.
- The basic loop: wave near your tower → camp → camp or stack → next wave. Waves spawn every 30 seconds, so plan your route around them.
- Never walk empty-handed: every move between spots should go through a camp or a wave. Minutes without farm are the main reason your BKB or farming item comes late.
- Farm inside your own vision. If you're in the enemy jungle and three or four enemies are missing from the map, that's not farming, that's gambling.
- Join fights that are about an objective (tower, Roshan, Tormentor) and close to you. Running across the map to a ping you can't reach in time costs farm and gives nothing.
- Once your T1 falls, your safe farm shrinks: wave at T2, jungle between T2 and T3, your own ancients.
Late game · 25+ min
Be alive and ready for every deciding fight, and farm and push lanes in between.
- Keep buyback gold before big fights and Roshan: it costs 200 + net worth/13 and has an 8-minute cooldown.
- Go in after the enemy has used their disables, not first. Stand at the edge of the fight, not in the fog in front of the whole enemy team.
- Before an objective, push out the far lanes: the enemy has to answer them, so fewer of them show up at Roshan.
- The Aegis usually goes to you. It lasts 5 minutes — spend them on barracks and high ground, not the jungle.
- Mistake: farming a far jungle with no vision while four enemies are missing. Getting picked off as the carry late can lose the whole game.
Game plan: from easy to hard games
You won the lane
What to buy
- Push the lane into the enemy T1 and take it with your 5 — that opens their jungle and moves the map border.
- Don't get stuck in lane: while the wave is pushed, clear your side's camps and ask for stacks nearby.
- Turn the won lane into an early key item, not a greedy purchase.
- Don't chase kills deep into enemy territory without vision — one death gives back everything you won.
The lane is even
What to buy
- Keep the lane closer to your tower, last-hit and deny, avoid risky trades.
- After 10 minutes switch to a lane-plus-jungle pattern to out-pace the enemy carry's farm.
- Nobody expects rotations from you — let mid and the 4 create pressure while you head for your item.
- Compare timings: if the enemy's power spike comes before yours, avoid big fights in that window.
You lost the lane and got crushed
What to buy
- Don't die a second time: two lane deaths are a signal to move, not to prove a point.
- Go to a safe jungle or to a lane where the wave sits at your tower. Ask your 5 to pull or swap lanes with your offlaner.
- Buy what gets you back into the game: regen, survivability, a farming item — not late-game damage.
- Let mid and the offlaner make space while you quietly farm up to your first key item.
Your team is 10k+ behind at 20 minutes
What to buy
- Farm only inside your vision and close to towers: waves at T2/T3, your jungle, your ancients.
- Don't answer every fight in the middle of the map — you're needed to defend high ground.
- Look for pick-offs: smoke with the team onto a split-up enemy that's visible on the map.
- Keep buyback: a won fight at your own high ground with buyback up can flip the game.
Common mistakes — we catch these in match analysis
- Dying without vision in enemy territoryA carry death costs gold, respawn time and minutes of lost farm, while the enemy gets a free map.
- Late key itemWhen your BKB or main farming item comes late, the team misses its power window and fights happen on the enemy's terms.
- Idle time with no farmWaiting for waves and walking past full camps quietly eats minutes and pushes back every item you build.
- Fighting over nothing before your itemA fight in the middle of the map with no objective costs you farm and cooldowns, even if you win it.
- Farming while the team fought for an objectiveWhen four fight five over Roshan or a tower, you lose more than you farm in that time.
FAQ
How many last hits at 10 minutes is good for a carry?
Check your rank’s median in the norms table above — it’s calculated from real matches analyzed on DotaLeak. A single lane gives roughly 80–90 creeps by 10:00, so getting close to that means a near-perfect lane with pulls or a camp.
When should a carry join fights?
When the fight is over an objective (tower, Roshan, Tormentor) and close to you; when you're at a power spike — your key item is done and theirs isn't; when the enemy made a mistake on your half of the map. A pointless fight in the middle of the map before your item is usually a loss.
How do I farm faster as a carry?
Don’t stand waiting for the wave: wave → camp → camp or stack → next wave. Hit a camp on every move, ask supports for stacks, farm inside your vision. If after minute 15 you spend long stretches without last hits, fights or deaths, you’re losing farm on the move. Compare your GPM with your rank’s norm in the table above.
Should the carry take the Aegis?
Usually yes: the Aegis gives a second life to the hero the fight depends on. But it only lasts 5 minutes — if the team takes no building in that time, it was wasted.