How much farm is enough?

Farm is important to Dota 2, it's what gets you your items and levels for the carry. But, just how much time should you spend farming?

http://www.dotabuff.com/matches/1424205750
http://www.dotabuff.com/matches/1455852189

In both of these matches, I had an AFK farming Lifestealer whoessentially made theses games a 4v5 situation until it was too late. So, when should you stop farming and join your team? Is it something that varies from hero to hero? Or is it something for the player to decide? Or is Lifestealer just not a good farming carry?

You should always be farming occasionally throughout the entirety of the game. The thing that's important though is when you should be NOT farming. If there's a fight going on anywhere on the map, people have a tendency to tp there. That's fine if you're a support. However, if you're a carry you need to make a quick decision as to whether or not you being in that fight in 3 seconds is going to change it's outcome. If the answer is no, keep farming while the enemy's resources are on the fight. If yes, tp and get them kills! Maybe even get a tower out of it.

It's when you're able to win fights and get a good trade out of them.

For example, it's no good joining a fight if you're too weak to be of any use, but once you have a Core Item or 2, you should be useful in most 5 vs 5 Teamfights.

You shouldn't join every fight though, just the ones where you are needed, it's no good Rotating as 5 to get their Hard Support while their Position 1 is getting closer and closer to a Black King Bar.

You should make sure you get something out of the fight. Don't TP back to join a fight under your Tower if you're going to trade Deaths evenly but still lose the Tower, especially if you can Farm a Wave or few and get a Tower in return.

I draw the line when I can tell that my team if struggling with me not there. Teamfights come first, always. If you are farming, it has to be in the time between teamfights and pushing. If you wanna have an AFK Farming Medusa or Lifestealer they still need to contribute when they can. If its 4v5 that doesnt work unless you have a strong teamfight lineup and alternate carry. If the fight doesn't nessasarily need you (if they will win without you) then sure farm away.

farming is not just creeping and jungling right? XD

kill 1 or 2 hero is good to.........

what's the used if u have all the luxury item but u'r team have nothing
even worse the enemy have all the good item too

it really depends on the hero imo. Lifestealer isnt that hard of a carry, so farming for ~50 mins wont do him any good, since then he will miss his window and wont be able to hold a candle to real hardcarries anymore.

A 6 slotted Phantom Assassin will ALWAYS rek a 6 slotted Lifestealer if it comes to man-fights for instance. IMO its all up to, whether or not you know your heroes timing window (when will i be most effective). Speaking in a very general manner (which doesnt always have to be true) Lifestealer is strongest from the 20th-40th minute mark...so farm 2-3 core items and go end the game before you miss that window.

Same thing goes for a lot of carries btw. Not every carry can be considered equally "hard".
Knowing which team might have the stronger lategame might help out as well. If for example each team has only 1 carry (lets say Medusa and Drow Ranger), its perfectly fine for Dusa to farm up, if her base isnt getting pressured, while Drow's team is somewhat foreced to end the game quickly, since a Drow cant outcarry a dusa.

Every carry has SOMETHING they can do to help a teamfight--Even when they aren't farmed. Medusa has Stone Gaze, Lifestealer has Open Wounds, Void has chrono for lockdown even if he can't DPS anything, Spectre has.... oh wow spec just about breaks my analogy if she realllly doesn't have farm.

I agree with R-Conqueror. Although everyone's right on the aspect of the carry having to correctly assess the situation, the truth is: if the rest of your team is not being able to hold the enemy team, and they push for a constant 4v5 teamfight, the oh-great-farmer has to come down from his jungle to give a hand, or he seriously risks giving in the game. This wasn't so true before the patch, but now that passively farming gives less than killing heroes and towers, some teams focus on the early agression and constant pushes and you can't really let someone afk farm against that or let them have all the towers they want, because few heroes can come up at that stage of the game and rampage everyone (only heroes like Phantom Assassin, given the right items, and yet it is a 50% chance at best). So I would say it depends on the hero and on the game specifically, but yeah, that Lifestealer probably cost you the game.

The trouble with this is that few people that usually carry are able to admit that when space is not created, you can't just abandon your team. They are too afraid of relying in their skills, and rely instead on having at least the 3 expensive items they consider core. But precisely, "Medusa has Stone Gaze, Lifestealer has Open Wounds", etc. - I've seen an incredible Dusa that had only Phase Boots and Ring of Aquila and entered all the fights, wrecking.

Try to explain this to your carry when faced with a situation like this (even if he replays "I'm the one to decide when farming is enough", it is obviously not so since Dota is a team game, so just put him in the "selfish" label and go on).

superior scouting abilities :D

Spectre's chase is really good with Spectral Dagger. Also, early Desolate is huge.