Guide to Hard-carrying in DotA 2

Definition

This guide will be very short. The purpose is to share my ~11 years of DotA experience with carrying.

Disclaimer: DotA 2 is a judgment-game
There is no single way to play hard-carry. It all depends on you, your team-mates, your enemies, the game-play, etc. There are many different ways of playing - and one way is not better than the other. What worked very well for you as a strategy in one game, can be the completely wrong strategy in another game. Therefore, in DotA 2 you need to develop

- Skill; and
- Judgment

This guide is only tips and tricks of how to play a hard-carry. Then it is up to you to use the tips and tricks, and adapt it to the particular game/situation you are in.

A hard-carry is a function performed by a player, referring to dominance in the later stages of the game. There are some heroes that have higher potential to hard-carry than others as some heroes are designed by the game developers to be suitable for the role of hard-carrying.

Difference carry and hard-carry
Different people have different definitions. To me, the main difference is that normal carrying can be performed by most heroes who get enough gold in the early game either through farm or ganking (e.g., mid-laners). Moreover, normal carrying is usually performed in the mid-game / early lategame. Hard-carrying is referring to a higher level of dominance in the latest stages of the game, through heroes that only get stronger and stronger as time goes on - heroes who want the game to go as late as possible.

To make it simple for people to read this guide, I shall stipulate a few definitions upon which heroes have to fulfill to be defined as a hard-carry in this guide

- Weak early-game/not dominant in early-game
- Scales very well with gear
- Keeps on getting stronger and stronger as the game progresses
- Does not fade away in strength when enemies get BKB
- Has the ability to single-handedly dominate multiple enemy heroes in late-game teamfights

When to pick a hard-carry?

Throughout your DotA hard-carrying, this is the most important decision you will make. It is absolutely crucial for your teams success that you pick a hard-carry at the right time. There are many situations where you should not pick a hard-carry and most of it depends on your experience and judgment.

Examples of when to pick a hard-carry

- When your team lacks a hard-carry
- When your opponent picks a carry that you want to counter
- You have a team composition that you know you will be able to get enough farm
- Pre-made / pre-agreed that you will play hard-carry

- When your team has a hard-carry (obvious, but not obvious enough to a lot of people)
- When your team has a normal carry safe-lane and jungle hero
- When your enemies have strong counter-picks
- When your team does not need the function of hard-carry (e.g., pushing strategy)

Who to pick?

If you have found yourself a game where you have judged that it is suitable for you to pick a hard-carry, what hero to pick? The answer to this question is that it mostly depends on you. Your preferences, skills with certain heroes, judgment, synergies with team-mates, etc.

Hard-carrying is not a super sensitive and super situational role, therefore it does not make a huge difference which hero you play.

In the picture below, you will see which heroes I consider hard-carry's. The heroes I classify as "Premium", are those hard-carry's that are more or less unstoppable forces in late-game with high survivability and insane damage output. Note: There are heroes that can be considered hard-carry's not included in the list.

http://postimg.org/image/i04q7qc0x/

What hard-carry is good against what?

For AoE: Tiny (Aghanim), Medusa, Gyro (not really "hard-carry" but strong AoE).
Anti-caster: BKB with any hard-carry, AM, Tiny (Blink), Spectre (Radiance), Morphling (Shotgun), Clinkz (with Orchid).
Anti-carry: PL, CK, Void, TB, Troll, Spectre, Clinkz, Lifestealer
Pusher: CK, PL, TB, AM
Ganker/Assassin-type: PA, Clinkz, Morphling (weaker though), CK (can work with support)
High GPM (farmer): AM (#1), Alche, PL, TB, Troll, Lifestealer

Heroes to watch out for

Here I list a few non-hard-carry heroes that are very strong against hard-carry's either early-game, mid-game or late-game. These heroes might not be able to beat a hard-carry 1-on-1, but significantly help the team focus down them and thus provide a counter. There are three types of counters to hard-carry's (there are probably more, but three main types of counters).

http://postimg.org/image/ief412zcf/
Early-game gankers: Will destroy your farm, will give you 0-5 early-game stats if you are not careful. Solution: Tell your team (nicely) to ward map, ask for support in early-game, jungle if lane is too intensively ganked, etc.
Stunners: Will provide a solid counter late-game through keeping you stunned while enemy damages you. This is why the best hard-carry's should have adequate survivability. Solution: BKB.
Nukers: Will focus you down in team-fights. Solution: BKB and HP (esp. vs Lina w/ Aghanim).

How to play hard-carry

Early-game
Early-game is about maximizing your GPM. For most situations, this means farming safe-lane and/or jungle. Please do not hesitate to assist your team in ganks - all GPM is important for you. If your team ganks, you should try to get the kill as it boosts your GPM. During the later phrases of early-game, switch between lane and jungle where lane is better than jungle (exception large creeps). Your role is to play patiently and low-risk, as your strength comes later in the game. If your support steals your farm, tell him to stop or change lane.

- Tip 1: There is no shame in using Quelling Blade - buy it if you need it!
- Tip 2: Prioritize last-hitting, not denying
- Tip 3: Poor man's shield rules - use it!
- Tip 4: Low-risk and patient play

Mid-game
Similar to early-game with the significant difference that in mid-game, you will experience large team fights. This is what separates good carry players from horrible carry players - good carry players assist their team in team fights. Think about it like this: If your team loses all team fights in mid-game because they fight 4v5 while you farm - there will not be any lategame for you to show-off on as the enemies might win in mid-game.

- Tip 1: Always carry a TP and join team fights
- Tip 2: Maximize your farm as much as possible while following Tip 1
- Tip 3: Do not think that you are overly strong in mid-game and go all-out ganking (I always make this mistake when playing PA). This will make you die a lot and lose GPM, and be weaker during late-game

Late-game
If the game has come to late-game and early/mid game went well: This is your arena. What you need to be careful about in lategame are:

- The enemy carry: Your primary role is to try countering your enemy carry. This is very important! If you play vs. PA, buy MKB. If you play vs. Clinkz/Drow, contemplate buying a Blade-mail. If you play vs. high-HP carry, buy maximum damage output. If you play vs. hard-hitting carry's, buy Butterfly/Cuirass/HoT. If you play vs. extreme hard-carry's (Void, TB, Troll, Spectre, PL), buy Basher/Abyssal. Etc, etc.
- Over-extending: You are dominant in team fights, but you are not Rambo
- BKB-timer: Once your BKB runs out, stunners can stun-lock you. If you are rich, contemplate selling your 5-second BKB and buy a new one.
- Buy-backs: Balance your gold expenditure vs. saving money for buy-backs. If your team is in a critical situation, you might want to save for buy-back. If you are winning, contemplate buying items with your gold instead of pooling gold for buy-backs. This is a judgment call and depends on the situation.