DotaStrategy.com - "Creep Blocking" Walkthrough

caspian

Imperator Posts: 3245 Joined: 27 Mar 2007 gold

"Creep Blocking" Walkthrough

Posted on Thu Apr 19, 2007 8:22 am

Table of contents
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What is "creep blocking"?
How to block creeps?
Acknowledgements

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What is "creep blocking"?
>>Creep blocking in mainly used in the beginning of the game to stall your own creeps from getting to point B from point A. Point A being the spawning point of those creeps (The barracks in your lane). Point B is the connecting point, where your creeps and your opponent's creeps connect and start to fight. By stalling the creeps you move them closer to your side of the map, making you safer from ganks or attacks. (quote by Genosis)

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How to block creeps?
You always want to try and stay directly in front of them. The following images illustrate this point.

The Sentinel, middle lane

To stall them you can either walk continuously in front, or you can also click the “S” button and then click forward immediately. This will cause your hero to stop for a split second, and if the creeps are behind you they will fumble around you. You should be pressing the “S” button as much as possible, without letting the creeps pass you.

PS: Rhasta with ms 275 is still able to block creeps. With faster heroes, eg Luna Moonfang or Terrorblade, you should stop more frequently to block effectively.

When effectively executed, this allows you to attack your opponents without fear of being attacked. You now have the fog of war and evasion on your side. Anytime you attack an opponent or get attacked yourself up a hill, there is an extremely high chance of missing.

This affects the enemy hero in 2 things: if he's ranged, he misses a lot on attacks because he's attacking from behind. If melee, he can't attack u without risking being attacked by the tower. This is the value of "creep-blocking".

The following is a video from youtube about creep-blocking. Check it out!

The Sentinel, bottom lane
You should place your hero at the position of Morphling in the picture (and before the 1st wave spawns at 1:30 for -ap mode or 3:00 for league modes) for the purpose of creep blocking.

PPS: Morphling movement speed = 285

NOTE: In DoTA Allstars v6.52, the spawn time of the first creep wave is now 2:00 for -ap, 1:30 for -ar and 3:00 for league-suitable modes

In Sentinel bottom, the effect of creep blocking is such that scourge creeps could get bombarded by the allied tower.

Here are some suggestions for your hero positions in other lanes.

The Scourge, middle

The Scourge, top

The Sentinel, top or The Scourge, bottom
Follow the above examples. In the latest versions (6.50b) the ranged creep (Druid of the Talon or Necromancer) now tails behind the melee creeps enabling you to creepblock like the other lanes. This is an adjustment made by Icefrog, who has implicitly acknowledged the value of this strategy. Cool

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Acknowledgements:
Genosis of DoTA-Allstars

People who inspired me to write this guide.

Everyone who reads this guide.

And everyone who gave feedbacks.

Last edited by caspian on Sun May 18, 2008 4:40 am; edited 8 times in total