Denying in Dota 2 Will Gain You MMR, Here's Why (How to Deny Lane Creeps)

Players can last hit creeps like any other MOBA game to receive a sum of gold and experience. However, in Dota 2, there’s also a feature called denying, similar to the last hitting, except that you’re last hitting your own creep. Denying is essential if you want to get get out of Archon, so have a quick read to learn about it!

What is Denying Creeps in Dota 2?

Simply put, denying in Dota 2 refers to preventing enemy heroes from receiving the last hit on a friendly creep by last hitting the creep yourself. By killing off your own allied creep, the enemies will not be able to get the last hit, making them lose out on the bounty the creep offers.

You can start denying friendly creeps when they are below 50% HP, but you will need to ensure you get the last hit on the denies to be successful.

How to Deny Creeps in Dota 2?

Denying creeps can greatly increase your chances of winning, so let’s actually learn how you can perform creep denies in Dota 2!

Force Attack Key

The crucial part of denying allied lane creeps is the Force Attack function. By default, the Force Attack key is set to "A," but you can always change the hotkey to whatever key you'd like to put it to. To deny, start by clicking the A key, then click on your own creep to deny it.

Remember that you can only begin denying your lane creeps when they have fallen under 50% HP. Also, remember that you will need to get the last hit on your creep to ensure that you've performed a successful deny.

Make sure to set the Force Attack function to a comfortable hotkey. If you're looking to get your hotkeys settled, check out our article on the best hotkeys in Dota 2!

Right Click Allies to Deny Option

However, if you find it difficult to constantly press the Force Attack key to deny your allied creeps, you can enable the option "Right Click Allies to Deny."

This option aims to ensure that you won't have to use the Force Attack key to attack your own creeps. This means you can right-click on your creep when it falls under 50% HP, and your hero will immediately start hitting your friendly creep. You won't have to spam the Force Attack key whenever you want to hit your own creep.

How to Enable Right Click to Force Attack

To enable the option, follow the steps below:

1. Head over to your Dota 2 Settings
2. Next, click on Options
3. Look for the option that says: "Right Click Allies"
4. Check the option that says "To Deny"

Why Should You Deny Creeps?

You may be confused as to why you would kill off your own allied units, but denying is crucial to winning a game of Dota 2. As the name suggests, denying in Dota 2 is vital because you prevent enemy heroes from getting the last hit on your creeps.

Since you’re taking away the last hit from the enemy, the enemies will be denied from receiving gold they could have potentially gotten from getting the last hit. Denying many creeps can cause a significant gold differential between you and your opponent, ensuring that you’ll come out on top in the laning phase, especially when you're the hard carry.

Denying Experience

Usually, heroes would still receive experience despite not getting the last hit as long as they are within the experience share range. However, when you deny a creep, the enemy heroes will only receive 50% of the experience bounty from that creep.

So not only will you create a gold differential, but also an experience differential to boot. Effectively denying creeps can give you a level advantage over your opponents, allowing for a high kill potential.

Creep Equilibrium

In the laning phase, denying creeps is crucial to maintain creep equilibrium, an essential concept you need to know to reach a high rank in Dota 2.

Denying creeps will help you shift the creep equilibrium closer to your tower and further from your enemy’s tower. This happens because you will have fewer creeps than the enemy, resulting in the enemy creep wave pushing into your tower, where it will be safer for you to farm.

What Else Can You Deny Other Than Creeps?

Did you know that you can deny other things other than lane creeps? There are actually two other things you can deny, which are allied towers and allied heroes! Here's what you need to know about denying towers and heroes.

Denying Towers

Unlike denying creeps, you can only deny allied towers when they have fallen under 10% health. By denying a tower, you and your team will receive half of the tower's bounty gold, meaning that the enemy will only receive half of the bounty instead of the entire bounty.

It may be a good idea to deny a Tier 1 tower, but you should avoid denying Tier 2 towers and above, unless the enemies are just about to destroy it.

Denying Allied Heroes

You can also deny allied heroes who are under particular conditions. By denying your allied hero, the enemy will receive zero gold or experience from that kill, but your allied hero who dies will still lose gold.

Heroes can also be denied under specific circumstances. A denied hero prevents the enemy from gaining any experience or gold from the kill but still loses gold upon death.

An allied hero can deny a hero under 25% health and under the effects of certain spells. The spells that allow denying allied heroes are:

• Doom's ultimate ability, Doom
• Venomancer's Venomous Gale
• Queen of Pain's Shadow Strike

Denying heroes is very situational, but it can be excellent when the situation arises. If an allied hero denies you when you were not about to die, try disabling help from allies!

We hope that by reading this article, you've understood everything you need to know about the deny mechanic in Dota 2!