All You Need To Know About Stacking in Dota 2

Dota 2 is a game about resources. Both teams play on the same map, with equal amount of resources on their respective sides of the map. So, winning a Dota 2 game will depend on which team uses their resources more effectively than the other, as the team with more gold and experience is more likely to win. That is why "Stacking" is a very effective strategy that players should make use of in order to out-farm the enemy team.

What is Stacking in Dota 2?

Stacking in Dota 2 mainly refers to "Creep Stacking." Creep Stacking is when a hero drags the neutral creeps away from their camps, so that a new set of neutral creeps respawns while the initial creeps are being pulled out of their camp. So, the end result of a stack will mean that there will be two (or more) times as many creeps on the same camp than usual.

A creep camp can be stacked multiple times, meaning that a camp can even have four or more sets of neutral creeps within the same camp. There is no limit to how many times you can stack the camp, but if a camp gets too crowded, the neutral creeps will body block each other and make it difficult to stack.

Why should I stack Camps?

Stacking camps is an incredibly efficient way of farming, as the person farming it will be able to farm two or more sets of neutral creeps without having to move to another camp. This also means that heroes with cleave or area of effect abilities will be able to make use of their splash damage to clear multiple sets of neutral creeps at once. Usually, the Safe Laner, Mid Laner, or Off Laner will be the one clearing out all the creeps in a stack.

Meanwhile, the heroes who are creating these stacked camps are usually the Support heroes. Support heroes are often too weak to clear out the camps, so they will leave their core heroes to do it for them. As a reward, the hero who stacked the camp will receive 30% of the bounty as a bonus, so no gold is deducted for the hero farming the camp.

How do I Stack Camps?

Stacking camps may be difficult for new players, but with some practice and time, stacking camps will become extremely easy once you are familiar with the game. The most important thing to keep in mind when it comes to stacking is that you will have to drag the creeps away from the camp before the next minute hits. If any creep is still standing within the spawn box of the camp, then the stack will fail.

Here's a step-by-step guide on how you can easily stack a camp in Dota 2.

1. Look for a creep camp you want to stack

The first step is to find the creep camp you want to stack, then approach the camp to the point that you are standing directly in front of it. Preferably, you should aim to stack Large or Ancient camps, as these two camps are the ones that reward you with the highest bounties, making it more time efficient compared to stacking Medium or Small camps.

2. Hold ALT to see the camp's spawn box

By holding the ALT key, the game will allow you to see a yellow box that surrounds the camp. This is called the spawn box. You will have to attack the neutral creeps and drag them out of the spawn box before the next minute mark hits the clock.

Different camps will have different spawn box sizes, so you will have to understand how big a spawn box is and which direction you should drag the creeps toward. This means that you will have to hit the camp earlier if the spawn box is bigger, or you can hit a camp later when the spawn box is smaller.

3. Around the 53-55 second mark, hit the camp and run away

Different camps will have different times on when to hit the creeps, but like we've learned previously, all of this depends on the spawn box of the camp. But generally, you will be hitting the camps around the 53 to 55 second mark.

A big spawn box will require you to hit the camp around the 53 second mark, while a small spawn box will require you to hit the camp around the 55 minute mark.

4. Come back before the next minute and stack it again

Since there is no limit to how many times you can stack camps, you can always come back before the next minute and stack the camp again. You can repeat this process as many times as you want to increase the amount of gold that you and your teammates will be getting from a single camp.

Keep in mind that you are able to stack multiple camps at the same time, since some camps are located closely to each other.

Bonus Tip: Stacking the pull camp

A pro tip is that you can stack the Small camp that you use to pull in the laning phase. By stacking the Small camp, you will be able to pull the stacked Small camp to completely kill off all your lane creeps in a creep wave. This will deny an entire creep wave from the enemy Off Laner, making them miss out on several lane creeps worth of gold and experience.

How to Counter Stacking?

Now that we have understood the power of stacking camps, we have to remember that our enemies can do the same too. That is why it is important to understand how we can prevent the enemies from stacking lots of camps and being incredibly efficient with their time and resources.

Blocking the camp with a Sentry Ward

The first and most common method of preventing a stack is to simply put a Sentry Ward on top of an enemy camp's spawn box. Remember that the camp will not respawn if there is something standing within the spawn box, and that includes a Sentry Ward!

To ensure that you're blocking it correctly, the spawn box should show a red line when you hover your Sentry Ward over the camp.

So, if you notice that your enemies are making lots of stacks in their jungle, it may be a good idea to pop a Smoke of Deceit and head over to the enemy jungle to place Sentry Wards on their neutral camps. 

Standing on top of the camp

In high MMR pub games, lots of players will abuse stacking the Small camp and use it for creep-pulling. So, if an enemy hero is stacking a camp right in front of you, then it is a really good idea to walk up to the neutral creep camp and stand on top of the spawn box while they are stacking.

Since your hero is essentially "body blocking" the spawn box, the camp will fail to stack and you'll be able to make your enemies rage. 

We hope that this article has helped you understand all you need to know about how to stack camps in Dota 2! Be sure to practice stacking so you won't fail any stacks in your ranked matches. Over time, make sure you master the art of creep stacking so that you'll be able to stack multiple creep camps simultaneously, as it is something that can help you reach the Immortal rank.