Why to ward?
The answer is simple for anyone that has been a part of the MOBA/Action RTS genre for any substantial amount of time. Observer wards provide vision of the key areas on the map. The definition of these "key areas" varies based on the progression of the game.
Having Observer wards from the start of the game is a foundation of any successful match. Wards provide lane control and enable middle to refill the bottle every two minutes. This in turn allows the solo mid to farm at a more efficient rate and ultimately gank top and bottom lanes at a faster rate.
The same wards also provide visibility of enemies trying to gank middle, top and bottom lanes. In short, Observer wards provide safety allowing all lanes to be a little more aggressive or defensive based on the progression of the game and the map dynamics.
Since the opposing team will place their own Observer wards, often times in the same location and for exactly the same reasons, your team will want to get rid of those by placing Sentry wards. Sentry wards expose enemy wards allowing your team to destroy them.
General information
Observer wards:
- The cost: 200 gold
- 1 pack consists of 2 Observer wards
- Maximum number of packs available at any given time: 2 (a total of 4 Observer wards)
- Replenish period: 6 minutes
- Duration: 6 minutes
- Sight range: 1800 during day and night
Sentry wards:
- The cost: 200 gold
- 1 pack consists of 2 Sentry wards
- Unlimited number of Sentry ward packs available
- Replenish period: too short to be important
- Duration: 3 minutes
- Sight range: extremely limited vision, 800 true sight range
Early game setup
Example of Observer ward placement for both runes as well as gank prevention for top and bottom lanes
Prior to the release of the first creep wave the team should already figure out and assign early game responsibilities. One player is going to buy an animal courier, another upgrade it, while a support hero can grab a set of Observer Wards. Typically that role is assigned to heroes that do not need many items to be effective. It is important to communicate often and have another set of wards ready to replace the first one. Having constant map visibility usually provides the difference between life and death.
It is also important to establish a second and often third person to grab wards. This allows everyone to continue getting new items at a steady rate and spreads out the cost of the Observer Wards more evenly.
Some of the most common ward locations include:
1. Top Rune
2. Bottom Rune
3. Top lane jungle, past river
4. Bottom lane jungle, below river
5. Roshan and bottom Ancients
6. Top Ancients
7. Miscellaneous jungle spots
Mid game to late game
Top Ancients with visibility of the top rune
Bottom lane gank visibility and bottom rune
Prevents middle lane from getting ganked by bottom and vice versa
Observer ward placement is going to be different based on the development of each game. Depending on what towers have been destroyed, which team is pushing and has the advantage, if an enemy hero has been fed and hunting your jungle, all of this needs to be taken under consideration. The warding has to reflect the specific dynamics of each game.
Sentry ward placement is very similar to Observer ward placement. Often times your teams Observer ward placement provides visibility on your enemies setting their own wards. Understanding Observer ward placement is going to provide you and your team with an ability to counter your enemies. All you really need to do is place a Sentry ward near the spot where you think the opponent has placed an Observer ward and then destroy it.
Grim's Crazy Ward
During the time I have been playing I found a ward location that is not used very often. Unlike the ward locations listed above, this one provides a limited area of vision.
The ward is placed exactly as shown on the image above reveals bottom Ancients as well as all of the access points to Roshan. This ward is used for ensuring that the opposing team is incapable of getting to Roshan without alerting your team while also providing a ganking opportunity for the bottom Ancients.
I await the flames :)
Conclusion
This is just a brief introduction discussing the value of placing both Observer and Sentry wards. There are multiple locations that I omitted to add to this guide in the interest of keeping it brief. A detailed guide to warding including all the primary locations is going to be covered in a video tutorial in the very near future.
