BSJ explained how to properly assess risk when farming creeps in Dota 2

You’re about to approach a wave of creeps. Step one: Ask yourself exactly which abilities will be used and in what order when you and your lane opponent approach the creeps.

Step two: After determining which abilities will be used and in what sequence, you must weigh the costs and benefits to decide whether it’s worth approaching that wave. The formula is as follows: Are the creeps I can farm during this time worth the time, mana, and health spent?

This is the Juggernaut I’ve been playing, starting at around 3,000 MMR. It’s the eighth minute, and he’s wondering whether to engage the wave of creeps against Dawnbreaker. Both are level five. When I asked why he decided to approach, he replied: there’s a big fight going on down below, and he should be able to handle Dawnbreaker one-on-one. <…>

If I were to give one practical piece of advice on what not to base your decisions on, it would be the thought: “I have to handle this.” It doesn’t help you apply your knowledge of Dota and doesn’t lead to good decisions. <…>

Dawnbreaker will throw his hammer at Juggernaut because this ability both clears the minion wave and allows him to attack the enemy. …> How will Juggernaut respond? He’ll press his spin attack. And then? Will he stay with the creep wave and farm it with his spin attack, or will he be forced to flee? <…>

He spent 17 seconds and 110 mana on the spin attack and lost about 250 health. For what? The answer: zero creeps. <…>

I’d recommend going to the small camp, farming it with the Whirlwind, and then returning to the lane if Dawnbreaker has pushed it through. If she hasn’t pushed it, I’d clear the small camp so the lane comes under my tower.

Here, Storm Spirit is facing Silencer in the mid lane. In the previous example, Juggernaut saw Dawnbreaker right on top of a creep wave. That’s why he knew he was going up against her.

I apply this formula regardless of whether I can see the opponent or not. The only time this calculation isn’t necessary is if you can actually see your opponent on the lane somewhere else. You have to know for sure that he isn’t here. <…>

If Storm Spirit and Silencer approach the lane, which abilities will be used and in what order? If you assumed that Silencer would press E, then Q, hit Storm Spirit a few times with his auto-attacks, and Storm Spirit would be forced to fly away with Ball Lightning—you’re absolutely right. <…>

He lost 90% of his health and a third of his mana. How many creeps did he finish off? One. When I asked Storm Spirit why he approached that wave, he replied, “I’m a mid laner, so I have to farm creeps on the lane.” <…>

If I were Storm Spirit, I could have teleported down to help in the fight. Or I could have simply returned to the stack I’d just made, let Silencer push the lane, or shown up somewhere else—and then returned to the lane.

[BSJ is playing the carry. While his team is attacking the enemy Sven, he decides to defend his bottom tower. — Ed.]

I see that the team is playing aggressively, I see that my tower is being destroyed, and I think, “I need to do more.” So I decide to teleport down. <…>

If I teleport here and the entire enemy team ends up here, what will happen? They’ll attack me and try to force a Duel. And what will my team do then? They have two options: leave me to die or send as much backup as needed to prevent that from happening.

Io is helping me. We’re defending the tower, but we’re almost out of resources. Now I can’t participate in any aggressive actions because my Io doesn’t have enough health or mana for Relocate. <…>

We’ve essentially shifted the team’s entire focus to the bottom lane. I’m being attacked under the tower. Earth Spirit teleports in. We even get two kills. …> We defended the tower and killed two heroes. But in reality, we’ve deprived ourselves of the ability to do anything aggressive. <…>

If a carry takes up a dangerous position on the map, more often than not, he either dies or forces the team to bunch up around him.

In all three situations, none of us died. Juggernaut used his ultimate and left. Storm Spirit flew away on Ball Lightning. But we wasted a lot of time putting ourselves in a difficult position: Storm Spirit and Juggernaut lost a lot of health and mana, and I forced the team to dedicate several heroes to defending the bottom tower.

In all three cases, the problems could have been avoided by asking myself a simple question: “What will happen if I do this? How much health, time, and mana will be spent—and what will I achieve by doing so?”

In the first two examples, it’s pretty straightforward: we’re talking about creeps. In the third, you need to take a broader view—considering tower defense, map position, and the direct consequences of your decision.