Neutral creep camps are scattered throughout the jungle areas of the map, providing a source of gold and experience for heroes. Efficiently farming and stacking these camps is a fundamental skill.
Types of Camps:
- Small Camp: Contains weaker creeps, good for early game farming or supports.
- Medium Camp: Contains moderately strong creeps.
- Large Camp: Contains stronger creeps, often with special abilities.
- Ancient Camp: Contains the most powerful neutral creeps (dragons, golems), requiring significant damage or sustain to clear.
Farming Strategy:
- Last Hitting: Land the killing blow on neutral creeps to maximize gold gain.
- Cleave/AoE: Heroes with cleave (e.g., Sven, Kunkka) or strong AoE abilities (e.g., Luna, Leshrac) can clear camps quickly.
- Lifesteal/Sustain: Items like Morbid Mask or abilities that provide healing/lifesteal are crucial for sustaining through jungle farming.
- Efficiency: Clear camps quickly and move to the next to maximize gold and experience per minute.
Stacking Strategy:
- What it is: Luring neutral creeps out of their camp just before the minute mark (e.g., at :53-:55 seconds) so that new creeps spawn, effectively creating a 'stacked' camp with more units.
- Why it's useful: Allows a core hero to farm multiple camps at once, gaining a large burst of gold and experience.
- Who does it: Typically supports, who have less farm priority in lanes, will stack camps for their cores.
- Timing: Practice the timing for each camp, as it varies slightly based on location.
Jungle farming, especially with stacked camps, is a vital component of a core hero's farm progression and can significantly impact their power curve.