The Carry position in DotA 2 is probably the most straightforward and popular role among all the positions. The simple reason behind this is you get to have all the limelights and farm all game while your team is doing all the heavy lifting.
With every new patch, DotA 2’s meta shifts completely, and heroes that were dominating every match before the patch become obsolete.
We are currently on patch 7.32d, and people have experienced the rise of new unexpected carries like Shadow Fiend and Lina while more conventional carries like Juggernaut and Morphling have completely fallen off.
Let us look at which heroes in DotA are currently good for the Carry position and see where your favorite hero lies.
S-Tier
These heroes win almost all of their lanes and have a great start. They can start fighting from early on in the game and always have an impact on the game.
In other words, these are the heroes you should start picking if you want to win games as a Carry.
Lina
Coming at the number one spot, Lina is our favorite carry pick this patch. After the recent changes, this hero is almost unbeatable in the lane and scales quicker than any other carry heroes.
She also counters most meta offlane heroes, making her one of the most picked carries of this patch.
Drow Ranger
If you want to go for a more reliable pick, then Drow Ranger is your obvious choice. This hero won’t disappoint you in any situation.
She has a strong laning phase and with a good support, she can practically destroy any offlaner. She also comes online very early in the game, and her shard is easily one of the most broken abilities in DotA.
Doom
Doom carry might seem unconventional in lower ranks and in some higher ranks as well, but he farms really fast and he has the best ability in the entire game.
With Devour and Hand of Midas, you farm faster than any other hero on the map. Also, with recent Aghanim’s Scepter changes, Doom can be played as a counter to every hero in the game.
Naga Siren
Illusion-based heroes are in the meta no matter how many patches come in this game, and this patch is no exception either.
Naga Siren is extremely strong in this patch. She farms extremely fast with her illusions and can go toe-to-toe with any hero whether it’s mid or late-game.
Arc Warden
Arc Warden is another illusion-based who is very strong in this patch. He is one of the heroes who utilize Silver Edge and Gleipnir, two very meta items in this patch.
He can also split push with his Tempest Double without taking any risk. The hero is even better when the match goes into late-game and he can summon his Tempest Double without any cooldown.
A-Tier
These heroes also have strengths similar to S-tier heroes. The only difference between them is they need certain items to come online and they are quite weak in lanes.
Faceless Void
Faceless Void is a safe pick if you don’t want to take any risks. Although his items are the same in every match, he is very strong in every stage of the game.
If you can get at least two heroes inside your chronosphere, you can win every teamfights and proceed to take the objectives.
He is also quite dependent on his cooldowns and item progression so make sure to farm whenever you use chrono or get space.
Shadow Fiend
Shadow Fiend has been in meta for quite a while now and he is very strong. The hero destroys any hero in the offlane and is one of the best Silver Edge carriers.
His right-click build does insane damage and can push towers very quickly. His ultimate is also very useful in teamfights.
Nature’s Prophet
Nature’s Prophet is one of the heroes who can carry the game single-handedly. No matter the situation of the game, this hero can get farm even in the most hopeless game.
His ultimate deal is huge AoE damage and he also has a global reach so he can join team fights whenever he can and push towers right afterward.
Lone Druid
Lone Druid is another great pick if you’re comfortable with controlling multiple units. He has great survivability and can melt towers in seconds.
He is also very strong from mid to late game. After making Aghanim’s Scepter, you can control each unit independently.
Sniper
Sniper is another hero that has shifted his role from mid to carry in recent patches. He is a strong laner and can deal great damage if he gets to sit behind his teammates.
Although he is very squishy and very dependable on his teammates, he is one of our top picks for the carry position because of his high attack range and ability to zone enemies.
Ursa
The reason why we’ve put Ursa on A-tier is that he doesn’t need many items to be effective.
Unlike a couple of patches ago, when Battlefury Ursa was extremely popular, most people like to build Blink and Diffusal on this hero in this patch.
So, he can start killing and cause havoc on the map as soon as he completes his Diffusal Blade. Ursa is a good pick if the enemy team picks tanky or late-game cores.
Morphling
Due to the recent Attribute-shift changes, it’s very difficult to kill Morphling even when he is level 1.
Although he has received major nerfs on his Aghanim’s Scepter and level 25 talent, he is still extremely strong in the hands of an experienced player.
Clinkz
Clink’s early game is pretty weak considering how the hero struggles with last hits and low health problems.
However, after getting Gleipnir and Daedalus, the hero completely changes. He can kill almost any hero from full HP in his combo and is very hard to catch so he is in our A-tier list.
The hero is more viable in low-rank matches where people don’t buy as much detection.
Pudge
Pudge is another hero who has recently switched from a support to a carry position. With his high base damage, he can easily get the most last hits and also has a decent killing potential.
After completing Vanguard and Aghanim’s Scepter, the hero becomes almost unstoppable. However, he does need to play around with his teammates to fight properly and he lacks in tower damage.
B-Tier
These heroes depend on their lanes to go well to have a good game. These heroes have a 50:50 chance of winning the game and you can think of them as gambling.
If they have a good start, they can dominate the whole game whereas they also can completely lose their footing if their lane doesn’t go well.
Templar Assassin
Templar Assassin has been slightly nerfed in the recent patches but she is still a pretty viable carry.
She farms well and has good item timing but she is countered by most meta offlaner heroes so she needs a strong lane support to farm well.
She also doesn’t scale much in late-game so you need to make sure to end the game early if you’re picking her.
Monkey King
I believe Monkey King should be put a bit higher up on the list but his games are very volatile. Sometimes he just pops off completely while sometimes he is just a walking ward for his teammates.
This is because the hero is really dependent on his items, and if he can get some early kills and get his items quicker, he can scale really well. And if his laning doesn’t go well, he takes a very long time to recover.
Terrorblade
Terrorblade is really strong from early on in the game and farms really fast.
It’s just that if you can’t get some good kills with your Metamorphosis and take objectives, you will just be back to farming, and the enemy team can force fights during this time. You need good teammates to make good use of this hero.
Spectre
The reason I’ve put Spectre in B-tier is that the hero is very weak in the early games and needs at least two big items to come online. \
The hero is unstoppable in late games but most of the meta carries play for early to mid-games when she just wants to farm.
So, you’ll just have to depend on your teammates to make as much space for you as possible and hope the game goes late enough.
Lifestealer
Lifestealer is also a very strong hero from early to mid-game, and he kills enemies really fast. But most players like to build Armlet and Desolator on this hero, so he is always attacking one hero at a time.
Enemies can also kite him to bait his Rage so he can be a hard hero to pull off. Regardless, the hero can fight well in teamfights and can use his ult to save his teammates or set up kills.
Juggernaut
I think Juggernaut is really strong than people make it out to be. He is a strong laner and can scale really well. He also farms super fast and is good through all stages of the match.
He also has enough sustain with his Healing Ward. It’s just that he is picked so less nowadays and is outshined by most meta carries in this patch. But, you should definitely pick him if you see a good opportunity.
Chaos Knight
Chaos Knight can be a powerful carry if he has a good early start and get items earlier than his counterpart.
He can also join fights early on in the game and keep playing with his teammates to take objectives.
However, his illusions are quite weak early on in the game, especially if he doesn’t have a lot of HP. And if his early game is ruined, the hero cannot recover well.
Sven
Sven is another one of those heroes who suddenly lost popularity after his ultimate and Aghnanim’s Scepter changes.
He used to be the best carry at one time but has been nerfed several times since then. His only good abilities are that he farms very fast and can deal a lot of damage with his ultimate.
However, it is really easy to kite him and once his ult runs out, he isn’t much of a threat. Still, if you can play around his ultimate then you can easily win every teamfight.
Bloodseeker
Bloodseeker is a strong laner with a lot of harassing and killing potential. He also gets stronger as the game drags on. However, he lacks the capacity to carry if his team falls behind.
He relies on his teammates to set up fights and get everyone low while he comes in clean them up. He can also use Rupture to prevent an enemy hero from moving too much.
Anti-Mage
Anti-Mage can be a menace if he gets to farm Battlefury and Manta Style without dying. The thing about Anti-Mage is that he needs to have a perfect early game to have a good game.
He spends most of his time farming and joins the teamfights only when he feels like it. He also likes to play away from his teammates mostly and split-push, so the enemy team can punish him super hard by using smoke.
C-Tier
These are the heroes that were affected by the patch most and as a result, you rarely see them getting picked. They are countered heavily by other meta-heroes and have almost no chance of recovering unless their enemies try to stall the game.
Luna
Luna has been through a couple of nerfs for a few patches now and these nerf really hurt her. The first is her Aghanim’s Shard changes and the second one is her Lucent Beam cooldown changes which used to make her so strong in the lane.
Now, she is comparatively weaker in the game and needs much more items than before to be able to fight. This is why we don’t see her often in games and she is mostly shifting towards magic build nowadays.
Alchemist
Alchemist is another hero who is really struggling because of his nerfs. Also, he farms very slowly until he gets radiance, and the enemy team can really punish him and his team during this time.
He also gets easily countered by Spirit Vessel, a really cheap item so most of his games are tough. Although, when he does get adequate farming space and support, he can easily carry his games.
His ultimate also has a quite low cooldown that you can make use of.
Razor
Razor is mostly played as a tanky offlane in this patch due to recent Bloodstone changes.
He does pretty well in the lane and can farm decently well. However, he really lacks damage when played as a carry and heroes like Drow Ranger and Lina will decimate they get their items. He also lacks the damage to take down towers quickly.
Riki
Riki carry has been out of meta for quite a while now. Riki carry depends on the Battlefury to farm efficiently but after the recent Battlefury nerfs, it’s not so good on this hero.
But another item that this hero depends on, Diffusal Blade, has been buffed so he can get lots of kills if he can get it early. This hero also lacks tower damage so you absolutely need to kill all your enemies before you even attempt to take towers.
D-Tier
All the other Carry heroes that you can think of fall in this tier. They are rarely seen getting picked and have super low winrates. They are also heavily countered by meta offlane heroes and the enemy team will try to shut them off throughout the game.
- Gyrocopter
- Phantom Assassin
- Phantom Lancer
- Lycan
- Medusa
- Weaver
- Wraith King
- Troll Warlord
- Bristleback
