Pushing
In this section we are going to learn about pushing, which basically means destroying towers. We are going to learn what heroes are good pushers and which of them are good for preventing pushes, we will also learn what times are good for pushing and how to organize those pushes.
Different Types of Pushing/Anti-Pushing Heroes
Don't worry, we're professionals!
- Those who can initiate & support a push
- Those who are directly involved in pushing (heroes that can control huge tanking and damaging masses)
A good push has to be initiated efficiently, otherwise it won't be successful, such as after a won team fight or a successful gank. The philosophy behind this is the fact that they will be either recovering from the below or down on the number of people they can send to defend the tower.
Push Initiators & Supporters
Think you can stop us?!
This type of pusher hero doesn't deal much damage to the tower itself, but is useful to the team and needed for his ability to bring the team into a pusher-friendly position. The hero has certain abilities and skills that can disable or completely prevent the opponents from defending their towers.
Jeraziah's Sol's Blessing can soak up a lot of damage while pushingUseful properties for a good push:
- Tank ability and the ability to "tower-dive" (attack a hero while he is under the defense of the tower)
- Area of Effect heals that can keep big pushing masses alive
- Area of Effect silences, stuns, disables or spells that block the way to the tower
Tower Damaging Pushers
We raze buildings for a living
Hellbringer's Malphas are a great way to push a tower, since it has a lot of HPWhile the need for a push initiator is obvious, one can't initiate without something to bring the pain. The damage dealers in the team are the ones who will have the job of destroying a tower. The heroes above have certain qualities that make them more effective at killing towers than normal heroes. The heroes above all have skills that destroy towers quite effectively. They are very good at their job and essential for any sort of pushing team strategy.
Anti-Pushers:
You shall not pass!
The bane of those mentioned above, these heroes have the ability to null some of the enemies. As you may notice, some of the heroes are also those that can push the towers. They have the ability to use their tower attacking powers to defend them as well. Many of these heroes can destroy creep waves at mind-numbing paces or deal so much damage that pushing becomes a bad idea.
Creeps pushing your tower? A few well placed Demon Hands from Soul Stealer will shred them instantly.What Should a Team Do Early
Just keep a cool head
As most heroes are quite weak early game, towers are very dangerous to mess around with. The tower attacks pretty quick and 1-2 hits can take a hero down to less than 3/4 life so don't be pushing towers right away or diving. In the early stages of the game, keeping your tower in top health is a priority as it allows you to farm more freely and have a somewhat safe place to hang out if people try to gank you. If for example you are playing a carry like hero, keep your tower alive because it affects your farming capabilities which every carry needs. Pulling creeps and taking the aggro if you have some health regeneration items is also a good way to take some heat off the tower. To pull creeps, you need to be near an enemy wave and left click attack on an enemy hero, and then once aggro'ed quickly hustle back and farm the creeps. Keeping your tower up for as long as possible as a carry is important because if that furthest outer tower goes down, you are more susceptible to enemy ganks, therefore making it dangerous to farm the creep waves in the open without a tower.
Now if you put the shoe on the other team's foot from the above example, you want to harass that tower down when you can, but don't be silly. If creep waves are taking the hits and you are a ranged hero, fire a couple hits at the tower and stop attacking before the creep that's getting hit by the tower dies for maximum damage without hurting yourself. If the lane is 2 against 1 for your side because one of the enemies team members is in their jungle, running around the tower, from behind of course and out of sight, and taking the oncoming creep aggro is a good way to put a lot of hurt on their tower. A common example of this is seeing a Legionnaire run past the tower and have oncoming creep waves get destroyed by his whirling axes. The enemy is left by themselves with only a tower and your oncoming creep waves constantly hitting the tower. This method isn't recommended to do for long as the enemy can port in or gank you quite easily if you are taking the creep agro, so be careful.
When to Push
Its the final countdown
Before you start pushing, make sure your team is at fairly high health/mana, has some Homecoming stones (it will be explained further down) and is 100% devoted to push a tower. You don't want to say in team chat, "HEY GUYS! Let's push mid!" and to your surprise get destroyed by the enemy team as you solo push because your team isn't "feeling it". Pay Attention to the mini map prior to engaging the enemy team. If you see your team shying away, don't push and figure out a new plan; gank, farm, set up wards/counter wards etc, there are always things to do in Heroes of Newerth.
The best time to push the outer towers is when a good opportunity arises. These opportunities come in a few ways. The easiest way to know when to push is by looking at the mini map and positioning of enemy heroes. Having wards set up offensively to see if the enemy is coming to gank/defend while you push is always a great idea because it gives you a time frame to destroy the tower. If you can't finish it by the time they can surround you, leave it before it is in deniable health (124 hit points or less) and teleport out of there. If you see a couple enemy heroes farming away in their lanes regularly, but see one lane empty this is probably a good time to push that tower in. If the enemy team doesn't have Homecoming stones, this is where you take the advantage. Have your team portal up to the closest tower or walk via the route of push, and gather up your forces. Move up and take out that tower fairly quick, and then back up if you see the enemies disappear from their lanes. If you see the enemy now attacking your towers or pushing since you are already pushing their towers, use that homecoming stone and save it. Usually in public games, people don't carry homecoming stones religiously, as you should, so when their team is out of position, take advantage and nail those towers in. Sooner or later you will have the enemy team cornered off into their base towers or middle towers while you maintain good map control letting you set up offensive wards for gankability and allowing your carries to farm.
Second Best Time to Push
The second best time to push a tower or base is when you pick off a few of the enemies team members from a gank, or team fight, since you have and advantage in numbers.
The next question is when should this happen. If you have a few heroes on your team that can push like a mother giving birth (i.e. Slither, Defiler, Tempest, or any ranged damage per second semi-carry and some push support) and it's nearing the end of early game, now would be the best time to start thinking about nailing in the enemy, especially if they have a hard carry like Chronos or Sand Wraith. If you have a carry, let him stay out of the push unless he's around the area and can be of service with his/her skills or ultimate. Find the best time to push from seeing if the enemy is out of position, or after ganking a few of their heroes while they are still on respawn time and pick your tower.
Pushing a tower isn't always as easy as singing your A-B-C's though. You need to look at the enemy team composition. Take a look at their heroes, know their abilities, and see their items. If they have a Tempest and you are pushing a tower, be prepared for him to blink in and use his ultimate on you all. Always have at the back of your mind: "
Okay, they have a Tempest, they have a Kraken. I know what these heroes do so we need to be careful." Have your team take down the tower in the best way possible. Don't clump up, have a stunner (preferably ranged like Andromeda) lurking in the back in case it gets hot and don't overstay your welcome in enemy territory.
When to Stop
The time is running out
Pushing towers repeatedly while the enemy is down and recovering from a fight is a great way to build momentum, letting your carries farm and get massive gold and ensuring your team stays on top in mid game to late. If given the opportunity to push a tower or a few in hard, take it, but always keep your wits. If more than 3 heroes are up on their side and your team is getting low health and mana, back out and heal up in case they try to counter push.
