5:00 · 10:00 · 15:00 · 20:00 · 25:00 · onward
Dota 2 siege creep times: every five minutes
Prepare before the catapult wave, but push only when it can reach useful structure contact. The clock gives the cue; lanes, access, defenders, conversion, and the exit decide the play.
Product boundary: DotaSense knows only the configured clock cue. It does not read the lane, count siege creeps, track unit health, detect structure contact, see defenders, know fortification or backdoor state, measure attacks, or choose the push and exit.
Reviewed August 28, 2026. Spawn cadence, extra-unit thresholds, wave composition, unit stats, armor and resistance interactions, bounty, experience, attacks, upgrades, structure rules, hero interactions, terrain, and alternate modes can change. Verify the live unit, selected panel, lane, structure state, and Valve’s current update notes.
Quick answer
The current standard siege creep schedule
Gameplay Update 7.06 changed the base spawn rate to every ten lane-creep waves—every five minutes. Patch 7.41 moved the first extra siege creep from 35:00 to 30:00 and added the second extra at 60:00.
Do not start a new five-minute timer when a siege creep dies. The next standard siege wave stays tied to the global game clock.
Make the clock useful
Use cue → wave → access → contact → convert → exit
Which five-minute wave is next?
Prepare before the mark. The cue tells you when to inspect the lane, not where the siege unit is or whether pushing is correct.
What will survive to meet it?
Read current equilibrium, creeps, damage, heroes, pulls, reinforcements, and how long the new wave needs to reach relevance.
Can the unit reach a structure?
Price enemy creeps, defenders, vision, terrain, tower state, abilities, teleports, fortification, backdoor state, and other objectives.
How many useful attacks exist?
Protect only the health, position, and time required for meaningful structure contact or a valuable forced response.
What does pressure create?
Take damage, a structure, a teleport, information, farm, map access, a favorable trade, or space for a different objective.
When is the next attack too expensive?
Leave when defenders arrive, contact breaks, resources empty, another lane collapses, the trade wins elsewhere, or retreat closes.
The wave exists before it reaches a tower
Prepare the lane before the five-minute mark
Meeting point
Count the live creeps and forecast where the current and incoming waves meet. A siege unit trapped far from the objective cannot create immediate contact.
Lane job
Choose push, hold, build, crash, defend, drag, trade, or leave. Do not clear automatically when a slower approach or protected buildup creates more value.
Hero resources
Check health, mana, cooldowns, items, levels, teleports, summons, saves, wave clear, structure damage, and the resources needed to survive the response.
Information
Locate shown heroes and ward likely approaches. Mark missing defenders, teleport destinations, fog, high ground, Twin Gates, and the route that punishes a predictable escort.
Use the creep-equilibrium guide to forecast the meeting point and the laning guide to price the resources surrendered while preparing.
A catapult behind three waves is not pressure
Create structure access without donating the escort
Open the path
Remove or displace the enemy wave only as fast as your siege unit, heroes, and next reinforcement can use the space.
Protect the reachable threat
Stand where you deter the defender who can kill, displace, stall, or isolate the siege unit—not where everyone becomes one spell target.
Keep the map trade visible
Some heroes escort, some farm, some pressure another lane, and some threaten an objective. Do not send five heroes to amplify one creep.
Stop before the approach loses
Abandon the push when the wave dies, defenders arrive first, the structure is protected, vision disappears, a larger objective starts, or the exit closes.
Useful attacks, not maximum attachment
Protect siege contact only while it pays
Do not rely on frozen health, damage, range, armor, resistance, bounty, or experience tables. Inspect the current unit and structure. What matters tactically is how many attacks are likely to land, what those attacks force, and what the escort pays to preserve them.
Current health, position, target, attack cycle, modifiers, buffs, debuffs, nearby creeps, and whether the next attack completes.
Current health, protection, targeting, fortification, backdoor state, nearby defenders, teleport access, and whether damage changes the next map action.
Hero resources, formation, spell ranges, saves, wave clear, vision, shown and missing enemies, reinforcement, and retreat.
Sometimes one forced teleport is worth more than another attack. Sometimes leaving the siege unit while taking farm or vision preserves the real advantage. Use the tower guide to read contact, finish, response, and exit.
The enemy receives the same clock cue
Defend the wave, not just the siege unit
Fix the meeting point, show enough wave clear, prepare teleports, protect vision, and decide whether the structure, nearby farm, or a cross-map trade matters more.
Read the entire wave and escort. Clear, deny access, force heroes away, use temporary protection, trade resources, or preserve the structure until reinforcement arrives.
Do not chase automatically. Recover the lane, take the vulnerable siege unit, ward the retreat, farm the next safe area, or convert enemy commitment elsewhere.
“Kill the catapult first” is not universal. The escorting hero, the rest of the wave, a spell channel, a retreat route, or another objective may be the urgent target. Read what creates the next structure attack.
Pressure needs an outcome
Convert the siege wave before the response closes
Structure damage
Land attacks that change a future finish, force protection, remove a tower, or open the next region.
Forced response
Make a defender show or teleport, then use that information to farm, move, fight, or start a reachable objective elsewhere.
Lane and vision
Move the meeting point, ward deeper, deward, protect a route, or make the next enemy move more visible.
Farm and access
Use the escort to take safe lane and nearby resources without staying for an expensive structure attempt.
Objective trade
Let the wave demand attention while allies finish Roshan, Tormentor, a different structure, or a defended map region.
Clean exit
Preserve heroes, teleports, health, cooldowns, information, and formation once the reachable conversion is complete.
Cue + lane + job + limit
Make siege-wave calls teammates can act on
“Siege in 20; hold this wave, then escort bottom.”
“Two catapults at 30; clear once, ward behind tower.”
“Protect one attack, then leave—three heroes missing.”
“They teleported top; stop hitting and take Roshan vision.”
The timer alone is not a call. Add the lane, current meeting point, number of siege units, escort, expected structure contact, missing defenders, conversion, and cancel condition. See the communication guide for the broader state-action-limit format.
Diagnose the lost wave
Common siege creep mistakes
Starting a timer after death
Siege waves follow the global five-minute marks. Unit death does not move the next spawn away from the game clock.
Using old unit stats
Health, damage, defenses, bounty, experience, attack behavior, and interactions change. Inspect the live unit before pricing contact.
Pushing because the cue fired
The cue cannot see lane position, defenders, resources, vision, fortification, backdoor state, objectives, conversion, or exit.
Clearing too early
A fast clear can strand the siege unit, move equilibrium into danger, or reveal the push before allies and vision are ready.
Grouping every hero
One catapult rarely needs five escorts. Preserve farm, alternate pressure, objective threat, information, and the ability to answer other lanes.
Staying for one more attack
Price the attack against defenders, teleports, spells, health, map losses, and retreat. Complete the useful conversion and leave.
Why old tables disagree
Read the official siege creep changes
Valve reduced the siege spawn rate from every seventh wave to every tenth wave—every five minutes—and changed unit health and structure damage at the same time.
Patch 7.22Moved the first extra unit to 35:00The first two-siege timing moved from 30:00 to 35:00, while base attack time and control interactions also changed.
Patch 7.41Extra units at 30:00 and 60:00The first extra siege creep returned to 30:00 and a second extra now begins at 60:00, changing the late-game wave count without changing the standard five-minute cue.
One wave, one structure decision
Review a siege creep window
- Start before the five-minute cue and stop after contact, conversion, cancellation, defense, trade, or exit.
- Record clock, siege count, wave positions, survivors, heroes, teleports, resources, vision, structures, protection, and other objectives.
- Name the expected job: damage, structure, response, lane, vision, farm, access, trade, or defense.
- Mark when access opened, contact began, each useful attack landed, defenders committed, and the exit changed.
- Compare escort, hold, clear, split pressure, defend, trade elsewhere, take fewer attacks, or leave.
- Create one next-match trigger: “hold first,” “ward before contact,” “count defenders,” or “leave after response.”
Quick answers
Dota 2 siege creep FAQ
When do siege creeps spawn?
In standard matches at this review, the first siege wave is 5:00 and the cadence repeats every five minutes: 10:00, 15:00, 20:00, 25:00, and onward.
When do extra siege creeps begin?
Patch 7.41 moved the first extra unit to 30:00 and added the second at 60:00. Standard siege waves therefore carry two from 30:00 and three from 60:00 at this review.
Does killing one start its respawn timer?
No. The next siege wave remains tied to the next global five-minute mark. Unit death changes the current wave, not the schedule.
Should I always push with a catapult?
No. Read lane position, structure access, defenders, vision, resources, likely attacks, other objectives, conversion, and exit before committing.
What are its current health, damage, defenses, bounty, and XP?
Use the live selected unit and current game data. Those values and their interactions are patch-sensitive; a permanent table can make the structure decision worse.
What does the DotaSense siege reminder know?
Only the configured five-minute cue. It does not read the lane, count units, track health, detect contact, see defenders, know structure protection, measure attacks, or choose the push and exit.