What the courier is
The courier is a creature that delivers items from the shop in base straight to your hero on the lane or in the jungle. Without it you'd have to walk home for every purchase, losing farm and tempo. Even your starting items are often topped up and shipped by courier — it's a basic time-saving tool you use literally every minute of the game.
Every player has their own courier (since 7.23). It grows with your hero and takes to the air at level 4, and if it's killed it hands gold to the entire enemy team and goes on respawn. Protecting the courier and using delivery on time is a free tempo advantage.
One per player
The courier used to be one for the whole team, and supports "fought" over it. Since patch 7.23 it's different:
- A personal courier. Each of the five players has their own courier — delivery is no longer shared, and nobody "occupies" it.
- You can't have two. The courier is one per player; you can't get a second.
- It respawns on death. A killed courier isn't gone forever, but it goes on respawn — and while it's gone you have nothing to deliver items with.
How delivery saves time and keeps your farm up is covered in the GPM and XPM guide.
Leveling and flight
The courier isn't static — it develops along with you:
- Grows with your hero. The courier gains levels along with its owner's level — the higher your hero, the stronger the courier.
- Flight at level 4. At exactly hero level 4 the courier takes to the air: it flies over obstacles and terrain, gains flying vision and delivers faster. Before that it's ground-bound and vulnerable.
- Speed burst at 10, shield at 20. The dash-burst unlocks at hero level 10, the shield with its couple of seconds of invulnerability at level 20. Below those levels there is simply nothing to save the courier with on a risky delivery.
- Respawn gets pricier. A killed courier comes back after 45 seconds plus 5 per hero level — by the late game that is minutes of downtime. All that while, the items stay on it and are out of reach.
The later the game, the pricier the delivery: a leveled courier ships key items like BKB, and losing it at that moment hurts especially badly.
How to use it
The courier only helps if you use it wisely:
- Deliver right away. Bought an item or consumable — send it by courier, don't stockpile gold and purchases in base.
- Don't run it past the enemy. Route it around enemy lanes and zones, especially while the courier is ground-bound.
- Recall it under threat. If you see the courier about to be intercepted, turn it home or hide it.
- Use the speed burst and shield. On a risky delivery, pop the courier's abilities so it arrives alive.
The old rule "don't load the courier with consumables, it slows down" no longer applies: the 15% slow for Tango, Clarity, Healing Salve, Enchanted Mango and Faerie Fire was removed — ship them all at once.
Common mistakes
These courier slips gift the enemy tempo and gold:
- Feeding with the courier. Running it straight through the enemy lane hands gold to the entire enemy team for an easy kill.
- Forgetting about delivery. Items sit in base while the hero runs around without them — lost power and time.
- Not protecting the courier early. A ground-bound courier dies easily in the early minutes; pick the route carefully.
- Ignoring the abilities. The speed burst and shield often save a delivery — players forget to use them.
If the enemy wards the courier's paths, a safe route starts with invisibility detection and control over enemy vision.
How tempo and time saved add up to an advantage is covered in the how to raise MMR guide.
