A last hit is when you deliver the finishing blow to a creep, gaining gold and experience for every last hit you land. Getting last hits during the early part of the game is vital to getting an advantage over opponents. However, good players strike a balance between racking up the gold without pushing a lane too much, which makes it easier for the other team to get help from their tower to farm. The easiest way to screw up this balance is by auto attacking creeps. This goes for both the farming hero and the support hero. You may think you're helping by getting the creeps to low health, but in most cases, it can actually cost you valuable gold by messing up the timing of a last hit. Likewise, if you are trying to farm, auto attacking creeps is a dead giveaway to the enemy, making it easier for them to deny you experience and gold. The underlying effect of auto attacking creeps is that your lane will push too much, leaving you out of position and ripe for getting ambushed by the middle lane hero. Get the timing down and you will have a much better chance of controlling your lane and getting the items you need.
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