Blackheart's Bay

The usual formation is 1-3-1 with a twist: one offlaner double-soaks top and middle, three heroes farm coins from Doubloon Camps and mercenary camps, and one hero holds the bottom lane. The alternative is 4-1: four heroes rotate between middle and top while the offlaner holds bottom. In both cases the coin group needs a fast camp clearer and mobility, because it will be carrying most of the team's doubloons and must survive a gank. Your offlaner should be someone who can hold two lanes of minions alone, since the top-middle area is where most experience sits unattended.

• 1-3-1: offlaner double-soaks top and middle; three coin farmers rotate through the camps; one anchor holds bottom near Blackheart.
• 4-1: four rotate middle and top; the offlaner holds bottom.
• Give the coin group a bruiser or double bruiser who can solo camps and escape with the loot.

Coins matter from the first minute, so the fountain can be used on cooldown instead of saved. At 0:30 start your Siege Camp near the bottom lane and capture it around 0:45, 15 seconds after a wave spawns, so the giants walk in behind your minions; then take the Doubloon Camp next to it for 2 more coins. Just before 1:30 send several heroes toward the top lane, where the first and only chest of that phase always spawns, with one hero ready to scoop the coins as they fall. At 2:00 clear your Bruiser Camp and capture it near 2:35, 5 seconds after a wave, then the nearby Doubloon Camp. By then you should have 8 coins: pay them the moment the enemy is not in a position to interrupt, ideally while they are busy elsewhere.

• 0:30: Siege Camp (capture at 0:45), then the adjacent Doubloon Camp.
• 1:25: rotate toward top for the single first chest; bring a high-tickrate hero to open it fast.
• 2:00: Bruiser Camp (capture at 2:35), then the other Doubloon Camp; you now have enough to pay.
• Before the first payment, knock down one tower in the enemy top lane: the first bombardment nearly kills two towers, a gate and a Fort, and that tower is the difference.

Chest fights are about damage on the chest, not on heroes: assign your fastest tickrate hero to hit it and someone mobile to collect, and let the rest zone. Payments are the dangerous moment, so pay right after a won fight, while the enemy is committed to a chest or Boss on the far side, or when Tab shows their carriers are dead. Protect the channeler with bodies; a single hit resets the 5-second channel. Use each bombardment's 40 seconds to take camps and pressure side lanes, which sets up the next payment. When the enemy is the one about to pay, that is one of the few fights worth forcing: kill the carrier when no teammate of theirs can grab the dropped coins.

• Fight only when the enemy has far more coins and you have the advantage, or when they are making a game-winning play (paying, Boss with your top Keep down, going core).
• Grab the two watchtowers between middle and bottom only while you are already there: they reveal the whole approach to Blackheart and reset after 45 seconds empty.
• Never contest an enemy-held watchtower alone without mobility: staying alive beats vision.

Blackheart's Bay has ten camps and none of them ever switches off, not during chests nor during a bombardment. Every camp except the Doubloon Camps pushes a lane and also pays 2 coins, so a camp here is worth taking even when the push itself is weak. The Boss is a Grave Golem in the top lane, and after about 10:00 it doubles as a distraction: start it to pull the enemy up, then pay at Blackheart while they react.

• Doubloon camp (2 Skeletal Pirates), four in total between the lanes: 0:30, respawns 2:30 after capture. 2 coins, no push; any hero can solo them, so take them on cooldown.
• Siege camp (2 Siege Giants), two in the bottom lane: 0:30, respawns 3:00 after capture. 2 coins plus giants that outrange towers and deal double damage to structures; dodge their rocks to clear for free.
• Bruiser camp (3 Knights + 1 Wizard), two top and one bottom: 0:30, respawns 4:00 after capture. 2 coins; the Wizard's spell armor field protects the wave, so do not fight into it.
• Boss camp (Grave Golem), top lane: 5:00, respawns 5:00 after capture. 2 coins; Mega Smash stuns in melee every 10 seconds and Binding Roots root every 15. Immune to bribe.

Three win conditions exist here: the bombardment, a Boss push and split-push. Payments get pricier (8, 10, 12 and so on) and chests spawn three at a time, so the late game is about denying the enemy's turn-in while landing yours. Cannons only reach a Keep once its towers and gate are gone, and only the core once every other structure has fallen, so clear those first or a payment is wasted on gates. A bombardment on a full-health, full-shield core leaves it at about 19%: commit as many heroes as possible right after to finish it before the shield regenerates. From about 10:00, the Grave Golem is your lever: push with it or use it to pull the enemy away from Blackheart.

• Win conditions: bombardment, Boss push, split-push.
• The core cannon fires every 4 seconds at two nearby heroes for 5% max health, a 70% slow for 1.5 seconds and a knockback: dive it only with the bombardment landing.
• Cannon damage never scales (3,000 per hit), so late Keeps survive a volley; combine payments with heroes or mercenaries on the same lane.