Hanamura Temple

The go-to formation is 1-4: the offlaner covers the top lane while four heroes play the bottom lane, its Sentinel camp and the center. The offlaner should be a hero who clears waves, survives a gank and can help kill or defend a Sentinel, because the enemy Samurai will regularly walk into that lane. The four-man rotates between the bottom wave, the Sentinel camp, the Fortification camp and the Recon camp, and moves to the Payload only when the camps are done. Global or highly mobile heroes suit the solo lane: they soak and still reach the center for a fight.

• Top: offlaner with waveclear and an escape; expect the enemy Samurai in this lane.
• Bottom: tank, healer and two damage dealers who can clear the Samurai camp quickly.
• Swap the split if the enemy stacks four on top: match the numbers, not the lane.

At 0:30 start your Samurai (Sentinel) camp and capture it as soon as it is down; it goes into lane and starts trading structures right away. At 0:45 move to your Fortification camp: kill the Mechanic first, because it repairs the Turret whenever it drops below 80% health, then pick up the Turret it leaves behind. With both taken, contest whichever Recon camp is neutral or enemy-held to lock down movement through the middle. Use your first Healing Fountain before 1:00 so its 2-minute cooldown brings it back for the 3:00 Payload. If the enemy Samurai reaches your structures, send enough heroes to kill it or counter-push the other lane with yours.

• 0:30 - Samurai camp; capture immediately and push behind it.
• 0:45 - Fortification camp; Mechanic first, then grab the Turret.
• Before 1:00 - use the Healing Fountain once.
• After both camps - flip a Recon camp for vision of the center before 3:00.

Do not treat the cart as a five-man commitment. One escort is the most efficient use of bodies, three is the fastest; pick the number based on how dangerous the route is and what the rest of the team can take elsewhere. Your priority when the enemy is pushing is to stop them near the end of their path, because a delivery on their side deals as much damage as one on yours and losing the trade costs structures. When you are escorting and the enemy has the advantage, back off even a few meters from the destination and try again later, unless it is the Payload that would win them the game. After a delivery, your next path is longer and deeper: on path B the enemy has one or two Healing Fountains next to the route and you have none, and on path C the destination sits between their Keeps. Remember the cart never rolls back while an ally is near it, so a single contester buys time for the team.

• Escort with 1 when the route is safe and camps are up; escort with 3 only to beat a clock.
• Contest their cart hardest in its last stretch, where a stop actually denies the barrage.
• Place your stored Turret on the route before a fight, or on the ground before you die so it is not stolen.
• Winning the fight but not the cart is fine: take a Fort while they respawn.

Six camps, and all of them stay active during the Payload and the barrage. Each side has a Fortification camp (top-left and bottom-right), a Samurai camp (top-right and bottom-left), and there is a Recon camp near the center of each lane. The Samurai camps are elite and immune to Bribe. When the Samurai and Fortification camps are both up, take the Samurai first so its cooldown starts earlier. Recon camps give no net experience if you just trade them back and forth; to profit, let the enemy clear the Henchmen and steal the capture at the last second.

• Samurai camp (1 Sentinel): 0:30, respawns 2:30 after capture. Pushes its lane with a frontal Horizontal Slash every 8 seconds; ranged heroes step back on the indicator, melee walk through it.
• Fortification camp (1 Mechanic + 1 Turret): 0:30, respawns 2:30 after capture. Leaves a Turret item anyone can pick up: 90 damage per second for 45 seconds, prioritizes heroes, double damage to minions, counts as a mercenary.
• Recon camp (3 Henchmen): 0:30, respawns 1 second after capture. Works as a Watch Tower that never goes neutral; holding both makes the center impossible to cross unseen.
• Sentinels are immune to Bribe effects; Turrets can be buffed by mercenary talents.

There are two realistic win conditions: the Payload and the Sentinel camp. Late barrages do real work because most Towers and Gates are down, so shots reach Forts, Keeps and eventually the Core, and a full 12-shot barrage takes a fresh Core to about half. Store Turrets during calm stretches and drop them all in the deciding fight or under the enemy Keep. The Core fires two volleys of missiles every 8 seconds that deal 5% of maximum health and slow by 70% for 1.25 seconds, so finish with a Sentinel or a barrage tanking attention instead of diving heroes in first. If the Payload is not worth the escort time, push the lane opposite the cart with a Sentinel and let the enemy choose between saving a Keep and delivering.