Wards Reference¶

AI Summary

Complete reference for ward lifecycle tracking. Captures observer and sentry ward placement, expiration, and dewarding from entity creation/deletion correlated with combat log death events. Typically 80-120 ward events per match with full placement position, team, placer hero, and deward details (killer, gold bounty).

Overview¶

The wards collector tracks the full lifecycle of observer and sentry wards by correlating two data sources:

Entity system: Ward entities (CDOTA_NPC_Observer_Ward, CDOTA_NPC_Observer_Ward_TrueSight) are created on placement and deleted on expiration/death. Provides position, entity ID, and owner hero.
Combat log: Ward deaths appear as DOTA_COMBATLOG_DEATH targeting npc_dota_observer_wards or npc_dota_sentry_wards. Provides killer name, team, and gold bounty.

Key Use Cases:

Vision control analysis (ward placement patterns per team)
Dewarding detection (who killed which ward, gold earned)
Ward duration tracking (placed at X, expired/killed at Y)
Support performance metrics (wards placed per hero)

WardEvent Fields¶

Placement¶

Field	Type	Description
`tick`	`int`	Game tick when ward was placed
`game_time`	`float`	Game time in seconds from horn
`game_time_str`	`str`	Formatted time (e.g., "12:34")
`entity_id`	`int`	Entity index (for correlation with snapshots)
`ward_type`	`str`	`"observer"` or `"sentry"`
`team`	`int`	2=Radiant, 3=Dire
`x`	`float`	Placement X position
`y`	`float`	Placement Y position
`placed_by`	`str`	Hero who placed it (e.g., `npc_dota_hero_chen`)

Death / Expiry¶

Field	Type	Description
`death_tick`	`int`	Tick when ward was removed (0 if still alive)
`death_game_time`	`float`	Game time when removed
`death_game_time_str`	`str`	Formatted death time
`was_killed`	`bool`	`True` = dewarded by hero, `False` = expired naturally
`killed_by`	`str`	Hero who dewarded (empty if expired)
`killer_team`	`int`	Team of killer (0 if expired)
`gold_bounty`	`int`	Gold earned from deward (typically 50)

Basic Usage¶

from python_manta import Parser

parser = Parser("match.dem")

# Collect all ward events
result = parser.parse(wards={})

print(f"Total wards placed: {result.wards.total_events}")

# Separate by type
observers = [w for w in result.wards.events if w.ward_type == "observer"]
sentries = [w for w in result.wards.events if w.ward_type == "sentry"]

print(f"Observers: {len(observers)}, Sentries: {len(sentries)}")

Limiting Events¶

# First 50 ward events only
result = parser.parse(wards={"max_events": 50})

Use Case Examples¶

Dewarding Analysis¶

result = parser.parse(wards={})

dewards = [w for w in result.wards.events if w.was_killed]
print(f"Total dewards: {len(dewards)}")

for ward in dewards:
    killer = ward.killed_by.replace("npc_dota_hero_", "")
    wtype = ward.ward_type
    print(f"[{ward.death_game_time_str}] {killer} dewarded {wtype} (team {ward.team}) +{ward.gold_bounty}g")

Vision Control Timeline¶

result = parser.parse(wards={})

# Radiant vs Dire ward counts over time
for ward in result.wards.events:
    team = "Radiant" if ward.team == 2 else "Dire"
    placer = ward.placed_by.replace("npc_dota_hero_", "") if ward.placed_by else "unknown"
    status = "KILLED" if ward.was_killed else "expired"
    if ward.death_tick == 0:
        status = "alive"
    print(f"[{ward.game_time_str}] {team} {ward.ward_type} by {placer} -> {status}")

Support Ward Stats¶

from collections import Counter

result = parser.parse(wards={})

# Count wards placed per hero
placer_counts = Counter(
    w.placed_by.replace("npc_dota_hero_", "")
    for w in result.wards.events
    if w.placed_by
)

print("Wards placed by hero:")
for hero, count in placer_counts.most_common():
    obs = sum(1 for w in result.wards.events if w.placed_by and hero in w.placed_by and w.ward_type == "observer")
    sen = sum(1 for w in result.wards.events if w.placed_by and hero in w.placed_by and w.ward_type == "sentry")
    print(f"  {hero}: {count} total ({obs} obs, {sen} sen)")

Combining with Snapshots¶

result = parser.parse(wards={})

# Find wards placed near Roshan pit
ROSHAN_X, ROSHAN_Y = -2480, 1840
RADIUS = 1500

rosh_wards = [
    w for w in result.wards.events
    if ((w.x - ROSHAN_X)**2 + (w.y - ROSHAN_Y)**2)**0.5 < RADIUS
]

print(f"Wards near Roshan: {len(rosh_wards)}")
for w in rosh_wards:
    team = "Radiant" if w.team == 2 else "Dire"
    print(f"  [{w.game_time_str}] {team} {w.ward_type} at ({w.x:.0f}, {w.y:.0f})")

Statistics (Real Match Data)¶

From match 8447659831 (Team Spirit vs Tundra, ~46 min):

Metric	Value
Total wards	105
Observer wards	38 (36%)
Sentry wards	67 (64%)
Dewards	33 (31%)
Radiant wards	48
Dire wards	48
Gold bounty per deward	50

Notes¶

Team detection: Ward team comes from combat log correlation, not entity properties. Wards still alive at match end may have team=0.
placed_by: Resolved from the ward entity's m_hOwnerEntity handle. May be empty if the owner entity was not available at creation time.
Tick offset: Entity deletion occurs ~200-400 ticks after the combat log death event. The collector handles this correlation automatically.