Dota 2‘s latest balancing patch is out, with emphasis placed on finetuning the newly introduced Aghanim’s Shard mechanics for most of the hero roster.
5th - Abaddon: 56.36% - Abaddon's win rate is high even before patch 7.00 4th - Necrophos: 56.43% - Just like Abaddon 3rd - Omniknight: 56.49% - As mentioned above 2nd - Wraith King: 56.55% - For some reason Wraith King's win rate is higher than Omniknight now. My guess is because of the hero talent he receives at level 25, which makes his ult. Learn how to counter and when to pick Abaddon from our list of counters and matchups updated for the current meta. Dota On Demand Podcast Episode 22 - We discuss our new partnership with Dota Talk, Brewmaster, the latest patch that includes a HUD facelift, and much more awesomeness. DotA on Demand 0 0.0. Every day, millions of players worldwide enter battle as one of over a hundred Dota heroes. And no matter if it's their 10th hour of play or 1,000th, there's always something new to discover. With regular updates that ensure a constant evolution of gameplay, features, and heroes, Dota 2 has truly taken on a life of its own.
Heroes that were dominating public matchmaking with high pick rates and win rates such as Batrider, Lycan, Puck, Nyx Assassin, Wraith King, and Monkey King received targeted nerfs.
Batrider has enjoyed a resurgence in a core role due to his Sticky Napalm buffs in the Mistwoods update. The skill’s reduced damage against creeps was removed, while Ancients’ creeps magic resistance was reduced. This created a perfect storm situation for the hero, who could easily clear out large Ancient stacks in the early game at little risk to his health to burst ahead of the competition in farm and experience. Batrider, already one of the most powerful gankers, inevitably became more domineering due to this invaluable technique.
Lycan’s overall pack damage was reduced following a percentage reduction to his passive Feral Impulse, Puck’s obnoxious teamfight ability was slightly worsened after a cooldown increase on ultimate Dream Coil, and Nyx’s ganking prowess and map movement was made slower due to nerfs in base movement speed and Vendetta’s shard movement speed bonus.
While many heroes were specifically buffed due to their underused Aghanim’s Shard, Outworld Destroyer’s list of changes was the most extensive. The hero’s rework in 7.28 made him one of the weakest heroes in the game, and Valve has buffed several of his skills and base stats to compensate for the hero’s lack of farming capability.
A few newly introduced Mistwoods items were changed as well. Editing software cracked. Orb of Corrosion quickly became the choice item for all manners of brawlers providing health, a decent slow, and armor reduction in an all-in-one package. It now has a 100 gold recipe to make it more costly than before.
Cloak of Flames, the Radiance-lite neutral item, will now have its damaged reduced when present on illusions. Its radius and provided armor was decreased as well.
Falcon Blade, likely intended to be a sort of Ring of Aquila and Drums of Endurance starter item replacement for cores, had a lukewarm reception through its first stages as an item. Its mana regeneration and health provided was increased slightly, hopefully enticing more spell-casting carries to pick it up.
Swift Blink was one of three new upgraded Daggers introduced in 7.28, and it was deemed to be the weaker one. It paled in comparison to items like Butterfly and Monkey King Bar for damage, and Abyssal Blade or Eye of Skadi for lockdown and chase. The item now allows you to exceed the movement speed cap, and also received buffs to its bonus damage and attack speed on use.
Here are the full patch notes for Dota 2 7.28b.
Items
Orb of Corrosion
- Now has a 100 gold recipe
Falcon Blade
- Mana regen increased from 1.6 to 1.8
- Health increased from 150 to 175
Cloak
- Cost increased from 450 to 500
Swift Blink
- Buff allows you to exceed max movement speed
- Movement speed increased from 30% to 40%
- Bonus damage and attack speed increased from 40 to 50
Satanic
- Damage increased from 45 to 55
Chipped Vest
- Return damage from 26/13 to 28/17
Bullwhip
- Speed modifier increased from 16% to 20%
- Speed modifier duration reduced from 5 to 4
Cloak of Flames
- Armor reduced from 5 to 4
- Radius reduced from 400 to 375
- Illusions now deal 30 damage per second instead of 45 (this was applied in a recent patch)
Psychic Headband
- Cooldown reduced from 30 to 20
Book of Shadows
- Cooldown reduced from 25 to 15
Heroes
Abaddon
- Curse of Avernus shard slow increase from +6% to +10%
Alchemist
- Berserk Potion shard cooldown reduced from 45 to 35
Axe
- Counter Helix shard attack speed increased from 25 to 35
Batrider
- Sticky Napalm now does half damage to ancients
Beastmaster
- Base damage reduced by 2
Bloodseeker
- Bloodrage shard increased from 1.5% to 2%
Broodmother
- Silken Bola shard root duration increased from 2 to 2.5
Clockwerk
- Jetpack shard cooldown reduced from 25 to 20
- Jetpack shard movement speed bonus increased from 15% to 22%
- Jetpack shard manacost reduced from 150 to 75
Dark Seer
- Normal Punch illusion damage dealt increased from 25% to 40%
- Normal Punch max stun duration increased from 2 to 2.25
Disruptor
- Thunder Strike shard radius increased from +160 to +260
Dragon Knight
- Fireball shard manacost reduced from 150 to 100
Drow Ranger
- Frost Arrows shard now also adds +5 damage per stack
Grimstroke
- Ink Over shard cast range increased from 700 to 950
- Ink Over shard total damage increased from 240 to 320
- Ink Over shard movement slow increased from 20% to 25%
Huskar
- Inner Fire slow increased from 35% to 40%
- Inner Fire shard cooldown reduction from -2 to -3
Invoker
- Ice Wall shard cast range increased from 900 to 1100
Io
- Tether shard movement bonus increased from +5% to +10%
Lich
- Ice Spire shard health increased from 300 to 600
- Ice Spire shard radius increased from 500 to 600
Lifestealer
- Base damage increased by 3
Feast
- Feast increased from 1.6/2.2/2.8/3.4% to 1.8/2.4/3.0/3.6%
Lycan
Summon Wolves
- Summon Wolves Cripple moved from level 3 to 4
- Summon Wolves Invisibility moved from level 4 to 3
Feral Impulse
- Feral Impulse damage reduced from 14/26/38/50% to 12/22/32/42%
Magnus
- Horn Toss shard landing damage increased from 150 to 200
Monkey King
- Base strength reduced from 19 to 18
- Max damage reduced from 57 to 55
Wukong’s Command
- Wukong’s Command Scepter spawn interval increased from every 3.5 seconds to every 4 seconds
Naga Siren
- Rip Tide shard slow increased from 30% to 40%
- Rip Tide shard slow duration increased from 3 to 4
- Rip Tide shard active no longer deals 100 bonus damage
- Rip Tide shard increases armor reduction by 2
Nyx Assassin
- Base movement speed reduced from 315 to 310
Vendetta
- Vendetta shard movement speed bonus reduced from +40% to +25%
- Vendetta manacost increased from 160/220/280 to 180/240/300
Ogre Magi
Ignite
- Ignite damage reduced from 26/34/42/50 to 20/30/40/50
Fire Shield
- Fire Shield shard manacost reduced from 125 to 75
- Shield cooldown reduced from 18 to 16
Omniknight
Talents
- Level 10 Talent changed from +20 Movement Speed to +40 Base Damage
- Level 15 Talent changed from +70 Damage to +30 Movement Speed
Outworld Destroyer
- Base armor increased by 2
- Agility gain increased from 1.3 to 1.6
- Movement speed increased from 315 to 325
- Base HP regen increased from 0 to 1
Essence Flux
- Essence Flux chance increased from 25% to 30%
Astral Imprisonment
- Astral Imprisonment damage increased from 120/190/260/330 to 120/200/280/360
- Astral Imprisonment mana steal from 14/16/18/20% to 16/18/20/22%
Sanity’s Eclipse
- Sanity’s eclipse base damage increased from 200/275/350 to 200/300/400
Talents
- Level 15 Talent changed from +8 Armor to +30 Movement Speed
- 20 Talent increased from +0.1 Sanity’s Eclipse Multiplier to +0.15
- 25 Talent increased from +1.6% Arcane Orb Damage to +2%
Phantom Lancer
- Spirit Lance shard now also increases cast range by 200
Puck
- Dream Coil cooldown increased from 70/65/60 to 80/75/70
Talents
- Level 20 Talent reduced from -7s Waning Rift Cooldown to -6s
Pudge
- Dismember shard cooldown reduction from -7 to -10
Riki
Base hp regen reduced from 3 to 2.5
Sleeping Dart
- Sleeping Dart slow increased from 25% to 30%
- Sleeping Dart cooldown reduced from 15 to 12
- Sleeping Dart manacost reduced from 125 to 85
Skywrath Mage
- Ancient Seal shard status resistance reduction increased from 40% to 50%
Slark
- Fish Bait shard attack speed bonus increased from 50 to 75
- Fish Bait shard cooldown reduced from 12 to 9
Sniper
- Concussive Grenade shard manacost reduced from 75 to 50
- Concussive Grenade shard cooldown reduced from 20 to 16
Dota 2 Abaddon Guide
Templar Assassin
- Psionic Trap max trap count now increases by 4 with a Shard
Terrorblade
- Demon Zeal shard hp cost reduced from 25% to 20%
- Demon Zeal shard melee bonus from 50% to 100%
Timbersaw
Whirling Death
- Whirling Death manacost increased from 70 to 80
Flamethrower
- Flamethrower shard slow increased from 25% to 30%
Talents
- Level 10 Talent reduced from +1.75 Mana Regen to +1.5
Treant Protector
- Nature’s Guise shard bonus now increases speed in trees by +15%
Dota 2 Abaddon
Tusk
- Frozen Sigil shard hits to destroy from 3 to 4
- Frozen Sigil movement/attack slow increased from 30%/30 to 35%/35
Visage
- Stone Form shard manacost reduced from 300 to 200
Winter Wyvern
- Splinter Blast shard now also increases damage dealt by 80
Wraith King
Base damage reduced by 2
Vampiric Spirit
- Vampiric Spirit manacost increased from 50/60/70/80 to 65/70/75/80
Reincarnation
- Reincarnation manacost increased from 160 to 180
The post Dota 2’s 7.28b patch focuses on Aghanim’s Shards balance, nerfs Batrider’s Ancients stacking strategy appeared first on Dot Esports.
General
- Heroes now have a dedicated neutral items slot. A maximum of one neutral item can be equipped on your hero.
- There is now a Neutral Item Stash in the fountain. Neutral items are now stored there instead of on the fountain floor. Right clicking on an available item in the new UI will place it in your stash/courier and can be delivered to you. This UI will also show the state and location of all the other items that have dropped.
- Neutral items can now be teleported to your Neutral Item Stash at home through a right click context menu (from your backpack or your neutral slot)
- Backpack slot count reduced from 4 to 3
- Neutral item drop count per tier increased from 3 to 4 (chance from 9 to 10%)
- Ancients neutral drop rates are 3x higher
- Removed Shrines
- Outposts moved to the primary jungles
- Outposts vision reduced from 1400 flying to 700 ground vision (same for truesight)
- Outposts now start as owned by the respective teams, and can be captured at any time (rewards still happen at the 10 minute mark)
- Adjusted tree layout on the map edges near the previous outpost areas
- Moved a medium camp in the Dire Primary Jungle to a nearby location
- Lane bounty runes have been moved to the secondary jungles
- Removed all GPM talents
- Added Void Spirit and Snapfire to Captain's Mode
- Hero respawn time increased from 6/8/10/14/16 for level 1-5 to 12/15/18/21/24
- Buyback cost increased from 100 + NW/13 to 200 + NW/12
- Courier death no longer disables your passive gold income
- Courier bounty increased from 25+5*Level for each player to 30 + 7 * Level
- Courier respawn time changed from 50 + 7 * Level to 60 + 7 * Level
- Courier movement speed increased from 280 to 290
- Courier can no longer plant wards at level 15
- Courier can no longer use items at level 25
- Implemented custom UI for charged-based abilities rather than using buffs
- Melee attacks now have a bonus 150 range against Observer and Sentry Wards
- Tier 5 items now drop at 60 minutes (item adjustments below)