7.06 Patch Analysis
Some patch notes have been omitted due to length and because they were deemed too minuscule to talk about.
GENERAL
DENY MECHANICS
- Creep denies now grant the denying team 30% of the XP bounty
- Normal deny XP increased from 50% to 70%
The introduction of xp gained by denying your own creeps adds a whole different layer to how people have laned so far. While denying has always been valuable, it is not comparable to how important it is now, especially in the midlane, where there will be one more creep than usually. To make up for this, deny xp has been increased to 70%. These changes alone could see a shift in how pro teams approach the laning stage. The midlane is likely to be more contested and in conjunction with other changes, the offlane could become much, much weaker again.
As a quick example: Denying a ranged creep before 7.06 would result in a 45xp difference. Denying it in 7.06 results in a 35xp difference.
SHRINES
- Shrines now start on cooldown and become available at 5 minutes
- Reduced Shrine count in base from 5 to 3
- Shrines mana regeneration growth per minute reduced from 1 to 0.75
These are some of the changes that will likely cause a change in offlane heroes and approaches. Shrines were an essential part in staying sustainable throughout the laning stage, as it effectively gave a hero at least 2 Shrine heals. One could even argue that there were 3-4 available, with the Shrines back in base, which allowed for a shorter off time from the lane.
LANES
- Added an extra melee creep in mid lane for the first 15 minutes
- Creeps meet a bit closer to the offlane tower
- Creep aggro duration reduced from 2.5 to 2.3
- Creep aggro cooldown increased from 2.5 to 3.0
- Lane creeps vision reduced from 850/800 to 750
The extra melee creep for mid and the return of jungle camps will likely see a lot of carries back in the midlane, but there’s also more potential for dual lanes. Together with the change in deny XP, the midlane seems to be the most contested lane going forward, with sufficient resources to accommodate 2 heroes. If it is a solo vs. solo lane however, it means that each hero has the potential to reach level 2 with the first wave, something that wasn’t possible before.
The fact that creeps meet a bit closer to the offlane tower may be a small buff towards the offlane, but it doesn’t make up for the deficits in lane sustainability and lack of XP gain.
NEUTRALS
- Neutrals now spawn every minute instead of every 2 minutes
- Neutrals now give 20% less XP and Gold
- Neutrals XP and Gold now increased by 2% every 7.5 minutes
Stacking is back! The 7.xxx era saw a heavy decrease in stacking and pulling, as creep camps spawned only every 2 minutes and a strategic camp block would already deny any pull attempt for the first 3 minutes. Now, supports will have more resources available again and it’ll make it more difficult for offlaners to contest the lane. Additionally, the deny XP mechanic allows supports to gain even more value out of pulling, as they can effectively “farm” both the neutral creeps and their own.
Neutral camps may give less xp and gold, but the sheer amount of camps available make up for it. Before 7.06, a medium camp would on average provide 100 gold every 2minutes or per spawn. It may now only provide 80 gold per spawn, but since it can spawn twice now, it provides 160 gold on average every 2 minutes. If the game goes on for more than 90 minutes, then that medium camp will also provide more gold than pre-7.06 per spawn.
These changes to neutral camps favor flash farmers, who already made a comeback through Shrines. Heroes like 
Shadow Fiend or 
Alchemist can reliably farm stacked camps in-between creep waves.
CREEPS
- Siege damage type vs structures increased from 150% to 250%
- Siege creeps HP increased from 550 to 825
- Siege creeps spawn rate reduced from every 7th wave to every 10th wave
- Extra Ranged/Siege creeps now spawn at 40 minutes instead of 45
These changes make it more difficult for early tower pressure, but make pushes all the more effective, which helps with the so far difficult highground siege.
ATTRIBUTES
- All hero strength growth increased by 0.3
- Regeneration coming from strength increased from 0.03 HP per point of Strength to 0.06
- Reduced base HP regen by 0.25
- Intelligence's Spell Amplification from 1% per 15 to 1% per 14
- Mana per point of Intelligence reduced from 12 to 11
- Base mana increased from 50 to 75
These attribute changes make heroes all around tankier, reminiscent of the change in 6.86, where every hero received an additional 30 base HP. The base HP regen may have gone down by 0.25 (which results in a base HP regen of 0 for many heroes), but due to the increased str growth per level and the regen per str, every hero ends up with more HP regen at level 1.
Similarly, all heroes end up with more mana at level 1, though it is a nerf for the lategame, where the lost mana becomes noticeable.
ECONOMY
- Melee/Ranged Barracks team bounty reduced from 275/225 to 225/150 to each player
- Roshan team bounty reduced from 200 to 150
- Shrine team bounty from reduced 150 to 125
- Death cost from 100 + NW/50 to 50 + NW/40
- Tier 3 Tower Team Bounty from 240 to 200
- Tier 4 Tower Team Bounty from 280 to 200
There’s a clear trend here, as objectives provide less and less gold. Taking an “entire lane of rax” (tier3 tower + melee and ranged barracks), rewards only 575 per player (if we assume no deny or lasthit occured), or 2875 for the pushing team. In comparison, this team bounty was 3700 before.
- Reduced melee creeps base XP bounty from 45 to 40
- Reduced melee creep gold bounty upgrade from 3 gold per cycle to 1 gold per cycle
The change to melee creep experience is quite significant, as it reduces the total wave xp to now 210 (from 225). With the new deny mechanic however, it is possible to reach level 2 with the first wave (granted you are getting these as solo experience). Denying the ranged and a melee creep (27xp + 12xp) or all three melee creeps would put one above the 240xp threshold for level 2.
GENERAL CHANGES
- Illusion gold/XP bounty from 5 + Level to 2 * Level
- Illusion building damage reduction from 50% to 60%
Up until level 4, illusions will provide less gold than before. At level 5, they will provide just as much gold as before and from level 6 onwards, they provide more than before.
While this gold change may be negligible, the damage reduction is worth noting, as it further nerfs illusions heroes, in addition to the Radiance nerf (40->35 damage on illusions).
- Roshan now drops cheese from the second death instead of the third
- Roshan armor bonus per upgrade interval increased from 1.1 to 1.3
- Powerup Runes now spawn different runes on both sides of the river after 40 minutes
- Towers bonus armor based on nearby enemy heroes AoE increased from 1400 to 1600
ITEM CHANGES
Aether Lens- Aether Lens Spell Amplification increased from 5 to 6%
- Requires: Energy Booster (900), Void Stone (850), Recipe (600) Total: 2350
- Provides: +250 Mana +100% Mana Regen +6% Spell Damage
Aether Lens remains a solid support item and the change makes it much more valuable for support, most of which can make better use of mana regen than health regen.
Force Staff- Requires: Staff of Wizardry (1000), Ring of Health (850), Recipe (400) Total: 2250
- Provides: +10 Intelligence +6 Health Regen
Any change that removes recipes (or in this case lowers its cost and replaces that cost with a more expensive item) and instead adds an item is a buff. Unlike Aether Lens, Force Staff is not only a support item but also frequently bought on utility cores.
Hand of Midas- Recipe cost increased from 1550 to 1650
- XP multiplier increased from 1.75x to 1.85x
- Gold bonus reduced from 220 to 200
The Kiev Major group stage saw over 250 Midas purchases and while the playoffs saw significantly fewer purchases, it was still a logical consequence to see a Midas nerf. To pay the Midas off, one will have to use it 11 times, the same amount of uses that were necessary prior to its 7.05 change. The additional cost for the recipe will make quite a difference in how fast one can acquire a Midas though. Together with the reduced bounty on Melee creeps, it wouldn’t be a surprise to see delayed Midas timings in this patch.
Heart of Tarrasque- Now requires a second Vitality Booster instead of the 1400 recipe
- Strength bonus reduced from 45 to 40
- Health bonus increased from 250 to 500
This is an overall buff to the item. While it loses 0.3 HP regen, it provides 150 more health than before and is also 300 gold cheaper.
Heaven's Halberd- Can no longer be dispelled by Spell Immunity
This is a huge buff to the item and depending on the meta and its favorite heroes, Halberd may very well become a tier 1 purchase. A 3 second disarm is a time window sufficient enough to allow better positioning against the target, similar to what a Ghost Scepter would do. Unfortunately for the item though, its build up isn’t as great as other items. The stats and benefits it provides outside of the disarm aren’t particularly great, certainly not enough to warrant prioritizing it over other items. It’s potentially a great item for a strength utility core, but even then it’s likely a 2nd or 3rd pick up, rather than a first item.
Helm of the Dominator- Now uses a Ring of Health instead of an 800 gold recipe
- Health regeneration increased from 8 to 10
Much like Force Staff and Heart of Tarrasque, the replaced recipe cost is a welcome and beneficial change here.
Mask of Madness- Requires a Quarterstaff instead of a 700 gold recipe
- Provides +20 Damage and +10 Attack Speed
- Berserk active attack speed bonus reduced from +120 to +110
- Can now be disassembled
Same story as with HoD, but with the added bonus of a significant buff towards its damage and attack speed (for only 200 gold more). The fact that it can be disassembled makes it that much stronger for a variety of heroes. Drow Ranger can disassemble it lategame for a Satanic and Butterfly and Sven could build it into Satanic and Echo Sabre. Mask of Madness is a great item to accelerate the early and mid game farm and this allows heroes and players to not commit to the item full time.
Solar Crest- Solar Crest Armor Addition/Removal reduced from 12 to 10
- Solar Crest on enemies changed from 25% Miss chance on target to 25% Truestrike chance on attackers
Much like Hand of Midas, Solar Crest proved to be too strong during the Kiev Major. The item is not completely useless and the low cost for this much utility (minus armor, passive evasion and offensive Truestrike) still make it a good purchase, but it might become a more situational item, though that is largely dependent on the meta.
Moon Shard- Moon Shard now gives half of the bonus night vision when consumed
This is a solid buff towards the item and makes a casual, mid game farming oriented purchase more efficient. It unlikely changes the frequency of the item’s purchases though.
Refresher Orb- Refresh now replenishes charge-based abilities
This is a strong buff towards 
Death Prophet, the only hero who has a charged based ability and naturally builds into a Refresher Orb. 
Earth Spirit and 
Ember Spirit are two other heroes who could potentially build this item in the lategame, though it seems rather unlikely that this would be a regular occurrence.
Rod of Atos- Requires: 1x Staff of Wizardry (1000), 2x Bracer (980), Recipe (1100), Total: 3080
- Provides: +20 Intelligence +15 Strength +6 Agility +6 Damage
The new recipe for Rod of Atos is a much smoother build for supports and allows them to prepare for a purchase early on. Bracer components could even be purchased as starting items and are rather inexpensive, certainly in comparison to a Vitality Booster. While it provides 50 HP and 10 intelligence less, it also provides 6 agility, which translates into almost 1 point of armor, which can be seen as a 6% HP increase. Overall it is a very strong buff for the item and may just make it a more realistic option for many supports.
Urn of Shadows- Urn of Shadows heal now acts as proper regeneration (like Salve), rather than healing at frequent interval ticks
- Requires: Infused Raindrop (225), Circlet (165), Ring of Protection (175), Recipe: (310) Total: 875
- Provides: +2 All Stats +2 Armor +1.0 Mana Regen
The way it works now, it is quite a buff. Purchasing an Infused Raindrop and spending all charges but one still allows you to build an Urn. The item still provides 6 stats points but adds 2 points of armor on top.
HEROES
- Unstable Concoction cooldown increased from 16 to 22/20/18/16
- Unstable Concoction AoE increased from 175 to 200
- Greevil's Greed base bonus gold reduced from 6/8/10/12 to 4
- Greevil's Greed bonus per stack increased from 3 to 4
- Greevil's Greed bonus cap rescaled from 12/20/28/36 to 16/20/24/28
This is quite a significant nerf to Alchemist, a hero who excelled towards the end of the DAC 2017, but fell off during the Kiev Major. That said, it makes a lot of sense to nerf the hero preemptively, as creep camps spawn every minute again and as stacking will inevitably become an important mechanic/tool again, Alchemist would’ve likely risen to the top if he had stayed the same. He can still farm exceptionally well though, so it’s not unlikely that Alchemist will see an early return.
Axe- Reworked Scepter on Axe. Causes Battle Hunger to reduce enemy total damage output by 30%. Applies Battle Hunger on enemy heroes within a 700 AoE after a successful Culling Blade.
As an initiator, Axe often also fills the role of utility core. His Aghanim’s Scepter so far has been rather situational and most of the time other items have been significantly better. Now though, it’s worth considering picking it up early. Axe certainly can use the stats and 30% damage reduction is almost as good as a 
Silver Edge.
Bane- Reworked Bane's Scepter. Causes Brain Sap to have a 1.5 second cooldown. Pierces Spell Immunity.
- Bane Agi/Int growth increased by 0.3, matching new strength growth
- Fiend's Grip deals damage every 0.5 seconds instead of every 1.0
While the Aghanim’s Scepter may be “fun” on paper, it hardly seems like a worthwhile purchase in comparison to other items. A BKB on Bane himself would be much more effective and so would a variety of support items, such as Force Staff or Glimmer Cape.
Beastmaster- Wild Axes cast range increased from 1300 to 1500
- Wild Axes manacost rescaled from 120 to 105/110/115/120
- Replaced Respawn Talent: +1 Boar Summoned (Level 15)
Beastmaster will be more deadly and push intensive from lvl 15 onwards and a value skill point in Wild Axes becomes that much more valuable.
Bristleback- Replaced Respawn Talent: +10% Spell Lifesteal (Level 20)
This is quite a significant buff, as it basically enables an early Octarine Core on Bristleback.
Chaos Knight- Reality Rift cast point reduced from 0.4 to 0.3
- Reality Rift cooldown from 24/18/12/6 to 18/14/10/6
- Chaos Strike lifesteal from 65% to 75%
- Phantasm Illusion damage taken from 200% to 260%
A 6 second cooldown reduction on Reality Rift is good and Chaos Knight also benefits from the early mana boost that every hero received. That said, it’s unlikely to see much of Chaos Knight this patch. He’s already not been a popular hero so far and as flash farming heroes return, Chaos Knight has no space in the meta.
Chen- Holy Persuasion cooldown reduced from 30/26/22/18 to 10
- Replaced Respawn Talent: +1000 Creep Health (Level 20)
Two significant buffs could catapult Chen back into the meta, in addition to other jungle buffs. This allows Chen to be much more aggressive early on and helps him scale better into the lategame.
Clinkz- Death Pact cooldown increased from 45/30/15 to 85
- Death Pact duration increased from 35 to 65
A 30 second duration increase is a huge buff for Clinkz, who can now spend more with a single use, rather than being forced to use his ultimate multiple times. Yes, there is now a 20 second down time during which he doesn’t have his ultimate bonus, but that is perfectly fine for the hero, as he now doesn’t lose his bonus damage halfway through an engagement.
Crystal Maiden- Freezing Field cooldown rescaled from 90 to 110/100/90
- Fixed Scepter Freezing Field not interrupting targets
- Replaced Respawn Talent: +50 Freezing Field Damage (Level 20)
Dazzle- Reworked Dazzle's Scepter. Causes Shallow Grave to be a 450 AoE spell.
It may read like an insane change, but ultimately his old Aghanim’s Scepter upgrade was consistently more useful. Weave and its effect are always useful, but more often than not, there’s 2 Shallow Grave targets top.
Doom- Scorched Earth healing/damage rescaled from 10/20/30/40 to 16/24/32/40
- Devour manacost rescaled from 60 to 40/50/60/70
- Removed critical strike from the small wolves in the jungle, attack damage increased by the same amount
Removing critical strike from the small wolves is a significant buff. Up until this patch, Ogre Bruisers were the only medium camp neutrals that did not have an ability.
Drow Ranger- Frost Arrows are no longer a Unique Attack Modifier
A good buff for Drow Ranger, who can now lifesteal while using Frost Arrows. Together with the changed Mask of Madness recipe and other factors (creep camps, laning behaviour, push timings), she may very well return to the meta.
- Replaced Respawn Talent: Geomagnetic Grip Targets Allies
What looks like a buff is actually a nerf. It’s usually more difficult for supports to gain a level 25 talent than it is to build an 
Aghanim's Scepter, which means that this effectively lowers the value of the hero’s Agh’s Scepter while simultaneously taking away the additional 300 Rolling Boulder damage.
Enchantress- Base Intelligence increased by 2
- Enchant slow duration from 5.5 seconds to 2.25/3.5/4.75/6
- Enchant slow from 20/30/40/50% to 55%
- Replaced Respawn Talent: +6% Impetus Damage (Level 25)
Much like Chen, Enchantress received a significant buff to her early game impact. A 55% slow at level 1 is something most roamers dream of these days, which is why the duration had to be nerfed on early levels.
Io- Replaced Respawn Talent: Tether Stuns (Level 25)
Talents are a unique way to bring back formerly “op” abilities and mechanics which proved to be too strong at all stages of the game. Giving Tether a stun from level 1 onwards would be too strong and even at level 8 it would prove to be too strong. As an added level 25 bonus however, it may still be one of the best talents in the game, but it is also rather difficult to reach level 25 as a support, so it may only be a casual occurrence.
Kunkka- Ghost Ship now always crashes where Kunkka targets it
A strong buff for Kunkka, whose positioning always had to compensate for the range of the Ghost Ship towards the target. By itself, this buff may not make the hero viable again for competitive play, but it surely makes it more fun to play him.
Legion Commander- Overwhelming Odds manacost from 100 to 100/110/120/130
- Duel Scepter now additionally grants Spell Immunity to your hero during Duel
- Replaced Respawn Talent: +10% Moment Proc Chance (Level 20)
While yes, this Agh’s upgrade essentially provides a free BKB for the duration of the Duel, it doesn’t really replace it either. Often times, a BKB is necessary to begin a Duel in the first place. There’s also the other effect her Aghanim’s Scepter has, which makes Legion Commander and her Duel target not take any damage from anyone outside the Duel. This bonus isn’t always favorable, especially when the Duel is meant to be a quick pick-off prior to an engagement. Overall it certainly is a buff, but one would be ill advised to see it as a BKB replacement.
Lone Druid- Rabid attack speed increased from 10/20/30/40 to 20/30/40/50
- Rabid duration rescaled from 18/22/26/30 to 25
- Rabid cooldown reduced from 45 to 35
- Replaced Respawn Talent: +50% Spirit Bear Magic Resistance (Level 20)
The fighting Lone Druid build has been nerfed ever since its introduction and Icefrog seems to further hope that players will return to the old ways. Rabid's attack speed buff is a significant one that could, once again in the right meta, prove to be a valuable enough buff for Lone Druid to return.
Magnus- Movement speed reduced from 315 to 310
- Reworked Magnus's Scepter. Shockwave comes back, hitting units a second time and applying a 60% slow for 2 seconds. Distance and travel speed are increased by 50%. Return wave deals half damage to creeps.
- Reverse Polarity no longer lasts an extra 0.75/1/1.25 seconds on creeps
- Replaced Respawn Talent: +500 Skewer Range (Level 25)
- Level 25 Talent from -4s Shockwave Cooldown to +15 Armor
Whether or not Magnus remains a top pick is certainly not affected by these changes, as the new Agh's Scepter won't replace any of his current items. What will hurt Magnus is the change to the offlane, which could completely change the approach to playing the game and see an entirely set of desired skills from offlaners.
Monkey King- Wukong's Command no longer provides 50/70/90 bonus damage
- Wukong's Command provides you with 8/14/20 bonus armor
- Wukong's Command army no longer copy Basher/Abyssal
- Wukong's Command attack rate improved from 2.0 to 1.7
- Fixed Monkey King carrying Urn of Shadows sometimes wasting charges while Wukong's Command is ongoing
- Fixed Tree Jump causing Monkey King to temporarily have bigger vision than the defined day/night values
Monkey King has had an impressive start into his competitive career with a whopping 59% win rate at DAC while being the most picked hero. Despite a nerf in 7.05 and a significantly lower win rate at the Kiev Major, Icefrog still deemed it worthy to nerf the hero again--he was still the third most picked hero at the Kiev Major after all.
While Wukong’s Command added armor is nice, as it allows a consistently longer up time due to the added sustain, the lack of a passive bash makes it significantly worse. For 2700 gold, Skull Basher is a fairly inexpensive item to build, especially considering that it has three components that it builds on. Support Monkey Kings have always had the opportunity to build a fairly quickly. Wukong’s Command is mainly used as a teamfight and zoning ability, though the lack of strong attack modifiers/passives and attack damage make it a fairly wimpy support ability.
Naga Siren- Song of the Siren cast time increased from 0.8 to 1.0
- Song of the Siren cooldown rescaled from 180/120/60 to 160/120/80
- Song of the Siren range rescaled from 1250 to 1000/1200/1400
- Mirror Image Illusion damage taken rescaled from 600/500/400/300% to 550/500/450/400%
- Rip Tide damage increased from 100/140/180/220 to 120/160/200/240
- Ensnare cast point reduced from 0.65 to 0.6
- Ensnare manacost rescaled from 90/100/110/120 to 100
Overall, Naga Siren's early game has been improved directly, but this is just to counter-balance the nerfs illusions and Radiance have received. In the grand scheme of things, Naga Siren has still been nerfed.
Night Stalker- Hunter in the Night can now be activated during the night to grant Night Stalker flying movement for 2 seconds. Cooldown 26/22/18/14. Mana cost 50. 1200 Vision.
A strong buff that allows Night Stalker to be a more effective roamer early on. It enables him to initiate and gank from completely different angles and can make him a fearsome roamer.
Oracle- Fortune's End is now a root rather than a slow that sets the target to 0 movement speed
- Replaced Respawn Talent: +0.75s Fortune's End Max Duration (Level 10)
- Fortune's End projectile speed from 1200 to 1000
- Purifying Flames cast range from 800 to 850
Crystal Maiden reached top tier pick status, partly because Frostbite gained all the benefits of the new root mechanics. Oracle could see a similar jump in popularity, as an early root is often as good as an actual disable.
Pugna- Life Drain now grants truesight vision over the target
- Life Drain cast range reduced from 900/1050/1200 to 800
- Life Drain now has a 100 range break buffer
- Replaced Respawn Talent: +1s Decrepify Duration (Level 15)
Razor- Eye of the Storm prioritizes striking static linked heroes
- Eye of the Storm no longer has a cast point
These are two incredibly strong quality of life improvements for Razor. Eye of Storm's cast point has always resulted in a "stutter step" during chases. Being able to cast it without coming to a halt is huge for a hero who generally has higher MS than most other heroes.
Sand King- Caustic Finale is no longer a Unique Attack Modifier
- Sand Storm invisbility linger duration rescaled from 1.5 to 0.9/1.1/1.3/1.5
- Sand Storm DPS rescaled from 25/50/75/100 to 40/60/80/100
- Replaced Respawn Talent: -50 Epicenter Attack Slow (Level 15)
Sand King's jungling potential has possibly been awakened once again. The increased damage to his Sand Storm should allow him to farm the jungle with Sand Storm again. Recently, Sand King has been able to farm the jungle with Caustic Finale, but having both abilities at your disposable provides him with more flexibility.
Shadow Demon- Shadow Poison manacost reduced from 55 to 50
- Soul Catcher now spreads its amplification evenly among all the enemies in the AoE
- Replaced Respawn Talent: -1.5s Shadow Poison Cooldown (Level 20)
Shadow Poison was a strong spell going into the Boston Major, so strong that Valve deemed it necessary to nerf its cost by 10 mana. Reverting that change slightly acknowledges that the nerf was possibly too strong. Soul Catcher is now a better spell. You can still position your spell to hit only one target, but if you wish to apply damage amplification on multiple targets, similar to a Veil of Discord, then there's that option too.
Silencer- Reworked Silencer's Scepter. Glaives now Pierce Spell Immunity and deal 100% more damage against Silenced units.
Aghanim's Scepter was always a valuable pick up for Silencer. Often times it wasn't necessarily the best pick up and some times you'd even see more utility items, but now it is a must purchase for cores and a definite consideration for supports.
Sven- God's Strength now grants a bonus 16/28/40 Strength when activated
- God's Strength attack bonus reduced from 100/150/200% to 80/120/160%
Sven is back. The changes to creep camps alone would make Sven a viable option again, but the added strength bonus make him that much stronger than before. 320/540/800 bonus health is massive and definitely make up for the lower attack bonus.
Templar Assassin- Agility gain reduced from 2.7 to 2.3
- Replaced Respawn Talent: -8 Meld Armor Reduction (Level 25)
The aggressive midlane hero became quite a threatening and popular pick at the Kiev Major. Together with the return of creep camp spawns every minute, TA could’ve become a premier pick in the meta again. The agility growth nerf acts as a suitable, pre-emptive strike against that. The new talent will likely still be overshadowed by the Refraction talent, though at the very least it is a real alternative now.
Terrorblade- Metamorphosis Movement Speed Loss increased from 25 to 30
While Terrorblade has been sufficiently nerfed, he may very well still be a viable pick.
Treant Protector- Nature's Guise now applies a full disarming root, rather than a bash, on attack
- Replaced Respawn Talent: +40 Leech Seed Damage/Heal (Level 25)
A necessary nerf towards Treant Protector, who proved to be a valuable pick at the Kiev Major (4th most picked hero).
Underlord- Atrophy Aura damage reduction rescaled from 4/16/28/40 to 7/18/29/40%
- Atrophy Aura counter now lingers through death
- Added Underlord Scepter. Atrophy Aura's bonus damage is now granted to nearby allied heroes for half of the bonuses. Increases bonus damage duration by 40 seconds.
While it may sound useful and strong in theory, the Aghanim’s Scepter upgrade doesn’t work out that great in practice. The hero strives as a true utility core and as such needs items that allow him to be one. Relying on Atrophy Aura to enable the rest of his team is an expensive bet for 4200 gold and even though it does now linger through death, Underlord is still best equipped with a variety of utility items.
This Aghanim’s upgrade is very comparable to Magnus’ Agh’s pre-7.06, which would turn Empower to a 900 radius aura for allies. At level 4, it would’ve granted 50%/25%(60%/30% with talent) to heroes and added cleave/splash, which is arguably more valuable and consistent than the damage provided by Atrophy Aura.
Vengeful Spirit- Wave of Terror cooldown rescaled from 20 to 22/20/18/16
- Vengeance Aura reduced from 12/20/28/36% to 10/18/26/34%
Vengeful Spirit was the 6th most picked hero at the Kiev Major and proved to be a valuable pick for many, as she can play both support and core. These nerfs hurt her early game a bit, but it still won’t change the hero’s utility.
Windranger- Windranger Level 20 Talents are now: Windrun grants invisibility // +120 Powershot Damage
- Windranger Level 25 Talents are now: +30% Cooldown Reduction // +150 Attack Range
If one were to choose both the invisibility and the cooldown reduction talent, there’d be a downtime of only 2.6 seconds during which Windrun wasn’t available. Effectively, Windranger is granted an item at level 20, one she definitely needs to increase her survivability. While this is indeed great and a necessary buff for a core Windranger, it doesn’t change that she remains squishy and that her itemization is less than ideal for a core. She may remain a support, something that pros have run in the past couple of weeks. A more in-depth discussion around her can be found here.
firstt
Wooo Second! But seriously, this changes a lot of stuff. The full notes are mind-boggling to go through...
second
fourth?
fifth! i thot ns upgrade is cool!
6ой да детка
Great post
Terrorblade
Metamorphosis Movement Speed Loss increased from 25 to 30
While this is a buff, it also needs to be considered that illusion based heroes are nerfed overall.
Wait what?!
Not a Chen player myself, but my friend loves the combination of both his buffs and the siege creep buffs. (He loves the persuade 5 siege creeps and wreck buildings strat)
-terrorblade
wait....
Ithink terroblade is nerfed -30 movement speed is definitely a nerf. which is okay the fact that tb is one of those top tier carries rite now or last patch
The comment about the treant nerf is incorrect: the root from nature's guise does interrupt TPs, much like overgrowth does
It seems to me that strength heroes favored in this patch. We will see more Sven, NightStalker, Axe, Alchemist, Bristle, Magnus, CK, DK in TI7 compared to Kiev Major.
Treant and terroblade portions fixed, were from an older, 3am draft. Also fixed some othrr formating issues, sorry!
I dont get the nerf to naga....whyyyyyy...
alchemist got nerfed again
but still camps might saved him
the new Xp Deny is SOOO huge when it comes to support! If played correctly, I think Supports will always get lvl 20
undying with a HOD. close to unkillable in the early game
Glad for the Naga nerf, its just a played out, obnoxious hero.
Not even going to mention the UAM changes? You can stack desolator with satanic now! It's a dream come true!
I think for a while Icefrog wanted to make the moment to moment gameplay a little more thoughtful, and the original jungle changes were a reflection of that. The problem was that instead of making it a more challenging feat to jungle, it became unprofitable altogether. It's a good rollback, but maybe the xp can be reduced a mite further to encourage extra ganks.
As good as it is to see the jungle back, I think the further encouragement of lane mechanics is the biggest change to the game right now. The opportunity for a free farmer to gain xp just went through the roof, and denying creeps throughout the game is now a profitable strategy.
Great read, thanks Skim. Kunkka is a monster now at lower mmrs.
Lo, what about Pugna?
@Nixon
Right after the patch came out I saw a bunch of people complain about the change saying that if you can't land a ship you probably shouldn't dota. It's not that they're wrong, it's that they are missing the significance of the change, and Skim points it out perfectly.
I wish there was a dislike option. Agree with this very subjective article or not, you have to admit it was sloppy. I've quite frankly come to expect better work from this site.
Soul Catcher in a huge AOE is such a sleeper change. You thought Fatal Bonds was bad? Prepare to die purple.
guys... guys... Why is no one talking about techies +250 damage talent. Please @Skim give us your analysis on this.
P.S :- Love this blog. Every time a new article comes out I let out a small squeal of joy. Keep it up my friend. Cheers!!
A couple of hopefully constructive remarks:
- DENY MECHANICS: you could have mentioned as well that free farming in lane is now much more efficient than before; coupled with the decreased in creep vision it creates an imperative to gank the safelaner while doing it with more positional uncertainty
- SHRINES: roaming supports and offlaners mostly suffer from this change, which makes life a bit easier for cores
- NEUTRALS: you rightly point out that stacking is back, but an immediate consequence of this plus the points above is that trilanes are back, too
- ECONOMY: the change in gold lost per death makes it so that from level 10 on you lose more gold per death than pre-7.06
Regarding charge based abilities, doesn't Sniper's Shrapnel count as one? And wouldn't refresher refresh that as well? 14 stacks of shrapnel is somewhat comparable to an aghs blackhole IMO.
Sven is back.. bad for spectre.. sven has burst damage.. sad
"The stats and benefits it provides outside of the disarm aren’t particularly great"
Kidding us ? Halberd is the single most powerfull item in term of defense, and that, no matter what amount of hp/armor you already have (on legit build) while being quite cheap
Enchant 55% slow at early.. Love it
@Imrahil™
He was talking about heroes that regularly get refesher. I can't imagine that people would choose it over an extra dps item.
that naga buff makes me feel icefrog wants OG to win TI
@imrahil
Pretty sure the sniper shrapnel appears as a damaging and slow aura on enemy and it doesnt stack. Wouldnt really think he has a spot for refresher
The memes are dead boyz...IO arcana released
this post is filled with trash...1k post...also late af
Early jungle is nerfed.
I feel this will push roaming more which is great news.
And MK is not nerfed in my eyes. I have been playing him. He is STRONG. Just don't play him as pos4, that role got nerfed.
3-4k mmr analysis
Really, mk gives 20 armor, svens warcry gives 15, weave 32 and is it still really good carry? And u forget that ducking 4 times to attack...
@MILLENIUMinMMR
Keep in mind that warcry persists after Sven dies and the bonus from Wukong's Command ends upon the spell ending, which can happen if MK dies or moves away from the circle. It only applies to those standing within the circle (Not positive on that point but I haven't seen anything to specify otherwise). In other words Sven has a more reliable armor buff for the team with a far greater uptime ratio.
One hell of an awesome patch
OMG FIRST THX FOR THE SUPPORT GUYZ LULZ
This patch changed the game quite a bunch. Like there is no sort of BS defense up until min 50-60 because of the respawn talent, the shrine nerf, the change in death cost and the creeps