After the release of Dota 2 7.11, a lot of players reportedly got dizzy, me being one of them. After that was over, I tried to simplify the gold mechanics a bit, but they are inherently so complex, that even the simplification looked like Schrodinger’s Equation. So let’s try to simplify it even more..

A major change is that when a losing team gets a kill on an opposition hero, the gold earned now does not depend on the net worth difference. It depends solely on on the opposition player’s networth, level and his net worth ranking (if he has the highest net worth on his team, second highest and so on).

Also, there is a multiplier for the enemy hero’s networth. Earlier, that multiplier changed based on how many heroes were involved in the kill. For 1, 2 or 3 heroes, the multiplier was 0.03375. For 4 heroes, it was 0.027 and for 5 heroes, it was 0.02025. With the new mechanics, that multiplier is 0.026 for all combinations and DOES NOT CHANGE depending on the number of people involved in the gank. That multipler plays a huge part in the gold earned in a kill.

What does this tell us? It tells us that the multplier for 1, 2, 3 and 4 hero ganks have gone down but the multiplier for a 5 hero gank has increased! Which means, in simple terms, that the team with lower net worth stands to earn more gold that earlier if the entire team is involved in a kill. Also in the earlier system, the bounty depended on the net worth difference while earlier, sor a small net worth difference (less than 4000 gold), the gold earned used to be substancially low. Let us look at a graphical representation of this:

High Net Worth Team:

Hero with the highest net worth: Gyrocopter

Case 1: Level 15, Net Worth = 10000

Case 2: Level 25, Net Worth = 20000

Low Net Worth Team:

Hero with the highest net worth: Morphling

If Morphling solo kills Gyrocopter, how much gold does he stand to earn from the old and new mechanics? The graph below shows that if the Gyrocopter has a higher level and net worth, Morphling will earn more gold (old or new mechanics, doesn’t matter). The second interesting thing is, Morphling would get more gold from the new mechanics ONLY if the net worth difference in the teams is less than 3000. If the lead goes beyond that, the gold earned by killing an opposition hero solo will go down. So basically, the lsoing team is at a disadvantage here. Where does the advantage lie?

The advantage lies in the scenario that the entire team ganks together (as we saw earlier, the multiplier for a 5 man gank has gone up). Consider the scenario that the team that has lower net worth smokes, stays together and gets that much required kill on the opposition Gyrocopter. The graph suggests that irrespective of the net worth difference, you will earn more gold with the new mechanics (in both cases). The gold that a team earns is divided in the team based on the net worth tank. The hero with the highest net worth gets the least gold while the one with the lowest net worth gets the most gold.

1st net worth – 14.67 % of total gold

2nd net worth – 16.57 % of total gold

3rd net worth – 19.05 % of total gold

4th net worth – 22.48 % of total gold

5th net worth – 27.24 % of total gold

The meta is already a team fight meta and ganking as five falls right into the game plans of most of the drafts seen in tournaments these days. I am not sure how this change will have an effect on game durations. But considering the net worth difference does not play any part in the comeback component (component for team with lower net worth), it will be very beneficial for teams who have a small deficit (of let’s say 1k or 2k). The change has the potential to make close games even closer as the net worth graph will keep fluctuating around the zero mark.

All in all, the mechanics point towards fighting as five when playing from behind. The other changes also benefit teams that are trailing (the changes to buyback) which should make for a more competitive