Valve has shipped the latest Dota 2 update to the Main client, just in time for the ongoing EPICENTER XL tournament. The new update brings about lots of changes, a bit too many according to some pros. The biggest news from the update is obviously the addition of Techies to the Captains Mode. Squee, Spleen, and Spoon which is also known as Techies will be planting mines all over the map, even in Captains Mode.

However, the update brings about several more changes which are bound to affect the professional play. We should not be seeing Techies in professional Games anytime soon, however, the teams do have to change their play-style and strategies because of several other changes.

We take a look to analyze which changes are for the better and for the worse. The professional scene is going to change due to the update. Here are the biggest changes in the current patch and how they affect the game.

Techies is finally in the Captains Mode

Techies has long been rumored to be added to the Captains Mode. With 7.14, he is finally added to the Captains Mode and all the memes about the hero ( not being in CM Mode) can finally be put to rest.

We don’t have any updates on how strong or bad the hero is in the current meta. With the teams already informed that Techies will be joining the Captains mode soon, we have heard about teams practicing with the hero. It will be interesting to see if any team plays Techies at EPICENTER XL, and also to see how they play it. Maybe casual players can learn a thing or two from the pros on their Techies playstyle.

While this is the highlight of the patch notes for many, it is not the biggest change in the patch updates. There are so many changes affecting around 60 heroes in total. In addition to this, there are changes to the bounty runes, wards as well as creep waves detailed below.

Offlane is the Suicide Lane once again

First creep wave no longer draws aggro on the side lanes until they meet the other wave

The previous meta saw offlaners pulling the offlane creeps to their tower in order to gain XP and farm at level 1. This was a really easy way to gain XP and probably farm. The safe lane supports could do very little to stop this, especially at Level 1.

This change means that the Offlaner would have to do a lot more and risk himself in order to gain XP and farm in the offlane. Ofcourse it does mean that the offlane is again a very difficult lane for any hero. In previous patches, the offlane was called the suicide lane and it does seem that the game is heading towards that direction again.

Item Changes

Force Staff Nerfed

Force Staff and it’s item upgrade, the Hurricane Pike were one of the most used items in the previous meta.

The Force staff is a very cheap positional and HP regen item. It was great for supports, but the cores also built the item consistently.

Force Staff: Now requires a Ring of Regeneration instead of a Ring of Health (total price is still the same)

Manacost increased from 25 to 100

Force Staff: Health regen reduced from 5 to 2

Hurricane Pike: Health regen reduced from 5.5 to 2

Hurricane Pike: Manacost increased from 25 to 100

The new change uses the much cheaper Ring of Regeneration instead of Ring of Health. This means that the HP regen on the item has been reduced significantly. However, it does not come with a price reduction a the Force staff still costs the same.

This basically makes the item more of a positional item rather than an HP regen item. While cores will still build it, just because it can build up to the Hurricane Pike, it does not feel as strong anymore. The time and money invested in farming a Hurricane will have to be carefully chosen depending on the enemy lineup. Since the Hurricane Pike does not provide the same level of regeneration as previously, the cores are left very vulnerable to potential ganks and team fights.

Helm of Dominator will see some minor changes too. The item has received some minor nerfs to the item, which makes the item with fewer positives. It no longer grants the extra attack speed and has a greater bounty on dominated creeps.

It’s justified to buy a gem to deward wards now

The Observer ward bounty has been reworked to make it worthwhile to deward them late game. The extra gold bounty which scales late game is a good incentive to buy a gem to deward the wards.

Observer Ward: Gold/XP Bounty rescaled from a constant 100 Gold and 100 XP to growing over time with 100 + 2/min Gold and 50 + 4/min XP

Changes to Sange & Yasha

Sange & Yasha has received several changes to the core components. The biggest buff comes to Sange which now grants Greater Main to the hero. The buff also applies when you upgrade the item to Heaven’s Halberd.

At the same time, both Sange and Yasha will see an increase in the recipe cost. The changes increase the total cost of Sange & Yasha by about 400 extra gold.

A few other changes

The Magic stick and Enchanted Mango have received slight nerfs. With the Magic Stick no longer using a Mango, the total cost of the item has increased by 50. It also provides a better spread of stats compared to the previous version. It is a very small nerf, but it does affect the early game in a big way.

At the same time, the Magic stick will have a maximum of 20 charges compared to the previous 17. This allows greater burst healing and mana restoration, which is the core focus of the item. Enchanted Mango is now cheaper but it also provides less HP Regen.

Maelstrom is an item that has not been seen at the highest level for quite some time. With the recent buffs to the item, it is exceptionally good in its current form.While the item no longer grants the excess 25 attack damage, the prock lightning damage has definitely been buffed by a lot. It is a very good counter to evasion since lightning can no longer be evaded. The item is much more balanced right now and is actually a decent buy.

Hero Changes

We will skim over some of the more important hero changes. There have been several changes to the heroes and their abilities. Most of the changes are just balance changes with slight tweaks to see how they balance the game.

But some heroes have received significant changes to their abilities which will severely impact their performance in a certain role.

Alchemist

Alchemist has received big buffs in the form of the greater bounty from bounty runes. His ultimate health regen has been increased, breaking the trend of the 7.14 update. Alchemist is going to be tougher to kill while receiving a big farm bonus from bounty runes.

We might see Alchemist return simply because of the huge gold advantage he can provide for the team.

Broodmother

Broodmother has been nerfed significantly by eliminating the armor on the Spiderlings and Spiderlites. This basically means that all physical damage abilities will do way more damage on the Broodlings as they attempt to push through towers. At the same time, the gold bounty earned from the Spiderlings and Spiderlites has been significantly reduced. So they will not be a source of a farm for the opposition, but at the same time, the heroes will not be at a loss against Broodmother.

The previous tournaments have shown us that Broodmother can become overwhelmingly powerful in the early-mid game. Her ability to control lanes and constantly harass with the spawn spiderlings damage is still the same. However, she cannot push through towers as fast as before cause of the reduced armor.

IO – An easier support playstyle

Io: Tether can now target Spell Immune allies

The cast point for Tether changed from 0.001 to 0

Tether no longer applies slow on impact

Io’s second ability Spirits now apply a 20/40/60/80% movement speed slow on impact for 0.3 seconds

Spirits now have two fixed positions they go to, 700 and 100 (No longer granular with toggles, but just a single press action)

Io: Spirits In/Out is just one ability now, alternates the direction (has a 1.5-second cooldown, same hotkey as spirits ability. Base cooldown/duration is still the same)

Creep damage from Spirits increased from 8/14/20/26 to 10/18/26/34

Spirits manacost from 150 to 120/130/140/150

Io: Spirits collision AoE increased from 70 to 110

Spirits explosion damage AoE increased from 300 to 360

Level 10 Talent changed from +400 Spirits Max Range to +25% XP

The Level 25 Talent changed from Tether Stuns to -60s Relocate Cooldown

The selfless support in the game, IO will be in a much better position and a much easier hero for players. Valve has reduced the number of buttons on the hero and there will be a toggle ability to change the spirits from max range to melee range. The tether no longer provides slow and it’s sole focus is to tether and heal your ally. However, the spirits definitely do most of the work in the new update, including the movement speed slow.

Necrophos – What happened?

Necrophos: Reaper’s Scythe respawn time penalty increased from 10/20/30 to 15/30/45

We have no idea whether this change is a buff or a nerf. While at face value it does seem to strengthen the forgotten hero, it really does nothing to solve the various problems on the hero. He is still very bad in the Laning stage and the gameplay still is the same.

The reaper’s scythe respawn cooldown is good in the late game but getting to a good late game with Necro in the laning phase is quite difficult already.

OmniKnight nerfed heavily in the Laning stage

Omniknight is much weaker in the laning stage with the new update. The hero which has seen a lot of playtime as a solo offlane hero in previous patches will have an almost 25% increase in the cooldown. Purification cooldown increased from 11 to 14/13/12/11 which makes it very difficult for the hero to be in the laning phase. With the armor reduced by one, it is another problem for the hero.

Terrorblade – Not as strong anymore

Base HP regen reduced from 3 to 1.5

Reflection illusion now disappears when the reflection slow debuff is removed

Sunder minimum HP rescaled from 25% to 35/30/25%

Sunder cast range reduced from 550 to 475

The biggest change in this update is that reflection illusion now disappears on the removal of the slow debuff. This basically means that Terrorblade reflection ability will not be as overpowered late game. The ability granted the buffs of any aura items that the enemy has built. With the current update, heroes can remove the reflection on themselves by using BKB’s, lotus orbs etc

There are also several more minor changes which will reduce Terrorblade’s ability to survive. However, most of his abilities and talent in the middle game remain the same. He can still have the low cooldown on sunder and reflection, but now that they are easy to counter, he does not look as strong anymore.

Tusk

Tusk has been really strong in the current meta. The Ice Shards are extremely strong right from Level 1. Their insanely long duration can put enemy players out of position and punish them. However, 7 seconds on level 1 does seem to be a little harsh. Thankfully with the new update, the ability will scale with levels.

Ice Shards duration reduced from 7 to 4/5/6/7

Snowball Speed reduced from 675 to 600/625/650/675

Frozen Sigil no longer provides flying vision (ground only now)

Valve has dealt out another big nerf to the Frozen Sigil Ability. Players can no longer use the Sigil to provide flying vision. So while it still provides a great aura, it is no longer useful for scouting and providing crucial high ground information.

Witch Doctor

The 7.14 update brings about just one change to Witch Doctor, but it severely impacts the hero’s viability in the game.

Witch Doctor: Maledict cooldown increased from 20 to 50/40/30/20

The Witch Doctor Maledict ability received a huge nerf in its cooldown. Adding almost 30 seconds to the ability cooldown definitely impacts how strong the hero is in the laning phase. A player can still level up the Maledict ability early in the game, but it is the most effective only around Level 5-7. At level 1-3 it is an ability with a 50-second cooldown, which is a very long cooldown for a support who is supposed to be strong in the laning phase.

Wind Ranger

Windranger has received several buffs with multiple abilities. Combine this with the Maelstrom changes and Windranger might just be back in the meta.

Windranger: Powershot damage increased from 180/260/340/420 to 180/270/360/450

Windranger: Focus Fire attack speed increased from 350 to 400

Focus Fire now always fires on the target unless you are attacking another target, or pressed stop and are not moving.

The increased damage from Powershot and the attack speed buff to Focus fire attack are definitely great at improving the damage output of the hero. Powershot still remains the same on initial levels and is great as you scale it up. The focus Fire attack speed increase might actually make it valuable to level up the skill early.

Final Thoughts

The overall update seems to be a nerf on the low priced items which provide HP Regen. With the Force staff, the Magic stick and the Enchanted Mango nerfs, the game has reduced the HP regen on many of the items.

You can read the entire patch notes on the official webpage. It will be interesting to see how the changes affect the professional scene. The next month is full of Dota 2 tournaments. Which update are you most excited about? Let us know in comments below.