Valve has released the latest Dota 2 update with the 7.15 patch. The new patch comes bang in the middle of the ongoing Dota 2 minor, GESC Thailand. The patch comes at an opportune moment after the Group stage, so there is some continuity maintained in the event.

Dota 2 receives bi-weekly patch updates in a new experimental period. The bi-weekly updates essentially allow the developer to quick-fix and balance the game. It is an experiment and the Dota Developers will review the progress after 6 months.

The 7.15 update

The 7.15 Dota 2 update brings about several changes to the gold earned by the team. The nerfs to the gold earned for the team as well as the changes to the bounty rune are massive. These changes will force the game towards being more lane oriented than roaming supports and roaming cores.

The full list of changes:

Bounty Runes now spawn every 5 minutes

The Bounty Runes now grants gold to each player (40 + 3/min)

Bounty Runes now fully fills bottles

Bottles heal rate increased from 80/40 HP/MP to 100/50

Melee Creeps base gold bounty reduced by 2

Range Creeps base gold bounty reduced by 1

Range Creeps gold bounty increase per upgrade changed from 1 to 3 (With these changes, the total gold difference on the map at 40 minutes is 2052 less gold)

Melee Barracks team bounty reduced from 225 to 175

Ground Courier bounty reduced from 175 to 125 (Flying Courier is still 175)

Tower denies now remove all gold instead of just half (previously it gave 50/60/70/80 for tier 1/2/3/4 denies)

Agility heroes base strength increased by 1

Intelligence heroes base intelligence reduced by 2, except for bane (base damage adjusted to remain the same)

Neutral camp stack bounty increased from 20% to 25%

Ancient HP regen increased from 8 to 12

Observer Wards restock cooldown reduced from 150 to 135

Observer Wards cost reduced from 80 to 75

Enchanted Mango HP regen reduced from 0.7 to 0.6

Roshan Slam damage growth increased from 8 per minute to 10

The Roshan base damage increased from 65 to 75

Roshan base health increased from 5500 to 6000

Removed a tree to the bottom right of the dire mid lane, near the map ledge

Minor adjustments to the position of the power-up runes

Reduced spawn box sizes for a few of Dire neutral spawns

Removed a tree to the right of the bottom Radiant bounty rune

Moved the bottom Dire T1 tower slightly down

Bottom Dire bounty rune moved slightly to the right

Moved the bottom Dire shrine location slightly down

Moved the top Dire T1 slightly to the right

Slight adjustments to the line of sight and trees to the left of the mid-Dire T1

Ranged creeps now always spawn behind the melee creeps

Captains Mode round time increased from 30 to 35

Captains Mode second ban phase order changed from 2nd/1st/2nd/1st to 1st/2nd/1st/2nd

Key Changes in 7.15

The death of the roaming core/support

The previous patch saw the importance of roaming supports as well as roaming core heroes. It was not uncommon to see Bounty Hunters being able to level up and farm with the help of bounty runes and courier kills. They were able to constantly apply pressure on various lanes and their presence was a dominant one. Roaming played a massive role in the previous patch and the changes in the new patch definitely seem to punish roaming heroes.

The current meta will proceed towards more stable lanes. The frantic fights and movement across the map for the 2-minute bounty runes are a thing of the past. However, with the new rune spawn system, we might just be looking concentrated team fights every five minutes. The new bounty system ensures that the entire team receives money for the bounty runes. It also ensures that the team as a whole will benefit from the bounty runes. This is great for the supports especially in the mid to late game, it does limit their capability to earn gold early in the match.

Deny your towers

A tower deny in the previous patch ensured that the enemy team receives only 50% of the bounty.

Tower denies now remove all gold instead of just half (previously it gave 50/60/70/80 for tier 1/2/3/4 denies)

This is obviously a huge swing of gold and if you can deny your towers, it will ensure a significant reduction in the enemy gold. The potential of totally eliminating the tower gold to the enemy ensures that teams will be less focuses on gaining objectives.

Objective based gaming was dominant throughout the EPICENTER XL. It might be in the form of towers or Roshan or the more building damage. But with the reduction in the tower bounty gold as well as the possibility of a deny, it means teams will be more focused on farming.

Base Changes to Agility and Intelligence heroes

Agility heroes base strength increased by 1. Intelligence heroes base intelligence reduced by 2, except for bane (base damage adjusted to remain the same).

So while Agility heroes will gain a bit more strength and are tankier in the early game, the Intelligence heroes ( mostly supports) will have a greater impact in the early game. Their increased intelligence allows them to use more skills as well as increasing their damage. This definitely calls for more early game Intelligence heroes domination.

There are several other changes which will affect the overall gameplay. However, the bounty nerfs and the overall gold earning nerfs are definitely the ones with the most impact. Alchemist is the hero that will suffer the most in the new patch. The lanes are definitely going to change a lot since once you commit to a push you want to be ensuring the tower gold for your team.

The next Major to use the 7.15 Gameplay update will be the MDL Changsha Major. It begins on 14th May, 2018 and continues till the 20th of May 2018.

Source: Dota 2.com