The release of Dota 2 patch 7.32 has been followed up with patch 7.32b, which fixes a lot of bugs and brings balance changes.
Dota 2 patch 7.32 was released after the first day of ESL One Malaysia, and a majority of the tournament was played on it. Based on the games played there as well as data from pubs, a balance patch in the form of 7.32b has been released.
The balance patch arrives just before the beginning of the TI11 qualifiers, with the first one (Eastern Europeand South America) starting on the 3rd of September. A lot of bugs have been fixed in the 7.32b update, but besides that, there were a few changes that will alter game play. The entire set of changes can be found here. Here’s a look at some of the prominent ones.
Soul Ring
This is a massive change, as Soul Ring is an item that is purchased very early on in the game, and a hero getting the Soul Ring can drastically alter lane dynamics. An increase in 155 gold during that stage of the game can affect the direction in which lane matchups go.
Hero Nerfs
Majority of the balance changes from patch 7.32b are hero nerfs. More than a few heroes were nerfed in patch 7.32, but a lot of them kept getting picked in the professional scene, so a few more nerfs have followed. Heroes getting hit hard include Batrider, Dawnbreaker and Dazzle, along with slaps on the wrist for Razor and Tiny.
Batrider is possibly the hardest hit hero of Dota 2 patch 7.32b. The hero sees nerfs to two skills and a talent. However, Batirider seems so strong in the current meta, that there is a good chance that he continues to be popular in the TI11 qualifiers.
Dawnbreaker and Dazzle are the other two heroes who will feel possibly experience a reduction in pick rate and win rate. Both these heroes, along with Batrider, have been popular picks in professional games for the past few months. Although the nerfs here might not completely take them out of the running, there will be more thought involved behind picking them.
Like anything with a lot of inertia, it takes time to decelerate heroes popular in a Dota 2 meta when the game moves on to a new patch. The same thing possibly happened with ESL One Malaysia – as patch 7.32 was dropped in the middle of the tournament, teams stuck to what they had been practicing and did not experiment a lot with new heroes. With teams getting a break and balance patch 7.32b further pointing them in the right direction, we are bound to see a lot newer heroes in the TI11 qualifiers in September.
