Image: Valve Software
Looking to increase your MMR in Dota 2's patch 7.38b? Here are the best heroes to play in every role.
It has been two weeks since Dota 2 developer Valve Software released the game-changing Patch 7.38, which brought sweeping changes to the map as well as a host of hero adjustments including significant nerfs, buffs, and reworks. A minor balance update, Patch 7.38b, soon folloed and attempted to tone down some overpowered heroes. The wave of gameplay updates has massively shifted the metagame, with certain heroes now dominating pubs.
If you’re looking for the best heroes to spam in Dota 2 right now, we got you covered. We have compiled the best hero choice for every role below and explained what makes them powerful in this meta.
Best carry: Lifestealer
Lifestealer is the top choice for carry players in Patch 7.38. Although the hero wasn’t a prominent pick in the previous patch, the new buffs and Facet changes have put him in the spotlight - both in pubs and tournaments.
Patch 7.38 reworked two of his Facets, with the most popular pick being the FleshFeast Facet, which enhances the following abilities:
- Feast: Max HP per Hero Kill increased from 15 to 25/35/45/55 depending on the current level of Infest
- Open Wounds: Cooldown is reset if a hero dies while afflicted by Open Wounds
This Facet allows Lifestealer to scale into the late game, becoming tankier and harder to kill - especially if you've had a solid early game. On top of that, the Open Wounds cooldown reset makes it even easier to snowball during team fights.
Lifestealer is also a great counter-pick against current meta heroes like Abaddon and Tidehunter. With his built-in magic resistance, attack speed, slow, and more, Lifestealer is a well-rounded choice in the safe lane.
The standard item build for Lifestealer carry in Patch 7.38 includes Radiance, Sange and Yasha, and Aghanim’s Scepter.
Best mid laner: Dragon Knight
Dragon Knight is one of the role-versatile, right-click heroes that have survived the nerf hammer in Patch 7.38b. Despite some nerfs to his most popular Facet, Fire Dragon, the hero remains a solid pick in the midlane, barely suffering any win rate changes.
The hero’s Fire Dragon Facet was nerfed with the following changes:
- Dragon Tail: AoE while in Dragon Form decreased from 175 to 100
- Wyrm’s Wrath: Magic Damage on Attacks decreased from 10/20/30/40 to 6/12/18/24
Dragon Knight's Fire Dragon Facet enables him to deal massive damage without heavily relying on items. When paired with basic core items like Sange and Yasha, along with a Black King Bar, Dragon Knight can become incredibly tanky and hard to kill. With his ease of play, solid laning phase, strong damage output, and durability, he’s a well-rounded and powerful pick as a midlaner.
The go-to items for a midlane Dragon Knight includes Mask of Madness, Sange and Yasha, Black King Bar, Blink Dagger, and Daedalus.
Best offlaner: Tidehunter
There are many strong offlaners in the current meta, such as Night Stalker and Abaddon, but in our list, Tidehunter stands out as the top choice. Not only is he simple to play with abilities that are easy to execute, but the Patch 7.38 update has made him even tankier than before. And yes, even after the 7.38b nerfs, the Leviathan is still a strong choice.
Tidehunter boasts two solid Facets, both of which are highly popular. The 7.38 patch gave a significant buff to his Krill Eater Facet, which no longer reduces his Base Strength.
Krill Eater: Tidehunter begins the game much smaller with a -50 Attack Range and -50 Anchor Smash radius. Tidehunter grows larger with Experience, gaining Attack Range, Anchor Smash radius per level. Strength gain also increased.
In addition, Tidehunter’s Kraken Shell ability also received buffs, now allowing it to be activated to block 40% more damage, at the cost of sacrificing movement speed. This boost significantly amps up Tidehunter’s durability during fights.
Kraken Shell: Now has 50% block value against creeps and can be activated to double the block amount at the cost of 40% movement speed. Lasts 4 seconds. Mana Cost: 45. Cooldown: 30s
Tidehunter is incredibly tanky without relying heavily on key items. He can also build the “Dead in the Water” Aghanim's Shard, which helps control versatile heroes in the meta, like Ember Spirit and Puck.
Tidehunter’s go-to item build for Patch 7.38 includes: Vladimir’s Offering, Mage Slayer, Blink Dagger, Veil of Discord, and Shiva’s Guard.
Best position 4 support: Zeus
Zeus may not be the traditional position 4 hero that players are accustomed to, as he is more of a semi-damage dealer than a versatile roamer or stunner. However, Zeus’ incredible magic burst, global presence, and vision advantage make him a solid choice for the position 4 role.
In Patch 7.38, Zeus received significant buffs to both of his Facets, with the most popular being the Livewire Facet. The upgrades to Livewire are as follows:
Static Field: Min Damage increased from 2% to 2.5/3/3.5/4% and Max Damage increased from 4/5/6/7% to 5/6/7/8%.
This increase in damage allows Zeus to deal massive bursts, easily eliminating squishy supports and even cores like Phantom Assassin and Storm Spirit.
In the new map, which is more difficult to ward and deward, Zeus’ Lightning Bolt is also a valuable asset to control areas. The fact still stands despite the 7.38b nerfs which decreased the vision gained from the Lightning Bolt.
For a position 4 Zeus, the go-to items are Aghanim's Scepter, Refresher Orb, and defensive items like Force Staff and Eul's Scepter.
Best position 5 support: Winter Wyvern
Winter Wyvern is incredibly overpowered in the current meta, making her one of the most reliable support heroes. Patch 7.38 introduced a host of buffs to Wyvern’s base stats, including Intelligence, Base Damage, and Base Attack Speed.
However, the key to Wyvern’s strength lies in her Recursive Facet, which upgrades:
Winter’s Curse: Makes all affected enemies take 125% of physical, magical and pure damage from Winter Wyvern. Whenever the cursed enemy dies, Winter's Curse is recast on the lowest health enemy hero affected by the Curse. The recast has minimum, maximum, and bonus durations equal to 50% of the default spell.
The Recursive Facet acts like a mini-Refresher, doubling the effectiveness of Winter’s Curse. This makes it an even stronger counter to the rising right-click hero meta, particularly against heroes like Phantom Assassin and Lifestealer. Additionally, Wyvern’s Cold Embrace provides strong defensive utility against right-click damage as well.
With such a powerful ability kit, Winter Wyvern doesn’t need complex itemization. As a position 5 support, the go-to item build typically includes Blink Dagger for initiation, along with defensive items like Glimmer Cape and Force Staff for survivability.
You can find the patch notes for 7.38 and 7.38b here.
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