A fresh Dota 2 patch has been laid out ahead of DreamLeague Season 29.
Dota 2’s latest letter patch 7.41c has dropped, bringing a fresh set of buffs and nerfs for players to study.
Some of the community would enjoy the change, with most of the meta-dominant heroes tackled and balanced out. However, over on the professional scene, teams now have just a week to adapt before the next major tournament, DreamLeague Season 29, begins. Attention turns to whether we will see a completely new meta emerge from the top of the chain, or something similar to PGL Wallachia Season 8 will pan out instead.
Let’s take a look at the key changes in Patch 7.41c.
A different Roshan contest ahead
One glance at the patch notes and immediately, a single mechanic change stands out significantly.
Following Patch 7.41c, heroes that previously could provide flying vision into the Roshan pit from the outside–and vice versa–can no longer do so.
This affects Clockwerk during Jetpack, Monkey King during Tree Dance, Drow Ranger's Glacier, Treant Protector's Eye in the Forest, Visage's Familiars, and Night Stalker during Dark Ascension.
This essentially changes drafting and teamfighting odds during the crucial Roshan contest, so it’ll be interesting to see how the popularity for the affected heroes turn out.
What are the top item changes in Patch 7.41c
The nerf hammer lands heavily in this update, with Harpoon, Mage Slayer, and Silver Edge taking the biggest hits.
Harpoon can no longer allow the caster to move while dragging enemies if the caster is rooted, leashed, or bound. This also prevents any movement when casting towards a tree under those conditions.
The infamous Mage Slayer sees its damage-over-time reduced from 40 to 35. Silver Edge has also been toned down, with reduced movement speed and an increased cooldown.
Several smaller nerfs have also been applied to Boots of Bearing, Disperser, Shiva’s Guard, Soul Ring, and heart of Tarrasque.
On the buff side, items such as Crella’s Crozier, Essence Distiller, and Specialist’s Array have received improvements, alongside balancing adjustments to Bloodstone.
What heroes were nerfed in Patch 7.41c?
There were plenty of heroes affected in the 7.41c update, but–as usual–the dominant meta picks were the main targets.
One of the top heroes of recent tournaments and high-ranked pub games, Lone Druid, has received multiple nerfs.
The Spirit Bear now requires more mana to summon, while lifesteal have been adjusted to follow general rules, resulting in a 40% creep penalty. Its Aghanim’s Shard Savage Roar stats have also been nerfed with lesser duration and movement speed bonus.
At level 10, the talent has been reworked, replacing the reduced Spirit Bear cooldown with an additional +5 seconds to True Form duration. Meanwhile, the Spirit Bear itself now grants slightly reduced gold and experience bounty, and the level 25 talent has been toned down with reduced bonus building damage.
Hoodwink, a highly contested support pick, has received a light rework rather than a heavy nerf. While base damage has been increased, her agility has been slightly reduced. Her Sharpshooter ability has also been adjusted, now allowing Hoodwink to remain in place and ignore knockback when rooted.
Another popular support, Phoenix, has been nerfed across multiple abilities. Dying Light damage has been reduced, Sun Ray healing has been lowered, and Supernova damage has also been decreased.
Favoured offlane hero Pangolier has seen increased mana costs on Swashbuckle and Roll Up, alongside a nerf to the level 10 Lucky Shot armour reduction talent.
Tiny has also been rebalanced, with reduced attack speed but increased Toss bonus damage. His talent tree has been adjusted, removing strength bonuses at level 10 in favour of +2 Tree Grab attacks, while the level 15 talent now replaces Grow’s attack speed bonus with +10 Strength.
The “Scepter-charity” Alchemist playstyle has been toned down, with Greevil’s Greed Aghanim’s Scepter gold bonus reduced from +6 to +3. His ultimate ability has also received a health regeneration reduction.
Batrider has been significantly weakened, with reduced damage on Firefly and Flaming Lasso. His Shard ability, Napalm, also deals reduced building damage.
Meanwhile, Beastmaster has been hit across the board, including a reduction in base strength. Wild Axes now costs more mana, boars deal less damage, and Drums of Slom has received notable damage reductions.
What heroes were buffed in Patch 7.41c?
Several underpicked heroes have been strengthened and hopefully, we get to see them more in matches.
Mirana’s damage has been increased across her abilities and the Outworld Destroyer now benefits from reduced mana cost on Objurgation and an increased ultimate radius. Timbersaw has received improved damage output and buffed for better tankiness with increased health regeneration from Reactive Armour.
Meanwhile, Troll Warlord has been made stronger in the early game, with Whirling Axes receiving reduced mana costs for ranged form and significantly increased melee damage.
Read the complete 7.41c patch notes here.
Patch 7.41c will have some time to settle in pub matches before its competitive debut, with DreamLeague Season 29 set to begin in just over a week. Given the high stakes of the tournament, hero picks and strategies are expected to be more refined rather than experimental–as teams eye for a spot at the Dota 2 Esports World Cup.
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