It doesn't come as a surprise that Valve released a patch after the release of a major update. That's usually what happens and Patch 7.36a brings with it a lot of fixes. What's even more interesting are the changes done to some of the heroes. We say that because it's mostly nerfs. A lot of the heroes who benefited from 7.36 got handed down with the nerf hammer.
Take Templar Assassin for example. Her Psi Blades became an innate ability which could be leveled up with skill points. While 7.36 rescaled the range, it seems that it wasn't enough. The new patch reduces the range further from 550/600/650/700/750 to 350/550/600/650/700. This pretty much slows her down at the early stages of the game. Damage from Meld has been lowered as well with the shield per Instance of Refraction also reduced.
The Blade is Less Sharp
Another hero that benefited from 7.36 is Juggernaut. His new innate ability Duelist allowed him to deal more damage. This resulted in a high pick rate and even high win rate. With 7.36a, the bonus damage from Omnislash has been reduced further from 30/35/40 to 25/30/35. Damage Per Tick of Blade Fury has also been decreased. We'll see what happens in the next few days just how significant the nerf is.
A New Coat
Axe also got hit with nerfs. Originally, his innate ability Coat of Blood was a passive that couldn't be leveled up. This time around, 7.36a lets it level with Culling. However, the permanent armor gained has been scaled and is now at 0.4/0.6/0.8/1.0. Strength increase of One Man Army was also reduced from 60% of armor to 50%.
Less Shield Power
Abaddon wasn't so lucky as well and had one of his facets nerfed. The Mephitic Shroud Aphotic Shield was lowered from 180/225/270/315 to 170/210/250/290. Meanwhile, the Mephitic Shroud Aphotic Shield Damage percent of the absorption amount was also lowered from 80% to 75%.
The attack speed from Curse of Avernus has also been lowered.
What do you think? Are the nerfs just right? You can check out all the fixes introduced with patch 7.36a and the nerfs done to the heroes here. Learn more about innate abilities and facets here.
Dota 2 is available for the PC via Steam.
