Dota 2, as promised, brought some rather interesting alterations to heroes with Update 7.27b. The biggest change has to be for Bloodseeker and Clinkz. There are also interesting changes made to Razor and Windranger as well. Other heroes, such as Dazzle and Drow Ranger, got some buffs with 7.27b.
Item Changes
Before we go deeper into the changes made to the heroes mentioned, let’s take a quick look at item changes. While Echo Sabre can now be disassembled, the items Abyssal Blade, Mjollnir, Silver Edge, and Solar Crest can no longer be disassembled. That Echo Sabre can be disassembled offers a lot of new gameplay strategies.
Meanwhile, the Veil of Discord should be an excellent item choice for those who deal magic damage as it can now be applied to invulnerable units. Monkey King Bar has been nerfed with the recipe cost now at 50 instead of 350. Nerfed as well was Orchid Malevolence, with attack speed lowered to 25 from 30. A bit of good news though, Hand of Midas is now cheaper by 100 gold at 1750.
Hero Changes
Now on to the heroes. Let’s start with Clinkz. Burning Army is no longer Clinkz' ultimate skill, but instead is now a scepter ability. The ultimate is now the reworked Death Pact, which no longer adds a permanent damage boost from kills. Making a return as a basic ability is Strafe, which not only adds to the attack speed but also provides 100% evasion against ranged attackers. This should make Clinkz a difficult opponent particularly for ranged cores as well as ranged supports.
Bloodseeker appears to have experienced the biggest change. His Bloodrage skill not only increases attack speed, but also improves spell amplification. In addition, this skill can now be cast without ever interrupting movement. You’ve probably noticed that this skill no longer restores the hero’s health by killing units. This effect is now with Thirst. Combined with the changes to the talents, this makes Bloodseeker into a completely different hero.
Meanwhile for Razor, his Static Link underwent an interesting change. The skill no longer disarms the hero nor does invisible attacks made through the link. This change now allows Razor to attack while moving, pretty similar to Windranger. By default, the skills automatically attack the target linked, but it also lets the hero attack a different target if wanted.
Speaking of Windranger, one disadvantage of her Focus Fire skills is that once activated on a target, and the target has Blade Mail, it’s pretty much over for her. With Update 7.27b, players can now pause the firing with the stop or halt commands. The skill can be activated again by right clicking on the target. This will definitely ensure that opponents find a different way to deal with her.
W did mention about other heroes that got buffs. Dazzle, for example, had his Talents improved. At Level 10 the Mana Regen effect is now +1.7 while at Level 15 the Shadow Wave Heal/Damage is now +30. Drow Ranger also was buffed, with her base armor increased by 1 with base damage and movement speed now at 290.
There are a lot to digest with this new update. You can find the complete changes here.
