A new balance patch for Dota 2 is out this week, a little more than a month before The International returns to KeyArena, featuring a cornucopia of major and minor changes to the game’s growing list of champions. Plenty of heroes remain just as they were before the patch. But many players will notice changes to their favorite Dota 2 character(s) the next time they login for a few rounds of International Ranked.
The new balance patch could have major implications for this year’s Dota 2 championship. The annual tournament returns to Seattle in early August, and build 7.06e adjusts some of the most popular characters on the Dota 2 roster. The majority of the roster remains unaltered. But the list of heroes tweaked this week (a group of 39) includes Alchemist, Io, Queen of Pain and Spectre, consistent presences on the competitive circuit. In some cases, Valve has modified the base stats or possible talents for a specific character. Others have had specific skills adjusted, like Dark Seer getting a longer cooldown on Surge or the nerf to Lina’s Dragon Slave damage.
Valve also adjusted a handful of items this week. Veil of Discord will cost a bit more, thanks to an increased recipe cost, going forward. Bloodthorn’s damage has been very slightly nerfed and the disarm timer Heaven’s Halberd puts on enemy ranged heroes has been reduced by half a second. On the plus side, small neutral camps will provide a bit more gold than they used to. So it should be a bit easier to make money from now on.
Here are the complete patch notes for Dota 2 v7.06e, via Valve:
Neutral small camps gold bounty increased by 10%
Veil of Discord: Recipe cost increased from 400 to 500
Bloodthorn: Critical Strike damage reduced from 1.45x to 1.4x
Heaven's Halberd: Disarm duration on ranged heroes reduced from 5.5 to 5
Alchemist: Base Agility increased from 11 to 16
Alchemist: Greevil's Greed Bounty Rune multiplier increased from 2x to 2.5x
Arc Warden: Turn rate improved from 0.4 to 0.6
Batrider: Flaming Lasso cooldown increased from 90/75/60 to 100/80/60
Brewmaster: Fire brewling health increased from 1200 to 1300
Brewmaster: Level 10 Talent changed from +30 Attack Speed to +30 Damage
Brewmaster: Level 25 Talent changed from +120 Damage to +140 Attack Speed
Broodmother: Level 20 Talent from +12 Spiders Attack Damage to +14
Bristleback: Base damage reduced by 4
Chen: Hand of God Heal increased from 225/325/425 to 225/350/475
Chen: Level 20 Talent increased from +90 Gold/Min to +120
Clockwerk: Battery Assault manacost increased from 75 to 100
Clockwerk: Base damage reduced by 3
Dark Seer: Surge cooldown increased from 12/11/10/9 to 13/12/11/10
Enchantress: Nature's Attendants manacost reduced from 125/140/155/170 to 125
Io: Spirits manacost increased from 120/130/140/150 to 150
Legion Commander: Press The Attack cast range reduced from 800 to 700
Leshrac: Level 15 Talent increased from +10% Magic Resistance to +15%
Leshrac: Pulse Nova damage increased from 100/130/160 to 100/140/180
Lifestealer: Strength gain reduced from 3.3 to 3.1
Lina: Dragon Slave damage reduced from 110/180/250/320 to 85/160/235/310
Lina: Level 25 Talent from +40/4% Fiery Soul to +35/3%
Luna: Level 10 Talent from +15 Movement Speed to +20
Luna: Level 20 Talent from +10% Magic Resistance to +15%
Lycan: Howl cooldown increased from 55/50/45/40 to 60/55/50/45
Monkey King: Boundless Strike cooldown reduced from 25 to 22
Monkey King: Wukong's Command Attack Interval improved from 1.6 to 1.4
Morphling: Base Attack Time improved from 1.55 to 1.5
Naga Siren: Base health regen increased from 0.5 to 1.5
Nightstalker: Base Intelligence reduced from 16 to 13
Nightstalker: Hunter In The Night cooldown increased from 26/22/18/14 to 30/26/22/18
Nyx Assassin: Movement Speed reduced from 305 to 300
Ogre Magi: Level 15 Talent increased from +8% Magic Resistance to +12%
Ogre Magi: Level 20 Talent increased from +250 Health to +350
Ogre Magi: Level 20 Talent increased from +25 Movement Speed to +30
Phantom Lancer: Agility gain increased from 2.6 to 2.8
Phoenix: Level 10 Talent from +175 Health to +200
Puck: Base Armor reduced by 1
Pugna: Level 25 Talent increased from +150 Nether Blast Damage to +200
Queen of Pain: Base Damage reduced by 4
Queen of Pain: Level 25 Spell Lifesteal reduced from 70% to 60%
Razor: Agility gain reduced from 2.0 to 1.8
Sand King: Caustic Finale timer damage from 45/65/85/110 to 20/50/80/110
Shadow Demon: Base Strength increased from 19 to 21
Shadow Demon: Demonic Purge cooldown reduced from 50 to 40
Sniper: Agility gain increased from 2.5 to 2.7
Spectre: Base Strength increased from 19 to 20
Spectre: Level 15 Talent from +20 Movement Speed to +25
Sven: Warcry cooldown increased from 32/26/20/14 to 34/28/22/16
Tiny: Toss can now throw units to Spell Immune enemies
Venomancer: Strength gain reduced from 2.15 to 1.9
Visage: Grave Chill mana cost reduced from 100 to 90
Windranger: Windrun manacost reduced from 75 to 60
Winter Wyvern: Cold Embrace base health regen increased from 20 to 25
Winter Wyvern: Arctic Burn slow increased from 19/26/33/40% to 22/28/34/40%
Dota 2 is currently available on PC and OS X.
Be sure to check back with Player.One and follow Scott on Twitter for more Dota 2 news in 2017 and however long Valve continues to support Dota 2 in the years ahead.