Dota 2 Brings Lots of Hero Changes and New Items With Update 7.28

By Jason Nieva @jnievaplayerone Published 12/18/20 EST

What is it with video games lately and them releasing large updates? Dota 2 is the latest one to join the bandwagon and we have to admit we're excited. Like in previous patches, Update 7.28 brings some new items and introduces reworks on heroes. There’s a lot to go through. So, we’ll do what we can to sort everything out.

Before we do that, there are two major things you need to know first. There’s a new hero named Hoodwink. She’s going to give the game a breath of fresh air considering that the last one was Void Spirit back in November 2019. Read more about what makes Hoodwink tick here.

There are a lot of items introduced in this new update. The biggest one is Aghanim’s Shard. There may be some debate on how big its impact is but there’s no doubt it makes gameplay more fun. Learn what this new item offers here.

General Changes

Before we go into the heroes and items, there are two big changes that we think are interesting. Update 7.28 now starts the game at night and turns to day once creeps spawn. That means, early ganks are going to be a bit more difficult.

The second is the addition of lore to all items. This is actually exciting since it will give a deeper glimpse into the Dota 2 universe.

Brewing for Trouble

One of the heroes that had rather interesting changes is the Brewmaster. Most of them are on the Primal Split and the Level Talents. However, the changes to Drunken Brawler skill are something everyone needs to watch out for. These are:

cooldown increased to 29/25/21/17
provides 6/12/18/24% Evasion and 24% Critical Strike chance for 145/160/175/190% damage
can now be activated to provide 3x chance for evasion and critical strike and alternate between 20% slower and 40% faster for 5 seconds

Like we said, interesting. That’s not all. Its Aghanim’s Scepter effect has been reworked. Primal Split now has two charges. It can be canceled at any time with the hero forming back on whichever Brewling it was canceled from. The charge's replenish time is equal to the normal cooldown. This means players now have better control over the Brewlings.

Aghanim’s Shard, meanwhile, upgrades the Primal Split and adds a Void Brewling. That's a total of four Brewlings.

Look Who’s Back

Keeper of the Light players should be happy to know that his Spirit Form ultimate is back. It’s pretty much what it was before the new one. So, what happens to his current Ultimate? Will-O-Wisp is now an Aghanim’s Scepter ability. One change is instead of a stun, it now becomes a movement manipulation that pulls units inward.

A bit of bad news. Chakra Magic can no longer be cast on enemy heroes. This means the hero needs a new strategy.

Blink and Miss it

There are loads of new items and the highlight should be the Blink Dagger upgrades. The upgrades are also based on attributes. These items are:

Overwhelming Blink
- Requires:
  - Blink Dagger
  - Reaver
  - 1750 Gold Recipe
- Grants players:
  - +25 Strength
  - upon landing at a destination, all enemies in a 800 AoE have 50% movement slow and 50 attack slow for 6 seconds and take damage equal to 200 + 100% of the player’s strength
Swift Blink
- Requires:
  - Blink Dagger
  - Eaglesong
  - 1750 Gold Recipe
- Grants players:
  - +25 Agility
  - upon landing at a destination gain 30% phased movement speed, and +40 Damage and +40 Attack Speed for 6 seconds
Arcane Blink
- Requires:
  - Blink Dagger
  - Mystic Staff
  - 1750 Gold Recipe
- Grants players:
  - +25 Intelligence
  - upon landing at a destination, gain -50% Cast Point and 25% Ability Cooldown Reduction for 6 seconds
- Does not affect items.

Go for the Ancients

With the new update, upgrading the Helm of the Dominator to Level 2 uses a new recipe. All it needs is an Ultimate Orb and 1600 recipe.

The effect: minimum health is increased to 1800 and increases in stat/armor/hp regen bonuses to 20/8/8. Of course, it now allows players to convert Ancients.

Items Changes

There are also several item changes. Some of the significant changes include Octarine Core. It no longer needs a 900 Gold recipe but requires Aether Lens, rather than Voodoo Mask. This is actually better for the item if you ask us.

Boots of Travel has an important change too. Once equipped, any TP scrolls carried by the player are automatically sold and given a charge.

Neutral Items

There is a total of 14 new items introduced. But there are items cycled out as well. Most cycled out items are actually a good decision. Neutral items no longer available are: