Dota 2: Detailed analysis of Patch 7.19, changes after Summit 9

The last patch before The International 2018 is here! 7.19 will be the patch used by TI8. Before that, 7.18 launched right after Dota 2 SuperMajor ended. There are no DPC tournaments taking place in patch 7.18.

But last week, we got to see some very strong heroes at The Summit 9. This was just a practice tournament and Evil Geniuses became the champion, but also a tool for IceFrog to evaluate the current meta. . And here are the indicators drawn from Summit 9:

These 12 heroes topped the list of ban picks in a total of 43 games. Especially the first 10 heroes, they account for more than 70% of the games, Crystal Maiden is picked/banned in all matches! In addition to Drow Ranger and Templar Assassin, these heroes all have over 50% win rates. Winter Wyvern, Weaver and Phoenix take the top 3 with a win rate of over 60%. Therefore, IceFrog had to step in to prevent the same story from happening at TI8. And that will be shown through this patch 7.19. Let’s take a look at the winners and losers of this patch:

Heroes that benefit

Abaddon: Manacost Mist Coil reduced from 50/60/70/80 to 50

The big obstacle that makes Abaddon support so difficult to play is the amount of mana the hero needs to use his two spells. The Mist Coil buff will help Abaddon better support the core by maxing out the Mist Coil and healing the carry during the laning phase. As for his own health, some Enchanted Mango combined with Tango will fix this problem. At level 5, the hero can heal for 200 health with 50 mana. For better understanding, Omniknight heals for 230HP for 115 mana and Dazzle heals for 120HP for 110 mana at level 5 (level 3 of the skill). This is also beneficial if going offlane actively, Abaddon can continuously spam Mist Coil in the opponent’s face.

Outworld Devourer: Sanity’s Eclipse damage multiplier increased from 8/9/10 to 9/10/11
Outworld Devourer: Essence Aura mana bonus increased from 125/200/275/350 to 150/250/350/45

The most buffed OD in 7.18. When the difference in Intelligence is 100, it also deals 100 more damage. In prolonged battles, the difference is about 200 to 250, which means that the additional damage the opponent receives will increase even more. With Talent +2 Sanity’s Eclipse at level 20, the multiplier will increase to 13! That means the ultimate can deal 2500-3000 potential AoE damage.

Mana bonus also increases mana by 100 at level 4. And not only gives me OD but also applies to teammates! Imagine a hero like Bristleback with OD, constantly spamming Quill Spray and Nasal Goo without ever running out of mana! There’s a good chance we’ll see the Outworld Devourer appear at TI8 quite a bit.

Puck: Waning Rift silence duration increased from 1.5/2/2.5/3 to 2/2.5/3/3.5

Puck is a rarely seen hero these days. But can this move put Puck back at support? Support Puck has appeared before, and maxing out Waning Rift first probably won’t surprise many people. The best thing about Puck in 7.19 is that every level of Waning Rift is buffed. AoE Nuke deals 280 damage at level 7 and silences for 3.5 seconds, not bad at all right?

Timbersaw: Reactive Armor per stack increased from 1/1.2/1.4/1.6 to 1.3/1.4/1.5/1.6

Buff increased max armor from 5/12/21/32 to 6.5/14/22.5/32. The important values ​​are at level 1 and level 2 of Reactive Armor. With the extra armor, Timbersaw will take less damage, help offlane turrets better or rush into enemy turrets for a kill. 1.5 additional armor equals 9% EHP (effective HP) and 2 armor equals 12% EHP.

Heroes at a disadvantage

Bloodseeker: Level 25 Talent reduced from +20% Max Thirst and Damage to +18%
Bloodseeker: Thirst bonus adjusted from 16/24/32/40 to 7/18/29/40

This nerf will hold off the Blood Seeker for a bit in the early game as the extra damage from Thirst has been reduced. BS in mid can level up faster than the other two lanes, can easily slash 4 shots at enemy support while under Thirst and Bloodrage’s effects. The reduced damage will prevent the Blood Seeker from ‘running right in’. At level 4, Thirst remains the same.

Broodmother: Spin Web movement speed reduced from 40/50/60/70% to 25/40/55/70%
Broodmother: Spin Web charge recovery speed increased from 40 to 45 seconds

Like Bloodseeker, early game Broodmother is also affected. This nerf encourages Brood players to max Spin Web instead of Spiderlings, but it will affect nuke potential. Remember, unlike Bloodseeker, Broodmother relies on turret pushing. Broodmother’s late game potential is less than Bloodseeker’s. Both of these heroes are nerfed early game, but vBrood seems to be nerfed more heavily than BS.

Crystal Maiden: Crystal Nova Manacost increased from 100/120/140/160 to 130/140/150/160

Crystal Maiden is back extremely strong. Going from being picked by no one to being competitive at every game is a huge leap. Part of that is due to the increased damage from Crystal Nova. Previously, this move was rarely boosted much during the laning phase, but it is now maxed out (or given a two-point boost for this move at level 3) to deal massive damage early game. The increased manacost will prevent Crystal Nova from spamming as much. The number of Novas at level 1 is reduced from 3 to 2, if the Mango is not used. This change won’t push CM out of the meta, but she certainly won’t be the most competitive in every game.

Enchantress: Manacost Nature’s Attendants increased from 110/120/140/150 to 170/160/150/140

Very annoying when dealing with Enchantress in lane. Untouchable’s slow combined with Nature’s Attendants makes her the most annoying hero to kill. 7.19 increases manacost to insanely high levels, and gradually decreases towards the end of the game so that she can only be used in the later stages of the game. Now, Enchantress is definitely hard to stay stable.

Necrophos: Reaper’s Scythe cooldown increased from 55/40/25 to 60/50/40
Necrophos: Magic resistance reduced when Ghost Shroud on Necrophos himself increased from 30% to 40% (ie take more magic damage)
Necrophos: Reaper’s Scythe attack duration increased from 0.5 to 0.55

Necro is one of the heroes that gets buffs in every patch. However, no one really took advantage of him. But when noticed, people quickly realized the ‘overwhelming’ power of this hero. The 25 second Scepter cooldown is disgusting. Necrophos can use two, sometimes three, ultimates in teamfight, which means half of the opposing team will have to count for another 30 seconds (if on the board). 40 second cooldown sounds a bit more reasonable. Necro also easily takes more magic damage due to increased Magic resistance decreased when Ghost Shroud. Heroes like Lion and Lina will take advantage of this.

Phantom Lancer: Juxtapos Ball bonus damage increased from 500% to 600%
Phantom Lancer: Base Intelligence reduced by 2

Not the biggest nerf with Phantom Lancer. Breaking the ball will now be a little easier. However, it will make a big difference against Sven, Kunka, Magnus or any hero with Battlefury. The amount of damage the ball takes that can spread to the real hero is what Phantom Lancer should be concerned about.

Pudge: Meat Hook cooldown increased from 17/15/13/11 to 27/22/17/12

Pudge competes with Necrophos for the most nerfed prize in 7.19. The Meat Hook range has just been increased to 1300 at all levels, and the percentage of Pudge present in pro games has skyrocketed. Nerf this time is a cooldown. That means if the hook misses, you will have to sit and play for nearly 30 seconds before you can hook again. Therefore, the early game requires you to Hook more accurately! Again, this won’t stop Pudge from appearing in the game, but 7.19 will definitely weaken Pudge in the early game.

In addition to the above major changes, other heroes are also buffed and nerfed, but they don’t have a big impact. Many others were surprised that Ursa was unharmed and Phoenix and Zeus were only slightly nerfed. These heroes can make a splash in Vancouver. Outworld Devourer can be added to the list of featured heroes at TI. Pudge and Necro are probably the two least popular heroes. Now, with no more tournaments until TI, we’ll only know how this change affects professional teams from August 15, when the group stage of The International 2018 officially kicks off.

Dota 2: Update 7.19 details, Daily Bonus Hero reduced from 2 Mango to 1