TI8 qualifiers are over. 18 teams will travel to Vancouver to participate in the tens of millions of dollars tournament. As soon as the final match of the qualifiers ended, Valve released update 7.18. This time, it continues to be small changes to heroes and items. Game mechanics are not adjusted. Speaking of hero updates, there are always winners and losers, and let’s break down who’s been impacted the most.
Dota 2: Update 7.18 details
Aeon Disk: Cooldown increased from 90 to 115 seconds
After being neglected for a long time, players began to realize the value of this item. Teams that use quick bursts of damage quickly find themselves in trouble when Aeon Disk is used by the enemy. For the sake of clarity, take Secret’s match against Vici Gaming at SuperMajor when Secret went to Aeon Disk against Paparazzi’s strong Invoker farm and they slowly won the match after a bad start. Nerf is the thing that has to happen and it will make Aeon Disk less ‘popular’.
Gut feeling by the end of TI8 we will all hate Aeon Disk and be begging Icefrog to remove it from the game
— Nahaz (@NahazDota) June 20, 2018
Hand of Midas: Cooldown reduced from 95 to 90
Pro players have probably forgotten the existence of the Hand of Midas (except for Enigma?). But with longer battles and the Hand of Midas having a shorter cooldown, it’s only a matter of time before this item ‘comeback’.
Heroes that benefit
Clinkz: Strafe cooldown reduced from 45/35/25/15 to 30/25/20/15
Clinkz: Strafe mana cost reduced from 90 to 75/80/85/90
Really? Clinkz gets buffs again? This is the 6th version in a row Clinkz has been buffed. It’s partly because teams don’t dare to test new heroes in the qualifiers, but once we realize Clinkz’s potential in scrim, we’ll soon see rockets whizzing past the game! During the TI8 qualifiers, Clinkz was picked 7 times and won 3 of them. Win stats were much better from patch 7.12 to 7.16 where Clinkz almost lost the ball in the pro scene.
Crystal Maiden: Crystal Nova damage increased from 100/150/200/250 to 130/170/210/260
Crystal Maiden: Arcane Aura self mana regeneration increased from 1.6/2.5/3.2/4 to 1.8/2.6/3.4/4.2
Another hero with Clinkz continuously getting buffs since 7.10. This allows CM to be more useful in the early game. The AoE nuke deals 130 damage every 11 seconds, which doesn’t sound bad at all.
Earthshaker: Base health regen increased from 2 to 2.5
Earthshaker: Base movement speed increased from 305 to 310
Earthshaker: Enchant Totem Scepter cast range (on green stick) increased from 900 to 1100
Earhshaker: Echo Slam damage increased from 60/85/110 to 70/90/110
Earthshaker: Echo Slam is no longer ‘disjointable’ (e.g. dodge with blink)
We saw the Earthshaker appear a lot in TI7 but gradually disappear in the new season. Maybe Earthshaker will be back in TI8 soon. The new ES is stronger in lane, has more mobility and chase/escape, more Totem attack range and higher Echo Slam damage, not to mention it can’t dodge with blink anymore.
Enigma: Midnight Pulse damage increased from 3/3.75/4.5/5.25% to 3.75/4.25/4.75/5.25%
Enigma: Midnight Pulse duration adjusted from 11 to 9/10/11/12
Enigma: Midnight Pulse cooldown adjusted from 35 to 50/45/40/35
Enigma: Midnight Pulse Mana cost adjusted from 95/110/125/135 to 75/95/15/135
Enigma: Level 15 Talent increased from +120 Gold/min to +150
Enigma: Level 20 Talent increased from +400 Health to +500 Health
Enigma: Level 25 Talent increased from +4 Malefice Instance to +5
Deciding on talent for Enigma at level 15 is difficult. Now it’s even harder with patch 7.18. +150 Gold per minute at level 15? Of course the cooldown reduction is important, but you’ll get to Octarine and Refresher faster with the extra gold you get every minute. Very quickly, on the other hand. It has been suggested that reducing the cooldown talent also reduces the cooldown for Hand of Midas, which means that the amount of Gold per minute also increases. But who would be attracted to this? In addition, Midnight Pulse has also changed significantly. The duration of the nerf is no longer an issue as no one is actually in it the entire time Midnight Pulse is used. But with the increased damage at early levels plus the reduced manacost, Enigma can dominate early in the lane. Possibly position 4 Enigma, as Zai was quite successful before the victory with Immortals. Position 4 Enigma will definitely build support, like Guardian Greaves, not Midas, so the Gold talent will definitely be more beneficial.
Enchantress: Attack range increased from 550 to 575
Enchantress: Untouchable attack slow increased from -20/60/100/140 to -20/70/120/170
Enchantress: Impetus damage increased from 14/18/22% to 16/20/24%
Attack range increases further, while Enchantress damage increases with distance. This will definitely make the offlane Enchantress stronger.
Invoker: Level 10 Talent increased from +0.5 Seconds Tornada Lift Time to +1.25 Seconds
Invoker: Level 15 Talent changed from +2.5s Cold Snap duration to -12s Cold Snap cooldown
With the latest buff for Invoker (Invoke’s manacost is gone), he’s picked up more picks than before. Topson of OG has used Invoker quite a lot and this hero suits him very well, when playing the way Quas Wex Invoker, this buff is very useful. The increased Tornado duration ensures that EMP will hit and drain the enemy’s mana. According to Dota Plus, both of these buffed talents are rarely picked at Divine rank. Level 15 probably doesn’t matter much, since it’s still better to have another Forged Spirit. But Quas Wex Invoker doesn’t care about Meteor’s early game damage and will probably increase Tornado’s duration.
Pudge: Meat Hook cast range increased from 1000/1100/1200/1300 to 1300
Pudge: Flesh Heap magic resistance increased from 6/8/10/12% to 8/10/12/14%
1300 range right at level 1? Pudge will definitely appear more often in pubs, but pro will have to wait more. This is the perfect recipe for getting First Blood at level 1. Stay in the dark or smoke up high and hook. With the supports, you will win First Blood without difficulty. A few patches ago, the distance between the two mid turrets also decreased. This is to avoid mid gank, but with Pudge, 7.18 makes it easier for him to pick positions.
Terrorblade: Agility gain increased from 3.7 to 4.2
It seemed that TB cancer had disappeared, but IceFrog decided to buff this hero up. Miracle will surely smile when reading this change. This is a good buff after the recent nerfs. TB agility increased from 3.2 to 3.7 in 7.17. With the change in 7.18, that means agility increased by 1 (only in 2 patches). At 4.2, TB now has agility that increases with each highest level in the game. Small buffs like this are enough to bring TB back into the game’s meta.
Tiny: Strength gain increased from 3.3 to 3.6
Tiny: Tree Grab bonus damage increased from 10/20/30/40% to 25/30/35/40%
Tiny: House/turret attack damage adjusted from 90/120/150/180% to 80/120/160/200%
Tiny: Toss damage increased from 75/150/225/300 to 90/160/230/300
What made Tiny stand out at the start of the season was the splash damage. 100% splash damage makes it easier for him to farm. We see 7.18 Tiny buffs a lot, but none for splash damage. This makes it difficult for Tiny to return to the meta. But as we don’t have any more DPC events this season, the teams probably won’t take the risk at The International.
Ursa: Overpower attack count increased from 3/4/5/6 to 4/5/6/7
Ursa: Level 20 Talent increased from +12 Fury Swipes Damage to +16
There are very few games where Ursa can take advantage of the extra attacks from Overpower to deal more damage than Fury Swipes. Also, now that Roshan becomes stronger, this buff will help Ursa not have too much trouble killing Roshan.
Weaver: Agility gain increased from 2.8 to 3.1
Weaver: Shukuchi damage increased from 80/110/140/170 to 100/125/150/175
Weaver is among the heroes that get little attention, except for the occasional random pick. The extra damage from Shukuchi would be a good harassment tool. Position 4 Weaver was quite common last year but this year it can happen too. Especially when the Drow Ranger is becoming more and more popular, Position 4 Weaver can make a big impact in terms of damage, with both Shukuchi and hand attacks!
Heroes at a disadvantage
Beastmaster: Wild Axes manacost increased from 80 to 80/85/90/95
Beastmaster: Primal Roar cooldown increased from 80/75/70 to 90/80/70
Beastmaster: Level 10 Talent reduced +25 Movement Speed to +20
Beastmaster: Level 15 Talent reduced from +7 Armor to +6
Beastmaster: Level 20 Talent reduced from +100 Wild Axes Damage to +80
In contrast to Earthshaker, Beastmaster was completely nerfed. While they will affect this hero’s pick rate, it won’t affect BM’s laning. Beastmaster can combo with multiple heroes to destroy the enemy safelane. Take for example Keeper of the Light or Io. 7.18 nerfs Beastmaster a lot, but it’s hard to stop teams from continuing to pick the hero.
Clockwerk: Power Cogs damage/burn reduced from 80/120/160/200 to 50/100/150/200
It wouldn’t be too surprising if people see Power Cogs being removed from the game over the next few weeks. A lot of early game nerfs made this hero lose his bravery. 7.18 didn’t affect Clock too much, but overall, it added fuel to the fire with the Clockwerk nerf patches.
Io: Relocate is now channeling, not ‘cast delay’
This has to happen. When the rate of ban or pick this hero is over 80%, we all understand this hero is having problems. It’s frustrating when you’ve locked down the enemy core and Io just Tethered and sent the hero away. With this change, Io must first Tether the object, then ‘channel’ Relocate. If successful, both heroes will still be in the previous position. This change will make Io not as popular as before.
Naga Siren: Rip Tide damage reduced from 120/160/200/240 to 80/130/180/230
Naga Siren: Ensnare cooldown increased from 12 to 14
Naga Siren and Sand King are in the same situation. Keep nerfing these heroes, but they still show up in big games and keep getting picked. Being nerfed on Rip Tide and Ensnare will certainly make the hero unpopular, but Naga’s biggest draw is in the Song of the Siren. Setup combat, rescue, escape… all in one ultimate.
Night Stalker: Void now only deals half damage during daylight
Night Stalker: Base movement speed reduced from 290 to 285
Soon, NS will be called Dracula for being useless during the day. This hero is best to stay at home and not come out until nightfall. IceFrog is trying to get a hero out of TI and he probably succeeded with Night Stalker. In the 50 matches NS appeared in the TI8 qualifiers, only 20 NS matches won (39.22% win rate). This is considered an overkill nerf.
7.18:
Night Stalker: Void now deals half damage during day
Night Stalker: Base movement speed reduced from 290 to 285
7.20:
Night stalker: Getting sun burned during day, losing ability to attack and losing 3 gpm— Dominik Stipic (@LacosteDota) June 26, 2018
Stop he is already dead #Dota2 pic.twitter.com/I6ek3ohPVv
— Pohka (@PohkaDota) June 26, 2018
Sand King: Burrowstrike cooldown increased from 11 to 14/13/12/11
Nerf with Sand King started at 7.07d, right at the start of the season, but SK is still the most played hero this season, with a total of 1165 games (Disruptor is second with 958 games). SK has appeared too much, and IceFrog needs to do more to ensure the ‘sand king’ is no longer being exploited in the meta.
Skywrath Mage: Arcane Bolt Manacost increased from 70 to 90
Skywrath has appeared at breakneck speed in the last few patches. Skywrath was the third most played hero in TI8 qualifiers with 76 games. This will reduce the danger of this hero due to lack of mana. More specifically, for every 5 Arcane Bolts that Skywrath was able to cast before, this hero now only casts 4 (and costs 10 more mana).
Warlock: Shadow Word manacost increased from 90/110/130/150 to 120/130/140/150
WarlocK: Shadow Word cast range reduced from 525/600/675/750 to 450/550/650/750
This is clearly a ‘chain effect’ from the TI8 qualifiers. As the second most picked hero (after Windranger), Warlock has 90 games with 50 wins (55.56% win rate). Cast scope is not the issue here. But the increased manacost for Shadow Word will prevent this move from being spammed as much as before: whether it’s harassing the opponent or helping yourself and your teammates live better in the lane.
With no more DPC events or TI qualifiers left, we wonder if Valve will make any more changes before TI happens. There will be no assessment of how the new changes will affect. We will have to wait until The International 2018 to see more clearly.
According to VPEsports
Source link: Dota 2: 7.18 update analysis
– https://emergenceingames.com/