Dota 2: 7.19b update analysis, laning phase and nerf hero balance

At the TI8 press conference in Vancouver, many pro players talked about how important the laning phase is and asked for a few things in lane to change. And even if the last patch is more balanced than the TI patches from previous TIs, there are some heroes that are still too strong. IceFrog and Valve quickly released update 7.19b, adding a bit of balance to the laning phase and the heroes that seemed to have taken the world by storm at The International 2018 were also somewhat nerfed. Let’s take a look at how these changes affect the game:

Buyback penalty duration changed from +25% remaining time to +25 seconds

This change is controversial. The reason for this change lies in the late game, if the hero buys back immediately after death, the time to countdown without buyback can be up to 150 seconds (maybe 180 seconds if hit with Reaper’s Scythe ultimate). ). It can end a team match. So in the late game, when the hero is level 25, this is a beneficial change (up to the countdown table at level 25 is 100 seconds).

However, this will cause the early game buyback to take longer. If a level 12 hero dies, the timer counts down to 44 seconds. By buyback, the queue time before the 7.19b update was only 55 seconds, not too bad. But with the new change, the push time is up to 69 seconds. It’s like getting hit by a Reaper. If the core hero dies this way, it will cost the team quite a bit. Buybacks now need to be considered more carefully, different from the way they were used recently.

XP required to level 2 changed from 200 to 230 (in the scenario where team A deny 2 melee creeps per wave, and team B deny 1 melee creep per wave: number of waves required for team A to level 2 increased from 2 waves to 2 waves) 3 batches. The number of batches required for team B to level 2 remains at 3. Total XP needed for other levels remains the same)

As explained in the patch, extra denying won’t help the team gain more levels. In the past, with just an extra deny, both heroes on the same team could reach level 2 while the opponent was still at level 1. With so many heroes, reaching level 2 can make a big difference in lanes to get First. Blood or harass the enemy out of lane (worse than getting killed early game).

Glyph cannot be used until the 3rd minute of the game

Using Glyph early game is something that most teams use for a variety of reasons. The most common reason is to get the mid lane advantage and take the lead first. If Bloodseeker with Bloodrage or Ember Spirit using Flame Guard can get early creep kills and experience from the first wave, this can be avoided by using Glyph. Hero using Glyph will be the first to reach level 2 and have a slight advantage over the opponent. No[o]ne of Virtus.Pro emphasizes that he hates being used this way by players.

On either side of the lane, Glyph can be used early to rush into turrets with two waves at once. If the opponent has nothing against a lot of creeps in the early game, this is a good way to rush into turrets and get kills.

These tactics will now be ‘in the past’ (for the time being) as Glyph is only activated after the first 3 minutes of the game. Let’s see how it affects mid picks and side drafts.

Stout Shield: Melee hero block damage increased from 18 to 20

This change can hardly make up for the gap left by Poor Man’s Shield, but it does help short-handed heroes in the laning phase. The damage blocked is equivalent to Poor Man’s Shield, but the blocking ability is only half. You could say this is half a poor man’s shield.

Ring of Aquila: Bonus damage reduced from 10 to 7

Ring of Aqualia became so powerful that it appeared not only in agility heroes, but also in the vast majority of core heroes. Necrophos, Alchemist, Invoker, Winter Wyvern, etc. Aura doesn’t have stacks, but it’s quite common for a team to get 2 or 3 Aquia at The International 2018. As a result, the Ring of Aquila was forced to change. But overall, this item is still good.

Scythe of Vyse: Manacost increased from 100 to 250

Now that Hex cannot be dispell, Scythe of Vyse became more popular during the last DPC season. A lot of investment support for this expensive item. Clinkz also loads it up many times right after getting his first damage item like Desolator. With increased manacost, it will reduce the appearance of Scythe of Vyse in the early game. Mana cost 250 will make using Scythe multiple times in a team fight more mana than before, especially with heroes like Clinkz.

Nerf Hero

Alchemist: Greevil’s Greed Bounty Rune multiplier adjusted from 3.5x to 2/2.5/3/3.5x

The current meta is always focused on the laning phase. Greevil’s Greed’s Bounty Rune has a 3.5x multiplier from the start which means that Alchemist can hit 560 gold in the beginning if his team wins all the Bounty Runes. Even if the team won only 2 bounty runes, it’s still 280 gold total, allowing Alchemist to get his first item earlier than other mid heroes and dominate the lane. With this change, the above numbers will be reduced to 320 (4 bounty runes) and 160 gold (2 bounty runes). If Alc gets destroyed in lane and quickly overtakes him, Alchemist will become a burden on the team. Ask Maybe’s Bloodseeker.

Dark Willow: Shadow Realm damage reduced from 120/200/280/360 to 90/180/270/360
Dark Willow: Cursed Crown casting time increased from 0.1 to 0.2

Shadow Realm is a good tool to keep opponents with large amounts of damage. The damage reduction will affect the laning phase and this is very important right now!

Drow Ranger: Base Agility reduced from 26 to 19 (base damage unchanged)
Drow Ranger: Agility gain per level increased from 1.9 to 2.2
Drow Ranger: Base hand attack duration improved from 0.7 to 0.65

Reduced agility by 7 not only affects Drow (in terms of attack speed), but also all range heroes on the team! Drow strategy relies on winning lanes and pushing turrets early. Precision Aura not only helps Drow, but also helps other ranged heroes last hit and harass better. Reducing Drow’s agility will slow things down, at least until Drow reaches level 6.

Enchantress: Base Movement Speed ​​reduced by 15

No other hero has been nerfed so much movement speed. 15 is a really big number, reducing Enchantress’ movement speed from 325 to 310. This hero relies on his high movement speed to return to healing. But his strong move, Impetus, remained unchanged. Let’s see how professional teams will look at this.

Silencer: Arcane Curse Manacost increased from 75/95/15/135 to 105/115/125/135

Silencer was the preferred pick at TI8, but was never played as a core. Always position 5. His ability to win lane thanks to spam Arcane Curse and Last Word, with Arcane Curse becoming the better tool. Spending more mana in the early stages will make it more expensive to spam Arcane Curse, including spending money on mana regeneration items.

Specter: Spectral Dagger’s black streak duration reduced from 2 seconds to 1
Specter: Maximum Anti-Dispersion range reduced from 1000 to 700
Specter: Desolate individual hero range increased from 325 to 375

We saw it many times at TI8, when a hero wanted to fight Specter and had to pay the price with a weak hero elsewhere and fell dead. This is due to the immense scope of Dispersion. This range is reduced from 1000 to 700, which means it’s easier to get rid of Specter than before. While Specter doesn’t weaken, the miserable supports will have a better chance of survival.

Ursa: Overpower Manacost increased from 45/55/65/75 to 75

Ursa is not the most mana hero in the world. Ursa is a hero capable of winning the laning phase and what helps him do that is his ability to harass opponents with Overpower and Fury Swipe. Increasing manacost will reduce harassment, however it can be solved with Enchanted Mango and Clarity Potion.

Vengeful Spirit: Wave of Terror cooldown increased from 10 to 16/14/12/10

Vengeful became a popular pick at TI8 due to his overwhelming ability in lane. Increased Wave of Terror damage makes harassing more dangerous. With a longer cooldown, this move will definitely be affected.

With the big patch of 7.20 probably not coming until November, if true what happened last year. Until then, all leagues will use update 7.19b. These nerfs won’t cause heroes to disappear from the tournament, especially when other heroes aren’t heavily buffed. But the changes to the laning and nerf phase will make a difference in the game. It’s less than three weeks until the first tournament kicks off and that’s when we’ll see how update 7.19b affects pro players.!

According to Vpesports