Dota 2: Analysis of 7.19d update, last nerf before patch 7.20

It’s been quite a quiet time after The International while everyone waits for a new big patch, and patch 7.19d has just been announced. But they will probably have to wait a little longer before patch 7.20 comes out, as a Valve employee made it clear a few days ago:

In regards to 7.20 #Dota2 pic.twitter.com/ohA8UTI2R2

— Wykrhm Reddy (@wykrhm) October 2, 2018

In his Tweet, Daniel said it will be a similar amount of time to TI from last year – TI7 ends on August 12th and the new patch comes out on October 31st. This year, TI8 ends on August 26th. so don’t expect patch 7.20 at least until the second week of November! But as Daniel mentioned in his response on Reddit, Valve has released a new patch, patch 7.19d which, like the previous one, is a nerf. Hopefully this will be the last patch before 7.20 and will be the update used in the first DPC Minor and Major of the season, along with ESL One Hamburg. Let’s analyze the big nerfs in patch 7.19d together:

Drow Ranger: Marksmanship Agility bonus reduced from 40/60/80 to 35/55/75

If only talking about this patch, this is not the biggest nerf. But if you add the recent patch, it seems that Drow was heavily affected in the early game. As he gets into the game, this move becomes less effective as Drow has gained more agility items. However, this nerf doesn’t affect Drow’s pick rate too much. Drow is still a strong hero in this patch and she will continue to appear until 7.20 comes out.

Grimstroke: Ink Swell max damage reduced from 220/280/340/400 to 160/240/320/400
Grimstroke: Ink Swell bonus movement speed reduced from 18/22/26/30% to 18%
Grimstroke: Phantom Embarce’s binding duration increased from 4/4/5/5 to 5 seconds
Grimstroke: Phantom Embrace DPS (damage per second) adjusted from 12/18/24/30 to 6/14/22/30

220 Damage at level 1 plus stun is clearly not balanced at all. It deserves the nerf, as well as the extra movement speed. It’s quite surprising that Stroke of Fate isn’t nerfed this time around, but that’s sure to happen soon before Grimstroke is brought into Captain’s Mode. Phantom Embrace isn’t worth tweaking, but the extra tether duration is added to balance out the damage taken in the first two levels.

Necrophos: Level 10 Talent reduced from +40 Damage to +30
Necrophos: Level 20 Talent reduced from +80 Attack Speed ​​to +70

The reduced attack speed is not a nerf, but the damage reduction does. Necrophos, especially playing in position 1 or 2, need extra damage to increase farm speed. With the game going on, 10 damage doesn’t seem like much. But from level 10 to 15, mid-game is when this change affects Necro’s farming speed.

Phantom Lancer: Spirit Lance cast range adjusted from 750 to 525/600/675/750

Phantom Lancer is one of those heroes that is not only strong in the late game, but PL is also a monster in the laning phase. Spirit Lance is the main reason the hero dominates the lane and the early game cast range reduction speaks for itself. This will hit hard when PL plays mid against a ranged hero.

Riki: Smoke Screen slow adjusted from 10/15/20/25% to 8/12/16/20%
Riki: Smoke Screen smoke ability adjusted from 40/50/60/70% to 10/30/50/70%
Riki: Tricks of the Trade AoE reduced from 500 to 450
Riki: Tricks of the Trade duration adjusted from 4/5/6 to 4/4.5/5
Riki: Level 20 Talent reduced from +900 Blink Strike Range to +700
Riki: Level 25 Talent reduced from +400 Tricks of the Trade AoE to +300

While not in the pro scene (not because of his stealth), Riki has been dominating pubs for months on end, and the past few nerfs haven’t been enough to stop him. Smoke Screen nerf will definitely affect this hero’s appearance the most in the game. This move slows, silences, reduces vision and causes the enemy to miss! Also, the level 1 of this move is so good that (according to Dotabuff), the vast majority of Riki don’t need to raise the second point for Smoke Screen until level 13. The change in 7.19d will make people reconsider. Tricks of the Trade is still a bit strong overall. And the Blink cast range Talent still helps to achieve a 1500 blink distance. This is probably the hardest hero to balance both IceFrog and valve, to ensure Riki shows up both in the pro arena and not just in the pub.

Dota 2: Riki is the new king in pub

Silencer: Last Word damage reduced from 120/180/240/300 to 75/150/225/300

It seemed that editing the Arcane Curse wasn’t enough, so IceFrog decided to work on Last Word next. The damage reduction in Last Word and the increased manacost for Arcane Curse turn Silencer into a warded creep in the early game. It’s really not that bad, but Last Word’s damage reduction in this patch is quite surprising. Patch 7.19c reduced lvle 1 damage from 150 to 120. Now 7.19d further reduces it to 75. In these two patches, the ability’s initial damage has been halved. Has Silencer finally been ‘silent’?

Terrorblade: Conjure Image Manacost increased from 70 to 70/75/80/85
Terrorblade: Reflection slow reduced from -25% to -20%
Terrorblade: Sunder mana cost increased from 200/100/0 to 200/100/50
Terrorblade: Level 15 Talent reduced from +300 Health to +250

Terrorblade has a slightly different journey than other nerfed heroes. TB wasn’t too competitive at TI8 (despite being picked in the last game!). But overall, TB appears quite a lot in matches. It’s not that TB is a bad carry, but cores like Specter and Phantom Lancer were much stronger at the time. These changes make TB cost more mana, specifically Sunder. With 5 seconds of Sunder cooldown, TB can’t spam Sunder continuously when there is no mana in him. According to Dotabuff, the HP talent is chosen more than 70% of the time, and we have a reason for that. With TB, +300 HP means the hero will have a better chance of survival, to launch Sunder and restore health again. Now, that chance has been partially reduced.

Ursa: Fury Swipes duration reduced from 20 to 8/12/16/20

Patch 7.19d really doesn’t hurt Ursa at all. The duration from 20 seconds to 8 seconds is really too much. Fortunately, Fury Swipes is the first maxed move so it shouldn’t be a big deal, from lvle 7 onwards. But during the laning phase, if Ursa lunges at you, a stun or slow will make sure he doesn’t have Fury Swipes left when he reaches you. Since then, the ability to gank in lane is also affected.

Weaver: Shukuchi’s Manacost increased from 60 to 70

Weaver is too dependent on Shukuchi during laning phase, can use it to last hit with ranged creeps from a distance, harass enemy heroes or escape. In many cases, many goals can be achieved by Shukuchi. The extra manacost will force Weaver to use the gold to buy himself Enchanted Mango and Clarity.

Zeus: Arc Lightning Manacost increased from 65/70/75/80 to 80

Zeus relies on Arc Lightning to farm in lane. With the damage from hand-to-hand being buffed recently, but in most situations, Zeus still has to use the first skill to eat gold. And that’s why the vast majority of Zeus wielders have plenty of Clarity in their early game – the mana and mana regeneration isn’t high enough for Zeus to keep spamming Arc Lightning. Now mana from one Clarity won’t be enough for Zeus to unleash two Arc Lightning attacks (usually this move is kept at level 1, while Lightning Bolt is maxed). This is not a time when Zeus has to worry a lot, but the hero needs to plan more with mana recovery items in the early levels.

It’s been quite a while since the Dota 2 community has seen consecutive nerfs: from 7.17b to 7.19d. Hopefully we don’t have to wait for another patch before 7.20 comes out. From now on, everyone cheer up because Riki has been nerfed. A little!

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