Dota 2: Analysis of patch 7.26c, which heroes benefit

IceForg continuously updates new patches for several days in a row. We’ve had three versions of 7.26 in just the past few weeks, and patch 7.26c is out. This patch mainly introduces tweaks from a single change in 7.26c: ‘All talents are 20% weaker’. Most of the tweaks buffed heroes who didn’t deserve the 20% deduction, but some were nerfed even more. Some talents were also changed in Dota 2 patch 7.26c. The whole patch is quite long, and you can read the Vietsub version here.

This article will analyze the heroes that were greatly affected by patch 7.26c and rank which heroes benefit as well as which heroes are disadvantaged.

(1) Centaur: Winner

CENTAUR WARRUNNER: WIN

TALENT

• Level 10 Talent changed from +8% Evasion to +5 Heal
• Level 20 Talent changed from +16 Strength to -20s Stampede cooldown
• Level 25 Talent reduced from +1.2s Hoof Stomp duration to +1s

Two reasons why Centaur benefits from these changes. +5 Heal gives Centaur more during early game farming compared to +8% Evasion, and it doesn’t help not just in teamfights. But more importantly, the -20 second Stampede cooldown reduces the cooldown timeout from 90 seconds to 70 seconds. Centaur is a hero picked in certain situations, like against Phoenix, mainly because of Stampede’s power. The 22% cooldown reduction talent will definitely make this hero more useful, especially when Centaur gets hold of Aghanim Scepter.

BEASTMASTER: LOSE

• Base damage reduced by 4

TALENT

• Level 15 Talent changed from +24 Boar Damage to -14 Second Hawks cooldown
• Level 20 Talent changed from +60 Wild Axes Damage to +30 Boar . Damage
• Level 25 Talent changed from -16s Hawk cooldown to +80 Wild Axes Damage

Reducing base damage will weaken Beastmaster in the laning phase, but like Lycan, the hero still has beasts to help him get his last hits. But the main nerf is in the level 15 and 20 talents. The extra Boar damage brings the total Boar damage up to 94, and we have two Boars! Before patch 7.26b, Boars had 94 damage at level 15 (it wasn’t +24, but +30 at level 15). This is a huge buff and helps Beastmaster finish the game early. With the skill being delayed by 5 levels, the opponent will likely have time to recover and have a chance to fight back. Beastmaster’s win and pick rates will probably be adversely affected by this patch 7.26c.

JUGGERNAUT: WIN

• Fixed Helm of the Dominator not affecting your hero during Omnislash

OMNISLASH

• Omnislash now waits 0.15 seconds before ending if no eligible object is found, instead of ending immediately

TALENT

• Level 15 Talent increased from +60 Blade Fury Movement Speed ​​to +80
• Level 25 Talent increased from +0.8s Omnislash duration to +1s

The Omnislash buff is the standout change for Juggernaut, as enemy heroes can’t just go invisible to disable Omnislash. Juggernaut can use Dust of Appearance (but will cost 1 item slot) and ensures Omnislash will continue. With Phantom Assassin, however, it’s a different matter. PA’s Vanish delay dispel 0.75 seconds, so the hero can block Omnislash when Blur is activated.

MARS: LOSE

SPEAR OF MARS

• Spear of Mars Manacost increased from 100 to 110/120/130/140

BULWARK

• Bulwark activation now deactivates when casting Spear of Mars

TALENT

• Level 10 Talent changed from +6 Strength to +15 Damage
• Level 10 Talent changed from +15 Movement Speed ​​to -2 Second Spear of Mars cooldown
• Level 15 Talent changed from +20 Damage to +20 Movement Speed

Mars is a mana-intensive hero, with three mana-consuming skills. As a Strength hero, mana is not always plentiful, so increasing the manacost of Spear of Mars by 40 is a big step backwards for the hero. The biggest nerf is that Bulwark is turned off when casting Spear of Mars. This skill has a cast time of 0.25, which is when Bulwark will be disabled, so the hero can no longer throw spears behind him while going backwards.

ORACLE: WINNER

TALENT

• Level 10 Talent changed from +0.8s Fortune’s End max duration to +0.4 Fortune’s End duration (affects minimum and max values, does not increase channel duration)
• Level 20 Talent changed from +35 Movement Speed ​​to -20s False Promise cooldown

Oracle’s Ultimate level 3 previously had a 30 second cooldown, but it was increased to 45 seconds. With the new talent, it’s down to just 25 seconds! This is a great talent for Oracle, to help False Promise change the battle scene. With a cooldown of just 25 seconds, if Oracle can survive, the hero will probably be able to use False Promise a second time in combat, or buyback and teleport back: it will certainly be extremely beneficial.

PHANTOM ASSASSIN: WIN

TALENT

• Level 15 Talent increased from +20% Cleave to +25%
• Level 20 Talent increased from +24% Blur Evasion to +30%
• Level 25 Talent changed from +8% Coup de Grace to +100% Coup de Grace Critical Damage

Phantom Assassin doesn’t really need to go to Battlefury with the 25% Cleave talent. The Blur Evasion increase brings the hero back before patch 7.26b. But the biggest change is in the level 25 talent from Coup de Grace. Before that, it increased by 8%, giving it a 23% chance (450% critical damage). Now the probability stays the same at 15%, but the critical damage is increased to 550%. So how are the two different? Let’s find out together

Imagine PA does 200 damage to 0 armor, which means the hero deals 200 damage on average per hit. 450% crit damage will be 900 damage, and 550% damage will be 1100 damage. For every 100 hits:

Old Talent: 36100 damage
New Talent: 33500 damage

So the damage is actually reduced! Strange isn’t it? Initially it looks like it increases the damage but it doesn’t as the probability ratio is reduced. The plus point is that each crit now hurts more. Specifically at level 30, when PA has both talents, triple Stifling Dagger and Coup degrace, the possibility of a support being wiped out by a knife will be much higher.

SNIPER: LOSE

SHRAPNEL

• Shrapnel slow reduced from 15/20/25/30% to 12/18/24/30%

ASSASSINATE

• Assassinate scepter stun duration reduced from 1.8 to 1.5

TALENT

• Level 10 Talent changed from 20% Cooldown reduction to 15%
• Level 15 Talent reduced from +16% Shrapnel Slow to +14%

Who would have thought that one day, Sniper support would be nerfed? But it happened in this 7.26c. Sniper support became popular in the professional scene and Shrapnel was the first maxed move in this style of play. Right from the beginning of the game, Sniper was nerfed. Assassinate with Aghanim’s Scepter and reduce its previous cooldown by 20% deals 650 damage, 1.8 seconds stun, and 8 second cooldown. Now it’s 1.5 seconds stun every 8.5 seconds. Overall, Sniper is still a good hero. Sniper Mid may not be a popular pick in the professional scene, but maybe Sniper support will bring this hero to the top?

URSA: LOSE

• Strength gain per level reduced from 2.8 to 2.6

TALENT

• Level 10 Talent changed from +1.5 Mana Regen to +20s Fury Swipes Reset Time
• Level 10 Talent changed from +6 Strength to +175 Health
• Level 15 Talent changed from +20s Fury Swipes reset time to +2 Mana Regen
• Level 20 Talent reduced from +13 Fury Swipes Damage to +12

Ursa really needs Mana Recovery at level 10. This hero has three skills that use mana while farming, while Intelligence increases each level by only 1.5. This means you have to constantly buy clarity potion and consider going to Vladmir’s Offering instead of going straight to Abyssal Blade. According to Dotabuff, the mana regeneration talent has a pick rate of more than 62%, showing that it is extremely popular and necessary for Ursa. This nerf will affect Ursa’s initial farm speed: this is very important since Ursa is mostly overwhelming early to mid game.

Of course, these aren’t just heroes affected. Many heroes are restored to their previous talents. With the small patches added up, the new meta is slowly taking shape, and in just a month or two we’ll see a lot of different heroes from today.

According to vpesports

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