Dota 2: How strong are 7.31’s new items

Update 7.31 is titled “Primal Beast”. At the very beginning of the updated blog post on the Dota 2 website is a summary of information about Primal Beast, the skill set as well as the hero’s history. But when looking at the reality of the meta as well as the impact of the update on the game, the new items of 7.1 are more important. Today’s article will talk about the new items and analyze their impact on the game.

However, before we begin, the article would like everyone to note that the win rate and frequency of using items are not really clear. Unlike heroes, the team can have many of the same item as well as they have the right not to build that item. There will be questions about whether the item is for late game use, or should it be sold mid game, etc., but that’s not the topic of today.

Finally, items have different prices so people need to pay extra attention to this.

BOOTS OF BEARING

The cheapest new item has a 63.37% win rate at the end of the game. That is evidenced in the item being nerfed in update 7.31b and the article believes it will be nerfed even more. Item increases passive movement speed significantly, and when activated it is like equipping the team with Sange and Yasha for 6 seconds. However, this item requires a recipe for 1500 gold, the most expensive odd item in the recipe.

Are Boots of Bearing too strong? The answer is yes, but not to the extent that it can be concluded from the above statistics alone.

It is clearly a support item and a luxury support item. In a match where the team doesn’t need to build a certain item to deal with an immediate danger, this is what a support can go for.

Unless the opponent is completely underdog or loses the draft, BoB is a support item that can be built after Glimmer, Force Staff, Ghost Scepter, Lotus Orb, Solar Crest or other lifesaving items. Therefore, most of the time, this is a support item that will go up when the game progress is okay or in games that don’t matter what support needs to be up.

Also, the 1500 gold recipe doesn’t add much value. Recipe adds 5 attack speed and 2% movement speed when active and makes Tranquil Boots unbreakable. So it’s best to buy the recipe when you’ve used up the Drum of Endurance charge.

BoB is really a very good item. In theory, practice and statistics, it’s all above average. However, it’s not necessarily a must-have item in every game, on every hero, and it’s certainly not a substitute for other specific support items with obvious problems.

WRAITH PACT

Wraith Pact is an item with a 67% win rate with a total cost of 4200 gold. It is 75 gold more expensive than BoB and the 1200 gold Point Booster is the most expensive odd item in the recipe. Buying this recipe will equip the team with a very effective damage reduction tool, but it should be noted that it cannot work through BKB.

Wraith Pact is a great support item early game, especially against even drafts. If the opponent has high mobility, has an effective hero catch, has both high physical and magic damage, as well as active playing supports, then Wraith Pact is worth picking up. The Reprisal totem isn’t too strong in a particular area, but it’s a fairly uniform overall damage reducer. Not to mention Wraith Pact also adds armor and mana regeneration.

The article can be seen that it is up for position 3 offlaners like Tidehunter. Vlad’s was quite popular for this hero in the past, due to its ability to interact with Anchor Smash. Wraith Pact is an upgraded version of Vlad’s. For the same reasons as above, it can be a good item for Mars and Pangolier, as well as other offlaners.

Finally, this item is also worth considering for position 1. There are heroes that farm slowly, not really suitable for Battle Fury, as well as active play in Dota 2. Specter is the first name mentioned, aside from that. Also, Dota 2 also has Faceless Void. There are also heroes that go to Battlefury, but are forced to play more actively, like Phantom Assassin, Ursa and Anti-Mage. With 40% usable in-game, plus a 25 DPS aura, it can help a lot with early stacks, while Vlad’s aura gives you enough buffalo to keep jungling through.

All of the above is subject to change. The author believes that Wraith Pact will be nerfed, once the frequency of using the item increases and the player gradually adapts to it. For now, however, you need to remember this: there are many situations where Wraith Pact is considered the optimal choice to go.

REVENANT’S BROOCH

By default, Revenant’s Brooch is a late-game item for hand-powered core intelligence – and the hero count isn’t much. It is in the price range of the Abyssal Blade and is more expensive than Scythe of Vyse, the two major disable items in the late game. That makes building it instead of the other two, theoretically, not much.

Statistically, this item is performing well: like Wraith Pact, it’s not the most popular item, but has a very high win rate in the late game. However, there is a distinctly important difference that is Brooch only up in fixed situations. We should note that all expensive items usually have a high win rate, since only the winning team can get them. Revenant’s Brooch also has a lower win rate than Satanic, Butterfly and Assault Cuirass, which are cheaper items than Revenant’s Brooch. Swift and Overwhelming Blink Dagger both outperform Revenant’s Brooch, but they’re both more expensive.

As for the reality, Revenant’s Brooch remains a mystery. The Ethereal Blade combo with Brooch is very destructive, but it’s very risky for core intelligence (low health). This item looks very strong against Silencer and OD, but in reality if these two heroes can shoot freely without being stopped by anyone, they will not win.

This item is very strong when encountering heroes with evasion (evasion), as well as possessing high armor. Heroes like Terrorblade and Morphling can take a lot of damage against Brooch. For non-Intelligence position 1 cores, MKB is still a better choice, however, RB needs to be increased when encountering heroes like Pugna or Leshrac, or: when the team deals almost 100% physical damage and the enemy is running find a way to deal with that. Alternatively, Nullifier might still be a better choice.

In general, RB is still quite early for an accurate assessment. This item is very expensive not to mention it depends on the situation, so the current statistics are very few. Personally, the article feels it is a bit dependent on the fixed situations of the game and perhaps a bit weak. This is a very effective punitive item in low-rank pubs, but at high ranks it’s extremely rare: the only hero that’s stable on it currently only has OD.

Please share your thoughts on the new items in the comments section below.

According to dotabuff

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