On the night of August 8-9, Valve released patch 7.34 for Dota 2. Changes have not been global, as they were in the previous patch, but still quite large. The devs have focused more on changes to items and heroes, making strong ones weaker and weak ones stronger. As a result, balance in Dota 2 has changed significantly, and the game has received a new breath. What were the changes in patch 7.34? All changes are in our article on Telecomasia.net.
Bet on eSports with 1xBetMap changes
Valve significantly changed the map in patch 7.33, increasing its size by 40% and adding a large number of new objects. Therefore, it is not surprising that in patch 7.34, the developers decided to keep the map almost unchanged.
Valve only changed the location of a few Watchers and Outposts. The Watchers were moved to the new locations in the main forests of the Light Side and Dark Side, as well as in the "triangles". The Outposts have also been moved from large forests to "triangles", making it more difficult for both sides to control Roshans. Also, killing Roshan in the new patch no longer gives you control of all the Watchers on the map, as it did before.
New order of picks and bans in Captains Mode
In patch 7.34, Valve has changed the order of picking and banning heroes in Captain mode, which has not happened for several years. It should be noted that all professional matches of Dota 2 are played in this mode, so this change targets cybersports players more than regular players.
In the past, hero bans followed the 2-3-2 scheme, while picking was 2-2-1. Now, the ban is executed according to the 3-2-2 / 4-1-2 scheme ( first and second choice, respectively), and the selection is 1-3-1 (for both teams in any case). Furthermore, Valve has reduced the ban time in the first stage. Now it is 15 seconds instead of 30. It is still difficult to see how this change will affect the draft stage of professional games. However, now teams will definitely approach this phase of the game differently.
Bet on eSports with 1xBetResistance to slowdowns was introduced into the game
One of the most important changes in patch 7.34 is a new feature developers have added to the game - resistance to slowdowns. This feature proportionally reduces the strength of the slowdown that affects the hero. Thanks to this, heroes will be less susceptible to slowdowns.
That said, resistance to effects no longer affects the strength of the slowdown. It previously reduced both the duration and strength of about half of the slowdowns in the game, but now only affects the duration of the slowdown, not the percentage of the slowdown.
Item changes in patch 7.34
In patch 7.34, Valve changed quite a few items. The developers did not rework them completely, but instead worked on their balance. Let's take a look at the changes Valve made.
Blood Grenade - the strongest item of the previous patch, absolutely all supports bought. Therefore, it was decided to nerf it. Now you can only have two grenades in your inventory (previously you could have three). The starting stock of Blood Grenades in the shop has also been reduced from three to two, and they appear every three minutes (previously it was two). However, the price of the grenade has decreased by 15 coins. It now costs only 50 coins.
Refresher Shard - a unique item dropped by Roshan that resets the recharge of all abilities when activated. Now the item also gives +20 damage, +6 mana regeneration, and +12 health regeneration. It makes sense to keep the Refresher Shard in your inventory instead of your backpack.
The Smoke of Deceit's duration has been increased from 35 to 45 seconds, which makes sense since the map has become much larger in the previous patch. If the hero who uses "smoke" is still under its effects, it will also be applied to allies within a radius of 300. The effect of each cast is applied only once, so detected units cannot get it again.
Tango will not restore health when used on trees created by Nature Prophet's Sprout ability.
Arcane Blink has a new ability. It now restores 200 health and 100 mana after use.
Armlet of the Mordiggian now provides +35% resistance to slowdowns in addition to everything else.
Maximum bonus damage for Desolator increased from 20 to 30, which is a nice boost.
Bet on eSports with 1xBetHand of Midas has been significantly strengthened in patch 7.34. Now the item has two charges, each of which recharges in 100 seconds. Thanks to this, there will be no more cases when you are killed with an active "midas", and you receive less benefits from its purchase.
Linken's Sphere has been significantly weakened. Now applying it to an ally who is already under this effect refreshes the effect, rather than creating a separate effect that allowed blocking of another ability. In other words, a hero cannot have more than one effect of Linken's Sphere as it was before.
Revenant's Brooch no longer increases attack speed. Instead, it reduces the magic resistance of targeted enemies by 20%. The effect lasts three seconds and is applied before damage is taken. In the new patch, Revenant's Brooch deals damage to units that are immune to effects, and the damage is reduced by magic resistance.
Hero changes in patch 7.34
In patch 7.34, the developers also reworked almost all of the heroes. Some of the changes are bug fixes. However, some heroes have undergone significant changes. Let's take a look at the heroes with the most significant changes.
Anti-Mage got a new Aghanim's Scepter (the old effect was removed from the game). Now the item creates an illusion of the owner next to the foe who used the reflected ability. The illusion deals 75% damage, receives 100% damage, and lasts only four seconds. In addition, the Anti-Mage has received a new Aghanim's Shard. It creates a shield of Counterspell ability around the selected ally within a radius of 600, which also summons an illusion when an enemy's ability is reflected.
Beastmaster's spell Call of the Wild (hawk) has been heavily reworked. The hero now summons his hawk, which circles above him and swoops down on a random enemy within a 500 radius (primarily on heroes) every 4 seconds, dealing 60/90/120/150 damage and applying a stun effect for one second. You cannot control the hawk. Meanwhile, Aghanim's Shard no longer gives the Dive Bomb ability. This item now summons an additional hawk.
Crystal Maiden has had her ultimate ability improved. Aghanim's Scepter now allows the hero to move, attack, and cast spells while Freezing Field is active. The hero also received a new Aghanim Shard. While using this ability, Crystal Maiden rolls back and a crystallized clone appears in her place for five seconds. When the clone's lifetime expires or it is destroyed, the Frostbite ability of the current level will affect all enemies within a range of 300. The clone cannot be targeted, but will take damage from AoE abilities.
Doom has lost his key power in the new patch. The hero's ultimate ability no longer applies Mute (disables item actives) to enemies. Instead, Doom prevents the target from recovering health. The old effect can only be obtained by leveling up the talent available at level 25.
Enigma can no longer use Demonic Conversion on creeps. In the new patch, this ability doesn't require a target now. It summons one eidolon to the left, right, and behind the hero.
Bet on eSports with 1xBetThe developers have significantly redesigned Lone Druid's Spirit Bear summoning ability. The bear is now a universal sneak hero. The bear has no basic attributes and does not gain them from levels, but the attributes of effects or items affect it just like universal heroes. The bear cannot gain experience, but its health and damage increase by 90 and 5 for each level of its owner. In addition, in the new patch, the bear has received improvements from Aghanim's Scepter and Aghanim's Shard. Aghanim's Scepter allows the bear to attack enemies at any distance from its owner and not die along with the owner (previously this ability was available to Lone Druids). Aghanim's Shard gives the bear an active ability - Fetch. When activated, the bear stuns the target creature and drags its prey to its owner for 2.25 seconds. The bear cannot be controlled during this time. If the target is an enemy, it takes 300 damage over time and the bear moves 20% slower.
Lone Druid received a new Aghanim's Scepter. The hero severs the bond with the bear spirit and forms a bond with a chosen ally, granting them bonuses from this ability for 20 seconds. It increases all armor and attack speed bonuses by 35%. Damage dealt by one hero heals the other. During this time, the bear spirit is afflicted with fear if it does not also have an Aghanim's Scepter.
Marci's Sidekick ability has been reworked. The effect of the ability now applies to the owner of the ability and its target at all times, except when the owner dies or the ability is applied to another allied hero. Also, one hero's vampirism will now heal the other. If the owner of the ability and the allied hero are more than 2500 range apart, the owner of the ability will receive only half of the bonuses, and the allied hero will receive none.
Tidehunter has a new Aghanim's Shard (the old one was removed). The hero throws a chain at the enemy hero, which chains him with a heavy anchor. If the victim attempts to move away from the anchor by more than 350, their speed is reduced to 100 and the anchor is dragged behind them. The chain deals 200 magic damage. The chain flies at a speed of 100 and can be knocked away from the target. The spell removes invisibility from the target and grants vision.
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