Prepare to unlearn EVERYTHING!
So, ummm. The game ofDota 2has changed in a BIG way. First of all, normally these giant patches hit the originalDOTAfirst, then making their way over toDota 2about a week later.
That didn’t happen.
This patch hitDota 2first, and has turned the gameupside-down. Here’s my thoughts on this insane patch, along with most of the patch notes. See the complete patch noteshere.
*Note: My thoughts on the Hero changes are coming soon! All of the information hits the character limit for a single post.
General Changes
*Note: I will not be going overallof the General Changes. Only the ones I think are big enough.
Woah, HUGE change to buybacks. Not only will you stop getting farm gold, but yournextrespawn timer is going to be relatively huge! More thought will have to go into each buyback and will likely be held for dire moments only (i.e. when your base in under attack).
So, the equilibrium has changed. It’s okay to block creeps in your safe lane! I don’t know that dual lanes will come back (you can’t dual lane if the enemy trilanes), but it could potentially happen.
Direct buff to sneaky invisible Heroes who can now just leech a massive amount of XP from these camps. Wards just became even more important.
Woah. All my experience of stacking and pulling camps is NULLIFIED! Shit. That, and jungling in general took a massive hit. GET OUT OF THERE, NATURE’S PROPHET!
WHY MUST I RELEARN EVERYTHING AHHHHHHHH. This is actually a huge change, and you can expect Night Stalker players to be smiling ear-to-ear (flap-to-flap?). Entire gameplay strategies will be forced to change around this.
WHAT?! Timing Roshan exactly is now impossible, and Aegis got buffed! Holy shit, this will make the game so much more interesting to playandwatch.
Supports, rejoice! More starting gold and more Gold Per Second! AUGH THERE ARE TOO MANY GAME-CHANGING CHANGES HERE. I haven’t even got to the Heroes yet!
So, getting the Melee Barracks is nowwayharder than getting the Ranged Barracks. I love this change, since everyone goes for the Melee first, as it has a larger impact on the game. A perfect example of how the game is evolving around the way people play it. So awesome.
Item Changes
*Note: I will not be going overallof the Item Changes. Only the ones I think are big enough.
More HP on the Courier is HUGE! Getting your Courier sniped sucks, and it just got that much harder. However, with the change to the Flying Courier, maybe it got easier? Hmmm….
OH MY GOOOOOOD! This. Is. Huge. This kills “bottle crowing” until 3 minutes into the game, which is an amazing change if you ask me. I’ll be happy to see a mano-e-mano fight in mid without an infinite supply of mana.
When on cooldown it does not work on you. Goes into cooldown when cast and once the buff is used up.If the cooldown ends and the buff has not been used up, the buff ends and does not trigger another cooldown.700 cast range
This is HUGE!! This adds so much more versatility to Linken’s. There are going to be some amazing moments when an ally is saved with a clutch Linken’s Transfer™ atjustthe right moment. I can’t wait to see how this changes teamfights or ganking attempts.
Observer Ward
Always nice to see a duration increase! With the increase in money supports (well, technically everyone) are getting, placing wards less frequently is another indirect buff to support gold! I love the bounty put on the Ward as well, rewarding teams who de-ward and forcing players to be abitmore cautious and aware. The bounty isn’t insane, but it still adds a lot.
Sentry Ward
I like this change. The increase in duration is obviously great, but I always felt it was weird that a Sentry gave anyrealvision at all, and clearly Icefroc and Co. felt that way as well. Now it only provides that vision temporarily, while permanently doing what it’s intended to – giving true sight.
Big ole nerf to Shadow Blade here, and all the Heroes who love it so much (Alchemist, Sniper, etc.). I think this is a good change, and makes it more of an “oh, shit!” use item than an “use it all the time always” item.
Tango
THEY CHANGED TANGOS?! ID NOTHING SACRED ANYMORE?! Seriously though, Tangos are changed! I like the new changes: not being able to directly share them, but to “transfer” a charge (which takes up an extra inventory slot) is a nice change. Also, more charges! And more money, but I think that’s just to keep them more in line with the increased gold rates (aka inflation).
Tranquil Boots
Previous Tranquil Boots=========================Active Boots:+ 75 Movement speed+ 3 Armor+ 3 HP RegenerationAbility: Heal – Restores 250 HP over 20 seconds while out of combat. 60s cooldown. 25 mana cost.
Broken Boots:+ 25 Movement speedRestores when the last 10 seconds don’t have 3 instances of damage.
Can be disassembled=========================New Tranquil Boots=========================Active Boots:+ 85 Movement speed+ 4 Armor+ 10 HP Regeneration
Broken Boots:+ 60 Movement speed+ 4 ArmorRestores when you haven’t attacked or been attacked in the last 13 seconds.
Cannot be disassembled
This is a big game changer. Tranquil Boots are now not completely useless when they’re “broken!” In fact, they’re pretty solid even when broken. HUGE buff to all Heroes who already use this, and I won’t be surprised if more and more Heroes start to lean towards these cheap boots. So awesome!
