We’re usually expecting a new patch after the conclusion of a Major event. Since the ESL One Los Angeles Major which was scheduled for March 15-22 got canceled due to the coronavirus outbreak, patch 7.25 arrived early. So what’s new in 7.25? A lot.
Today we’ll take a look at some of the most impactful changes in the patch. For the full notes feel free to check the official Dota 2 website.
General changes
- All Pick hero picking has been reworked. It now has 5 rounds, each round Radiant and Dire pick 1 hero each at the same time and the selections each team makes is hidden until the next round. If a duplicate pick occurs, the player who picked it second will be given some extra time to select another hero.
- Reworked how hero banning works in All Pick. Previously half of the voted heroes would get banned. Now each ban has a 50% chance of succeeding. If there are less than 10 heroes banned, heroes will automatically roll for banning based on their ban rate at your MMR bracket.
Perhaps the two most important changes come right at the start. Picking and banning will be quite different from now on and hopefully for the better. Maybe for the first time ever we’ll see an end to the last pick cheese and heroes like Meepo, Broodmother, Huskar will drop in popularity.
- Power Runes initially spawn at 4 minutes now
The mid lane was always tricky since river runes dictated the balance of power as early as minute 2. Changing it to four will make it less of an RNG fest and more skill dependent.
- Illusion rune now has similar cast mechanics as Manta (shuffle, dispel, dodge)
But that’s not all, the Illusion rune is now probably the best one you can get as it’s essentially a free Manta Style active. Almost any mid hero can utilize that versus crowd control and it’d be interesting to see if any carries will be given the bottle in pro matches, just to use the pseudo-Manta.
Item changes
Town Portal Scroll
- Cost increased from 50 to 90
Boots of Travel
- No longer has an active
- Upgrades Town Portal Scroll while equipped. Reduces its cooldown to 40 seconds, allows it to target units, and does not consume a charge on usage.
- Movement speed increased from 32/35% to 38/44%
IceFrog strikes exactly where it hurts, as Town Portal Scrolls now almost double their price from 50 to 90 gold. Boots of Travel may get a slight increase in movement speed, but their active part was what players bought them for. Allowing the user to quickly defend base and then return to a teamfight or simply save time by going fountain was what made the boots so good. All of that seems to be a thing of the past as now there’s only one way to teleport. This also means that ratting will once again be viable in Dota 2 and heroes like Nature’s Prophet will be able to abuse their mobility spells.
Javelin
- Damage reduced from 100 to 80
Mjollnir
- Attack speed reduced from +75 to +65
It looks like the Maelstrom and Mjollnir nerfs in the last patch weren’t enough as the items still get hit. Javelin deals 20 less damage, making it less of a threat in the early game on heroes like Pangolier, who could basically rush it before minute 5.
Orb of Venom
- Damage per second reduced from 5 to 2
- Melee slow increased from 12% to 15%
- Slow duration reduced from 3 to 2 seconds
Orb of Venom is now just a slow tool, as the damage component gets closer to 0. On the plus side, it’s even better on Ursa at the moment.Headdress, Sage’s Mask and Ring of Basilius all lose their stats parts and become pure aura items. They’ll still see play, but the intent here was to differentiate stat items like Bracer, Wraith Band, Null Talisman from aura items, as the latter also gave a decent boost.
Broadsword
- Cost reduced from 1200 to 1000
- Damage reduced from +18 to +16
Crystalys
- Recipe cost increased from 500 to 700
- Damage reduced from 45 to 34
- Critical Strike chance increased from 20% to 30%
Crystalys was the best gold for damage item in the game for the last few months. The gold cost of the recipe increases, but only to compensate for Broadsword’s cost which was decreased. Losing 11 damage might seem like a lot, but the crit chance goes up to 30% now. Crystalys now has 8 less damage than Demon Edge, but it’s still the better choice for pure physical damage and it’s also much easier to build.
Bloodthorn
- Now requires Hyperstone instead of Crystalys
- Attack Damage reduced from +75 to +30
- Attack Speed increased from 30 to 85
- No longer has a passive critical strike chance
Bloodthorn no longer builds up from Crystalys, but instead uses a Hyperstone. This is arguably a good change as you already have a guaranteed chance to hit and crit with the active part.
Battlefury
- Now requires Broadsword and Mithril Hammer instead of Demon Edge and Recipe
Battlefury is now easier to build with the components being a bit split. The item makes a return to its old days when this was the original recipe.
Kaya and Sange / Yasha and Kaya
- Mana loss reduction increased from 16% to 18%
- Spell amplification increased from 12% to 14%
Kaya itself and both of the combinations have seen very little play and the only hero who buys them frequently is Storm. With the buffs in this patch, we might actually see an increase in its popularity.
Force Staff
- Cast range reduced from 750 to 550 (850 for enemies)
- No longer undispellable
Hurricane Pike
- Allied cast range reduced from 800 to 550
- No longer undispellable
Glimmer Cape
- Cast range reduced from 800 to 550
Nullifier
- No longer mutes enemies
- Now continuously dispels the target
- Duration reduced from 6 to 5
- Slow reduced from 100% for 0.4 seconds to 80% for 0.5 seconds
- Cooldown reduced from 13 to 11
- Cast range increased from 600 to 900
- Armor increased from +5 to +8
- Damage increased from +65 to +80
All of the changes are quite big as in-game mechanics are being altered. Starting with Force Staff/Hurricane Pike and Glimmer Cape, those items were the most common choice for supports in almost every match. Now they’re dispellable – Glimmer Cape’s buff will get cleared instantly, while the target of Force Staff will stop in its tracks.
Nullifier was a really scary item to go against as heroes like Riki and Clinkz could use it to counter Black King Bar and Manta Style. That’ll no longer be the case. Instead, Nullifier’s current effect will be equal to Shadow Demon’s ultimate – Demonic Purge. Any positive buffs will be continuously removed over the duration.
Silver Edge
- Debuff now reduces regen and heals by 50%
This item is now even better against Huskar as it will make him a much easier kill throughout all stages of the game.
Heroes
Clinkz
- Death Pact no longer has a neutral level requirement
This is a major buff to Clinkz in the early game, as he’ll be able to instantly kill big creeps to gain a solid advantage. Depending on the situation a value point in Death Pact might be all you need.
Dazzle
- Reworked Scepter. When you cast an ability, you automatically launch an attack on 8 enemy units (up to 800 units away). TALENTS Level 10 Talent reduced from +75 Damage to +60
There’s a huge chance that we’ll see people playing Dazzle mid in the weeks to follow. His new Aghanim’s Scepter upgrade turns him into a Gyrocopter/Medusa as long as he has a spell to cast.
Juggernaut
- Reworked Scepter. Grants Swift Slash. Performs a mini omnislash that lasts 0.8 seconds. Cast Range 650. Cooldown 15. Manacost 100
Jugg’s new upgrade seems insane on paper. It gives him mobility and eliminates the need for Blink Dagger as it can be used to escape or initiate. The 15 second cooldown might be a bit too low so expect it to change. Note that you can use Omnislash while in Swift Slash in vice versa.
Pudge
- Base health regen increased from 0 to 1
- Flesh Heap - Flesh Heap now provides 8/10/12/14% Magic Resistance instead of health regen
Pudge is the most picked hero in every bracket and for good reason. Now he won’t be as versatile due to the lack of early regen. Furthermore he can no longer self-deny with Rot so he sucks when compared to his previous self a couple of patches back.
Snapfire
- Added Scepter ability, Gobble Up. Allows you to swallow an allied creep or hero and spit it towards enemies, stunning enemies in the area for 1.5 seconds and leaving a glob on the floor dealing 100 DPS for 3 seconds. Units can stay in his belly for up to 3 seconds. Impact radius of 400. Cooldown 40 seconds. Cast Range 150
- Scatterblast cooldown increased from 10 to 13/12/11/10
Gobble Up is absolutely insane at the moment as it provides free initiation for an allied hero. The ability’s range 3000. Yep 3000 range Toss which also stuns and deals damage in the area. Let’s see how long it lasts.
Ursa
- Fury Swipes - Fury Swipes damage increased from 7/14/21/28 to 10/20/30/40
- Overpower attack count reduced from 4/5/6/7 to 3/4/5/6
- Overpower cooldown reduced from 16/14/12/10 to 16/13/10/7
- Overpower manacost reduced from 75 to 55/60/65/70
- Enrage no longer has a Fury Swipes multiplier
- Enrage duration increased from 4 to 4/4.5/5
- Enrage cooldown reduced from 70/50/30 to 50/40/30
- Enrage now grants +50% Status Resistance
- Level 25 Talent changed from Enrage +80% Status Resistance to +3 Overpower Attacks
Ursa is back to being an absolute beast on lane, while sacrificing a part of his nuke potential with his ultimate. Not too bad if you ask me, as it’s a hero who has to win the lane in order to win the game (in most cases).
Void Spirit
- Added Scepter. Resonant Pulse is now a charge-based ability with 2 charges and it now silences enemies for 2 seconds.
Previously people would go for an Orchid Malevolence, now I’m not so sure. Scepter gives better stats for survival and allows you to silence the entire enemy team – twice. Orchid is 275 gold cheaper than Aghanim’s Scepter but sure seems like the better choice right now. Most of the other changes were focused on tweaking hero stats and talents with nothing attracting too much attention. In case we’ve missed something, expect a future update on the topic.
