We’re done with the letters of 7.26 as Valve released the next big Dota 2 update with 7.27. The ancient Prowler Camp, which was the most annoying one, is no more.
Patch 7.27 came out yesterday and it’s mostly focused on rebalancing items while also introducing two new ones. Woah! We also get some general changes that won’t necessarily change much in terms of gameplay. Without further ado let’s take a look at the most important things in 7.27.
General changes
- Hero kills base XP increased from 40 to 100
- Hero kill last hit gold increased from 99 + 7.2 * Level to 120 + 8 * Level
- Assist gold rescaled from 45 + 0.033*NW to 30 + 0.038*NW
- Passive gold income increased from 85 to 95
- Bounty Runes are now reliable gold
- Tower last hit bounty from 180 for T1/2/3/4 to 120/140/160/180
- Neutral stacking support bounty increased from 35% to 40%
Getting early kills can have an even greater snowball effect as the experience granted is more than doubled. Increasing the passive gold income by 10 might not seem like much but combined with Bounty Runes turning into reliable could make all the difference.
- Midlane creep camps changed from Medium to Small
- Removed Prowler Camp
- Adjusted the low ground tree layout near both outposts to prevent channeling from low ground without destroying trees first
- Removed a tree to make an opening in the tree line to the right of the mid radiant tier 1 tower
- Changed the camp to the right of the radiant secret shop from medium camp to hard camp
- Swapped the hard camp to the right of the radiant top tier 2 tower with the ancient camp in the primary jungle
- Reduced the size of the Radiant safelane hard camp spawn box
- Radiant safelane small camp spawn box size has been increased
- Dire safelane small camp spawn box size has been reduced
The Prowler Camp is gone. You heard that right, the most annoying neutral creep is a thing of the past and will no longer snare you despite your best efforts to avoid it. Spawn boxes for jungle creeps around the map get tweaked.
- Outposts can no longer be stolen by the other team until they kill one of your T2 towers
- Outpost now reveals enemies channeling it
- Outpost vision radius is now shown by holding alt
If the game is really slow you might not be able to get the enemy outpost. That’s arguably a good thing, as during the early stages it feels more like a waste of time to channel and take it.
- All lane creeps now avoid hero aggro until they are near enemy creeps, neutrals or within 1550 range of their Tier 1 tower. This active until the siege units spawn at 5 minutes.
This is a rather big change since pulling waves in the first five minutes with something like Timber or Axe will be a bit more difficult. It seems like the frog isn’t a fan of that strategy.
- Courier flying upgrade level requirement reduced from 5 to 4
- Courier movement speed is reduced by 15% while carrying consumables
You get a flying courier a level earlier but it’s now slowed when bringing consumables, which is exactly what it’ll be doing in the early game.
- All Pick drafting has been reworked. Each team now picks two heroes per round before they are revealed, rather than just one. The final round is a single selection. (So it goes from 1/1/1/1/1 to 2/2/1)
- All Pick hero ban count increased from 10 to 12
- All Pick first two rounds now have 5 extra seconds for hero picking
- Captain's Mode ban count has changed from 4/1/1 for the three ban phases to 2/3/2
- Captain's Mode duration per pick and ban reduced from 35 seconds to 30
- Captain's Mode first pick phase is changed from Radiant/Dire/Dire/Radiant to Radiant/Dire/Radiant/Dire (assuming Radiant is first pick)
- Captain's Mode third ban phase is changed from Dire/Radiant to Radiant/Dire/Radiant/Dire
- Random Draft hero pool reduced from 40 to 33
Quite a lot of changes to ban and pick orders, phases, and time. The most important ones for most of us will be the All Pick rework.
- Fountain now has a fury swipes style attacking, increasing its damage by 3 for each hit
- Neutral Items nearby enemy range drop restriction increased from 900 to 1200
- Neutral items will no longer drop if the nearby real hero source of kills is teleporting
- Neutral items no longer drop for Meepo clones if the Meepo prime is not nearby
- Lifesteal Amplification now stacks diminishingly rather than additively
- HP Regen Amplification now stacks diminishingly rather than additively
- Heal Amplification now stacks diminishingly rather than additively
- Spell Lifesteal Amplification now stacks diminishingly rather than additively
Fountain diving is a thing in more games and we feel like it should get True Strike. Instead it got Fury Swipes, but there’s no info about a debuff or how long it’ll last. Or perhaps it’ll reset after the fountain starts attacking a new target?
Items
There are quite a lot of changes in the items department, let’s take a look at the big ones.
Necronomicon
- No longer provides Archer Aura (movement/attack speed of necro units increased with the same amount as the aura provided)
- Attack damage type changed from Piercing to Hero and damage amount adjusted such that the net effect is -57% vs creeps, -10% vs buildings and +26% vs heroes
- Mana regen reduced from 3/3.5/4 to 2/3/4
- Last Will no longer deals damage through Spell Immunity
The archer aura was a big part of what made Necronomicon great. Now it’s completely removed and the item gets further nerfs. Was it perhaps too good on heroes like Beastmaster or Dazzle?
Helm of the Dominator
- No longer provides a damage and regen auraDominate now also gives the creep a buff that provides +40 Base Damage, +12 HP Regen and +4 MP Regen
- Cooldown reduced from 60 to 45
- Recipe is now Helm of Iron Will, Crown and a 725 gold recipe
- Passive bonuses are now +6 Armor, +6 HP Regen and +6 All Stats
Another aura is completely removed. Sure the dominated creep gets some extra stats, but the overall damage is surely going down.
Vladmir's Offering
- Now requires a Mask of Death, Blades of Attack, Ring of Basilius and a 600 gold recipe (total cost from 2300 to 2375)
- No longer provides +3 Armor Aura
- No longer provides +5 All Stats
- Lifesteal Aura reduced from 20% to 15%
- Now provides +18% Damage Aura
- Mana regen increased from 1.5 to 2
Drum of Endurance
- Now requires Crown, Sage's Mask, Windlace and 600 gold recipe
- No longer provides a 20 Attack Speed Aura
- Now provides +6 All Attributes, +1.5 Mana Regen and +20 Movement Speed Bonus
- Attack speed bonus increased from +35 to +45
- Active movement speed increased from 12% to 13%
The pattern continues, with attack speed from drums and armor from Vladmir’s getting removed. The armor aura was moved to Mekansm and Guardian Greaves. There's also a buff for Vlads though as it now provides an 18% damage aura, so not all auras are lost.
Mekansm
- Now requires Buckler instead of Chainmail (total cost remains same)
- Now Provides +3 Armor Aura
- Self armor reduced from +6 to +4
- No longer provides +4 All stats
Guardian Greaves
- Now provides +3 Armor Aura
- No longer provides +5 All stats
- Self armor reduced from +6 to +4
Blade Mail
- Now has a 500 gold recipe instead of using Robe of the Magi
- No longer grants +8 intelligence
- Armor bonus increased from 6 to 7
- Now has a passive component that returns 20 + 20% of the attack damage
- Active return damage reduced from 100% to 80%
Blade Mail is probably at its worst in Dota 2 history. First, the item was nerfed as spell immunity completely negates its effect, now it’s worse on intelligence heroes. At least it gets a passive 20% return of attack damage.
Blitz Knuckles
- New basic item. Costs 1000 gold and provides +35 Attack Speed.
One of the new items. It’s basically a mini Hyperstone. For half the cost, you get over half the attack speed.
Echo Sabre
- Slow is now only applied by real heroes
This might mean that the reign of Monkey King’s ultimate is over.
Silver Edge
- Now requires Echo Sabre instead of Ultimate Orb
- Now provides +40 Damage, +45 Attack Speed, +12 Strength, +10 Intelligence and +1.5 Mana Regen (keeps the other benefits from components)
Silver Edge is now a beastly item. We predict it’ll get nerfed really soon.
Voodoo Mask
- New base item. Grants +12% Spell Lifesteal (2.5% against creeps). Costs 900 Gold.
The second new item. It’ll be a very situational pick on certain heroes. For example Bristleback.
Holy Locket
- Can now target allied units with the magic stick active. Cast Range 500
Ah, the item nobody ever upgrades their stick to. It’s now a legit support item that can save a core at the right moment.
Spirit Vessel
- No longer has a heal reduction aura
- Soul Release regen increased from 30 to 40
- Soul Release dps increased from 25 to 35
- Enemy HP regen reduction increased from -35% to -45%
Shiva's Guard
- Freezing Aura now also applies a 25% heal reduction in the area
- Recipe cost increased from 650 to 750
The heal reduction aura is moved from Vessel to Shiva’s. Perhaps the support item had it too good.
Heart of Tarrasque
- No longer provides +10 Health Regen nor heal/regen amplification
- Now passively provides 1% health regeneration
- While out of combat, provides +50% health regen amplification
- Strength reduced from +45 to +40
- Recipe cost increased from 400 to 650
Heart is no longer the amazing item that will allow you to come back 5 seconds later at full health. At its current state there's going to be almost no reason to go for it.
Quelling Blade
- Cost reduced from 150 to 130
- Melee bonus damage reduced from 18 to 15
- Range bonus damage increased from 5 to 6
Quelling Blade used to cost 200 gold, now it’s down to 130. While the damage is also getting lower the cutting effect remains unchanged.
Hand of Midas
- XP multiplier increased from 185% to 210%
Hand of Midas is either too good or heading towards the dumpster. While most people think it’s a gold item, it’s first and foremost an experience item. Using it on a large neutral can give you a solid advantage if you used it on cooldown.
The rest of the item changes are mostly tweaks, buffs and nerfs for neutral items. Sadly, patch 7.27 didn’t include anything about heroes, but something tells us 7.27a might. Overall the new patch focuses a lot on changing the tempo of the game, with aura strats getting eliminated and regen getting reworked on most items. To see the full notes visit Valve’s official website.
Stay tuned for more Dota 2 news and make sure to check out EarlyGame for everything gaming and esports.
