6.83 - Patch Analysis
Ho! Ho! Ho!
Another patch is to hit the Dota 2 world really soon, and this Christmas present is not unwelcome. Featuring a great deal of various bug fixes, UI improvements and, most importantly, balance changes, this patch is solidifying the great year it was for Dota 2 (unless you are an [A]liance or Na'Vi fan).
It is always interesting to look at the ways the game rules change in response to the trends in both competitive and pub play and, as per usual, we are going to make an in-depth analysis of the balance improvements the game is soon to receive.
Last time we have used color coding to make things a bit simpler for you to read and as usual, Green will indicate a minor change, Yellow a moderate amendment and Red will signify a major change to a hero.
General gameplay
A nerf to the illusion pushing is in a way a response to the changes introduced to some of the illusions in the patch itself and will be covered further down.
Bounty runes now spawn at 0:00 on each side of the river and grant 100 XP/Gold, instead of 50. This prevents the possibility of the early game kills based on luck with an appropriate rune, while still giving enough reasons to contest the rune spots before the game begins.
Enhancements to the maximum Attack Speed it is possible to stack on a single hero should not affect the gameplay as much as the community seems to believe. In most cases, it is better to have a balanced IAS/Damage builds, as they tend to suffer less from the diminishing marginal returns on your gold investments. At the same time, it is certainly a rather sizable buff to the 
Windranger, as noted in the official patch notes, as well as 
Ursa.
Neutral ancient creep - Granite Golem having a 15% Max HP increase Aura does make 
Chen slightly more viable and it also makes stacked ancient camps a bit harder to clear, but overall it should not have that much of an impact on the carry GPM's or Chen's popularity.
Heroes
Abaddon
- Borrowed Time duration increased from 3/4/5 to 4/5/6
The biggest impact this buff has is on a level 1 
Borrowed Time, since percentage-wise it is a 33% increase in the duration of the ultimate. It means that Abaddon will have more time to use the 
Mist Coil appropriately as well as having more time to deal auto-attacks uninterrupted. Overall, it should not make him a lot stronger, but it might put the hero on the radar for some professional teams.
Alchemist
- Greevil's Greed base bonus gold increased from 4/6/8/10 to 6/8/10/12
- Greevil's Greed extra bonus gold per stack from 1/2/3/4 to 3
- Greevil's Greed max bonus gold from 30 to 12/20/28/36
- Greevil's Greed recent kill window duration increased from 25 to 30
We feel that this buff, while providing more net gold in the earlier stages, does not justify the Alchemist pick. His poor stats gain as well as a relatively non-scaling skillset prevents him from being a solid 1st position carry in a meta that allows for comebacks and huge gold swings. In pubs he could become a really strong snowballing machine, but if countered appropriately still does not seem too strong.
Axe
- Battle Hunger duration from 10/12/14/16 to 10
- Battle Hunger damage from 15/20/25/30 to 16/24/32/40
- Battle Hunger cast range from 900 to 750
- Battle Hunger movement and slow from 10 to 12%
- Battle Hunger mana cost from 75/85/95/105 to 75
Personally, I feel like this skill should be completely redesigned, since there aren't many situations where you should even consider getting more than one point in it, instead opting for a bigger mana and HP pools from stats. Extra 2% slow looks nice, but shouldn't have too much of an impact.
Bane
- Nightmare cooldown from 15 to 16/15/14/13
I honestly don't know why was this change implemented, but I am almost certain there will be virtually no change to the Bane's general skill build and gameplay tactics associated with this balance change.
Beastmaster
- Call of the Wild now always provides a Hawk and a Boar at each level, and each now scales per level
- Hawk health from 50/50/100/100 to 40/60/80/100
- Hawk movement speed from 270/270/400/400 to 250/300/350/400
- Hawk day sight from 500/500/1600/1600 to 700/1000/1300/1600
- Hawk night sight from 500/500/1200/1200 to 700/800/900/1000
- Hawk kill bounty from 30/30/65/65 to 30/40/50/60
- Boar health from 0/400/400/500 to 200/300/400/500
- Boar base damage from 0/26/26/46 to 15/30/45/60
- Boar base attack time from 0/1.5/1.5/1 to 1.25
- Boar poison slow from 0/20/20/35% to 10/20/30/40%
Making investing skill points in the skill not seem like a complete waste at level 3 and making the hawk a very good scouting tool early on, as opposed to being a free XP/Gold for the enemy.
Also opens up the possibility of a support Beastmaster with a level 1 Boar and 
Orb of Venom to completely zone out the enemy offlaner.
Bloodseeker
- Added to Captain's Mode
- Bloodrage no longer amplifies outgoing damage if the damage has the no-reflection flag
The first point is in green because I strongly believe that the hero is too situational for a competitive play. He might be used as a counter to the 
Slark once in a while, but otherwise he seems a bit week and unreliable.
The second one deals with a popular pub build, where Bloodseeker under the effect of 
Bloodrage and 
Blade Mail effectively dealt the extra return damage twice - from both receiving and dealing extra 40% damage. Personally, I don't feel it was that strong to be nerfed, but there are certain ways it could have been abused by the professionals and since the hero is entering the competitive play, this minor "bug" had to be fixed.
Bounty Hunter
- Track bonus gold for self increased from 150/200/250 to 200/275/350
- Track cooldown reduced from 10/7/5 to 4
Being able to constantly track the whole enemy team as throw bouncing shurikens should definitely increase the viability of the hero. It is still a rather situational pick, but it certainly looks really interesting on paper.
Brewmaster
- Base Armor reduced from 4 to 2
- Thunder Clap hero slow duration from 4.25 to 4
- Thunder Clap cooldown from 12 to 13
The 
Thunder Clap nerfs are quite minor, however reducing the armor value by 2 on a strength hero that has a very decent starting HP pool will make him a lot squishier. 12% squishier to the physical damage to be exact and while it does not completely break the hero, it will certainly make midlaning as Brewmaster a lot harder.
Bristleback
- Quill Spray stack damage increased from 30 to 30/32/34/36
The damage cap of 400 on the spell is one stack easier to reach, but otherwise it is a very minor buff.
Broodmother
- Spiderlings' day vision reduced from 1400 to 1100
A rather nice nerf to the hero that is still really hard to deal with, especially in the higher level public matchmaking. It does not hit her hard, but it does hit her, which is nice.
Chaos Knight
- Reality Rift damage increased from 25/50/75/100 to 60/80/100/120
- Reality Rift mana cost from 70 to 50
- Phantasm illusion duration increased from 34 to 42
Level 1 
Reality Rift now hurts. And it hurts really hard. A 20 mana cost decrease on a strength hero with a miniscule manapool is also extremely significant and the increased duration on the illusions is a cherry on top of the buff cake. It is unlikely that all of the illusions will survive the fight, but the ones that do can keep on pushing for 10 seconds more. Given the decrease in the damage illusions deal to the structures, it was necessary to a certain degree.
Chen
- Test of Faith now teleports all of your units to you when cast on yourself
- Holy Persuasion max units increased from 1/1/2/3 to 1/2/3/4
Very good and very on-point buffs for the hero that was forgotten even by the Puppey and EGM. Quintuple Centaur stuns with 
Helm of the Dominator and 
Blink Dagger incoming.
Clinkz
- Base attack range increased from 600 to 630
Being able to secure more farm in the offlane while harassing most of the supports without them being able to touch you is really nice. Since your attack range is higher, it is possible that any HP trading you will have with the enemy support will be 1 hit advantageous for you, provided you have the vision, and it is not the terms enemy wants to start trading HP with Clinkz on.
Clockwerk
- Battery Assault damage increased from 15/35/55/75 to 20/40/60/80
Personally, I'd rather have a +1 armor kind of buff. It is nice and a value point in 
Battery Assault is 33% more painful, but it will most likely go unnoticed.
Crystal Maiden
- Crystal Nova attack speed slow from 20 to 30
- Frostbite cooldown from 10 to 10/9/8/7
- Freezing Field duration increased from 7 to 10 seconds
- Freezing Field explosion spawn radius and slow radius increased by 150
- Freezing Field explosion damage radius increased by 50
Overall nice buffs to her first and second spell and a rather huge change to her ultimate - if previously it was a hybrid between damage and utility, now it is almost pure utility. Given the massive extra 150 units radius (300 units diameter), the chances of the explosions hitting the same target several times to deal significant damage are rather low, but channeling the spell can be a lot safer. Though, I have to say this - 
Upheaval is better.
Dark Seer
- Base armor increased by 1
- Vacuum pull duration increased from 0.4 to 0.5
Ahhh, here are the +1 armor buffs I was asking for. Coupled with an incredible +0.1s disable buff. Don't get me wrong - combined, they do make the hero a little bit stronger. But it feels a little bit underwhelming.
Dazzle
- Base attack range increased from 500 to 550 You can now somewhat effectively trade HP with the offlaners. Not a big deal, but does make Dazzle a more viable support.
Death Prophet
- Strength growth reduced from 2.2 to 1.9
1 autoattack less to kill for every 7 levels, compared to the unnerfed version. A deserved buff that does deal with her extreme survivability with the extra movement speed.
Disruptor
- Glimpse mana cost rescaled from 160/130/100/70 to 100
- Glimpse cooldown reduced from 65/50/35/20 to 60/46/32/18
- Kinetic Field cooldown reduced from 14/13/12/11 to 13/12/11/10
- Static Storm cooldown from 85 to 90/80/70
Huge buffs to the Disruptor. Decreased cooldown on ultimate coupled with decreased manacost on 
Glimpse make for a very viable support, which does not have as many mana issues as he used to.
Dragon Knight
- Elder Dragon Form level 3 now maintains the Corrosive Breath ability from levels 1 and 2
In case you got too many levels too fast. Also disables Blink Dagger.
Drow Ranger
- Illusions now benefit from the Marksmanship bonus
Argument is over: 
Manta Style over 
Sange and Yasha every time. They won't deal a ton of damage, especially to the structures, but they will not be completely useless, like they previously were.
Earth Spirit
- Rolling Boulder no longer reduces attack speed by 80 for 2 seconds
- Rolling Boulder no longer does an additional 45 damage when used with a stone remnant
- Rolling Boulder base damage increased from 90 to 100
The hero is still extremely strong in the right hands. A little weaker, but still incredibly strong.
Earthshaker
- Enchant Totem mana cost reduced from 50 to 20/30/40/50
A very nice early game buff. With lowered manacost you can pretty much spam the spell to make denies a lot easier and trade HP with the enemy more effectively.
Elder Titan
- Astral Spirit damage reduced from 60/100/140/180 to 60/90/120/150
- Fixed a few cases where Elder Titan could move his Astral Spirit while casting Echo Stomp
A minor nerf and a bug-fix. Considering it is a setup spell that pretty much makes any damage to the enemy pure, the nerf is not too heavy.
Enchantress
- Base movement speed increased from 315 to 335
Extremely hard to catch, good for roaming and allows for nice kiting with 
Impetus. If only the added MS was shared with the enchanted creeps.
Faceless Void
- Time Walk no longer slows attack speed
- Chronosphere cooldown increased from 130/110/90 to 130/115/100
- Ward unit types are no longer able to attack while inside the Chronosphere
While the nerfs are minor separately, they add up to a decent overall nerf that was rather deserved. I especially like the 
Chronosphere part, since you now have to choose between either having your inventory filled up with an useless item, or having only one ultimate in 100 seconds.
Gyrocopter
- Call Down area of effect increased from 450 to 600
- Call Down missile one slow amount reduced from 50% to 30%
- Call Down missile two slow amount increased from 20% to 60%
- Force Staff can now be used on Homing Missile
The ultimate is now massive and I feel like support Gyrocopter could be a thing, especially given the previous buff to the 
Homing Missile. Speaking of which - while the buff sounds cool, I still feel like using 
Force Staff on a rocket is a bit of a waste and way too situational to have an impact.
Huskar
- Inner Vitality base health regen from 2/4/6/8 to 10
- Inner Vitality regen bonus when hurt form 30/45/60/75% to 20/40/60/80%
A really interesting buff to the early game on the hero. First point in [missing skill: huskar-inner-vitality-5271] is no longer useless.
Io
- No longer requires turning to perform any actions
It is a bit gimmicky, but what it certainly allows for is instant usage of any usable items - be it 
Scythe of Vyse or Force Staff. Brushing off these extra milliseconds of turnrate can potentially leave the enemy with no time to react. If I understand it correctly, it makes harassing a little bit easier, since you can look in a different direction from the enemy, while attacking, and saving a potential retaliation attack. Also: literally a ball.
Jakiro
- Liquid Fire damage reduced from 15/20/25/30 to 12/16/20/24
A well-deserved nerf. There is not a lot to talk about, while the damage on heroes was generally negligeble, and the utility aspect is what mattered, the pushing side of the hero got pretty heavily nerfed.
Juggernaut
- Base agility increased from 20 to 26
- Blade Dance critical strike chance rescaled from 15/20/25/35% to 20/25/30/35%
Extra armor and +6 attack is really good on a hero that somewhat suffered in the laning stage when it came to last hitting. And a value point in crits is now an option.
Keeper of the Light
- Chakra Magic mana cost from 25/45/65/85 to 25/35/45/55
- Blinding Light blind duration increased from 3/4/5 to 4/5/6
The buffs aren't too impressive, but they add up to something that is really close to being a viable hero.
Kunkka
- X Marks the Spot enemy delay from 1/2/3/4 to 4, and allied delay from 2/4/6/8 to 8
- X Marks the Spot cast range from 500/650/800/950 to 350/550/750/1000
- X Marks the Spot cooldown from 14/13/12/11 to 19/16/13/10
- X Marks the Spot Return mana cost reduced from 50 to 0
A good change to a skill that can be considered a nerf and a buff depending on the situation.
Leshrac
- Diabolic Edict duration increased from 8 to 10 seconds
- Lightning Storm slow duration increased from 0.5 to 0.75
- Lightning Storm cast range increased from 700 to 800
Some really strong overall buffs to the hero. The one on the 
Diabolic Edict is especially strong.
Lich
- Chain Frost cooldown from 145/115/60 to 120/90/60
A good minor buff.
Lifestealer
- Infest now allows you to control the unit you are in using a sub-ability
That one is really strong. Dominating a neutral creep with all the abilities can allow for a safe place to get in position to, since the enemy will have to blow some of their cooldowns just to get rid of your shell. Also, with a Helm of the Dominator you can make a roaming Centaur or Ursa neutral camp and confuse your enemies.
Lina
- Buffs
A lot of minor buffs to attack projectile, damage and stun durations, 
Fiery Soul stack duration etc. Nice, but not overpowered. She also got a little bit more mana intensive in return.
Lion
- Base attack damage increased by 7
- Mana Drain drain interval from 0.25 to 0.1
Better lane harassing and potential for a mid lane. Overall some really nice changes.
Lone Druid
- Removed the cast time on Spirit Bear's Return
- Battle Cry cooldown increased from 30 to 60
- Battle Cry duration reduced from 8 to 6
- Battle Cry bonus damage increased from 20/40/60 to 50/75/100
- Battle Cry bonus armor increased from 2/4/6 to 5/10/15
Minor bug fixes and a really well-placed buff on Battle Cry. It is now a really good fighting spell with a net 100 extra damage at level 1.
Luna
- Moon Glaive level 4 bounces increased from 5 to 6
- Eclipse beam count increased from 4/7/10 to 5/8/11 (Scepter increased from 4/8/12 to 6/10/14)
Sixth bounce of the Glaive will virtually deal no damage, unless it is really late into the game, however, it has the potential to disable the blinks on the other side of the fight, which can be situationally good.
Beam count increase is really nice - extra 300 damage for free is never a bad thing.
Meepo
- Divided We Stand respawn time reduction now 20% instead of 10/20/30%
I still do not fully understand why on earth is this hero so overpowered. Not only does he have extra magic resistance, but there was also a built-in bloodstone. Top it with potential quintiple damage at all times, ability to flash farm and push all lanes simultaneously, slow through bkb and a nice escape mechanics and you will see why I personally hate the hero. He is not easy to play, but it doesn't mean that he should be compensated for what essentially is our own inadequacy.
Morphling
- Adaptive Strike stun max duration increased from 0.75/1.5/2.25/3 to 1.25/2.25/3.25/4.25
Support Morphling incoming?
Night Stalker
- Base attack damage increased by 4
- Crippling Fear mana cost reduced from 90 to 50
- Darkness now sets all enemy vision to a maximum of 675, instead of reducing it by 25%
- Darkness no longer pauses the day/night timer
- Darkness duration from 40/60/80 to 50
- Darkness cooldown reduced from 180/150/120 to 160/120/80
Overall changes into the play style on the hero. The fact that you can no longer make really long nights is outweighed by the fact that you can essentially bite into the day cycle. I still don't think it will make Night Stalker a viable pick, but it does make his ultimate a lot more impactful.
Ogre Magi
- Fireblast damage reduced from 60/120/180/240 to 55/110/165/220
- Fireblast cast range reduced from 600 to 475
A very strong nerf, however the question remains: does it affect the 
Unrefined Fireblast as well?
[missing hero: outworld-devourer]
- Astral Imprisonment intelligence steal increased from 4/6/8/10 to 4/7/10/13
- Astral Imprisonment intelligence steal duration reduced from 60 to 50
More intelligence = more mana = more damage from both his autoattacks and his ultimate. A very sizeable buff which, if the hero is played correctly, can shut down certain heroes really hard.
Phantom Assassin
- Coup de Grace critical strike damage from 250/350/450% to 230/340/450%
The contract is a lie!
Phoenix
- Supernova attacks required to destroy increased from 5/7/10 to 5/8/11
- Fixed Stop Icarus Dive ability sometimes being interrupted by auto-attacks
A very nice survivability buff. Maybe we will see more of him in the competitive play.
Pudge
- Meat Hook range increased from 700/900/1100/1300 to 1000/1100/1200/1300
The hero stopped being complete garbage and became a very decent support/offlaner. I really like the change, but please, stop using him as a mid hero. Given the change he is a lot better if played in a 3-5 positions, rather than taking a slot from a multitude of better suited heroes.
Pugna
- Decrepify movement slow on allies reduced from 50% to 25%
- Netherward attacks required to destroy increased from 3 to 4
- Blademail no longer reflects Nether Ward damage onto Pugna
I like the buffs, but I still don't see where exactly in the meta does the hero fit.
Queen of Pain
- Blink range increased from 700/850/1000/1150 to 1300
- Blink cooldown from 12/10/8/6 to 15/12/9/6
- Sonic Wave now does Pure Damage and affects Spell Immune
- Sonic Wave damage reduced from 350/475/600 to 290/390/490 (Scepter reduced from 350/530/725 to 325/450/575)
QoP of Pain a viable mid hero now? Quite possible. I really like the change to the ultimate, which deals the same net damage as previously. And 1300 units blink is godly.
Riki
- Blink Strike max charges increased from 3/4/5 to 4/5/6
- Blink Strike charge restore time increased from 30 to 35
- Blink Strike bonus damage from 50/70/90 to 40/70/100
A very nice buff to the hero, which desperately needed it. I think Riki can easily become a decent offlaner or even a 1st position carry with these changes, since his burst damage at level 6 is incrediblly high.
Rubick
- Fade Bolt mana cost from 150 to 120/130/140/150
- Scepter Spell Steal cooldown reduced from 5 to 2
Mid Rubick can be making a comeback. With a 2s cooldown on ultimate he can potentially outcast 
Invoker.
Shadow Fiend
- Shadowraze damage increased from 75/150/225/300 to 100/175/250/325
Easier mid, better flash-farming and a much higher burst damage in the early levels - something this rather risky hero really needed.
Silencer
- Glaives of Wisdom intelligence into damage bonus from 30/48/66/84% to 30/50/70/90%
- Last Word cooldown reduced from 36/28/20/12 to 30/24/18/12
- Scepter Global Silence no longer increases duration by 1 second
Nerfs/buffs all around the place. I personally dislike the -1 second on Agh's Ultimate, but I have to admit it was rather strong.
Skywrath Mage
- Base agility reduced from 18 to 13
I think he now has negative starting armor.
Slardar
- Sprint duration reduced from 20 to 16
- Sprint cooldown reduced from 28 to 23
- Amplify Damage cooldown reduced from 10 to 5
Really strong overall buff. Much like Bounty Hunter, Slardar can now spam his ultimate and provide a very necessary information for the whole team. Damage amplification is also undeniably strong.
Slark
- Pounce damage reduced from 60/120/180/240 to 55/110/165/220
A small, but a very well-deserved nerf.
Sniper
- Shrapnel no longer does damage to buildings
- Shrapnel now has 3 charges with a 40 second replenish time
- Shrapnel mana cost reduced from 120 to 50
- Shrapnel duration increased from 9 to 10
Please, get at least a level of the spell early on - it is amazing now. Being able to scout ahead, check runes and generally provide a lot of useful information for the team is never a bad thing.
Spirit Breaker
- Empowering Haste cooldown from 20 to 16
Ok, he is fast, we got it. Is there anything else this hero does?
Storm Spirit
- Turn Rate improved from 0.6 to 0.8
Given how much the hero relies on mobility, the turn rate increase is actually a lot more of a buff, than it would be on any other hero.
Sven
- Warcry duration increased from 7 to 8 seconds
- Scepter God's Strength ally bonus damage from 40/60/80% to 50/75/100%
Nice overall buffs for a support Sven. I like the idea very much, especially considering how Death Prophet is extremely popular and how Slardar is getting buffs.
Techies
- Added to Captain's Mode
- Land Mines damage increased from 225/300/375/450 to 300/375/450/525
Competitive games incoming! Pushing? Check! Counterpushing? Check! Making the enemy team get an early gem and generally waste a lot of gold? Check! I am not a fan of a hero, but he is undeniably strong. Can't wait to see competitive matches with him.
Terrorblade
- Reflection cast point reduced from 0.5 to 0.3
- Sunder minimum HP from 25/20/15% to 20%
Given a huge nerf to illusion-pushing, these minor buffs will unlikely make EE-sama happier.
Tidehunter
- Base movement speed reduced by 5
- Ravage damage reduced from 200/325/450 to 200/290/380
I don't thnik this change will make Tidehunter any less viable. Yes, he now deals a lot less damage and will have slightly harder time in the offlane, but he is still an excellent initiator/counter-initiator.
Tinker
- Heat-Seeking Missile damage increased from 100/175/250/325 to 125/200/275/350
A dota equivalent of hitting your friend on the head with a baseball bat and saying sorry.
Tiny
- Toss duration increased from 1 to 1.3 seconds
- Grow move speed bonus rescaled from 20/40/60 to 40/50/60
Landing a combo got a bit easier (avalanche into toss), while the speed increase at level 6 will make kiting Tony a bit harder. I like the changes, but they do not necessarily make the hero viable.
Treant Protector
- Eyes In The Forest's Overgrowth damage increased from 135 to 175 per second
- Eyes In The Forest cooldown reduced from 55 to 25
Forget Blink Dagger, rush Aghs. Eyes in the Forest are incredibly OP.
Troll Warlord
- Fixed Fervor stack count being 1 stack too slow
Bug fixes.
Tusk
- Ice Shards projectile speed from 900 to 1100
- Ice Shards shard duration from 5 to 7 seconds
- Walrus PUNCH! is now an enemy target ability, and is auto-castable
- Walrus PUNCH! cooldown reduced from 25/20/15 to 20/16/12
A very interesting overall buff to the hero, that will make his ultimate easier to use.
Undying
- Soul Rip max units from 5/10/15/20 to 10/12/14/16
- Soul Rip damage/heal per unit from 25 to 18/22/26/30
- Tombstone armor increased by 1
- Flesh Golem max slow increased from 15 to 20%
A minor nerf to the early game and a scaling buff to the lategame. Quite possibly it was what this hero really needed.
Vengeful Spirit
- Wave of Terror cooldown increased from 15 to 20
5 seconds cooldown increase on one of the most underrated spells in the game will not completely ruin the hero, but she is going to get less popular - that's a fact.
Visage
- Gravekeeper's Cloak recovery time from 12/10/8/6 to 6
He can now be tanky for longer. It is good, but does not feel enough to get him back into the meta.
Warlock
- Fatal Bonds cast range increased from 800 to 900
- Fatal Bonds radius increased from 575 to 700
I don't really understand it - is IceFrog trying to distract pub players from the almost OP nuissance Upheaval is? If so, he is succeeding, since this buff to the spell looks really strong, at least on paper.
Windranger
- Powershot travel range increased from 1825 to 2600
- Powershot max damage is now dealt after 1 second channel instead of 0.7
- Powershot cast point improved from 0.3 to 0
- Reduced the area of the lingering vision at the end of Powershot from 800 to 400
- Focus Fire attack speed bonus increased from 400 to 500
Some really nice buffs to the hero which urgently needed them. I like them, they are strong enough to make her a viable hero in both pubs and competitive play.
Items
There isn't really a lot that has changed in the items section - supports aer getting more money, since the decrease in the cost of courier to 120, which, I think, is a great way to make early game a bit more exciting. 
Templar Assassin got a nice buff, since blink is no longer disabled under the effect of refraction, while 
Nyx Assassin now has an almost guaranteed escape for the same reasons.
Diffusal Blade no longer being an UAM is another nice addition to the meta, since it was a sub-par UAM, but sometimes you just had to have it.
There is also the cost increase on 
Eul's Scepter of Divinity, since it did too much for the price and a 17 charges on 
Magic Wand.
Being able to use 
Medallion of Courage on allies absolutely justifies the cost of the purchase, though I am seriously afraid this feature will be heavily underutilized in public matchmaking.
Shadow Amulet now costs a little bit less, I assume the same goes for 
Shadow Blade.
Finally, the Blade Mail is now fully purchasable from the side shop, since the addition of 
Broadsword to it, to replace 
Talisman of Evasion.
they messed up Ns's ulti QwQ
People who are saying that Pudge is a good hero think again. He can only do one thing: Gank. All you need to do is buy wards and you're sorted. Useless hero.
ty as always. :}
love to see more of these...
keep the good work up....and shove the negative comments back where no light may pass.
Hail Gaben XD
jesus why does whoever writes these think his/her opinion is qualified; these opinions generally suck
Brood's nerf should be green.. so the little babies ca see less.. the mother still owns :D.
ty ice frog, level 3 chen is imba.. + an extra creep + 500 hp with Helm = I'll pick him a lot more :D
finally a buff on phoenix... plz add 1 more hit on his ulti and the hero becomes perfect.
Jakiro is still a strong pusher slowing the attacks of the tower.. making the creeps land more hits(or tank some more)
I think you meant to say "nerf" for DP
@Sir Nigel Thornberry
In US.East there was lag :3
I would have put Windranger's almost doubled Powershot range in red letters because it can really change the gameplay for Windranger like you can kill someone from twice the distance in 6.82
I ain't played Dota 2 in a long while, but I think I'll start again.
@13oundary: u are such a joke. Why would you bother wasting space making 1k mmr comment. ....
produced on many websites.
13oundary13oundary5 days ago
gift
The Tiny Toss duration increase just
How am i supposed to take this analysis seriously when it's written by some sort of wannabee professional who thinks techies is a viable hero and thinks Pudge is a bad hero mid.Seriously,hire someone who isn't autistic.
So much BS, I think I never saw that much in a single blog post here. Especially went ham on the whole viability and heroes being good and bad thing, which is completely subjective to begin with.
Oh well, I guess it kind of matches the spirit of the update, which came rushed, incomplete and with a lot of misjudgment.
No offense intended, everyone has their bad days, it's not necessarily characteristic of the people here, and I still appreciate whAt you guys do.
Lol at the comment above me, written by such an obvious troll (@i love LoL) :D
The minor nerfs to Dragonus and Leviathan--Skywrath Mage and Tidehunter, respectively--do not change either hero all that much.
'Base agility reduced from 18 to 13 ... I think he now has negative starting armor.'
Thing is, a reduction in agility reduces att speed as well, so it's more likely that his BAT (Base Attack Time) was abnormally too high/too fast.
Aaaand Night Stalker now popular in pro dota thx Gabe
This stinks of Redditarded circle-jerkery.