Dota 2 patch 7.19b addresses The International 8’s gameplay standouts

A week after the conclusion of the biggest tournament in Dota 2, the gameplay changes were inevitable. After all, when the pros create the meta, it’s probably not good to let it get stale, or else copycats will fill the pro and pub leagues, and it’ll get even more stale.

So with their latest patch, 7.19b, it’s clear Icefrog and the rest of Dota 2’s development team want to shake things up for the upcoming season. Twenty of the top twenty-five heroes played at The International, including group stages, were hit with some kind of change — mostly nerfs, given how many strategies centered around these picks.

For instance, the winners, OG, played with Anathan “Ana” Pham on Spectre, which saw a 54% winrate overall at the event; now, Spectre’s non-ultimate abilities are seeing some debuffs. Dark Willow, a strong pick in both pubs and competitive play, also saw small changes that will affect her ability to perform. (Surprisingly, though, Ember Spirit missed the wave.)

Of course, there were some huge item tweaks as well, including to Phase Boots, which nerfs ranged heroes’ usage of them. But the biggest changes are in the general gameplay mechanics.

Buybacks especially were a core part of how teams played. Before, a buyback would cost not only gold, but it also stuck 25% of the remaining time before respawn onto the next respawn. So if you had a minute (or 60 seconds) left when you bought back, you’d need to wait 15 more seconds on top of your next spawn timer. Now, it’s a flat 25 seconds addition — meaning buybacks are more likely to be risky at all times, and a “dieback” is... well, painful.

There’s plenty more in this patch — and much of it will affect how you play. We have the full patch notes organized below for your convenience!

General

• Buyback respawn time penalty changed from +25% of remaining time to +25s always
• Level 2 XP requirement changed from 200 to 230
  (in a scenario where Team A gets 2 melee denies per wave, and team B gets 1 melee deny per wave: Team A wave requirement for level 2 increases from 2 waves to 3 waves. Team B wave requirement remains at 3 waves. Total XP needed for other levels unchanged. )
• Glyph is now on cooldown until the 3 minute timer in-game.

Items

• Stout Shield: Damage block for melee heroes increased from 18 to 20
• Ring of Aquila: Bonus damage reduced from 10 to 7
• Mekansm: Heal increased from 250 to 275
• Guardian Greaves: Heal increased from 250 to 275
• Urn of Shadows: Heal rate reduced from 35 to 30
• Spirit Vessel:
  Heal rate reduced from 35 to 30
  Movement speed bonus reduced from 30 to 20
• Scythe of Vyse: Manacost increased from 100 to 250
• Phase Boots:
  Speed bonus on ranged heroes reduced from 16% to 13%
  Instant turn rate is now a melee only feature

Heroes

• Alchemist: Greevil’s Greed bounty rune multiplier rescaled from 3.5x to 2/2.5/3/3.5x
• Bloodseeker: Bloodrage heal rate reduced from 19/21/23/25% to 16/19/22/25%
• Broodmother: Base agility reduced by 3
• Chen: Penitence duration reduced from 8 to 5/6/7/8
• Clinkz: Base strength reduced by 2
• Crystal Maiden: Crystal Nova manacost increased from 130/140/150/160 to 130/145/160/175
• Dark Willow:
  Shadow Realm damage reduced from 120/200/280/360 to 90/180/270/360
  Cursed Crown cast point increased from 0.1 to 0.2
• Drow Ranger:
  Base agility reduced from 26 to 19 (base damage unchanged)
  Agility gain increased from 1.9 to 2.2
  Base attack animation time improved from 0.7 to 0.65
• Enchantress: Base movement speed reduced by 15
• Gyrocopter: Base agility reduced by 5 (base damage and armor unchanged)
• Huskar:
  Base damage reduced from 42-51 to 40-45
  Level 10 Talent increased from +175 Health to +225
• Io:
  Spirits cooldown from 20/18/16/14 to 26/22/18/14
  Level 10 Talent reduced from +25% XP to +20%
• Mirana: Level 15 Talent reduced from +100 Leap Attack Speed to +80
• Nature’s Prophet: Base damage reduced by 3
• Necrophos:
  Agility rescaled from 15 + 1.2 to 12 + 1.3
  Base movement speed reduced by 5
• Phantom Lancer: Level 25 Talent reduced from -7s Doppelganger CD to -6s
• Silencer: Arcane Curse manacost increased from 75/95/115/135 to 105/115/125/135
• Spectre:
  Spectral Dagger linger duration reduced from 2 to 1
  Dispersion max reflection range reduced from 1000 to 700
  Desolate single hero range check increased from 325 to 375
• Tiny:
  Tree Grab manacost increased from 20/30/40/50 to 50
  Avalanche cooldown increased from 20/19/18/17 to 23/21/19/17
• Ursa: Overpower manacost increased from 45/55/65/75 to 75
• Vengeful Spirit: Wave of Terror cooldown increased from 10 to 16/14/12/10
• Weaver: The Swarm manacost increased from 70/80/90/100 to 110
• Wraith King: Wraithfire Blast cooldown increased from 11/10/9/8 to 14/12/10/8