Dota 2 patch 7.34c: hero buffs and nerfs, part 1

Dota 2 patch 7.34c has brought a lot of changes to the game’s heroes. The items were mostly left untouched, but many of the heroes received some unexpected buffs and nerfs.

This patch will probably not change the meta completely, but it will make around a dozen different heroes a lot more viable. In the coming two weeks, we will get to see the impact of these changes. At the professional level, BetBoom Dacha will be the first testing ground for the latest Dota 2 update.

Dota 7.34c https://t.co/Nr722C6lc3 #Dota2 pic.twitter.com/kb9soOiTOJ

— Wykrhm Reddy (@wykrhm) September 9, 2023

Significant hero changes

Dozens of heroes were changed. But some of them were buffed or nerfed more significantly than others. Here are some of them:

Abaddon

His Mist Coil now has a 675 range instead of 600, and his Curse of Avernus increases the attack speed of the heroes that hit the cursed target by 60-120 instead of 40-100. This is a massive buff. If you combine Abaddon with a bunch of powerful right-clickers such as Templar Assassin and Slark, you will kill enemy heroes with ease.

Abaddon works well in combination with anything that can easily hit a target. So ideally, you should pair him up with ranged heroes. But if you have a way to keep a target in place using stuns, roots, or slows, that will allow you to pick ranged heroes as well.

Arc Warden

Arc Warden now deals 15 more damage with his Spark Wraith. That’s a small buff. The bigger buff is that his Tempest Double now has full HP and mana when it spawns, regardless of your main hero’s HP condition.

This means that you can cast the ultimate during fights and it won’t matter if you’re low HP. To be fair, this buff will be rarely useful because Arc tends to use his ultimate whenever it is available. But in those situations where you get ganked and need to cast it while you’re below 50%, this buff will help a lot.

Axe

Axe’s Berserker’s Call now has a 315 radius instead of 300. And if you combine it with its associated level 10 talent, it now gains +10 armor instead of +8.

The stronger Axe buff is the damage on his Culling Blade, which got changed to 275-475. It used to be 25 lower.

Bane

Bane’s base damage got increased by 2 and the mana cost of Enfeeble is now 120 at every level. This makes Bane very difficult to deal with in lane.

Beastmaster

His Call of the Wild Hawk got nerfed, both in terms of mana cost (by 20), as well as in terms of HP (by 50).

The bigger nerf received by this hero is that Drums of Slom no longer considers illusion damage amplification when it determines how much you get healed. This means that Beastmaster no longer counters heroes like Phantom Lancer, at least not to the extent that it used to.

Bounty Hunter

Bounty’s Shuriken Toss now deals 250 damage at level 4 instead of 220. The mana cost of his Shadow Walk was lowered by 10 and his level 15 Shadow Walk talent makes him really hard to kill by giving him -30% damage taken. It used to be -25%.

These changes make Bounty a lot more appealing, but he’s still suited primarily for early-game lineups that like to fight a lot.

Bristleback

His base damage was increased by 3, which completely changes his laning phase. The Nasal Goo also got stronger, reducing armor by 3 instead of 2 at levels 3 and 4. And his level 15 talent greatly buffs this ability’s range: +250.

Centaur Warrunner

Centaur used to be played a lot in professional matches and then it disappeared almost completely. Dota 2 patch 7.34c aims to bring him back by giving him +10 movement speed, -10s for his ultimate, and -6s for Work Horse. All of these buffs are small, but combined they might result in a significant change.

Clinckz

This horrible hero is likely to be back in the meta after the buffs he got from IceFrog. Burning Skeleton Archers now get +65% attack speed bonus. Burning Barrage deals 75% damage per arrow. And Death Pact gains +300 HP from the level 20 talent instead of +250.

Crystal Maiden

Her base armor was increased by 1 and her base intelligence by 2. This will make her a better choice for the laning phase.

Dark Seer

This is a hero that desperately needed some nerfs and indeed he received them. His laning phase will be a bit harder now because his Vacuum deals just 70 damage (instead of 100) at level 1 and the cooldown of Surge at level 1 is 24s (instead of 21s).

After he gets to level 12-15, these nerfs are no longer relevant because at level 4, these two abilities work just as well as before.

Dawnbreaker

Her movement speed got decreased by 10 and her base strength is now just 25 instead of 27. These two nerfs are very significant for the laning phase. She basically got nerfed by around 250 gold, which is a lot.

Dazzle

Dazzle’s intelligence gain is now 2.8 per level instead of 2.5. And his Bad Juju costs just 75 HP at all levels. The hero’s level 15 talent gives him +80 attack speed, but it’s unlikely that you’ll use it unless you want to play core Dazzle.

Although, to be fair, there are item builds that give Dazzle quite a lot of firepower even as a support.

Doom

This was a very abused hero and Dota 2 patch 7.34c tried to nerf him a bit but giving his Devour a longer cooldown: 70s instead of 65s. His level 20 Scorched Earth talent also got nerfed, but it’s insignificant (-2s for the cooldown).

Earth Spirit

This hero received massive nerfs that will see his pick rate and win rate decrease dramatically. His base intelligence was lowered by 2 and his level 10 and 15 talents are now much weaker: +200 Rolling Boulder Distance instead of +325, and +110 Rolling Boulder Damage instead of +120.

Earthshaker

This is another AoE controller that looks far weaker after the patch. Enchant Totem now costs 10 extra mana at each level and all the big talents that you’ll get to access in the standard game either got swapped or are much weaker: +30 damage instead of +40, +200 Fissure range instead of +50% Enchant Totem damage.

You’ll need to wait until level 20 to play your usual ES. And most people will not be willing to wait that long. In most games, you simply do not have that luxury.

Ember Spirit

His laning phase got destroyed because of the HP regen nerf: 0.5 instead of 1.25. Sleight of Fist now costs 60 mana instead of 50. In the mid lane, such changes can easily kill you.

Gyrocopter

This was the most broken hero of Dota 2 patch 7.34b, so he absolutely had to be nerfed. His agility gain per level was reduced by 0.2, the stun duration of Homing Missile is now just 2.5s instead of 2.6s at level 4, and Flak Cannon’s cooldown is 26-20s instead of a flat 18s.

Needless to say, all of his talents got nerfed either directly or by swapping. Overall, this hero is now 5-10% weaker than before, which is enough to drastically reduce his win rate. Will it reduce his pick rate as well? It remains to be seen.

Hoodwink

The stun duration of his Bushwhack is slightly better at level 1: 1.4s instead of 1.25s. And the mana cost of Sharpshooter is now 25 lower than before. Small changes, but they will help.

Invoker

Invoker got burned again and quite badly. His base HP regen is now just 1 instead of 1.5, Wex gives +0.6% move speed per instance instead of 0.8%, Tornado’s base damage lost 20 points, EMP is no longer greatly buffed by Aghanim’s Shard.

With this patch, Invoker is now a good choice only for players who have at least 500 games with him because he no longer provides a real edge. In fact, you’ll struggle a lot in the laning phase because of the low HP regen and lack of right-click damage.

Jakiro

The two-headed dragon looked completely fine, but IceFrog decided to give him some additional buffs: lower mana cost for Dual Breath (125 instead of 140 at level 1) and better burn damage for Liquid Fire (20-50 instead of 15-45).

Lion

The cast range of his Hex is now just 550 at level 1. At level 4, however, the hero is completely unchanged.

Lone Druid

This hero received some excellent buffs that have already increased his win rate by 2-3% at the community level. His base armor was increased by 2 and his Spirit Link now gives 20-65 attack speed instead of 16-64. This makes him a better laner.

Magnus

Mag also got some nice buffs. His attack range is now 200 instead 150 and Reverse Polarity catches heroes in a 430 radius instead of 410.

Muerta

Muerta used to be a dead hero but now she’s back to life (sort of). Her Dead Shot damage is 25 higher than before and Pierce the Veil gives +70 attack damage at level 1 instead of +50. Furthermore, her level 15 talent gives Dead Shot a cast range bonus of +350 instead of +250.

Naga Siren

This was another broken hero in Dota 2 patch 7.34b, so she had to be nerfed. Her base HP regen is now 1 instead of 1.25, and her Mirror Image now costs 75-120 mana instead of 70-115. The nerfs aren’t nearly big enough as they should have been, so Naga Specialists will probably continue to spam the hero in pubs.

Nature’s Prophet

After gaining more than 10% win rate after the previous patch, Nature’s Prophet had to be brought back to a more modest level. IceFrog decided to destroy his laning phase potential by decreasing his base agility by 6. His Sprout trees now give HP if consumed with a Tango. This helps enemy heroes to survive a bit more easily his ganks.

Nyx Assassin

Nyx’s Mind Flare now has an intelligence multiplier of 3.5x – 5x instead of 2x – 5x. The cooldown of Spike Carapace is now 23-8s instead of 26-8s. Vendetta now increases attack range by 75, and its attack speed animation is increased by +70% instead of +50%.

All of these buffs, combined with the nerfs given to other heroes that could take Nyx’s place, will make him a much more popular choice.

Ogre Magi

This hero felt completely broken before but IceFrog gave him some additional buffs. His base HP regen is now 1.5 instead of 0.75, his Bloodlust costs 40 mana at level 1, and Fire Shield has a cooldown of 15s instead of 16s.

Omniknight

Omniknight received some subtle buffs. His repel costs 15 less mana at level 1 and its cooldown is now 45 – 30s instead of 60 – 36s. Hammer of Purity also costs less mana at level 1: 30 instead of 40.

Pangolier

This hero definitely needed some nerfs and he got some major ones. His Roll Up now has a cooldown of 40s instead of 30s. His level 10 Swashbuckle talent now gives just +250 range instead of +350.

Phoenix

The bird’s Fire Spirits now slow the enemy’s attack speed by just 65 at level 1 instead of 80. That’s a big nerf.

Primal Beast

His Onslaught deals 90 – 360 damage instead of 95 – 380.

Pugna

His intelligence was increased by 2, and the power of his Decrepify is now significantly stronger. He essentially gained one extra level from the start: from 5% – 20% ally heal amp to 10% – 25%.

Life Dream now costs 100 – 200 mana instead of 125 – 225.

Riki

His Tricks of the Trade is now much stronger because it gains 70% agility at level 1 instead of 55%. But the Cloak and Dagger agility damage multiplier was nerfed: 0.8 – 1.6 instead of 1 – 1.8.

Header: Valve