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

Dota 2 patch 7.34c made a lot of heroes considerably stronger or considerably weaker. It seems that IceFrog wants to have a very open meta for The International 12, although we might see another small update until then.

This is part 2 of the Dota 2 patch 7.34c analysis. It presents the important hero buffs and nerfs, starting with Rubick.

Rubick

This hero’s laning phase has gotten much weaker because of the Fade Blot rescaling. The damage reduction is now just 5% at level 1 instead of 14%. At level 4, everything works just fine (35%). But when you’re trying to harass enemy heroes at level 1, a 9% difference is huge.

Sand King

SK’s base armor was increased by 1 and the cast range of his borrowstrike is now 100 better at level 4. His level 15 talent also gives his Sand Storm a bit more mobility by increasing its speed bonus from +25 to +50.

Shadow Shaman

His hex got a 10% range buff and can now be cast from 550 units away. An even bigger buff is the -20s cooldown for his ultimate, Mass Serpent Ward, which can now be cast every 110s. This turns Shaman into an excellent split pusher whose map movements need to be carefully monitored by the enemy side.

Sniper

Passive Aim has been rescaled and gives 130 range bonus at level 1 instead of 100. This helps a lot in the laning phase.

Assassinate also got buffed by 50 damage.

Spirit Breaker

As if Spirit Breaker needed any buffs, IceFrog decided to make him even harder to deal with. His Charge Bonus speed is now 25 higher for each level. Nether Sprike also got +25 damage. One of the level 15 talents now gives him +45 damage instead of +40.

Sven

Sven is constantly spammed in pubs and professional matches alike, and he was considered to be one of the S-tier carries of Dota 2 patch 7.34b. So he absolutely needed to be nerfed somehow.

His Storm Hammer now has a cooldown of 21s – 12s instead of 18s – 12s. This makes Sven’s laning phase a bit harder, but not by much. Given how much mana Storm Hammer costs, Sven wasn’t using this ability that often anyway.

The bigger nerf is the one for God’s Strength, which now gives just 30% slow resistance at all levels and has a slightly bigger cooldown (+5s at all levels).

Terrorblade

This is another hero that gets spammed for the carry role. His base damage was decreased by 2 and his level 15 health talent now gives just +275 HP.

Treant Protector

After reaching the number 1 rank of the most successful heroes, Treant Protector had to be nerfed a little bit.

Nature’s Grasp now costs 90 mana at all levels (instead of 75-90), Leech Seed has a 24s-12s cooldown (instead of 18s-12s), and Overgrowth’s cooldown is now 120s at level 1 (instead of 100s).

Vengeful Spirit

This is another hero that rose through the ranks a bit too quickly and her utility in 7.34b was off-the-charts. So IceFrog decided to make her a bit less OP.

Magic Missle, if you have Aghanim’s Shard, now searches for a secondary target in a 75% cast range instead of 100%. Wave of Terror costs 40 mana at all levels. Vengeance Aura gives 3% less bonus damage at level 4.

Warlock

Warlock is one of the strongest support heroes in the game but his nerfs are insufficient to make him balanced. His strength gain was decreased by 0.2 per level, which adds up to 2 strength by the time you’re level 11. The Duration of Fatal Bonds is now just 19s at level 1 instead of 25s, but it’s unchanged at level 4.

The level 15 Upheaval attack speed per second talent now gives just +10 instead of +12. But it’s a relatively small change.

Weaver

Weaver’s Swarm now deals 18-30 damage instead of 18-24. This is a significant buff that could make him a lot more dangerous in the laning phase. The only problem is that he tends to be played in the offlane position, where his capabilities against most duos are quite limited.

Windranger

Her base agility was increased by 2 and her base intelligence was increased by 3. This will help in the first 5-10 levels quite significantly.

Winter Wyvern

The Dragon’s base armor was increased by 1. The hero also got a bit of mana regen: 0.25. Arctic Burn’s cooldown is now 12 seconds lower at level 1, which is a huge buff.

Witch Doctor

The cast point of Paralyzing Cask is now 0.2s. Death Ward’s damage was nerfed significantly, by 20 at level 3 and by 10 at level 2.

Zeus

Zeus didn’t need buffs, but he got them anyway: 0.35s ministun on Lightning Bolt, 120s cooldown on his ultimate, and a mana cost of 250 instead of 300 on this ability at level 1.

Header: Valve