Dota 2 patch 7.34e is underwhelming

We had high hopes for Dota 2 patch 7.34e and some even hoped that it would be 7.35! But unfortunately, the changes introduced by IceFrog are not sufficient to significantly change people’s experience of the game or even the meta.

Sure, some items got some nerfs here and there, and some heroes were slightly adjusted to become a bit more or less appealing, but nothing crazy like we expected.

The problem with Dota 2 patch 7.34d was that it had a lot of dead heroes that virtually never got picked, while other heroes got spammed in almost every game. That’s not good for Dota 2 and it leads to repetitive match-ups that get boring after a while.

The hope of the community was that the new patch would change this by significantly buffing the dead heroes and by nerfing the overpowered ones. But that is not what we got. Not even close.

Item changes

Dota 2 patch 7.34e changed just six items:

• Eternal Shroud now gives you +35% magic resistance instead of +30%.
• Pavise’s Protect cooldown was lowered by 2 seconds.
• Hand of Midas’ cooldown was increased by 10 seconds.
• Vladmir’s Offering’s aura now gives +4 armor instead of +3.
• Helm of the Overlord’s armor aura now gives +4 armor instead of +3.
• Heart of Tarrasque costs 100 extra gold and gives just 35 strength instead of 40.

The only thing that might change people’s builds is the HoT nerf. Some heroes will no longer rush to complete it and will likely build an S&Y or some other item instead.

Hero buffs

Drow Ranger’s Multishot has an improved cooldown. The difference is 2s for each level.

Enigma’s Black Hole received a 20s/10s/0s buff for its cooldown.

Gyrocopter’s Rocket barrage damage was increased by 2 per level.

Juggernaut’s Omnislash now deals 40-50 bonus damage instead of 30-50. This is a big buff for Jugg’s level 6. But overall it’s nothing.

Leshrac’s Lightning Storm has a slow duration of 0.45s – 1.2s. Previously, it was 0.4s – 1.0s.

Lion’s Earth Spike now has a 650 cast range. This is a big buff.

Lycan’s base agility was increased by 2 and his agility gain per level was increased by 0.4. These are good buffs, but probably not sufficient to make the hero popular again.

Marci’s Sidekick can be cast from 1000 range instead of 700.

Shadow Shaman’s Hex damage amplification is now 5% better for each level.

Tibersaw’s Whirling Death now gives a 13% stat loss percent instead of 10%.

Tiny’s Avalanche now costs 90 – 120 mana instead of 120.

Winter Wyvern’s Cold Embrace heals 40 – 55 HP per second instead of 30 – 45.

Witch Doctor’s Death Ward now gives priority to heroes.

Hero nerfs

When it comes to nerfs, there are quite a few heroes that received them.

Ancient Apparition’s Ice Vortex now deals just 30 DPS at level 4. And his Ice Blast’s effect lasts just 10s at all levels.

Bristleback’s Quill Spray now has a max damage of 500 instead of 550. His Bristleback’s Threshold is now 300 – 225 instead of 225. And Hairball has a lower cast range and a higher cooldown.

Chaos Knight’s base damage was reduced by 5. This is probably the most significant nerf on the entire list. Phantasm’s mana cost was also increased substantially. From 75 – 175 to 100 – 300.

Dark Willow’s Shadow Realm now has a +2s cooldown at every level.

Dazzle’s Bad Juju no longer removes your Blink Dagger’s 3s mute duration.

Earth Spirit’s Rolling Boulder now starts to recharge only after the roll is over.

Kunkka’s Ghostship now provides a damage delay of just 35%. Tidal Wave’s damage is 180 instead of 250. Torrent Storm’s duration is now 4s instead of 5s, while the cooldown is 75s instead of 70s.

Muerta’s The Calling lasts 5s – 8s and the movement slow was lowered from 30% to 15 – 30%.

Necrophos’ Ghost Shroud cots 75 mana instead of 50. Heartstopper Aura regens you for 7s instead of 8s. Death Seeker has a 19s cooldown instead of 16s.

Primal Beast’s Trample now costs 90 mana at all levels. And his Pulverize’s cooldown is 40 – 32s instead of 36 – 28s.

Spectre’s base armor was reduced by 1. This will be a problem in the laning phase, when Spectre is quite strong against a lot of offlaners.

Spirit Breaker’s Charge of Darkness now has a 22 – 13s cooldown instead of 21 – 12s.

Treant Protector’s movement speed is now 280 instead of 285. His Leech Seed now heals/damages 20 – 65 per instance instead 25 – 70.

Weaver’s Germinate Attack has a 8.5 – 2.5s cooldown instead of 7 – 2.5s.

Wraith King’s Skeleton damage was decreased by 3. This is a big nerf when you consider the fact that he has a lot of skeletons.

Header: Valve