New hero, map change and Aghanim’s Shard balancing – what we expect from patch 7.29 for Dota 2

New hero

Naturally, the most talked about elements in Dota 2 patches have always been new characters. The last hero added to the game was Hoodwink. She appeared in Dota 2 with the 7.28 update. Hoodwink turned out to be a rather curious character in terms of ability mechanics, but interest in her quickly waned. Now the hero is not even included in the top 40 most popular in matchmaking, and besides, he has not yet been added to Captain’s Mode.

Since the release of the anime “DOTA: Dragon’s Blood”, discussions about potential newcomers to the game’s character roster have become much more active.… There were several interesting characters in the series at once, which fans fell in love with and could harmoniously fit into Dota 2. Among the most likely candidates are the goddess Selemene, Mirana’s companion Marcy and the elf Fimrin. All three heroines received enough screen time, and also have a tangible connection with the lore of the universe in the eyes of fans.

Marcy, given her abilities on the show, could be a team melee hero with interesting skills. Several options for skillsets for it have already been invented by reddit users. Fimrin, perhaps, looks more understandable of these three: the ability to create illusions and teleportation over short distances – we have already seen all this in Dota 2. But Selemene looks like an extremely curious magician hero who could charm opponents and strengthen allies. And her confrontation with Invoker on the center lane would probably be accompanied by interesting phrases referring to the events of the anime.

In any case, we have the right to expect that the new hero will be exactly the character from the anime. Given the rating of the series and the predominantly positive feedback from viewers, such a character is simply obliged to please the fans. Let’s hope that he will be more popular in the game than Hoodwink.

Map and economy changes

Map and economy changes are what many expected from the mythical “second part” of patch 7.28. New items or heroes, of course, add interest to the game, but the real gameplay is refreshed precisely due to the cardinal changes to the map and the economy. It is enough to rearrange Roshan’s lair or outposts on the lanes – and Dota may become completely different. However, this time Valve disappointed fans and now has to catch up.

First of all, we are waiting for the forest “repair” – this applies both to the creep camps, their deployment and number, and to the general landscape. Users have long noted that the Light Forces’ win rate is noticeably higher than that of the Dark Forces. Many people associate this with the good location of Roshan, which is located next to the “three” forces of Light, thanks to which it is not only a little easier for them to get to him, but also you can not be distracted from the farm while “standing” at Roshan.

As for the economy, Valve is likely to revise the formula for calculating gold for killing rivals. I would like the developers to slightly increase their “prices” at the laning stage, since early frags mean little in the current meta. And the return of good old comebacks, albeit not as frequent and incredible as a few years ago, would also be useful. However, any, even minimal economic innovations will force players to adapt and adjust, looking for new strategies and tactics. This is especially true of the professional scene – today she just needs such a breath of fresh air.

Balance Aghanim’s Shard

In patch 7.28, Valve added the Aghanim’s Shard item to Dota 2, which gives characters a new ability or improves one of the existing ones. The artifact certainly diversified the game on many heroes. He was especially liked by supports who, for relatively modest money, can receive a significant bonus and increase their effectiveness in fights, such as Earthshaker or Witch Doctor. Do not pass by Aghanim’s Shard and carry – the same Juggernaut or Wraith King receive very important bonuses thanks to the artifact. And, for example, it’s impossible to imagine Clinkz without this item.

Against this background, a number of absolutely useless Aghanim’s Shard for other heroes becomes even more noticeable. Has anyone ever seen this artifact on Magnus? An additional ability with high cooldown, low damage and a microstun for 1,400 gold is a dubious proposition. A similar situation with Winter Wyvern – using Splinter Blast after the end of Cold Embrace is unlikely to seriously help in a fight. It is pointless to spend money on this for both support and carry. The list of extremely dubious and ineffective Aghanim’s Shard can be continued for a long time. Valve should definitely rework the artifact bonuses for some heroes, so that everyone has at least a hypothetical situation when buying Aghanim’s Shard will be justified and useful.

Bring back normal carries!

At the end of patch 7.27, many were pretty tired of the constant battles between Sven, Faceless Void and Specter. Valve decided to radically fight these heroes, so in the new meta they dropped to the very bottom – in the top 5 characters with the lowest win rate among players with the title of “Divine”. A similar picture is at other ranks, where Drow Ranger, Terrorblade, Medusa, Slark and Morphling are located not far from this trio. Now many matches have turned into a mini-game “which team will pick Juggernaut or Wraith King first”. Well, if they went to the ban, then the battle unfolds for Troll Warlord and Ursa.

In the context of matchmaking, sometimes there is a feeling that the meta simply lacks normal, familiar carries. Seeing Wraith King or Juggernaut in every game becomes simply boring. The situation is similar in tournament matches. Yes, in patch 7.27 we always watched Sven and Faceless Void, but even their confrontation is much more interesting, since both brought more entertainment to massive battles and required teammates to be more team-oriented and connected. The “dome” of five from Faceless Void is still much cooler than the army of skeletons and crits every four (or two) seconds from Wraith King. Nowadays there is a noticeable lack of variety in the first position, in contrast to other roles. The narrow choice of meta carries also influenced the overall reduction in effective and interesting combinations and combinations. Therefore, we are waiting for a buff of the usual carries from Valve.

Nerf Puck and Io

Despite the fact that Io’s winrate in matchmaking at the rank above Legend is slightly more than 50% (50.5-50.8%), the Major in Singapore showed that the hero was broken. As a support, he is still not so scary, but in the role of a carry in experienced hands he becomes an impenetrable machine, which at the same time still quickly farms and deals a ton of damage. In the playoffs of the Major, Io was almost always banned, apart from the match with Virtus.pro. Even professional players admit that the character is too strong and there is no point in trying to counter him. Therefore, Valve will surely pay attention to Io.

Puck definitely deserves a small nerf, as he has been maintaining the status of the most meta mid lane for several months now. In patch 7.28, the character’s stat gains and abilities were increased. Due to this, he feels confident in almost any matchup on the center line. In addition, the new item Witch Blade was perfect for the hero. All these factors combined have made Puck one of the most popular heroes both in matchmaking (with almost all titles having a winrate of over 51%) and on the professional scene. At a major in Singapore, a character appeared in drafts (or in picks, or in bans) 98% of the time. I would not want Valve to break Puck badly, because he can disappear again for a long time, but it is clearly worth weakening the hero.

Dota Plus, anime and other trivia

Back in mid-January, Valve promised to release kits for fans of teams participating in the DPC league. These were supposed to include in-game effects, graffiti, taunts, loading screens, and chat wheel phrases. Three months have passed, the first Major has come to the end, and nobody has waited for the team sets. Given that the esports scene has already suffered during the pandemic, the developers should have already kept their word and submitted bundles before the start of the second season.

In January, Valve introduced a revamped Dota 2 View tab interface, adding the schedule and results of all DPC 2023 matches. This is great, but the system clearly needs to be developed. Why not add the ability to predict the winner or the Fantasy format with the ability to win currency for Dota Plus there? Such an innovation would revive the Dota Plus system itself, the content for which is released extremely rarely and is unlikely to be worth the money that the developers ask for a subscription. The Overwatch system also requires certain adjustments – at least it would be worth adding the ability to watch the game from zero minute, see correspondence in the team chat and information about the role initially chosen by the player (if it is role-playing matchmaking).

In patch 7.29, we will surely have a new chest. It would like to see skins for the characters shown in the anime. Moreover, for these cosmetic items to repeat the images of characters from the series – the young Dragon Knight or the haggard and sad Invoker would look extremely curious.

Are you waiting for the 7.29 patch? What do you think developers need to change first?