Yaroslav NS Kuznetsov commented on the major changes in patch 7.24 for Dota 2. In a personal broadcast, he praised the redesigned system of neutral artifacts. An analyst at RuHub also suggested why Valve abandoned the shrines and moved outposts and runes.
NS said that with a limit of one active neutral item for each player, the whole system would be more balanced. He also pointed out a convenient interface for distributing these artifacts in a team:
“Convenient, correct and much better than it was. There will be no situation when a support like Crystal Maiden has an Ocean Heart, some branch, Pupil’s Gift – it is all hung with objects. At the same time, she has 2,000 networks, Tranquil Boots and Magick Stick, but for some reason 1,500 health. Now there is only one neutral item, so getting some boost will not work.
Finally, these items are balanced and made it all not so broken. Now it looks fine. The only caveat is that now any hero has seven slots. Six of their own and one for the subject. In leitheim, this can decide when the core has six slots and another item. <...> And support is easier to play because it always has problems with slots. <...> This, in my opinion, is cool. Now I want to go to Dota – before that I didn’t want to. ”
Kuznetsov also pointed out changes in the landscape of the Dota 2 map. In his opinion, the transfer of outposts could lead to teams constantly fighting for the Dire forest:
“[Новый] outpost [со стороны Dire] located too close to Roshan. It turns out that Dire initially had some advantage. But we understand that the outpost does not belong to Dire, it belongs to them at the beginning of the game. But by and large, he can be captured at any time, and he will become Radiant. In this case, Radiant already has an advantage. <...>
It turns out that Valve say: the main point on the map is the forest [Dire]. Everyone needs to play here. Radiant has the task of breaking towers [на верхней и средней линии] quickly and capture the forest to control Roshan. And Dire’s job is to break [ближайшие] towers [Radiant] and control the forest to control Roshan. Why is it done so that the game takes place on 25-40% of the map? ”
Summing up the general changes to patch 7.24, NS said many of them added to slow down matches. The analyst believes that now teams will play more often with neutral objects of the fifth level:
“Some of the changes are aimed at slowing down the game process. In particular, the fact that you can only wear one thing from the woods and you can’t become some kind of hypertrophied megachump. GPM talents were removed as well. At least these three changes hint at the fact that the games will become longer, and up to 60 minutes we will reach more often on average. ”
NS also appreciated the changes in items and heroes. For example, he examined the nerfs of neutral artifacts of the fifth level, and also stated that Valve balances heroes only for the professional scene. A full record of the analysis of the patch can be viewed on the Kuznetsov channel on Twitch – profanity is present at the broadcast (18+)
Update 7.24 for Dota 2 was released on the night of January 27. With him, shrines were removed from Dota 2, they processed a lot of neutral items and added new heroes to the Captains Mode – Void Spirit and Snapfire. Read more about the changes here.
