Valve the creators of DoTA 2 will release changes to the game as a patch. This change will affect what is called the Metagame. Wait, what’s a Metagame or meta in terms of DoTA 2. The meta is a term that refers to the most optimal way to win in-game.. The things that influence the meta are: community opinions, professional players and patch releases. When a patch is released, it changes the meta, so it’s noteworthy in the DoTA 2 community. It changes how we win. Patches can include changes to Hero’s, items, mechanics. It will also address bugs and exploits. There’s a bit of contention in these changes as players favourite hero or item can be affected negatively (nerf), while on the other side, people will be happy about a buff (upgrade) to their favourite hero.
With that, see the below for the winners and losers of this patch:
Hero: Clinkz – Winner
* Clinkz: Strafe cooldown reduced from 45/35/25/15 to 30/25/20/15
* Clinkz: Strafe manacost reduced from 90 to 75/80/85/90
Clinkz can now output more damage at a lower cost of mana. A much-needed buff.
Hero: Crystal Maiden – Winner
* Crystal Maiden: Crystal Nova damage increased from 100/150/200/250 to 130/170/210/260
* Crystal Maiden: Arcane Aura self mana regen increased from 1.6/2.4/3.2/4 to 1.8/2.6/3.4/4
Crystal Maiden can now output more damage with the same resources. Her aura gives her teammates more mana over time.
Item: Hand of Midas – Winner
* Hand of Midas: Cooldown reduced from 95 to 90
You can now farm faster (Situational Item)
Hero: Night Stalker – Loser
* Night Stalker: Void now deals half damage during day
* Night Stalker: Base movement speed reduced from 290 to 285
Night Stalker is now fairly useless during the daytime and is slower to boot.
Hero: Io – Loser
* Io: Relocate now has channel time instead of a cast delay
Relocate can be stopped, which it couldn’t before. You can still save people, but it will be a lot harder.
Item: Aeon Disk – Loser
* Aeon Disk: Cooldown increased from 90 to 115
You will now need to stay out of team fights, or not take team fights for a longer period of time.
This buff/winner is closest to my heart:
Hero: Pudge – Winner
* Pudge: Meat Hook cast range increased from 1000/1100/1200/1300 to 1300
A full rundown can be found here: https://www.dota2.com/news/updates/
Written By Adam “Bruce L33t” Lamotte