Dota 2 nerfs more heroes with balance patch 6.88f

I’m not going to dig up past versions to make sure, but 6.88 may be the Dota 2 patch with the biggest number of minor balance adjustments. Today’s 6.88f makes this the sixth iteration of version 6.88 – which, in fairness, has some of the best balance I’ve seen in Dota 2 so far.

As you’re probably expecting, this patch takes the nerf bat to the kneecaps of a few more heroes. Heading off to the balance hospital this time are Oracle, Kunkka, Shadow Demon, Underlord, Morphling, Drow Ranger, Omniknight, Outworld Devourer, Mirana, Faceless Void, Phantom Assassin, Arc Warden, Juggernaut, Riki, Bounty Hunter, Nyx Assassin, and Batrider – and a bug has fixed Return with Centaur Warrunner illusions. So, uh, most of the really popular heroes of the moment, then.

Most of the nerfs are “minor” insofar as they’re tweaks to the numbers (even if those are some fairly big tweaks in a few cases, like Stifling Dagger’s level 1 cast range dropping from 825 to 525 and Outworld Devourer losing 6 base damage) but there are a couple that will likely have a wider impact. Spark Wraith doesn’t dispel anymore, but arguably more important is that Flamebreak knockback no longer breaks channeling, which should mean it can’t stop a Town Portal anymore. Unless that’s another weird exception, anyway.

The full patch notes can be found either over here, or directly below:

6.88f:
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* Purifying Flames manacost increased from 50/60/70/80 to 80/85/90/95
* Torrent cooldown increased from 10 to 16/14/12/10
* Ghostship Rum damage reduction changed from 50% to 40/45/50%
* Shadow Poison manacost increased from 40 to 55
* Atrophy Aura attack damage reduction changed from 18/26/34/42% to 10/20/30/40%
* Morph Replicate cast time increased from 0.25 to 0.35
* Morphling base damage reduced by 4
* Drow Ranger strength gain reduced from 1.9 to 1.6
* Purification cast range reduced from 700 to 575
* Purification cast point reduced from 0.25 to 0.2
* Purification cooldown reduced from 10 to 9
* Repel duration rescaled from 4/6/8/10 to 5/6/7/8
* Repel cooldown reduced from 14 to 20/18/16/14
* Outworld Devourer base damage reduced by 6
* Starfall Scepter cooldown increased from 9 to 10
* Faceless Void base armor reduced by 1
* Stifling Dagger cast range reduced from 825/950/1075/1200 to 525/750/975/1200
* Spark Wraith no longer dispels (still slows)
* Arc Warden movement speed reduced by 10
* Healing Ward manacost increased from 120/125/130/135 to 140
* Smoke Screen slow reduced from 19/21/23/25% to 13/17/21/25%
* Track movement speed bonus reduced from 20% to 16/18/20%
* Nyx’s Scepter Burrow cast time increased from 1 to 1.5
* Flamebreak knockback no longer interrupts channeling spells (behaves like blinding light)
* Flamebreak burn duration increased from 3/4/5/6 to 4/5/6/7 (total damage increased)
* Fixed Return working on Centaur Illusions