Dota 2 patch 7.06 launches, predictably changes everything

It feels like forever since I’ve written a Dota 2 patch story! This is quite nice. It’s… oh, there’s a new patch. Balls.

Yes, yes, there are loads of reworks to heroes and items, but there are also some pretty big changes to Dota 2 in general. Let’s get on with those first, shall we?

First, all heroes now have higher stats! All strength growth is increased by 0.3, Strength now gives 0.06 HP regen per point instead of 0.03, and base mana has been increased from 50 to 75. On the flipside, you now get 1 less mana per point of Intelligence (from 12 to 11) and the base HP regen has been reduced by 0.25. If I’m doing my maths correctly – and I probably am not – then this should serve to make heroes a bit tankier over time.

What do you mean, that’s boring? Alright, fine. Creep denies now give the denying team 30% of the XP, neutral creeps now spawn every minute instead of every two minutes, and after 40 minutes river runes will spawn on both sides of the river. Rosh now drops cheese after his second death rather than his third, illusions give more gold, almost everything else gives less gold, and every single respawn talent has been removed.

Yeeeah, 42 talents have been replaced, all of them being variations on “reduce respawn time by X”. Most of these have been replaced with some seriously delicious new talents, too. Earth Spirit’s “Grip targets allies” thing is now there rather than being a Scepter ability, while Warlock can summon a golem on death, and Visage gets a double Soul Assumption strike. Also, Techies gets +250 attack damage, because why not?

I was going to use this as the front page image, but it’s pretty enough that it deserved a nice big in-story image. Interestingly, neither of these heroes have had major changes – just level 25 talent adjustments.

Okay, item changes. One rather big one is that Blight Stone/Desolator no longer count as a Unique attack Modifier, which makes me wonder exactly how many Unique Attack Modifiers are left. Amusingly, Enchanted Mangoes can no longer be sold, and “must be consumed“. Various recipes have changed, Midas offers less gold but more experience, Haven’s Halberd can no longer be dispelled by Spell Immunity, Urn of Shadows and Aether Lens have new recipes, illusions do even less damage with Radiance than before, etc. etc. All sorts of stuff.

And then the hero changes. The short version is that there are loads, and factoring in the new stat changes and gold changes, I can’t even guess at how some changes are going to impact the meta. I will say that Alchemist now gets less gold from Greevil’s Greed, which is nice, but beyond that the eye-catching changes are Scepter reworks.

Axe’s new Scepter causes Battle Hunger to reduce enemy damage output by 30%, and applies Battle Hunger on all enemy heroes within a 700 AoE after a Culling Blade. Bane’s gives Brain Sap a 1.5s cooldown and makes it pierce spell immunity. Dazzle’s makes Shallow Grave a 450 AoE spell. Legion Commander’s scepter now also gives her spell immunity during Duel. Leshrac’s Scepter has Lightning Storm hit a random unit (heroes prioritised) every 1.75 seconds while Pulse Nova is active. Magnus’ scepter makes Shockwave come back, hitting units a second time and applying a 60% slow for 2 seconds, while also increasing distance and travel speed by 50%. Silencer’s Scepter now makes Glaives pierce Spell Immunity, and do 100% more damage to Silenced units. Witch Doctor’s Scepter now gives True Strike to Death Ward, in addition to its usual effects. Outhouse Deflowerer’s Scepter grants two charges of Astral Imprisonment.

Don’t worry, everyone. Dota 2 Kitten is here once more to break up the text.

There are also a few new heroes with Scepter abilities. Medusa’s now has a Scepter ability that makes Mystic Snake turn enemies into stone for 1 second, increased by 0.2 seconds per bounce, and if Underlord grabs a Scepter, his Atrophy Aura bonus damage is granted to nearby allied heroes for half of the bonuses.

Oh, and Frost Arrows are no longer a Unique Attack Modifiers, so I guess we’re going to see Drow with Desolator really soon. Enchant Totem also now has True Strike, so Earthshaker might have a bit more fun laning against a Phantom Assassin. I’m also kinda amused by Windrunner’s level 20 talents now being either +120 Powershot damage, or Windrun grants invisibility. While we’re at it, I really like Night Stalker being able to activate Hunter in the Night during the night to get flying movement for 2 seconds.

There are lots of things, basically. Lots. Go read the Dota 2 patch notes on the official page for full details, because I’ve really only listed the fun ones, and even then I’ve left a fair few out.

Dota 2 7.06 is out now, and should download whenever you next log into Steam.