10 Things to Expect from the Shifting Snows Patch
The new patch is out today and as expected, there are a lot of changes in gameplay and items, as well as in the customary buffs and nerfs to heroes!
So without further ado, here are our top ten picks from the latest patch (in no particular order):
1. Supports get an easier life.
The very fact that the costs of the Animal Courier and the Healing Salve have been reduced allows support heroes a bit more money to invest on other basic support items such as Smoke of Deceit, Observer Wards, etc. Incrementally speaking, this allows them to get more items for themselves, which in turn will increase their usefulness and survivability in the field.
2. Play braver!
Now that the Medallion of Courage can be cast towards allies in order to give them more armor, the item has become a must for support players especially in the early game where every bit of survivability counts! Don’t forget that the armor has been increased from 6 to 7, which makes it more cost-efficient!
3. Is this Dota? Or is this tank warfare?
Apparently, the duration of Crimson Guard and Pipe of Insight have been increased, not to mention that the patch adds the maximum number of charges for the Magic Wand. This in turn increases the survivability of just about everyone in the game.
If one wants to make a real life analogy: Someone just equipped a M1A2 Abrams tank with a force field. Well played.
4. Why nerf the bottle once more, Valve?
Valve thinks that bottle crowing is still too imbalanced so they nerfed the courier once more by making a non-full bottle slow the poor critter. In turn, this means that the courier will be away from the mid player for a much longer time (and hampers everyone else’s rights to use the crow).
Only one thing to say: Good luck guys!
5. Gifts for more heroes!
A lot of heroes from Abaddon to Windranger just got some early Christmas gifts from Santa Claus for the holiday season as their abilities have been improved. Some of the craziest buffs include a 2600 Powershot travel range for Windranger as well as a pure damage Sonic Wave for Queen of Pain!
Do you want to blast across-the-river skillshots or surprise BKB users with a Specter-imbued Sonic Wave? If the answer is yes, then this patch is for you!
6. Santa thought you were bad, so you’re nerfed.
Just about every hero who is relevant in the current metagame had one aspect of their lives affected by the “nerf hammer”. Some of the significant ones include a reduction of Death Prophet’s strength gain from 2.2 to 1.9 and a decrease in the base armor of Brewmaster by 2 points. Both of these changes are important because these heroes were practically impossible to kill in the current patch once they reached a certain threshold of items and levels.
7. More in-game intelligence…
For the players who know how to use the “Alt+Click” ability, the newest “tactical additions” are a boon as players will now be able to know a lot of new things, from the type of rune in the enemy bottle to the type of buffs/debuffs that one has. These are somewhat small additions but with the right usage, they can save your team from a full team wipe — or turn fights in your favor and win the game!
8. Goodbye illusions. Time to move on.
New balance changes have reduced the damage that illusions deal to structures by 25 percent, which means that you need more investments on items if you want to do some “illusion rat doto”.
Will this mean that Naga, Terrorblade, et al. will be picked less?
9. Don’t forget this little change! We are a team!
In the past, only one player gets the credit for destroying a set of barracks. Now, the whole team will benefit from it, which implies that securing objectives is now a must in the new metagame. Everyone will get a share of the pie which in turn will solidify the advantage that teams have through a stronger economy.
10. Bloodseeker and Techies were added to Captain’s Mode!
Starting today, the two pub favorites (or curses, depending on your point view) will be added to Captain’s Mode. In the past, these two heroes were game breaking in the right hands. Will teams be able to repeat that same creativity and insight?
So that’s pretty much it and we here at eSports Inquirer hope that you enjoy playing the new patch! Good luck and have fun guys!
Image Sources: Deviantart Images & Google Image
https://fc00.deviantart.net/fs71/i/2013/008/b/1/nice_to_meet_you__death_prophet__by_liea-d5qw1io.png
https://fc09.deviantart.net/fs9/i/2006/045/c/8/Sweatdrop_by_AngelBless.jpg
https://thumbs.dreamstime.com/z/golden-coins-dropping-down-pile-13028547.jpg
https://fc08.deviantart.net/fs71/f/2014/076/4/9/bloodseeker_by_keterok-d7ak1hq.png
https://img0.joyreactor.cc/pics/post/full/Dota-%D1%84%D1%8D%D0%BD%D0%B4%D0%BE%D0%BC%D1%8B-Goblin-Techies-dok-tah-1399434.png
https://3.bp.blogspot.com/–yFR9dRcT2k/UudGEsR89ZI/AAAAAAAACZQ/w41Y691VZlQ/s1600/DotA2_Bottle.png
https://hydra-media.cursecdn.com/dota2.gamepedia.com/7/74/Magic_Wand_icon.png?version=3688c3b9eef77299b627388323a03ae6
https://i.ytimg.com/vi/z9DGLOvu0OQ/maxresdefault.jpg
https://fc00.deviantart.net/fs70/f/2014/128/a/8/dota2_sticker___bristleback_by_chroneco-d7hco0g.png
https://th02.deviantart.net/fs70/PRE/i/2014/266/5/4/tide_hunter_dota_2_ver_chibi_by_dragunoz-d808m60.jpg
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