A little over a week after the release of Dota 2 patch 7.37, we rate the new facets the patch has brought with it.
Facets now feel like a natural thing in Dota 2, and for the next few patches, will be the parameter most used for buffing and nerfing heroes. Dota 2 patch 7.37 recently introduced 10 new facets to the game. Some heroes received a third facet, while a few others got a facet replaced by a new one.
Here, we rate the new facets introduced to the game in patch 7.37 out of 10. The rating is based on a combination of factors such as pick rate, win rate, usability for the hero or whether it gives the hero a unique way to be played. The facets are listed alphabetically based hero names. The pick rate and win rate numbers are taken from Dotabuff.
Before we jump into the ratings for the new facets patch 7.37 has introduced, here is a visual look at all of them.
Bristleback – Seeing Red (Pick rate: 34.55%, Win rate: 49.92%)
Rating: 8/10
Seeing Red increases the maximum Warpath damage from 180/240/300 to 270/360/450. For reference, a Divine Rapier toggle to attack damage is 350 damage. So Warpath can potentially give you 100 more damage than a Divine Rapier when playing with Seeing Red. The vision is not that big an issue if you are chasing a hero and want to get the kill with the additional damage and movement speed. It is a also a good tool to run away because of the increased movement speed. Whoever you can’t see is hitting your back anyways.
Doom – Impending Doom (Pick rate: 15.23%, Win rate: 46.68%)
Rating: (4/10)
Impending Doom is much worse than Doom’s other two facets, Gluttony and Devil’s Bargain. To put it into more of a perspective, it is 2 seconds of increased Doom duration every 20 minutes (the increments will happen every 6 minutes 40 seconds). You can appreciate the attempt to connect Doom with 666, but the numbers just don’t make it good enough for use. With the other two facets, you can have your items a lot quicker, and minor increase in Doom duration does not make up for it. It could be useful in the future when it is tweaked a little, but not a facet that will be too popular right now. The one advantage this has is it does not depend on level or net worth, so for a team playing on the back foot, it can be a useful way to keep a hero out of a fight.
Death Prophet – Mourning Ritual (Pick rate: 58.25%, Win rate: 50.65%)
Rating: (8/10)
Any mechanism to delay damage is a good one in Dota 2, as it prevents the hero from being burst down and sneaks in the possibility of surviving. In the case of Death Prophet, there are a couple of ways of doing that, with Life Drain being the most obvious one and the Exorcism spirits returning to Death Prophet to heal her being the other. The 50% delayed damage is 15% higher than Kunkka’s Rum buff, which is 35% and only applies when he uses Ghostship (or with X Marks the Spot if he has the Grog Blossom facet). But DP literally has it throughout the game! A strong facet, especially for an offlane DP which will build aura and healing items like Guardian Greaves and Pipe of Insight.
Earth Spirit – Ready to Roll (Pick rate: 38.62%, Win rate: 48.46%)
Rating: 5/10
While Ready to Roll is handy and much better than the Stepping Stone facet, it won’t make a huge dent in Earth Spirit’s popularity and win rate. It is good to have the additional stun and movement speed, but in a team fight, Earth Spirit is not going to specifically look for an ally to roll over. The priority will be targeting the enemy. If there is an ally in the way, it is a bonus.
Huskar – Incendiary (Pick rate: 46.30%, Win rate: 42.78%)
Rating: (6/10)
Incendiary is a LOT of damage, but sadly it is a lot for Huskar too. It was nerfed in Dota 2 patch 7.37b, so it went down from (20+1% max health) to (20+0.75% max health). For fighting against a team of strength behemoths, this is a great facet. A hero like Centaur Warrunner with 5000 HP will take 57.5 magical damage from one Burning Spear stack, which is a lot considering there is no cap on the stack limit.
But the 4% max health damage to self is where this facet falls on its face. It isn’t as useful against heroes with low HP as you end up doing a lot more damage to yourself. Even with the +15% Lifesteal talent at leve 15, Huskar cannot find a balance with the Incendiary facet Burning Spears, Armlet of Mordiggian and Berserker’s Blood. He only stabilizes once the +30% Berserker’s Blood Regen talent comes into play at level 20. Before that, he can go all the way down to 1 HP. Interestingly, Huskar can’t deny himself with Burning Spears.
All in all, a very situational facet, as most facets should be. It can work wonders against a tanky lineup, especially with a healer like Oracle or Dazzle playing behind Huskar to prevent him from being burst down. The significantly low win rate on this facet is possibly an indicator that players are using it with the incorrect drafts in pubs.
Lone Druid – Bear Necessities (Pick rate: 35.53%, Win rate: 47.60%)
Rating: (8/10)
There is a question of how well this facet will do in professional games, but in pubs, it is an incredibly fun facet to play with! In the early game, basic stat items like Wraith Band or Bracer with the main hero improve slot efficiency insanely. In the late game, the hero can be the main damage dealer with stat items like Butterfly, Hearth of Tarrasque or Eye of Skadi. Because of the 80% increased passive stats is nearly like having two for the cost of one, so Lone Druid can be far ahead in effective net worth than most heroes in the game.
Lycan – Alpha Wolves (Pick rate: 37.34%, Win rate: 49.35%)
Rating: (9/10)
Alpha Wolves is an extremely unique facet, which sacrifices two skills for massively improving one. This is something not seen in Dota 2 before, and what we might see more of if this works well. Summon Wolves tends to fall off as the game goes on, but with the level 6 wolves, it should be strong throughout the game. Ratting with Lycan will be a lot stronger thanks to the 100% evasion from Hightail. This facet also improves the wolves from Aghanim’s Shard, the ability to keep lanes pushed out will be much stronger as well. This facet could enable Lycan to be played as a position 4 hero, where his priority is impacting the game with Summon Wolves and getting an Aghanim’s Scepter to get the rick click carry into Shapeshift form.
Medusa – Venomous Volley (Pick rate: 57.81%, Win rate: 54.67%)
Rating: (9/10)
Every position 1 Medusa will opt for Venomous Volley. The other facet, Engorged, is more for a spell casting Medusa which opts for the Mystic Snake talents. But for the right click build, Venomous Volley is the perfect facet, and it syncs well with Medusa’s level 25 talent that lets split shot use attack modifiers.
Visage – Death Toll (Pick rate: 67.72%, Win rate: 51.85%)
Rating: (7/10)
Death Toll is a facet that sets Visage up to snowball. If a mid Visage has a favorable lane matchup and ends up getting early kills, that can propel him to an early Drums of Endurance, Orchid Malevolence and then Boots of Bearing. The Soul Assumption charges vary 3/4/5/6 per level of the ability, which is why the gold varies as 105/140/175/210.
This facet, of course, is a double edged sword. If Visages early game ends up being less than successful and he cannot get kills to start the snowball, this facet becomes completely useless. It is meant for an early fight lineup where you are bound to get a good deal of kills.
Void Spirit – Call of the Void (Pick rate: 20.61%, Win rate: 49.32%)
Rating: (4/10)
Call of the Void assumes that you are going to be running for the majority of the game. It does not add to Void Spirit’s burst damage potential, as the Dissimilate location where the hero reassembles and Ether Remnant location are not the same. This would be much better as a talent, where a player can get it based on how the game is going.
While there were 10 new facets in Dota 2 patch 7.37, there are bound to be more new ones in the months to come. Most heroes only have two facets while some have three. But by the looks of it, IceFrog and Valve are slowly planning to fill up that third facet slot for all heroes based on what a hero needs.
It wasn’t just new facets that braced the game in patch 7.37 – there were 21 new innate abilities as well! In the next few days, GosuGamers will take a look at the ratings for all the new innate abilities introduced to the game.
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