What looks to be the final balance patch before the start of TI11, Dota 2 patch 7.32c has brought down to Earth the strong heroes from the TI11 qualifiers.
The TI11 qualifiers were played on patch 7.32b. After 257 games played across the six Dota 2 regions, IceFrog and Valve were able to get an idea of the dominant heroes in the meta. Although relatively diverse, the TI11 qualifiers saw certain heroes perform significantly better than average.
Typically, there is always a final balance patch to bring heroes on more of an even ground before the beginning of The International. For The International 2022 (TI11), that patch has arrived in the form of 7.32c. Like the majority of balance patches, the nerfs to strong heroes are significant, and the buffs, while not uncommon, are subtle. A total of 51 heroes were changed in patch 7.32c. The entire set of changes can be found here. Let’s take a look at the major changes from the patch that will affect the game the most once the TI11 Last Chance Qualifiers begin on the 8th of October.
Item Updates
Only two purchasable items were changed – Bloodstone and Refresher Orb. Refresher Shard also saw a change in connection with the Refresher Orb.
When Bloodstone was revamped in patch 7.31, it had a 10% current health cost. That has now been removed. Ever since the new Bloodstone has been introduced, it hasn’t really picked up in popularity and has been buffed multiple times since then. TI11 could be the tournament which sees this item gain popularity.
Refresher Orb and Refresher Shard now share a cooldown, so any chance of using a skill thrice is now out the window! Also takes out the possibility of carries having an 18 second BKB at in the late game. It is interesting that the cooldown no longer ticks when it is in the backpack (for both), so giving a hero who has a Refresher Orb a Refresher Shard is now completely useless.
SirActionSlacks though, is worried about more important things like what is the maximum number of Tombstones that Undying can now have at one time?
Hero Changes
All the prominent changes are nerfs to heroes who performed extremely well in the TI11 qualifiers. Let’s take a look at some of the major nerfs, which are bound to affect hero pick rates in Singapore when TI11 begins.
Chen
The nerf to Holy Persuasion, which starts from level 1, is a big dent in Chen’s laning stage. It will also impact the early to mid game, when four units under Chen’s control can do a lot of damage to most enemy heroes. It’s a 40 damage nerf to the entire Chen army at level 4 of the skill.
Dawnbreaker
Dawnbreaker’s Aghanim’s Shard is one of the top five Shards in the game, and one of the reasons she is a strong hero. It can help her chase heroes, survive and get away as well. With the movement speed reduced, her maneuverability during Starbreaker with the Shard is bound to take a hit. The added nerf to Luminosity means lesser damage and even further hits to survivability. Maybe the healing Dawnbreaker build in a support role takes precedence now?
Death Prophet
Death Prophet was the second most picked hero in the TI11 qualifiers after Marci, and she was picked pretty much any role besides position one. Nerfs to three of hero four skills are going to hit Krobelus hard, especially as all three nerfs are not just scaling nerfs, they are nerfs at all levels of the skills.
Engima
With a contest rate of over 90% and win rate of over 60% in the TI11 qualifiers, Enigma is definitely one of the stronger heroes of the 7.32 meta. One of his strengths is his lanaing stage, where can control the lane extremely well with Eidolons. With the Eidolons a lot more vulnerable to magic damage now, there is a way to tackle the Consumer of Worlds. However, considering how strong the hero has been in the past few months, the nerfs aren’t too bad, and Enigma should definitely be a highly contested hero at TI11.
Faceless Void
Carrying the title of ‘Carry of the TI11 qualifiers’ was not a difficult task for Faceless Void, as he racked up a win rate of 67% across all regions in the qualifiers. No other carry was anywhere close in contest rate and win rate to Faceless Void. The numbers were so insane that a massive nerf was on the cards, and it has arrived in Dota 2 patch 7.32c.
Void’s Shard is extremely strong for multiple reasons, and even though the nerf doesn’t include a mana cost on Reverse Time Walk, a 150 range reduction in Time Walk is pretty significant. According to Dotabuff, the two talents that have been nerfed have a significantly higher pick rate than their counterparts, meaning Void players will have to take some time to think which talent will serve them better. Perhaps they’ll have to step out of the Chronosphere to do that?!
Faceless Void’s pick rate and win rate are bound to go down after these changes, but it won’t take him out of the running.
Marci
The most picked hero of the TI11 qualifiers, Marci is definitely a force to reckon with. Not that Enigma and Faceless Void need any sympathies, but if skills like Snowball can’t remove allies from Black Hole and Chronosphere, it’s only fair that Dispose can’t either. With Unleash no longer reducing the movement speed and attack speed of the target, BKB timings will hit Marci just as hard as her fists.
Undying
Undying is all about the Tombstone in team fights. The Tombstone team fight potential will be reduced after the nerf in 7.32c. Decay is a very important tool in the Direge’s arsenal for lane control, and with level 1 Decay now costing 100 mana, he will have to spend a lot more gold on Clarity Potions and Mangos to have the same impact in lane.
Visage
With a win rate of 69.05% in the TI11 qualifiers (highest of any hero), Visage was flying under the radar (no pun intended) as one of the strongest heroes of patch 7.32. The nerfs from patch 7.32c will restrict his flight a bit. The reduction in the Gravekeeper’s Cloak aura radius means he will have to be a lot closer to his Familiars for them to get the damage reduction. The most significant nerf is probably the maximum health from Stone Form reduced from 35% to 25%, which will affect his survivability.
We are less than two weeks away from the beginning of the TI11 Last Chance Qualifiers. Not too far ahead in the future, we will get to see how the professional players have interpreted the changes to heroes in Dota 2 patch 7.32c.
