Dota2 Patch 7.26 introduces big game changes
The latest Dota2 patch just dropped and it brought with it a plethora of game-changing updates, which will change the way the game is played in a huge way.
Since December, we were introduced to quite a few Dota2 updates, each introducing a few significant changes to everyone's favourite MOBA game title, however, it was the 7.25 which was arguably one of the biggest patches with a significant amount of hero changes. Now only a few weeks later, Valve released another patch, which will introduce only a couple of gameplay aspects, so it would be fair to say Patch 7.26 is in a way an extension to the previously released 7.25.
According to the official patch notes, Patch 7.26 will be succeeded with another patch which will cover additional hero and item changes, but for now, Valve only focused on changing a few aspects of game's attributes, gold bounties and gold bonuses.
Patch 7.26 changes
10% Reduction to gold bounties and creeps
Quite a significant change, which will see lane creeps, neutral objectives, and heroes gold bounties award 10% less gold. That might not seem like a lot, but at 1/10 reduced value, this change will heavily affect the Dota2 economy. Having said that, this change should not come off as a shock to anyone, as it is arguably a positive change for the Dota2 ecosystem.
Until now, many games can easily end in under 20 minutes, because teams usually snowballed from a small mistake made by their opponent in early game. If you died a few times in the laning phase in the opening few minutes, the game was more or less over, and while that might seem like something that would inspire players to play more cautiously, it was, in reality, a quite tedious and frustrating thing to deal with.
Some heroes which thrived in that meta were Visage and Lycan who can get a few kills early, quickly buy cheap items and suddenly become a nuisance to deal with. Needless to say, the 10% reduced value of creeps and kills will at least help address that issue and possibly help extend Dota2 games back to 30-40 minute. Whether this change will have any significant impact in practice remains to be seen, but it's at least a step into the right direction from Valve.
Attributes changes
From Patch 7.26 onwards, Attributes in Dota2 will no longer provide magic resistance, spell amplification and movement speed for strength, intelligence and agility respectively. Much like the previous change, even this one can be debated whether it's the right move or not, however, there is without a doubt plenty of players who will look forward to this change.
Another thing the Attribute change has in common with the 10% gold reduction is that this can, in theory, have huge implications on how Dota2 will be played or at least change up build paths for many heroes. As an example, we can look at all heroes who focus on builds that emphasise on getting as many stats as possible. Since raw stats will no longer award magic resistance, spell amplification and movement speed, items like Eye of Skadi, a Heart of Tarrasque and other similar might be forgotten or are set to receive changes in the upcoming patch.
50% kill streak gold reduction
The third and last change to Dota2 that will come with Patch 7.26 is, another gold restriction, however, unlike the previous one, this one will focus on kill streak gold bonuses, which generally agreed rewarded way too much gold, which effectively played a huge factor in the previously mentioned problem of games lasting way less time than they used to.
In a way, this change will only partially revert the update which introduced the bonus gold, which was in eyes of many a mistake on Valve's part. Although it did allow teams to comeback by taking advantage of small mistakes of their adversaries, it was generally an annoying feature.
It's worth noting, however, this feature was already in the game way back, when you could earn up to 2000 gold for a single streak, so it's safe to say the current version is less "broken", yet still too strong for the current state of the game. All things considered, these are solid changes which will go hand-in-hand with Patch 7.25 which introduced a plethora of hero changes.
Patch 7.25c changes
General:
– When two players pick the same hero in the same round, the hero is banned instead and the round restarts.
– All Pick hero selection duration is reduced from 25 to 20s.
– Wards can now always be attacked by the owning player.
– Harpy Stormcrafter mana capacity reduced from 150 to 125.
Items
Ring of Regen
Health regeneration reduced from 2 to 1.75.
Soul Ring
Health regen reduced from 2.5 to 2.25.
Headdress
Health regen reduced from 2.5 to 2.
Mekansm
Health regen aura reduced from 2.5 to 2.
Pipe of Insight
Health regen aura reduced from 2.5 to 2.
Recipe cost increased from 800 to 1000.
Helm of the Dominator
Health regen aura reduced from 5 to 4.25.
Ring of Tarrasque
Health regen reduced from 4.5 to 4.
Royal Jelly
Health regen reduced from 2.5 to 2.25.
Necronomicon
Strength reduced from 10/15/20 to 6/12/18.
Vladmir's Offering
Recipe cost increased from 450 to 550.
Dust of Appearance
Cost reduced from 90 to 80.
Heroes:
Beastmaster
Call of the Wild Hawk: no longer blocks neutral camps.
Talents: level 15 Talent reduced from +35 Boar Damage to +30.
Centaur Warrunner
Retaliate: attack damage per charge reduced from 6/8/10/12% to 4/6/8/10%.
Clockwerk: strength gain reduced from 3.7 to 3.5.
Death Prophet
Base damage reduced by 2.
Spirit Siphon: mana cost increased from 70 to 80.
Exorcism Scepter: damage multiplier reduced from 1.75 to 1.5.
Huskar
Berserker's Blood: attack speed reduced from 140/200/260/320 to 130/190/250/310.
Talents: level 15 Talent reduced from +10 Burning Spear DPS to +8.
Keeper of the Light
Chakra Magic: cooldown reduction from 4/5/6/7 to 3/4/5/6.
Talents: level 20 Talent reduced from +250 Will-O-Wisp AoE to +200.
Lycan
Shapeshift: cooldown increased from 110/95/80 to 125/110/95.
Meepo
Base agility reduced from 24 to 17 (base damage and armor unchanged).
Divided We Stand: now level requirement increased from 3/10/18 to 4/11/18.
Phantom Lancer
Base agility reduced by 3.
Phoenix
Fire Spirits: damage reduced from 20/40/60/80 to 15/35/55/75.
Talents: level 15 Talent reduced from +40 Fire Spirits DPS to +35.
Snapfire
Firesnap Cookie: damage reduced from 90/160/230/300 to 70/140/210/280.
Wraith King
Base damage reduced by 2.
Mortal Strike: skeletons duration reduced from 90 seconds to 60.
