Dota 2 Patch 7.37 Main Updates and Meta Changes Review

On August 1st, Valve released Update 7.37 for Dota 2. This update included changes to mechanics, facets, and innate abilities, impacting numerous heroes and items. In this article, we’ll explore the significant changes in the patch and analyze their potential impact on the current and future meta.

Players actively discuss the new Dota 2 Patch on Reddit.

General Сhanges

Developers added an icon to the ability descriptions for the values affected by Bloodstone and other effects that increase the area of effect.

Dota 2: Leshrac. Bloodstone radius

Roshan’s Сhanges

After Roshan’s second death, Roshan’s Banner will always drop from Roshan. After the third death, during daytime, either Refresher Shard and Cheese or during nighttime, Refresher Shard and Aghanim’s Blessing will drop from Roshan. Also, the teleportation time to outposts at Roshan’s lairs has been reduced from 6 to 4 seconds.

This seemingly minor change can significantly impact the pace of games. Obtaining an early Roshan’s Banner will make teams more active in attacking enemy structures, and the split–push meta may make a comeback.

Breakability Update

Valve has fully explained how breakability works in Dota 2 and how it affects various passive abilities.

The rules for how depletion affects various aspects and abilities have been updated.

The descriptions of abilities that can be partially or fully disabled by attrition have been updated to include the following note: “Breakable: Yes.”

Dota 2: Breakable passive ability

Dota 2: Not breakable passive ability

Devs added explanations to the descriptions of abilities that are disabled by depletion partially, displayed when the Alt key is pressed.

Neutral Creep Updates

Dota 2: Neutral Creep Updates

• Harpy Stormcrafter: No longer always cast Chain Lightning if attacked by lane creeps when pulled
• Giant Wolf – Intimidate: Total Attack Damage Reduction increased from 50% to 60%
• Hellbear Smasher (Death Throe: Power): Base Attack Damage Bonus increased from 50% to 60%
• Hellbear (Death Throe: Rush): Attack Speed increased from 100 to 120
• Ancient Granite Golem (Granite Aura): Bonus HP Percentage increased from 15/16/17/19% to 16/17/18/19%
• Ancient Rock Golem (Weakening Aura): Armor Reduction increased from 2/3/4/5 to 3/4/5/6

The majority of the neutral creeps listed have been slightly buffed. It will now be more practical and effective to use the Helm of theDominator and Helm of the Overlord on them.

Item Updates

Dota 2: Item Updates

In patch 7.37, there have been several item changes that also affected team items providing auras. The main changes include the following items:

Crimson Guard:

• Guard cooldown increased from 35s to 40s
• Guard additional damage block based on caster’s max health decreased from 2.5% to 2.2%

Guardian Greaves:

• Mend cooldown increased from 40s to 45s

Pipe of Insight:

• Barrier duration decreased from 12s to 10s
• Insight Aura magic resistance decreased from 10% to 8%

Will these changes be enough to shift the meta? We certainly hope so. In previous tournaments, we’ve witnessed offlane players consistently purchasing aura items for their heroes, significantly contributing to their team’s victories in every game.

Neutral Item Updates

Dota 2: Itron Talon

Quite a few changes have been made to the neutral items. Several items are unavailable, while others have returned to the game.

Trusty Shovel

• Dig cooldown no longer ticks down if the Shovel is not in the neutral slot.
• Always digs up a Water Rune when used in the river.

The first change affects the Supports, for the most part. We will no longer see heroes who spend the entire game carrying a Trusty Shovel in their backpacks in hopes of digging up a bounty rune. The second change is more interesting. Water runes will allow you to restore many resources and instantly fill the Bottle. This means the relevance of choosing this item for Mid-lane players is increased.

Ironwood Tree

• This item is back in the game as a Tier 1 neutral item. Players who love Timbersaw will surely be happy to see this return.

Iron Talon

Iron Talon has also returned to the game. It is now a Tier 2 item.

• Provides +20 Attack Speed and +4 Armor. Active: Chop. Targets a non-player enemy unit to remove 80% of its current HP. If cast on a tree, it instantly destroys it. Cooldown: 20s. Tree Cooldown: 4s.
• Iron Talon was once mighty when obtained early, but now it’s only available after 17 minutes.

Philosopher’s Stone

• Now, it has 750 charges. It spends a charge each time it gives the owner gold. The item will disappear when no charges are left, and the owner will receive 375 gold.
• This is a very, very strong weakening of this item. Previously, a player could benefit from Philosopher’s Stone throughout a match.

Vambrace and Ogre Seal Totem

• Both of these items have been beefed up a bit. Vambrace is now a Tier 3 Neutral item, and the Ogre Seal Totem is a Tier 4 Neutral item.

Fairy’s Trinket и Martyr’s Plate

• Both of these items have been cycled out. They are very likely to appear in future patches.

Hero Updates

Patch 7.37 introduced various changes to heroes, including redesigned abilities and facets. We have chosen three heroes with the most noteworthy and significant alterations for you.

Kunkka

Dota 2 heroes: Kunkka

Recently, Kunkka has experienced some changes in his abilities. He now has a new innate ability called Admiral’s Rum. When Kunkka’s health drops to 65% from enemy attacks, he gains a 10% movement speed bonus and a 20% delayed damage effect for 10 seconds. The cooldown for this ability is only one minute. This new ability significantly increases Kunkka’s survivability, making it difficult for enemies to catch him off guard or quickly eliminate him before a team fight, as it activates even when he is stunned.

Dota 2: Innate ability: Admiral’s Rum Icon

Innate ability: Admiral’s Rum

Torrent

• Radius increased from 225 to 250
• Mana Cost decreased from 100 to 90

These are small but nice bonuses that also enhance the potential of this hero.

Tidebringer

• No longer an innate ability
• Cleave Range rescaled from 500/650/800/950/1100 to 650/800/950/1100
• Damage Bonus rescaled from 10/30/60/90/120 to 30/60/90/120
• Cooldown rescaled from 16/13/10/7/4s to 13/10/7/4s

Tidebringer’s changes primarily impact the early levels of this ability, resulting in Kunkka being more potent during the laning stage and enabling him to apply even greater pressure on enemy heroes.

Ghostship

Now upgraded with Aghanim’s Scepter, it creates a fleet of 2 ships at the target point on a 2.5-second interval. Each ship also fires 3 waves of 4 cannonballs from the port and starboard sides that deal 40% of Ghostship’s damage as they pass through enemies. Each unit can only be hit by 1 cannonball per volley. The cannonball projectile radius is 100, and the cannonball projectile speed is 1400.

Dota 2: Kunkka Ghostship

Viper

Dota 2 heroes: Viper

Viper has acquired a new Innate ability – Predator.

Dota 2 Viper: Innate ability – Predator

Viper’s attacks deal an additional instance of physical damage per missing health percentage of his target, equal to 0.25 + 0.05 per Viper’s level. This attack only works on heroes.

This ability will allow you to deal significantly more damage to enemy heroes. We may see the return of the Viper mid–lane or carry position.

Medusa

Dota 2 heroes: Medusa

In the new patch 7.37, Medusa has undergone some significant changes. She has a new ability called Venomous Volley, which works similarly to Slardar’s Bash of the Deep. Upon triggering the hero’s fifth attack, the target becomes poisoned, resulting in a 35% movement speed reduction, 80% attack speed slow, and 50% spellcasting slow for 1.5 seconds. Split Shot incorporates this effect as part of the attack.

• When using Split Shot, Venomous Volley can also be cast.
• Only the main target will be affected when using Split Shot.
• Upon reaching level 25 and acquiring the corresponding talent, the Venomous Volley effect will be applied to all targets.

The hero’s Mana Shield has also been changed. This ability no longer needs to be upgraded. It now has a base of 2.4 damage per mana and gains 0.1 damage per hero level.

Medusa has gained a new ability called Gorgon’s Grasp, which provides the hero with an additional disable. Gorgon’s Grasp creates three radii in which opponents become dazed and take damage. This will significantly enhance Medusa’s capabilities during the laning phase and allow the hero to play more aggressively.

Dota 2 Medusa: Gorgon’s Grasp

Medusa fires a volley of arrows into the sky that lands in 3 groups in a line, each grouping more extensive than the previous. Enemies struck by a grouping of arrows take 30/70/110/150 physical damage and are rooted; they can’t turn and take 100 physical damage per second for 0.8/1.2/1.6/2s. Initial Radius: 150. Radius Growth: 50. Cast Range: 625. Mana Cost: 40/60/80/100. Cooldown: 30/27/24/21s.

Conclusion

Dota 2 heroes: Chaos Knight, Wraith King, Lion

Today, we’ve selected the most thrilling changes in the new 7.37 patch, which introduces many alterations to the game. We will carefully monitor the shifting meta in public matches and professional games to inform you about the most captivating heroes of the new patch and showcase their strengths and weaknesses.