It’s been almost a week since the Dota 2 Patch 7.38 Wandering Waters update arrived. In fact, we even saw the first small bug fix that dealt with some of the issues following all of these changes. Now that we have had the chance to play on patch 7.38, Blix.gg’s team has decided it’s high time to point out the Dota 2 heroes with the highest win rate so far. It’s always interesting to learn more about them, so let’s see which heroes to pick.
Contents
Abaddon
According to the recent numbers, following the Dota 2 7.38 patch notes, Abaddon is the most successful hero in PUBs. Abba’s win rate is close to 57.51%, giving him a clear lead over the 2nd name on the list.
If we dive deep into the hero changes patch notes, we can see that Abaddon received a few big updates. Overall, the hero’s early game is MUCH stronger than before because of his +25 base damage increase. Aside from that, Abaddon also has much better stats gain than before.
Even though his late-game is not as good as before due to the damage decrease, he is extremely strong early on. It is true that many people keep playing him as support, while others decided to explore different core roles. Considering the damage boost, it’s no surprise that he is highly effective early on.
Lifestealer
Speaking of core heroes and effectiveness, Lifestealer is second on the list of Dota 2 heroes with the highest win rate after patch 7.38. Currently, the hero has close to 55.72% win rate, which is around 3% more than before.
What’s interesting in the case of Lifestrealer is that the Dota 2 7.38 update did not really buff him that much. In fact, most of the changes he experienced were small nerfs. For example, Infest can’t target Ancient Creeps by default, and his base movement speed is lower.
With that said, Lifestealer received two new Facets, and both look good. The first one is Fleshfeast, which increases the max HP per hero kill and resets the CD of Open Wounds (in some cases). The second one is Gorestorm, which allows Infest to be used on ancients and makes it much stronger.
Overall it seems like Lifestealer is in a good spot right now and is slowly becoming the new meta-carry. We’ll keep an eye on Valve to see if 7.38b will nerf his new Facets.
Dragon Knight
If we look at the stats following the Dota 2 7.38 patch, we can see that Dragon Knight is among the biggest winners. With an increase of more than 6% in the last week alone, Dragon Knight’s current win rate is 54.46%. In other words, he is the most successful mid-laner right now.
What’s even more impressive about DK is his pick rate, which is more than 20%. There is a 10% increase in it following the 7.38 Dota 2 update, so it’s safe to say he is among the best Dota 2 heroes right now.
But what made him such a popular and strong pick in the current meta? Well, if we look at the patch notes, we can see many intriguing changes. Starting with his Elder Dragon Form, overall, he deals a lot more damage than before, and, more importantly, he can farm way faster. This is huge, especially in a meta where heroes must be “online” faster than usual.
Alongside these changes, Dragon Knight also received Facet changes. Fire Dragon allows DK to deal more damage and makes Dragon Tail AoE (when in dragon form), and Corrosive Dragon allows all of DK’s abilities to do physical damage. The latter is robust against certain types of enemies and makes DK very effective.
Wraith King
The next of the Dota 2 heroes with the highest win rate in patch 7.38 is Wraith King. The stats reveal that WK’s current win rate is 54.17%, and his pick rate is close to 10%. Although he may not be more successful than Lifestealer, Wraith King remains one of the go-to options for the safe lane.
Unlike the heroes mentioned so far, WK has not received that many changes besides those related to his Facets. The first one is called Bone Guard, and he gets 2 skeleton charges when killing a hero. This facet also replaces his Level 10 and 20 talents. Speaking of talents, this is also Spectral Blade’s effect (his 2nd facet).
All in all, WK remains a solid pick for most cases, especially in PUBs. Yes, he is not the fastest farmer in the world, but you can overcome that by buying the right items.
Tidehunter
If we look at the Dota 2 7.38 Reddit comments, we can see that people often talk about Tidehunter. A quick look at his stats will reveal that he is actually the most successful offlaner in Dota 2 right now. Tide’s current win rate is 54.07%, which is almost 2% more than before, and his pick rate is at 10.29%, 1.13% more than before.
To be fair, Tidehunter is one of those heroes that can work in every meta. He does not really need any buffs to shine because he is always a solid pick in most PUB games. Speaking of the latter, his most recent changes made him even stronger.
It’s true that Tidehunter did not get a lot of new things, but Kraken Shell’s ability to block double the amount at the cost of 40% movement speed makes him incredibly hard to deal with. In fact, Tide can pretty much lane against anything, and it will be really hard for the enemies to bring him down.
Closing Thoughts & Meta Analysis
We highly recommend reading all of the Dota 2 7.38 patch notes before diving into the new meta. Some of the heroes that were strong before will continue to dominate in the current meta, but we can also see a lot of new names.
Our advice is to keep track of the recent stats and make sure you’re using the optimal heroes in the patch. 7.38 arrived just a few days ago, so most players do not know how to take advantage of the changes yet. Use this to your advantage.
