Dota 2 Patch 7.41a — bug fixes and hero balance

A few days ago, Valve released the major 7.41 update, and shortly after that a patch was released with balance changes to heroes, along with numerous bug fixes.

Main bug fixes:

• Fixed an issue where Bloodseeker’s Blood Rite dealt too much damage.
• Fixed an issue where Chen’s Holy Persuasion did not accelerate cooldowns after being used on a controlled creep.
• Fixed an issue where Dragon Knight in dragon form dealt damage from Wyrm's Wrath twice.
• Fixed an issue where Drow Ranger’s Marksmanship triggered on additional attacks from Specialist's Array and Hydra's Breath.
• Fixed an issue where Legion Commander could move during Duel under certain command sequences.
• Fixed an issue where item cooldowns for Meepo clones were not shared if multiple items with shared cooldowns were in the inventory.
• Fixed an issue where Tiny’s Tree Volley damage depended on whether he was holding a tree when obtaining Aghanim's Shard.
• Fixed various causes of client and server crashes.

Main hero changes:

Alchemist

• Base movement speed decreased from 295 to 290.
• Maximum gold bonus per kill reduced from 18 to 16. Aghanim’s Scepter damage bonus reduced from +25 to +15.

Anti-Mage

• Base health regeneration increased by 0.5.
• Mana burn damage from Mana Break increased from 50% to 60%.

Bloodseeker

• Attack speed bonus from Bloodrage reduced from 60/90/120/150 to 55/80/105/130.
• Aghanim’s Shard damage (as a percentage of max HP) reduced from 2% to 1.5%.

Lifestealer

• Base damage reduced by 3, level 1 damage changed from 49–55 to 46–52.
• Attack speed bonus from Ghoul Frenzy reduced from 5 per level to 4 per level.
• Movement speed bonus from Rage reduced from 9/12/15/18% to 6/9/12/15%.
• Bonus health per hero kill reduced from 10/15/20/25 to 10.

Techies

• Proximity Mines damage reduced from 450/575/750 to 400/550/700.
• Edge damage reduced from 60% to 50%.
• Also, their minimum damage reduced from 240/345/450 to 200/225/350.
• Level 10 Talent: Proximity Mines cooldown reduction reduced from 3s to 2s.

Windranger

• Base agility increased from 17 to 20.
• Level 1 damage increased from 47–59 to 49–61.
• Focus Fire cooldown reduced from 70/50/30 to 50/40/30 seconds.
• Tailwind innate ability duration increased.

Wraith King

• Base attack time changed from 1.7 to 1.8.
• Intelligence gain reduced from 1.6 to 1.4.
• Bone Guard skeleton duration reduced from 46 to 40 seconds.
• Mortal Strike critical cooldown changed from 6/5.5/5/4.5 to 5 seconds.

Pro players’ opinions on the patch:

Streamer and former pro player Andrii Ghostik Kadyk highlighted an interesting buff to Mirana’s new ability, Celestial Quiver, which grants bonus magical damage to attacks, and also joked about the Wraith King nerf.

In the laning stage, the additional damage feels very impactful, and it’s a great buff. On top of that, the level 20 talent adds even more damage to this ability. I’m sure this is very strong for both support and core roles.

No one picked Wraith King in pro Dota before patch 7.41, and as soon as I made a guide on him — he got nerfed. The reduction of skeleton duration by 6 seconds is quite noticeable.

American esports player Paul Speeed Bocchicchio also shared his thoughts on the patch, highlighting Windranger’s buff and calling her one of the strongest heroes at the moment. At the same time, he did not like the noticeable nerf to Techies.

Windranger looks very threatening, as she received additional base damage and a reduced ultimate cooldown. This is exactly what she lacked in the early game, and now her win rate will definitely increase, and she will appear more often in drafts.

It is a pity that Techies was nerfed, with his Proximity Mines damage reduced, and now it will be harder to farm and secure solo kills. He is still decent, but I am no longer as confident in him.

Valve has released another “letter” patch without major reworks — the changes are minor and focused on balancing.

Among the heroes, Anti-Mage, Muerta, and Windranger received notable buffs, while Bloodseeker, Lifestealer, Techies, and Wraith King were significantly nerfed.

As for items, only Consecrated Wraps was affected: its magic resistance and movement speed bonus were reduced, and the duration of its barrier and speed boost was decreased from 7 to 5 seconds.

A detailed list of all hero changes can be found on the official website or in the Dota 2 client.

Earlier, CyberScore reported on the community’s reaction to the new 7.41 patch.