Dota 2 Patch 7.34 is here

Dota 2

9 Aug

Harrison Htet

The much-anticipated Patch 7.34 is here. Valve delivers its promise of dropping the new patch before the start of the TI qualifiers. Interestingly, like Patch 7.33, Valve teased the update yesterday. Unlike Patch 7.33, Patch 7.34 only focuses on heroes and gameplay rework. A couple of old abilities got brought back to the game.

Some heroes received an overall rework as well. In the new patch, killing Roshan will no longer grant any Watchers on the map. Moreover, the rumours about players receiving a four-hour ban, along with one low-priority match, if they destroy their items in the match are yet to be proven.

The New Drafting Stage

Valve reworked the drafting stage for the captain’s mode in Patch 7.34. The rework could have a crucial impact on the official matches. The old captain’s mode draft order was in the form of 2-3-2 Bans and 2-2-1 picks. In the old draft order, each team bans two heroes first before picking their heroes. Three heroes get banned again before each team picks two more heroes. After the pick, each side bans two more heroes before drafting their final hero.

The new draft, choosing the first pick and the second pick option, will play a role in the drafting stage. Teams that choose the first pick will receive the 3-2-2 Bans. The side which chooses the second pick will get the 4-1-2 Ban option. Both sides will have a 1-3-1 pick option. The 3-2-2 Ban option means the team will first ban three heroes before picking their first hero. After drafting their hero, they will ban two more heroes before choosing another three heroes. Then in the final stage, they will ban two more heroes before choosing the remaining hero.

The 4-1-2 Ban option means the team will first ban four heroes before picking their first hero. The team will ban one hero before choosing another three heroes. Lastly, the team will ban two more heroes before rounding their draft with one final hero.

The rework drafting stage allows teams with high versatile pool to manoeuvre swiftly. However, as for teams abusing meta picks and a limited hero pool, they will have to deal with more initial bans coming their way.

The Reworks

Invoker

Invoker is the hero that has recently been slowly vanishing from the official plays. In the new patch, Valve finally decided to give some buffs to the hero to make him viable again. Invoker is now a Universal Hero. His Quas now has a Spell Lifesteal, but his Wex no longer grants bonus attack speed. His Exort no longers grant bonus attack damage, but it now gives spell amplification.

Morphling

Morphling gets contested the most in official matches and pubs. Morphling, with his Aghanim Scepter, is the most overpowered hero in Dota despite getting nerfs. In the new patch, Valve completely put an end to this. They brought back Morphling's old ultimate ability as the Aghnamin Scepter update to end his reign of stealing attributes.

BristleBack

BristleBack’s Aghanim Scepter received a rework. It now upgrades his third ability, Bristleback, making him rotate toward the targeted direction, forcefully ejecting Quill Spray in a pattern. This ability could make heroes more effective in team fights, either when initiating or retreating from team fights.