Biggest Winners Of Dota 2 Patch 7.40

Biggest Winners Of Dota 2 Patch 7.40

Otomo

17 Dec, 2025, 10:54

|

Last updated: 17 Dec, 2025, 10:54

Dota 2 Patch 7.40 is here and the game's landscape has turned on it's head once again. Meta heroes got nerfed, forgotten heroes received buffs, and everyone is trying to figure out how to play Largo.

There is a lot to digest in every patch. One of the most important questions is always "well, who is stronger now?".

In this article we list down the five biggest winners of Dota 2 patch 7.40 and why they are shooting to the top of the meta right now.


Five Biggest Winners Of Dota 2 Patch 7.40

Bloodseeker

Bloodseeker winners patch 7.40
Two Ruptures is back baby!

Going from 48 to 52% win rate is an impressive jump for Bloodseeker, and he's only the fifth biggest winner this patch. The hero gained a pretty sizable buff to his strength at all stages of the game.

Sanguivore heals five additional health per kills. It's not much on paper but it adds up to a lot when you are trying to shrug off early lane harassment. It's a small number but considering that around eight creeps spawn a minute, that's 40 extra health if Bloodseeker gets them all.

The hero's Aghanim's Shard is a nice mid-game power spike now. An extra 2% pure damage per hit is a solid DPS increase that scales with enemy's health.

Lastly, the hero's Aghanim's Scepter is also a fantastic purchase. Instantly removing 13% of their health, along with giving Rupture two charges. This enables the hero to lock down two targets. Previously this was tied to the level 25 talent, but moving it to Scepter makes so much more sense.

Bloodseeker got a small buff to his laning stage, a bigger one to his Shard, and massive value to his Scepter. He is harder to bring down while dealing significantly more damage.

Elder Titan

Elder Titan The World Splitter
You like hurting people as a hard support? take Elder Titan. (Credit: Valve)

Elder Titan got some buffs to his talents which are nice. But the real change is how the hero is now uncontrollable as a core.

Once the hero buys Aghanim's Scepter, he is hard to pin down but players can disable him before he throws his spirit or before it returns. That's no longer an option.

Aghanim's Scepter now allows Elder Titan to return Astral Spirit while disables. This makes him magic immune but also dispells pesky stuns. Effectively you either control him before he throws our a spirit, or accept that he will be magic immune.

Core Titan is a bigger threat than ever. His 4.5% win rate increase proves that and makes him a legitimate pub stomper.

Drow Ranger

harnessing-drow-ranger-for-maximum-damage-in-dota-2
More mana, less problems! (Credit: Valve).

An extra 5% slow at level one Frost Arrows feels incredible. Not that 10% was bad, but on faster heroes it wasn't enough to allow Drow Ranger to keep landing hits. The buffed Frost Arrows help a lot, especially at lower levels.

The reduce AoE on Marksmanship is another solid upgrade. It allows the hero an extra hit with the passive active, and overall makes Drow a bigger pain to approach. It doesn't help against heroes with blink, but it's a boon against everyone else.

For a hero with 1.4 intelligence gain, reducing the cost of Frost Arrows is amazing, and the talent comes so early. It helps Drow Ranger manage her pitiful mana pool and use high impact items such as Hurricane Pike and Black King Bar.

Tidehunter 

Tidehunter's strength Aghanim's Shard gives him a new ability.
All that and a bonkers Shard on top!. (Credit: Valve).

Tidehunter received the second biggest increase to to his win rate in Dota 2patch 7.40. On paper, he only received two mild buffs. Gush and Anchor Smash both do 20 more damage at max level. That's nice, but there's gotta be more to it right?

The big buffs are in the hero's Talent tree. At level 10, Gush gets a bigger slow upgrade, while Anchor Smash can reduce physical damage by 60%. Combine that with Kraken Shell, this makes the hero practically immune to physical damage early on. This is particularly notable, as very few dispels exist to remove the Anchor debuff.

Enemies will have some way to remove the debuff when Tidehunter hits level 20. But that's when the next talent comes in. Blubber activates Anchor Smash. This not only reduces the damage the hero takes while attacked, it also allows him to output some pain to his attackers. It's a massive powers pike that results in a near 65% win rate when picked.

With stronger nukes and a massively improved talent tree, Tidehunter is one of the biggest winners of Dota 2 patch 7.40.

Tiny

Tiny Dota 2 Patch 7.34e biggest winner
Tiny can now use more than one spell per fight, hooray! (Credit: Valve)

Tiny got a lot of love this patch. He is more viable as both a core and a support, though time will tell if we will see him in competitive play.

He gains one extra strength point every five levels. That's not a huge buff but it is a welcome bit of damage and survivability for the hero. This also places Tiny as the second highest strength gain hero in the game, after Primal Beast.

Tiny's stun got a nice change. It is now an area aura, which isn't reduced by status resistance. This makes it significantly better against Sange and Yasha users, AKA carries.

Tree Throw and Grow are slightly weaker level one, but both quicky scale to be better versions of what the hero had before. More damage on Tree throw, and more movement speed from Grow.

None of the buffs by themselves are a big deal. But combined they make Tiny faster, hit harder, more durable, and with a better stun. With all the changes, it's no wonder Tiny is the biggest winner of Dota 2 patch 7.40.

READ MORE: Largo (The Frog Bard) is out!

Featured Image Source: Valve

 

Latest news

BLAST Slam VIII Will Bring Changes to the Series

BLAST Slam VIII Will Bring Changes to the Series

The BLAST Slam has established itself as one of the biggest tournaments in the Dota 2 professional circuit, and the eighth edition of the series will introduce several changes, including an expanded lineup and a new Group Stage format.
4 Jul
Eric Oliveira

Dota 2 Update: Fixing Dark Carnival

With the debut of a new event, Dota 2 also had a selection of bugs that needed fixing. If you have had any problems with Dark Carnival, take a look at what was fixed to check if you problem was solved.
2 Jul
Eric Oliveira

The International 2026: Regional Qualifier Results

After a long wait for the Open and Closed Regional Qualifiers to conclude, we finally know the nine teams that will join Valve’s direct invites at The International 2026.
28 Jun
Eric Oliveira

Esports Nations Cup 2026 Qualifiers Preview

The Esports Nations Cup 2026 Regional Qualifiers are about to start and we will take a look at the competition's format, schedule and participating countries fighting for a slot in the tournament that so far will still take place on November 2 in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia.
27 Jun
Eric Oliveira

Tundra Esports Founder: “Maintaining a top-tier Dota 2 roster has become increasingly expensive."

Tundra Esports founder Maxim Demin spoke to Esports Insider in an interview and shed some light on the reasoning behind selling his organization's former top-tier Dota 2 roster to 1Win Team.
27 Jun
Eric Oliveira

Dark Carnival: The Long Wait Is Over

The Dota 2 community waited for months for a new event and now everyone can dedicate their time to a new event called the Dark Carnival. The event continues the story that started 2 years ago on Ringmaster's official teaser.
26 Jun
Eric Oliveira

New Study Finds 400 Million Gen Z Consumers Regularly Engage With Esports

The numbers are in, and they're hard to argue with. A new whitepaper from ESL FACEIT Group (EFG), Hero Esports, and Niko Partners titled The Esports Generation: Who They Are & Why They Spend dropped today, and it paints a picture of an audience that is bigger, more engaged, and more commercially valuable than many brands still realize
25 Jun
Thales Costa

Comments (0)

Log in to comment on this match