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Dota 2 patch 7.37e obliterates Luna
Dota 2 patch 7.37e is here and it is another balance patch to tide players over until the next big update. While not every hero received a change, a few of them will have their place in the meta shift dramatically.
This letter patch likely means we won't get a big update until the end of Blast Slam starting November 26th, potentially till the start of next year.
Dota 2 patch 7.37e hits Luna the hardest
Let's start our discussion from the top. Khanda took a significant hit. The item does cost 100 less gold but at the cost of a 20% reduction in damage dealt from caster's attack damage.
This nerf hits Luna, Morphling, and Tiny significantly, but of the three, it will be Luna who has her place in the meta hurt the most.
On top of Khanda being weaker, the hero herself received direct nerfs, while the other two users did not.
Lunar Blessing provides 150 less night vision at the start, but scales better now to the same vision at max level. This makes early rotations and level one smokes harder to pull off with Luna.
The biggest nerf is losing the level 20 talent, a major power spike for the hero. Having two Moon Glaives allowed the hero to outright destroy enemies with just Lucent Beam. Thankfully that's gone now.
Luna will probably still see some action, but overall she won't be the carry queen anymore.
Medusa and Earth Spirit aren't looking so hot right now
Two other meta heroes are also looking quite shaky right now. Medusa and Earth Spirit may go the same way as Luna.
Medusa's Venomous Volley provided incredibly value when it activated. 35% movement slow with 80 attack speed slow made it great for trading and chasing. Now the facet scales from Split Shot and no longer has the same value early.
While that's a big nerf, I think the hit to Mana Shield is what hurts the most. Mana Shield now absorbs 0.2 less damage at all levels. Functionally, this means Medusa will always be two levels less durable this patch than before.
A big selling point of Medusa as a core is her durability and she is significantly less durable now.
The third biggest loser this patch is Earth Spirit. Less mobility at level 10 and a nerf to his farming capabilities means he is no longer a rock solid pick for the mid lane.
Magic Lina is back on the menu
It's not all doom and gloom in Dota 2 patch 7.37e. Some heroes got much needed love from IceFrog that may bring them back into the competitive scene.
Undying now deals damage with level one Decay, allowing him to kill low health heroes. No longer will heroes flee with one health from Undying (if he even gets picked).
Sven got a little bit more damage to stunned targets and a reasonable mana cost to his ultimate. Batrider's laning stage will go a lot smoother this patch.
The biggest winner is Lina, particularly the magic Lina build.
Fiery Souls deal 25 extra magic damage per charge, up from 20 with Aghanim's Shard. You can get instant max charge with Thermal Runaway facet. This leads to an extra 250-300 bonus magic damage on both Dragon Slave and Light Strike Array depending on Laguna Blade's level.
A level 10 Lina deals 1320 magic damage to a target with 25% magic resistance. This makes mid Lina a viable tempo pick for teams that wish to play fast and our pick for the biggest winner of the patch.
Overall, this is a solid update that nerfs the most egregious meta picks while shinning a spotlight (heh, Ringmaster) on long ignored heroes. We still hope to get a big patch by the end of the year, but at least the pro scene and pubs got a good shakeup for the next few weeks.
READ MORE: Dota 2 nominated Esports Game of the Year at Game Awards
Featured Image Source: Valve
