The Best Safelane Heroes in Patch 7.36a

When a new patch update drops in Dota 2, what's relevant in the previous meta becomes a thing of the past. As a result, players have to learn and adapt quickly to the changes made in-game. Valve introduced two new in-game concepts in the most recent update, Patch 7.36 - Hero Facits and Innate Abilities. These concepts completely changed Dota 2.

All Facets are equal, but some Facets are more equal than others. (Credits: Valve)

Players struggle against certain heroes due to their overpowered facets. Therefore, Valve recently released a follow-up update, Patch 7.36a, to address these issues. Nevertheless, some of these heroes still dominate the pubs. Thus, in this article, let's explore our safelane heroes for patch 7.36a.

Wraith King

Wraith King is the simplest hero in Dota 2. The hero has a stun and can die twice. Occasionally, Team Falcons picked it during official matches. Despite this, the hero is often undervalued.

If you go for the king, you best not miss. (Credits: Valve)

In Patch 7.36, both Wraith King's Facits are reliable, and the same can be said for the current patch. The majority of players often go with his new ability, Spectral Blade. Allow me to break it down for you.

Spectral Blade enables the unit WK attacks to take damage after a particular time. The unit suffered damage based on the level of ability and 50% of the WK's physical damage. During the laning stage, this facet goes hand-in-hand with his Innate ability, Vampiric Spirit, allowing WK to lifesteal from the units he attacks.

Ever wonder how many skeletons it takes to carry that throne? (Credits: Valve)

His items are pretty straightforward forward, too. Players can start the laning stage with a Magic Wand and Phase boots. After those, players can often pick up Armlet of Mordiggian to join fights whilst farming for their Radiance. After Radiance, Blink Dagger, or Black King Bar are solid choices for WK.

Blink allows WK to initiate fights, and BKB makes the hero immune to spells for a particular duration during a skirmish. After those items, an Assault Cuirass is often a good choice because it allows WK to be a tanky frontliner and gives him bonus attack damage.

WK has one of the highest win rates among safelane heroes in patch 7.36a. In high-level pubs, the hero has a 51.75% win rate.

Juggernaut

It's been some time since we've seen the masked swordsman in our pubs and official matches. Thanks to his Innate ability, Juggernaut was the most overpowered safelaner of Patch 7.36, and he is still a viable option in Patch 7.36a.

Balance Of The Bladekeeper is the first coolest skin for Juggernaut. (Credits: Valve)

Jugg's Innate ability, Duelist, allows him to deal 10% more damage to the enemies facing him. Due to this, it would be harder to trade against in the lanes. In addition, this ability always applies when Jugg uses his ultimate ability, Omnislash, which makes his ulti better. That's not all; remember when you could stun him during his Blade Fury, and the effect would come in after the end of his spin?

I hate to break the bad news, but that will never happen now. Jugg now gets strong dispell after the end of his spin, which means all those stuns, hexes, and silences you applied to him during the spin won't bother him after he finishes his spinning. Moreover, his facit ability, Bladestorm, allows him to crit while spinning. So yeah, good luck dealing with him now.

If you see this guy running to you in pubs, just accept your fate. It's much easier. (Credits: Valve)

Item-wise, Jugg has not changed so much, either. During the laning stage, you can get the traditional starting items, Magic Wand, Power Treads, and if you need some armour, get Wraith Band. For farming faster, you can get Maelstrom ( which can be upgraded into Mjollnir later) or Battlefury. Then, depending on the match, if you need some dispells, get Manta Style, or if you want to initiate, get Sange and Yasha. After that, if you want to get into the back lines, Aghanim Scepter and Blink Dagger are solid choices. Butterfly and Eye of Skadi are exceptional choices on Jugg if you want to play the hero at the frontline in a skirmish.

The hero has a 49.51% win rate in high-level pubs, with a pick rate of 18.14%. Juggernaut has been gaining popularity among the safelane heroes with the release of Patch 7.36, and it could only continue in the coming days.

Chaos Knight

If playing the masked swordsman is not your style and you prefer playing more of an illusion-based hero, we got you. Look no further than Chaos Knight. The hero has been making his return to the professional scene in previous patches. However, in patch 7.36a, Choas Knight could be one of the strongest safelane heroes.

PL 2.0, coming to a pub near you. (Credits: Valve)

Thanks to the addition of Innate abilities, Reins of Chaos, the hero has a 50% chance to create an extra illusion hero. An extra-illusion hero might not be that great. However, there's a catch: with his new facit ability, Phantasmagoria, Chaos Knight can create strong illusions. Strong illusions won't instantly vanish when you Mana Drain or Hex them.

So, if you use your ultimate ability, the illusion CK spawn will be strong illus. The facet ability also applies to illusion runes and Manta-style illusions. That's not all; if these illusions are close to CK, they receive 20% less damage due to the facet ability. So well, it's safe to say you will see a lot of CK with Aghs running around in your pubs.

An entire family of Cks. (Credits: Valve)

CK's itemisation as a safelaner is simple. For starting items, it's usually what most safelaners built - Power Treads and Magic Wand. Then, the Armlet of Mordiggian. After Armlet, items like Manta Style and Aghanim Scepter are viable choices. However, after getting those items, CK will face some Mana issues. Thus, items like Eye of Skadi or Bloodthorn are solid choices. From there, CK can get items based on the game's scenario.

Skull Basher is a good fit if CK wants more lockdown prowess, as it can build up into Abysall Blade. Assault Cuirass and Heart of Tarrasque are solid choices for CK to act as frontline. These items can buff up his illusions. However, be warned though- this illusion strategy might be good, but it could blow up in your face if you meet an Axe or an Earthshaker. In high-level pubs, CK has a 52.60% win rate.

The victory of a match often relies on the safelane. It requires heroes that can come online as soon as possible, and at Patch 7.36a, these aforementioned safelane heroes have been dominating matches. Thus, if you want to grind your MMR to take your rank to the next level, the heroes mentioned above are the safest bet in this meta.

Featured Image Source: Valve

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