The Biggest Losers Of Dota 2 Patch 7.39d

7 Aug

Otomo

Dota 2 patch 7.39d is here and the effects of the update are being felt already. Some heroes received a fresh coat of paint, while former staples emerged as the biggest losers of the patch.

In this article we will look at which heroes suffered the most, along with whether or not they remain viable in pubs.

The Biggest Losers Of Dota 2 Patch 7.39d

Axe

Blink, use Blade Mail, then pray. A lot. (Credit: Valve)

Berzerker's Call: Mana Cost increased from 80/90/100/110 to 90/100/110/120
Culling Blade: Kill Armor Bonus decreased from 20/25/30 to 10/15/20

Axe took two direct hits this patch. Berzerker's Call now further strains his already limited mana pool (1.6 int gain anyone?). While Culling Blade's bonus armor is half as effective at level 1.

Often times, Axe dives in, and if he can get a dunk off, then the enemy's physical damage is no threat to him. But 10 armor, while nice, isn't nearly enough to sustain early on. Hell, the spell now maxes out at what it used to provide at level 6!

Besides direct nerfs, Axe's favorite item also got hit. Blade Mail reflects significantly less damage, especially without being active. All in all, it's a 2% win rate dip.

Axe remains a viable pick in pubs though. He is great at snowballing and has one of the best crowd control abilities in the game. He's just slightly less obnoxious to deal with now.

Shadow Fiend

But I only lost 1 armor! — Credit: Valve

Base Armor decreased by 1
Presence of the Dark Lord: Armor Reduction decreased from 4/5/6/7 to 3/4/5/6

Fragile heroes with no escape mechanisms are hit the hardest by any nerf that affects their survivability. And Shadow Fiend is no exception to that rule. One armor isn't a lot, but it's 6% more physical damage through the entire game.

Besides losing some durability, Shadow Fiend is also one level behind with his aura now. You can't exactly shrug off losing 3 armor, but at least it's not a Chainmail loss now.

All in all, Shadow Fiend is one of the biggest losers in Dota 2 patch 7.39d. We only recommend picking him for specialists now, as a 48% win rate will hurt your MMR grind.

Nature's Prophet

Pick me! Oh please pick me! (Credit: Valve).

Agility gain decreased from 3.2 to 3.0
Soothing Saplings:Heal per second decreased from 14/26/38/50 to 10/15/20/25
Sprout: Damage decreased from 70/135/200/265 to 70/130/190/250

Ouch, Nature's Prophet took several hits in the latest update. While two of them aren't a big deal, losing half his heal value from Soothing Saplings is pretty painful.

0.2 agility gain is...there, we suppose. It makes the hero hit slightly slower and weaker, while being a tiny bit less durable. It's mostly a negligible nerf in our eyes. The same can be said of Sprout's damage. Losing 15 at max level is annoying, but little more than a slap on the wrist.

Still, you add two small nerfs and put a decent sized hit on top of it and Nature's Prophet lost 3% win rate in Dota 2 patch 7.39d. It is not small hit to the hero power level.

But we believe in the right hands, having a global ganking machine that can split push without risk is still viable, and well worth mastering if you can.

Featured Image Source: Valve