I love playing Ogre Mage but look at his ultimate. It doesn’t work at all. IceFrog, fix it. It would be easier for me to win at the Fire Joker casino than to knock out a multicast from this buddy! Today we’re gonna talk about the upcoming Dota 2 patch.
Dota 2 is a state of constant churn, and yet, Patch 7.31 long eluded definition. Now, Valve has finally decided on a release date which quenched our appetite for news, but it also stoked our expectations from the new arrival. This is also going to be the first major change introduced in the game following Patch 7.30, released on August 18, 2021.
Since then, five small patches were released in the interim, offering small and welcome fixes to some minor issues, but nothing that would dramatically impact the gameplay, rearrange strategies or introduce any novelties. Valve is now planning to launch the new installment on February 23.
The patch is coming with an Aghanim’s Battle Level Bundle, which is already out of the sale and was used as a pre-patch event, offering 60 levels, 3 Continuum Collection Treasures, 3 Immortal Treasures, and 3 Ageless Heirloom Treasures.
What to Expect in Patch 7.31 of the Game?
Most of the changes that could be introduced in Patch 7.31 would have to be based on the current meta, which has relegated some heroes so far down that they have some very poor results overall. For one, Nature’s Prophet has been one of the worst Dota 2 heroes with a deplorable win rate.
He is followed by Doom, a once feared hero that is now only accounting for 44.33% win rate, not least because his health regeneration mechanic was stripped down from him back in 7.29, and the hero has just languished ever since. Jungle wards have already reached a peak point, and it’s likely to see some small tweaks to the way wards are used in Dota 2 moving into the next patch.
Ward gold is tempting right now because they offer bounties but reducing that amount a bit should make supports less keen on wasting wards trying to de-ward just for the sake of collecting the bounty. There are other ideas floated around out there as well. Some have urged the Rosha Pint to be moved again, and others said that the Outposts mechanic should get more attention.
What Are Heroes Strong in the Meta?
Presently, there are heroes in the current meta that are undeniably the strongest. There
As these are the last weeks of Patch 7.30, it’s important to make sure we understand the game better. For the most part, the heroes to be posting the most consistent win rate are Riki, Undying, Vengeful Spirit, Naga Siren, and Bristleback, to name a few. Their consistently good results have established them as great meta picks to have on your team, even if you do not fully appreciate or understand them.
For the most part, they are also some of the easiest ones to play, although Riki and Naga Siren do require a fair pace of farming which not all players are capable of maintaining. The Smoke Screen has become an important aspect of Riki’s early game, allowing him to farm almost unperturbed in his lane, and Naga’s illusions are still as potent as always. We expect to see tweaks here.
Time to Get Weak Heroes Some Nerfs
Valve has been known to cross some boundaries on occasion. Patch 7.30 made some heroes quite strong, but it took away from others. In other words, there have been some heroes that were punished a little too harshly in the previous expansion last year. Those were Clinkz (although we are not sorry, he got gutted), Leshrac, and Axe.
To be fair, Axe is an old favorite of ours and the community. It has been one of the easiest heroes to teach anyone the game because of its high farming potential, strong regeneration, and core mechanic that predicated his playstyle on survivability and endurance, paired with strong health regeneration.
Are they the weakest characters? Not by far, given how bad Doom and Nature’s Prophet have fared, but gamers expect Valve to at least discuss if the company’s developers should revert some of the changes or perhaps come up with some new mechanic.
There has been no momentum of the game lost despite the buffs and nerfs, but the truth is that many people had to quickly figure out how to play when Patch 7.30 was dropped during last year’s Dota Pro Circuit.
The same is pretty much going to apply right now, although most events will have wrapped up when the release hits, giving teams and professional players sufficient time to adequately study, assimilate and understand the patch to the point where they can muster up the next wave of meta strategies.
Beyond the Summit Already Planning a Tournament
Meanwhile, Beyond the Summit is already planning the first tournament to be played on Patch 7.31. The event will feature a massive $100,000 million prize pool and be definitely worth attending, with Season 10 just around the corner.
What’s interesting here is that the tournament will be played on Patch 7.30 for most of the time, but the days from February 23 through February 28 will naturally be played on the new patch. This means that those teams that are able to think quickly on their feet will most likely make the most out of the last days of the competition.
