Yesterday Valve released the latest patch for Dota 2.
Patch 7.25 not only brings changes to heroes and items. Also the gold formula for kills and the modes All Pick and Captains Mode have been revised.
The 7.25 Gameplay Update has been released https://t.co/JheQ0k1NaY
— DOTA 2 (@DOTA2) March 17, 2020
New patch even without major
Normally there is only a big patch after a major, which remixes the metagame of Dota 2. After the Los Angeles Major had to be postponed due to the Corona Pandemic, Valve delivered the new patch yesterday.
Nerf for comeback gold
The biggest changes are undoubtedly the adjustments to the gold formula and the game modes. Before that, Dota 2 had the “comeback” gold factor. If your own team was far behind, even for single kills on enemy supports you got a high reward for all allies around you.
Now developer Icefrog has removed and simplified the formula. The bounty for a kill is now only calculated from the personal Networth and the Killstreak of the opponent. Rewards for kills should now be more comprehensible and more tied to the hero who was taken out of the game, instead of punishing the team in the lead more severely for mistakes.
Adjustments for All Pick and Captains Mode
All Pick is by far the most popular mode in Dota 2 and the changes there are immediately noticeable. Instead of selecting heroes in a fixed order, All Pick now features five rounds of “blind” picks. In each round the teams choose one hero each without seeing which choice is made by the opponent. If both sides choose the same hero, the one who picks second gets some bonus time to adjust his choice.
The Bans in All Pick have also been reworked. Instead of banishing half of the selected heroes as before, each ban now has a 50% chance of success.
The Captains Mode, which is important for the Esport scene, has also got a change. Although the total number of bans remains at six, the number per phase has changed from 3/2/1 to 4/1/1. This makes the first ban phase much stronger, but captains have less chance to thwart the opponent’s strategy later on.
Buffs and nerfs for heroes and items
Earth Spirit buffed in 7.25.
We see what you're doing there @IceFrog but @iamJERAX announced he retired 🙁#DreamOG
— OG (@OGesports) March 17, 2020
In addition to the two major changes, as with every patch, there were a number of changes to the items and heroes in the game. In terms of items, Nerfhammer hit Buckler, Headdress, Crystalys and Force Staff in particular, while Batrider was hit particularly hard with the Heroes.
On the other hand, fans of Night Stalker, Earth Spirit and Ursa can be happy about buffs. Two new Aghanim’s Scepter upgrades for the relatively new heroes Snapfire and Void Spirit have also been added. Especially Snapfire’s Aghanim’s Scepter has opened many creative new possibilities:
The full patchnotes can be found on the official site here:
Patch 7.25 Patch Notes
In two days the charity tournament of WePlay! against Corona will start where we can already see the new patch in action.
Have you already tested the new version? What did you like best so far? Tell us about the social media!
