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Dota 2 got 7.29b patch which refined some of the huge changes brought forth by the 7.29 patch. Patch 7.29 ushered in a lot of changes across all fronts of the game, as has been the tradition with all major patches in Dota 2.
There were updates of varying impact to the map, the items, the heroes, and general gameplay. Courtesy to those, the metagame got a much-needed shuffle, which on the one hand brought some previously untouched heroes to the fray, and on the other hand, culled the effectiveness of the most popular heroes of patch 7.28 onwards.
7.29b, as it can be perceived from the patch notes, attempts only to fine-tune the changes brought by its big brother, 7.29. It brought mostly small nerfs to the broken heroes of patch 7.29, and some small buffs to the losers, who were addressed to, probably too much of a nerf in 7.29.
Here is a rundown of the five most buffed heroes in patch 7.29 of Dota 2.
Biggest winners of patch 7.29b in Dota 2
Death Prophet
Death Prophet got mana cost reduction for her Crypt Swarm. On the fourth level, it’s 35 less mana to cast the spell which will let her use the spell four times with the mana that would be earlier sufficient to cast only three. This means she would be at much more ease using her Crypt Swarm to farm. She was already pretty good as a hero before the patch in Dota 2. This change might help her reach the flavor of the month territory.
Doom
The cooldown and duration of Doom’s Devour ability were reduced from 70 to 60 in patch 7.29b. Since the gold gain was buffed to 240 with max level Devour (it scales 60/120/180/240), the further cooldown reduction will most likely make Doom manage to get insane item timings.with the ramped-up gold. The straight-up damage increase on his ultimate, Doom, from 25/40/55 to 30/45/60 is just the cherry on top, that too a cherry made of pure damage. Doom is most likely on his way to becoming one of best offlaner picks after patch 7.29b.
Kunkka
In Dota 2, base stat buffs always hold palpable significance. Kunkka’s movement speed increased by 5 (from 300 to 305 now) and his base armor was increased by 1. This makes trading in lane much more Kunkka-favored.
The cooldown reduction on his X Marks the Spot at the early levels makes his kill threat much higher (Cooldown reduced from 38/30/22/14 to 24/20/16/12). And with the armlet and shadow blade buffs in patch 7.29, Kunkka might make his way back into being one of the most popular mid heroes.
Lina
Patch 7.29b increased Lina’s Fiery soul stack duration by 2 seconds. This, coupled with the Light Strike Array cooldown being the same, makes Lina’s damage output significantly higher as she can use her W only to get fiery soul stacks.
The radius increase for Light Strike Array by 25 units might seem inconsequential in Dota 2, but it would make landing her stun much easier. All of this, in conjunction, probably makes way for support Lina to come back into the meta of Dota 2, and with these buffs, she could be rather menacing to lane against.
Lycan
Since Necronomicon removal in patch 7.29 of Dota 2, Lycan’s pick rate reached abysmally low numbers, and it seemed nobody knew how to build the hero anymore. The 7.29b’s Lycan changes seem like Icefrog’s way of making the hero playable again in Dota 2.
Lycan received significant base stat boosts:
- Base armor increased by 1
- Agility gain increased from 1.4 to 1.7
- Intelligence gain increased from 1.4 to 1.7
Lycan’s summon wolves will now slow enemies as a part of their inflicted "Cripple" debuff. This will, to some extent, compensate for the Necronomicon archer’s purge that’s no longer in the game anymore.
Lycan’s talents were also buffed across the board:
- Level 15 Talent increased from +175 Summon Wolves Health to +200
- Level 15 Talent increased from 8% Cooldown Reduction to 12%
- Level 20 Talent increased from +25% Feral Impulse Damage to +30%
- Level 20 Talent increased from +5s Shapeshift Duration to +6s
This might make Lycan see the light of pub play. And it will be interesting to notice which new build becomes favorable for Lycan.
