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The previous Dota 2 patch 7.24 was quite a significant change to the game. It made balancing changes but also made some heroes and items overused and overpowered. The game developers introduced Patch 7.24b to further balance the inequalities in the previous patch and stabilize the game.
The 7.24b patch was IceFrog’s nerf hammer on selected items and heroes. Items nerfed include Bracer, Desolator, Diffusal Blade and Maelstrom/ Mjollnir. These items were very persistent and common in most games of the few previous patches. Nerfs to bracer will affect heroes doubling on it in the offlane. The nerfs to Maelstrom/ Mjollnir and recent buffs to item Battle Fury will sway players towards using the latter.
The most nerfed heroes include Slardar, Lifestealer, Snapfire, and Tiny. The previous patches saw an increased pick-rate of these overpowered heroes. The heroes were very obnoxious to deal with. Slardar was on top of the win-rate chart and was crushing against most safe-lane matchups.
The nerf to his abilities Bash of Deep, Guardian Sprint and Corrosive Haze will certainly reduce his win-rate and presence in the game. Lifestealer was great against most offlane heroes and had an above average win-rate. However, the hero's base attack speed is reduced by 10 and base damage is reduced by three making him a less viable option. Both Snapfire and Tiny are excellent support and core options, given their versatility in skill and item builds. However, the nerfs to Tiny’s toss ability make him harder to play as a roamer and reduced armor from his ultimate make him a bad option as a core. Similarly, a nerf to Snapfire’s ultimate and Firesnap cookie ability makes her less effective in all stages of the game.
Also Read: Dota 2: Valve introduces Regional Leagues to replace Minors
