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Dota 2 has been in active development for nearly a decade. This is called "active development" because the game still gets significant changes through the major patches. In the last few years, major patches (7.00, 7.20, 7.23, 7.28) have added radically new things to Dota 2 to shake things up.
The result has been a rapid ramp-up for all heroes across the board. By definition, "powercreep" implies the addition of new content that renders old content obsolete in terms of power level. This is not the exact case with Dota 2, as the game has also had its fair share of feature removals throughout its run. For a time, heroes used to get extra bonuses from their base attributes. For example, agility heroes used to get bonus 0.05% movement speed per point of agility, strength heroes had per-point status resistance on a similar note, and intelligence heroes had extra spell amp from additional points in intelligence. All of this was removed by patch 7.26. But looking at the general state of the game, the additions have far outpaced such power-curtailing feature removals.
Who would win 1v1: A modern Dota 2 hero or their pre-7.00 counterpart?
Technically, the answer would depend on the hero itself, since many have undergone major reforms compared to when they were introduced. Barring that, in general, the answer should be a resounding yes. For example, in the current era of Dota 2, all melee heroes are faster and innately tankier than the 6.85 era as they now have in-built stout shields.
In addition, the patches since 7.00 have greatly expanded on the additional resources heroes can draw from. Compared to pre-7.00, heroes currently have a separate slot for teleportation scrolls, three backpack inventory slots, consumable Aghanim's Scepter upgrade, separate Aghanim's shard upgrade, free neutral items as well as an additional dedicated item slot for it, and finally, the talent tree. It is therefore a foregone conclusion that the general power ceiling in Dota 2 has increased by a great degree.
Is powercreep bad for Dota?
Powercreep in and of itself is not a bad thing in any video game. In a MOBA like Dota 2, the way it plays out is additional layers of complexity and strategies through power upgrades. The steeper power curve also results in the need for new antidotes, such as Aeon Disk, which then becomes a major point in game balance. But more importantly, this is also what enables Dota 2 to approach its core philosophy of flexibility in hero roles. Powercreep comes at a cost, but the degree of freedom of choice it gives heroes and players is what makes it work.
