Dota 2 updates soon with more changes than you can carry

I hope all you Dota fans out there appreciated that title pun. Been working on it for days!

Dota 2 updates frequently, but today will be one of the biggest updates to the game in a long time. The Warcraft III version of DOTA recently got update 6.75, which included a gigantic amount of changes to almost every single hero. The current metagame is being turned on its head!

It was a bit surprising, then, that Valve brought all of those changes and a not-yet-implemented hero (Magnus) into the Dota 2 client within a week. We knew it would come eventually, but I think most people would have understood if it wasn't in the next patch.

You can view all of the patch notes here, but to kill time until it launches on the main Dota 2 client, I'm going to provide my thoughts on some of my favorite changes.

Alchemist

• Acid Spray damage per second increased from 8/16/24/32 to 14/20/26/32
• Acid Spray manacost from 160 to 130/140/150/160
• Chemical Rage Base Attack Time decreased from 1.45/1.3/1.15 to 1.4/1.2/1.0
• Goblin's Greed counter duration increased from 20 to 25 seconds
• Goblin's Greed bonus gold scaling adjusted from 2/4/6/8 + 2 to 4/6/8/10 + 1/2/3/4
• Unstable Concoction max damage increased from 130/200/270/340 to 150/220/290/360
• Unstable Concoction no longer displays the countdown numbers to enemies
• Unstable Concoction always affects a 175 area around where it explodes

Alchemist has always been one of my favorite heroes, but these buffs are going to skyrocket his effectiveness. Goblin's Greed is now way better, allowing his Gold Per Minute and farming ability to get him his core items that much faster. Also, thank goodness that gigantic "STUN ME" number indicator is gone! 

Axe

• Berserker's Call bonus armor increased from 30 to 40
• Battle Hunger slow decreased from 10% to 8%
• Battle Hunger movement bonus increased from 4% to 8% per affected enemy
• Counter Helix damage increased from 100/130/160/190 to 100/135/170/205

These buffs make Axe so much better. I always thought he was a decent hero, but this will make him more survivable and better at locking down kills. Now maybe people will pick Axe for more reasons than to just show off their 900 Axe items.

Ancient Apparition

• Chilling Touch now deals its bonus damage and uses a charge when attacking creeps
• Chilling Touch AoE increased from 450 to 525
• Chilling Touch damage increased from 40/50/60/70 to 50/60/70/80
• Chilling Touch duration reduced from 40 to 30
• Ice Blast is no longer dispelled by the Fountain

Normally I would say that every skill is worth it in some capacity within Dota 2. But Chilling Touch was downright terrible. It got a decent buff, but I'm still not sure it will be taken over stats. 

Bane

• Fiend's Grip Aghanim's duration increased from 6 to 7
• Enfeeble damage reduction increased from 25/50/75/100 to 30/60/90/120
• Enfeeble can no longer be dispelled

Just what Bane needed: and Enfeeble buff. It was bad enough to lane against him with two disables at level 6, and now he can reduce someone's damage by a ton early game if he wants to! To be honest, I always forget to use Enfeeble when I play Bane, so hopefully this will help remind me.

Batrider

• Cast animation time decreased from 0.3 to 0.2
• Strength growth increased from 2.0 to 2.7
• Turn rate improved from 0.4 to 1.0
• Firefly duration increased from 15 to 18 seconds
• Firefly damage trail no longer instantly disappears when Batrider dies

Yes! Another one of my favorite underutilized heroes receives an amazing buff. Better turn rate and a better Firefly will make his escapes that much more perfect. A Strength increase is just icing on the cake at this point. Batrider solo mid is back and better than ever!

Clockwerk

• Strength growth increased from 2.4 to 2.7
• Battery Assault damage interval improved from 0.75 to 0.7
• Power Cogs damage and mana drain increased from 60/90/120/150 to 80/120/160/200
• Power Cogs duration increased from 3/4/5/6 to 5/6/7/8
• Fixed Power Cogs not triggering and burning mana/hp when someone Force Staffs over it

Finally, my favorite iniatiater gets the buff he needed: he's no longer countered by Force Staff alone. I'm still terrible with his hook and he falls off completely in the late game, but at least I won't be ridiculed anymore just for picking him (maybe).

Dark Seer

• Movement speed decreased from 305 to 300
• Vacuum cooldown increased from 16 to 19
• Vacuum cast range decreased from 550 to 500
• Vacuum AoE decreased from 275/375/475/575 to 250/350/450/550
• Vacuum can no longer pull invulnerable units

I'm no pro, but I do wonder if this will affect Dark Seer's position as a first ban/pick in the competitive scene. His Vacuum got a huge nerf, which in turn affects his combo synergy with Naga Siren. 

Doom Bringer

• Devour creep level restriction removed
• Devour cooldown from 60/55/50/45 to 70/60/50/40
• Devour gold from 40/60/80/100 to 25/50/75/100
• Devour manacost from 60 to 60/50/40/30
• Level Death bonus damage now deals 20% of Max HP instead of a fixed amount
• Level Death damage increased from 100/150/200/250 to 125/175/225/275
• Scorched Earth damage/heal increased from 12/16/20/24 to 12/18/24/30

It wasn't until recently that I began to fall in love with Doombringer. He's such a versatile character that I can play him as a powerful utility character and still be effective. Now, he doesn't even need a lane for early experience since his jungling power just went up. Should make for some easy level 1 and 2 ganks with jungle Ursa's cap or Troll Warlord's net.

Jakiro

• Facing direction now more accurately matches his turn rate (just a visual change)
• Liquid Fire AoE increased from 175 to 300
• Ice Path reworked

Ice Path:
After a short delay a thin path of ice is created in front of Jakiro for a short period, anyone that touches
the path gets frozen until the path disappears. Deals damage to anyone it affects.
==========
Creation Delay: 0.4
Path Duration: 1/1.4/1.8/2.2
Damage: 100
AOE: 150
Range: 1100
Manacost: 75
Cooldown: 12/11/10/9

I've only played Jakiro twice, and failed horribly each time. He's awkward to play as because of his deceiving turn speed and lackluster spells. They are obviously meant to be used in tandem, but it's very hard to do so. This new Ice Path should make him a much more viable pick, at least in public games.

Lycanthrope

• Summon Wolves manacost increased from 125 to 145
• Spirit Wolves HP decreased from 400/450/500/550 to 200/240/280/320
• Spirit Wolves now have 50% magic resistance
• Fixed Shapeshift speed buff remaining after dying with Aegis

Hah! Suck on those nerfs, Lycanthrope. Huge nerf to Spirit Wolves will hurt his jungling and early game a whole lot. Can't wait to witness his fall from grace, especially in pubs.

Necrolyte

• Death Pulse heal rescaled from 50/75/100/130 to 70/90/110/130
• Sadist reworked

Sadist:
=======
Necrolyte gains increased HP and Mana regeneration for each unit he kills.
Mana Regeneration: 2/4/6/10 per second
HP Regeneration: 1/2/3/4 per second
Duration: 6
Gives 10x the bonus for hero kills.
Note: Stacks with itself. Each stack operates independently.

I'm terrible as Necrolyte, but my friends are not. Hopefully this rework will make them even better with him.

Phantom Lancer

• Agility growth increased from 2.8 to 4.2
• Spirit Lance slow duration increased from 3 to 3.25 seconds

Agility growth increased to 4.2.............WHAAAAT?! That's absurd. I have a soft spot for PL because he was the first carry I did well with, so maybe I'll play him more often now that his stat gain is the absolute best. SUCK IT, PUGNA!

Shadow Fiend

• Necromastry hero kill soul increment increased from 6 to 12
• Presence of the Dark Lord armor reduction improved from 2/3/4/5 to 3/4/5/6
• Requiem of Souls has a new passive component that triggers upon death

Upon dying half of Shadow Fiend's souls (the amount lost on death) will be released as if you had cast
Requiem of Souls with those souls. This cast doesn't put the spell on cooldown and will trigger if it is on
cooldown. It is now a passive component of the ability.

And on this day I never ganked Shadow Fiend ever again.

Spirit Breaker

• Base strength increased by 6
• Damage increased by 9
• Charge of Darkness no longer gives a buff indicator
• Charge of Darkness speed increased from 425/500/575/650 to 600/650/700/750
• Empowering Haste no longer increases Spirit Breaker's damage
• Empowering Haste movement bonus aura rescaled from 6/8/10/12% to 6/10/14/18%
• Greater Bash now deals damage based on your movement speed (10/20/30/40% of speed)
• Greater Bash duration increased from 0.95/1.15/1.35/1.55 to 1/1.2/1.4/1.6
• Fixed Greater Bash not affecting magic immune units

Spirit Breaker was always a cool hero, and now he's actually useful! I expect a lot of SB picks in public games from now on. Can't wait to try out the new, better-charging SB!

Treant Protector

• Damage increased by 14
• Base attack time increased from 1.7 to 1.9
• Overgrowth no longer does damage
• Overgrowth duration from 3 to 3/3.75/4.5
• Overgrowth cooldown from 115/105/95 to 80
• Living Armor aura replaced with a new active ability

Living Armor:
==============
Target an allied unit or structure. Grants bonus regeneration and physical damage block.
Dispels when more than 6 damage instances are taken.
HP Regeneration: 4/6/8/10
Physical Damage Block: 20/40/60/80 (hero only)
Threshold: 6 damage instances
Duration: 20
Cooldown: 20
Manacost: 30/35/40/45
Cast Range: Global

This is my favorite hero change in the entire patch. I absolutely love Treant Protector (Bulbasaur, as I call him) and with his reworked Living Armor sounds like one of the best skills ever. I plan to go All Pick for the first time ever just to ensure I get Treant as much as I can.

Observer Wards

• Observer Wards gold cost decreased from 200 to 150

As a support player, this is my overall favorite change from the patch. I'm going to buy so many damn wards.

• Captain's Mode first ban phase now has 2 bans instead of 3
• Captain's Mode second ban phase now has 3 bans instead of 2

This is a really interesting change and should shake up the metagame like CRAZY. Two more heroes will make it through the first ban phase that couldn't before, which will make for some crazy teams and matches.

In other words, I CAN'T WAIT! What about you guys? What changes are you anticipating most?