Nerfs to Winter Wyvern, Disruptor in Aghanim's Labyrinth anger fans
In an unsurprising turn of events, Dota 2 fans are mad about something in The International 10 Battle Pass.
This time, the controversy surrounds the limited-time game mode Aghanim’s Labyrinth. While the game is intensely difficult to clear even in low-level play, Valve saw fit to make things even harder by nerfing several of the heroes in the game.
The update changes a number of facets to each of the heroes that are included in Aghanim’s Labyrinth including their modified abilities as well as the randomized perks that are presented to players between rounds.
Tanky heroes Omniknight and Mars both received hard nerfs, with Guardian Angel's effects being shortened and hit with an increased mana cost, while Arena of Blood’s offensive potency was severely lessened. Disruptor fared no better, with Kinetic Field being weakened on multiple fronts. Winter Wyvern’s offensive potency was also seriously rolled back, shoving her back in the direction of being a support character instead of a major DPS threat.
Much worse was the sheer number of go-to items that were either nerfed or had their prices raised. Heart of Tarrasque was nerfed and had its price upped by 750 gold. It can also only be purchased four times, preventing players from stacking the item to become sufficiently tanky. Bloodthorne was hit even harder, with its active ability cooldown being doubled and its recipe cost being increased by 1,000 gold.
Further reading:
- Here's how to get the most out of Sideshop
- TI10 Battle Pass end date revealed
- Anti-Mage Hero Persona underwhelms many fans
Fans liked Aghanim’s Labyrinth, but that may change
The fan response to Aghanim’s Labyrinth was positive when the game mode first dropped. While the TI9 Battle Pass underwhelmed fans with its special game mode, this year’s roguelike dungeon crawler had fans excited and ready to play.
But fans have been consistently frustrated with the TI10 Battle Pass since it launched. Complaints that Valve was forcing players to spend more money than in previous years in order to unlock the numerous high-quality skins arose quickly. Valve has made moves to address those gripes, but this has done little to quell the frustration.
The changes to Aghanim’s Labyrinth tap into that sentiment once again. Fans feel like Valve is attempting to wring more money out of players by making it even more difficult to earn levels through the game mode. Either that, or Valve is attempting to combat some of what it sees as exploitable elements in the game mode ahead of the launch of the mode's ranked version.
The net effect is still that casual fans are being pushed into either spending more money or missing out on items like the Anti-Mage hero persona and Skeleton King arcana.
Broodmother reworked, Necronomicon removed in 7.29 update
TI10 final prize pool clears $40 million minutes before closing
Valve cancels TI10 Battle Pass Trove Carafe 2020
Fans are ready for the TI10 Battle Pass special summer event
Dota 2 update 7.26a just ruined Phoenix, changed all boots
RodjER splits from HellRaisers ahead of Omega League qualifiers
C9's Blaber says EG still not a threat after losing to them
Cloud9 vs. Evil Geniuses: 2020 LCS Summer betting analysis
Bloodseeker gets huge buffs after 7.27 rework drops win rate by 20%
LoL, Fortnite, Valorant briefly shut down by Cloudflare outage
Hashinshin responds to accusations of grooming a minor
Cloud9 continues building Valorant roster by signing mitch
MAD Lions vs. G2 Esports: 2020 LEC Summer Split betting analysis
How did Amouranth become such a popular streamer on Twitch?
Nexus Blitz returns to League, new tooltip plans explained
Twitch requires US Army to remove fake sweepstakes promotions
These are the best moments from Arteezy's wild Twitch streams
Activision Blizzard talking with OWL, CDL teams about financial relief
Summer Splash hits Fortnite with fresh skins and LTMs