Bloodseeker and Clinkz get huge reworks in Dota 2 patch 7.27b

Dota 2 update 7.27b was always meant to be a big update, and Valve did not disappoint.

Following the sweeping changes to items, the economy, and the jungle in version 7.27, version 7.27b changed the vast majority of heroes in the game and gave reworks to three different heroes. It also changed a number of different items, particularly regarding the ability to disassemble them.

The biggest change to a hero was made to Bloodseeker, which saw his Bloodrage skill heavily altered. 

Instead of being a buff-debuff that lowers defenses while raising damage output and gaining heals on kills, Bloodrage instead saps up to 24% of the unit’s health while offering increased attack speed and spell damage. The ability can also now be cast without interrupting movement. The ability to restore health by killing units has now been moved to the Thirst passive ability, which no longer grants attack speed but still offers the increased movement speed and true sight.

This makes Bloodseeker a completely different hero, turning him into a high-risk, high-reward rushdown threat rather than an early game physical nuker.

Clinkz also underwent a significant overhaul, though it’s one most fans should already feel comfortable with. Death Pact was moved to being Clinkz’s ultimate ability and no longer gives a permanent damage boost from kills. The Burning Army ability is being removed entirely and is now replaced with Strafe, a spell that provides a temporary boost to attack speed.

If this sounds familiar, it should. This effectively turns back the clock for Clinkz by bringing back his kit from 2017, with one key difference. Alongside the attack speed boost, Strafe also grants 100% evasion against ranged attacks. This should make him a unique counterpick option to ranged cores and an utter nightmare for ranged supports.

Finally, Sand King’s Caustic Finale also received a major rework. Instead of dealing guaranteed damage at the end of its slow effect, a unit killed during its effect deals AOE magical damage that increases with the victim’s max health. This gives Sand King a scaling option that he hasn’t ever had before, though it’s uncertain if this will ultimately be a net gain for the hero.

Razor gets huge buffs in Dota 2 update 7.27b

Alongside these larger reworks were the normal roundups of changes to heroes, though few received harsh nerfs.

Some of the heroes that were hit hard by the end of the Zoo Meta were given buffs after experiencing precipitous drops in their winrate. Broodmother’s stat gain was increased and her Incapacitating bite was improved. Visage’s Soul Assumption mana cost was reduced at lower levels and his projectile speed was increased. Beastmaster received a mix of buffs and nerfs, primarily designed to strengthen Wild Axes while weakening Call of the Wild summons.

Players with strong micro skills will likely rejoice over this, but the biggest buff went to Razor. The hero received buffs to his stat gain and huge improvements to almost all of his spells. The biggest change came to Static Link, which no longer disarms the hero and now has an effect that allows Razor to attack a unit while linked without interrupting movement.

Though many heroes received smaller nerfs, Pudge was hit with a significant reduction to his strength gain. Offsetting this to some degree is a buff to Flesh Heap, but the net effect is still negative unless the Pudge snowballs out of control.

Echo Sabre changes in Dota 2 update 7.27b could yield new item builds

One of the more interesting changes in the 7.27b patch came to disassembling items.

Abyssal Blade, Mjollnir, Silver Edge, and Solar Crest can no longer be disassembled. This likely isn’t a big deal for most players, as most of these items are late game options that typically kept together once purchased.

A new item that can be disassembled is Echo Sabre. The item can be reverted back into being an Ogre Club and Oblivion Staff, opening the door for it to be built up, deconstructed, and repurposed into items such as Bloodthorne and Aghanim’s Scepter. This could make for interesting builds on a number of different heroes including Broodmother, Bounty Hunter, and Slark.

This is just the tip of the ice berg, so make sure to check the full patch notes on the official Dota 2 blog.