Dota 2 7.33 has completely rewritten the game with the addition of several new mechanics, but these hero buffs will steal the show right out of the gate.
For Dota 2 fans, big patch days are better than Christmas, and Valve has given out plenty of presents. The new reworks give creative players a great opportunity to flex their mental muscles and devise new strategies. However, a small handful of heroes stand out for getting particularly impactful buffs or reworks in Dota 2 7.33. After some testing, here are two heroes for every role that you should have an eye on coming into the new meta.
Warlock has a niche as a great babysitter that could also win a team fight, but Valve is leaning even harder into the new Upheaval max build with a Shard rework. His shard now spawns imps that attack enemy heroes and explode on death for a sizable chunk of damage. Combined with the Upheaval attack speed talent at level 15, Warlock can effectively push towers without expending his ultimate. That’s his only major buff, but it’s not like he was weak in the first place.
Bane may seem like he significantly nerfed at first glance, but in reality, the Enfeeble rework has completely changed his function. It now deals pure damage over time with a maximum value of 270. A nine-second duration makes him the perfect anti-carry support, as it still applies reduced attack range and damage, with the latter number being buffed up to 70%. Fiend’s Grip still fully pierces all forms of magic immunity, and Bane being changed to a universal hero massively expands his potential item pool.
Venomancer has now truly embraced his role as a kamikaze warrior. Noxious Plague is a little underwhelming on paper, but a 50% slow that transfers to other players makes it a top-tier wombo combo ultimate. Posion Nova is still there with exactly the same stats, but it’s now locked behind Aghanim’s Scepter and is automatically cast on death. A Blink Dagger and Scepter aren’t easy to farm, but those new jungle camps will make it possible without stepping on your cores’ toes. Plague Wards also make it possible to solo Tormentors as soon as they spawn with a little preparation.
Riki was already a meta terror last patch, and while the loss of Sleep Dart hurts him, he also now has exclusive access to a brand new mechanic. Shard now makes it so that Smoke Screen prevents allied heroes from targeting their teammates in the cloud. That means no Glimmer Cape, Force Staff, Lotus Orb, or anything of the sort. It also applies seven armor reduction, because why not. Extra experience from Tricks of the Trade will make him a ganking machine, finally making Riki a true counterpart to Bounty Hunter.
Legion Commander already had a decent spot in the meta for patch 7.32, but her buffs and reworks in 7.33 will make her even more of a threat. She now automatically casts Overwhelming Odds with no mana cost at the start of Duel, which makes her less mana-reliant while also making her combo easier to execute. Moving movement speed to Against The Odds also makes it an even more powerful defensive tool. One less button to press will make her much more consistent in high-stress team fights, likely leading to an increased win rate.
Her rival may be Magnus, who greatly benefits from the universal state change in multiple ways. His base damage growth is now much higher, which is further multiplied by Empower. The mana cost for both Shockwave and Empower are also lower, and his inherent mobility will make him great for contesting lotus pools, watchers, and more. The cherry on top is the return of Horn Toss’ stun. If it was good enough to win The International 10, it’s definitely good enough to win you some MMR.
Valve has been subtly encouraging players to play Puck as a right-click damage dealer, but its buffs in 7.33 may finally be the shove mid players needed. A .3 intelligence gain buff isn’t much, but Shard now makes all of Puck’s attack deal 20 extra magical damage. That matters a lot with their new Aghanim’s Scepter, which brings back the right-click fountain for Dream Coil. That’s a ton of damage from the spell, which can be made even more impactful with certain talent. All of that comes on top of a small mana cost reduction for Illusory Orb, which will matter quite a bit in the laning stage.
Lone Druid is flying under the radar, but his small handful of Dota 2 7.33 buffs could completely rework how the hero is played. By switching him to universal instead of agility, Lone Druid now benefits from a ton of items that were risky purchases for him before. Items like Heart of Tarrasque, Scythe of Vyse, and sword combos are now very viable on the hero himself. Eye of Skadi, for example, now grants him 40 damage on top of all the passive benefits. “Bearless Druid” may take over the meta due to the stat changes.
Terrorblade has an absolutely abysmal win rate in 7.32, and Valve is making it up to his fans with these new buffs. Reflection was already one of the best anti-carry spells in the game, but it’s now even better with a 30 attack speed slow at level four. That will make it even better against Radiance carriers, but his Aghanim’s Shard change is icing on the cake. Demon Zeal now grants even more movement and attack speed than Metamorphosis. Terrorblade is also one of the few carries able to take full advantage of the 12 new jungle camps on the map, so both personal and system changes are on his side.
Lastly, godspeed to all the Troll Warlord players out there. The hero has been finetuned around Battle Trance being one of the worst ultimates in the game, but Valve has finally given up on making his players give up. He can now finally activate items freely during Battle Trance, meaning that Black King Bar, Abyssal Blade, and Satanic will all work as their purchaser intends. The debuff immunity rework doesn’t do him any favors, but he keeps all his other apology buffs along with this purely positive change to his ultimate.
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