These are the best Dota 2 heroes to play during patch 7.23e

Dota 2 version 7.23 has radically changed the game experience by introducing new heroes, abilities, item drops, buildings, and juke spots. As with any new patch, the Outlanders Update also empowered certain heroes and shifted the meta in ways that made established heroes more potent.

Naturally, there are now several characters that stand above the rest and are the most valuable targets in drafts in both casual and professional play. Here are some of the most popular and powerful Dota 2 heroes as of the 7.23e update.

Vengeful Spirit

Vengeful Spirit was given a significant rework with the rollout of 7.23. Vengeance Aura provides up to 180 attack range and an additional 16 primary attributes to allied heroes rather than a boost to attack damage. When Vengeful Spirit is killed, her illusions cannot be instantly destroyed by spells. Despite various nerfs between the 7.23a and 7.23e updates, she has remained one of the most effective heroes in the game.

The hero has topped the win rate charts for several player tiers, particularly Archon, Ancient, Divine, and Immortal. She ranked second on the rest of the player ranks.

Vengeful Spirit’s potency as a support hero in the early and mid game, and ability to scale into a legitimate damage dealer later on, makes her a viable threat at all phases of the game. The fact that she gets some value out of almost every possible neutral item doesn’t hurt, either.

Underlord

Gone are the days where jungling players were frowned upon in the game. Now, the team who utilized the jungle and most effectively controls the map wins.  

7.23 has greatly increased the value of heroes that can efficiently clear out neutral camps. Underlord has long filled that niche with his Firestorm ability, but the perks of the Outlanders update don’t end there for him. Pit of Malice is incredibly powerful for fights around outposts and runes while Dark Rift remains one of the best disengagement tools in all of Dota 2.

Alongside Vengeful Spirit, Underlord has powerful at all levels of play. The tanky hero has abilities that can win games if executed properly and Atrophy Aura increases his scaling to an infinite level.

Pudge

Who doesn’t love Pudge? The hero has always been among the most popular in Dota 2 and that hasn’t changed with the 7.23 update, which has made roaming and trilanes a bit more popular than they previously were.

Pudge hasn’t been radically changed. The biggest change to Pudge since 7.23’s introduction has been a rework to his Aghanim’s Scepter ability. Pudge can now use Dismember on allies, swallowing them and healing them for 4% of their max health while inside him. The ability can be used for saving cores during team fights and also adds some Lifestealer-like initiation potential to the hero.

Snapfire

This new hero is currently stomping pub matches. 

Snapfire was actually quite weak when she was initially added to the game, which resulted in Valve giving the hero a considerable buff. After a spike in popularity and win rate Valve nerfed the hero, but not enough to knock her down the totem pole.

The badass grandma now tops the pick rate in Ancient to Immortal rank tiers with a 52.87% win rate. Her unique niche of starting as a magical burst damage threat and transforming into a huge physical damage nuker will likely hold up at the professional level as well.

Treant Protector

Treant Protector is one of the heroes that underwent major changes in 7.23. Living Armor, Nature’s Guise, and Leech Seed have all been reworked at least once this patch and another new ability has been added as well.

Nature’s Grasp creates a string of vines in front of Treant Protector that slows down enemies and deals damage over time. The Nature’s Guise passive was transformed into an “innate” ability similar to those found in League of Legends. It no longer offers a root for attacks, but boosts movement speed, offers free pathing through trees, and amplifies his healing abilities.

His various options for both damaging and disabling enemies makes him valuable in multiple roles and have established him as one of the most powerful heroes in Dota 2 today.