Valve drops new Dota patch following TI8
A new Dota 2 patch has been released following the biggest and richest esports tournament of the year.
The Dota community was in a bit of a lull after all of the hype of The International. As fans wait for the next Major event, Valve announced some notable changes to the game as bigger changes are expected to come in the anticipated 7.20 patch.
New hero Grimstorke is continuously being tweaked after its release in patch 7.19. Ink Swell max damage was reduced from 220/280/340/400 to 160/240/320/400 and its movement speed bonus was also reduced from 18/22/26/30% to a flat 18%. Phantom Embrace’s latch was made constant at a 5 second duration, while its damage per second was rescaled to 6/14/22/30.
Also in this patch, Riki received several nerfs to his abilities. The slow effect caused by Smoke Screen as well as its accompanying miss chance were both reduced. Tricks of the Trade’s area of effect was scaled back from 500 to 450 and its duration was rescaled from 4/5/6 to 4/4.5/5.
Terrorblade also saw some nerfs to its abilities. Conjure Image’s mana cost was increased from a flat 70 to a scaling 70/75/80/85, while Reflection’s slow was reduced from 25% to 20%. Reaching level three on Terrorblade’s ultimate ability will still require some minimal amount of mana to cast Sunder. The ability’s max level mana cost was increased from 0 to 50.
A small change was also made to Zeus that may greatly affect his laning phase. Most Zeus players depend on spamming Arc Lightning, but now that its mana cost is 80 instead of the former scaling range of 65/70/75/80, use of the skill must be more carefully considered.
The full patch notes can be found
here.
Read Also
Dota 2
Team Spirit wins TI15 to lift a record third Aegis of Champions
Michael Hassall
Team Spirit has defeated TEAM VISION in the grand finals of TI15, The International 2025. In a full five-game series on Aug. 23, Spirit pulled out all the stops and narrowly defeated an incredible VISION team in a back-and-forth series in Shanghai, China. With Spirit’s victory, Illya "Yatoro" Mulyarchuk and Magomed "Collapse" Khalilov become the first ever three-time TI champions, and Team Spirit becomes the first ever organization to lift ...
Dota 2
The International 2026 (TI15) Finals Preview and Predictions
Michael Hassall
The International 2026, TI15, has reached its final day, and just three teams remain in the fight for the Aegis of Champions. With the lower bracket final and Grand Final still to come, everything comes down to one final day of Dota 2 action. The lower bracket finalists will first battle for the right to reach the main event’s final series, while the winner will advance to face the upper-bracket ...
Dota 2
TI15’s opening ceremony weaves a tapestry of emotion for Valve’s storied title
Michael Hassall
The main stage of The International 2026, TI15, kicked off today with the traditional opening ceremony heralding the start of the biggest celebration of Dota 2 on the calendar. On Aug. 20 fans in Shanghai, China, and at home, were treated to a rousing 11-minute series of performances and video packages, introducing TI15’s main stage show. Here’s how the magic unfolded: The ceremony began with a graphic which quite literally ...
Dota 2
The International 2026 (TI15) Playoffs preview and predictions
Michael Hassall
The Group Stage of The International 2026, TI15, is in the books and we’ve whittled down 16 of the world’s best Dota 2 teams to just eight finalists. One of these talented lineups will be the ones lifting the Aegis of Champions come Sunday, Aug. 23, but until then, there’s plenty of playoff shenanigans that could go on. Below we’ve put together a preview of the upcoming Playoff Games, along ...
News
The Esports Nations Cup Has Been Postponed to November 2027
Ben Boland
The 2026 Esports Nations Cup has been suspended until 2027. The Esports Foundation announced the delay on August 18, citing ongoing regional uncertainty. The inaugural competition was scheduled to take place in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, comprising over 100 national teams and featuring 16 different games, including League of Legends. According to the Esports Foundation, this decision follows ongoing developments in the region and consultation with key stakeholders. Moving the event ...
Dota 2
Team Spirit vs Iron Wing at TI15: Best Betting Predictions and Picks
Owen Harsono
The playoffs for TI15 starts off with an absolute banger of a match between Team Spirit and Iron Wing, and the betting odds could not be any closer. Here are our TI15 Team Spirit vs Iron Wing predictions. Tournament: The International 2026 (TI15) Stage: Playoffs Game: Dota 2 Format: Best of 3 Betting tip: This is the closest series we have at the first round of the TI15 playoffs, as ...
Dota 2
Who Will Win The International 2026 (TI15)? These Are Our Best Picks
Owen Harsono
The TI15 group stage is over, and we’re down to the top eight teams. We’ve now got a pretty good idea of which teams are the favorites heading into the playoffs based on recent performance and season results, so here are the teams we think have the best shot at winning TI15 and claiming some of The International prize pool. The TI15 group stage saw eight teams exit the event ...
