The last update in this Dota 2-like MOBA brought a bunch of changes that concerned almost every single aspect of the game: from general gameplay changes to Roshan updates, major item adjustments, and hero reworks.
These changes are going to deepen the strategy and fairness of the game, so it is constantly changing and involving the players. So, in the article below, I'll try to briefly review all the chamfers provided by 7.35 from A (zero) to D and speculate a little about changes to the meta it provides.
The updates come with relatively fewer or decreased rewards for neutral creeps and new abilities for Roshan; all these will prompt much more strategic map control and objectives-focused gameplay. Runes change, and a ton of item changes means heroes need to be built and built differently in combat. On top of that, a select few changes to heroes are sure to reshape the competitive landscape and draft strategies for the pros. All of these updates aim to bring diversity into the game, encouraged by the delicate rebalancing of in-game elements, therefore obtaining a more dynamic and strategic varied field for casual and professional gamers.
The integration of the essential key features of all 7.35 updates gives a rather in-depth overview of the most significant changes witnessed generally in gameplay, items, heroes, and the neutral creeps. Rebalancing changes do exist in such a way to strengthen a strategic improvement in the diversity of gameplay and provide an interesting gaming experience that is also fair.
General Gameplay Changes
Neutral Creep Rewards: Kill rewards for all neutral creeps reduced.
Map Interactions: Increased the damage of Super Creeps and Mega Creeps. Mines, Graveyards, Statues, and Wells will no longer be affected by Neutral Creeps.
Couriers: Adjusted vulnerability to attacks and regeneration restrictions.
Fountain Damage: Increased within close range of the primary target.
Map Control: Wardens added near strategic points, and teleportation time to forest outposts was reduced.
Town Portal Scrolls: Now consume mana, with exceptions for maneless beings.
Roshan Updates
Riot added new Roshan-related abilities and items to underpin the strategic value of the possibility of defeating such a powerful neutral entity. Includes a new ability for Roshan, the introduction of Roshan's Banner, and drops upon Roshan's defeat, adjusted to cater to the drops per side when playing on the Light and Dark sides.
Rune Adjustments
Double Damage Rune: Renamed to Damage Amplification rune with adjusted bonuses.
Invisibility Rune: Now reduces damage taken while invisible.
Haste Rune: Duration adjustments.
Arcane Rune: Cooldown reduction effect weakened.
Regeneration Rune: Receiving damage no longer disables the effect but reduces recovery efficiency.
Item Changes
Major changes include adjusting certain items and editing armour, health regeneration, attack speed, and even some abilities. Some of these touch upon the strategic changes in gameplay and changes to hero builds, pointing out how the meta is constantly changing.
Hero Changes
Specific changes in abilities, damage outputs, and roles for the updated heroes include Abaddon and other heroes. The changes made are aligned with the larger goals that focus on bringing about a sense of balance and diversification of competition.
Neutral Creeps and Neutral Items Adjustments
Adjustments in the base damage provided by some of the neutral creeps and changes in the neutral items would shake up the strategy of jungling and claiming benefits provided by neutral items.
This comprehensive summary captures the complete scope of the changes implemented with evolving patterns of changes towards better game balance, improvement of strategic depth, and improvement in general play experience within the emergent landscape of a Dota 2-like MOBA game.
General Gameplay and Roshan Updates
Neutral creep reward reduction: This change should dampen early-game economies, with the most impact felt among the hero pool, which is heavily reliant on jungling for much of their initial farm. This is likely to put more emphasis on early lane control and harassment to deny the enemy farm.
Couriers now have much greater liability to die from all of this. This is a vast change that adds certain new layers to using couriers from a tactical gameplay standpoint. It does mean that players are going to have to be very careful about their courier movement, and at certain crucial times, item delivery is going to be delayed.
Abilities and Items for Roshan: Any new abilities or items added to Roshan should only further be a way to make him more of a strategic focal point. It could significantly change the landscape of how teams look to prioritise objectives and possibly even contest Roshan. The following new items would give more reason for teams to contest Roshan, just like Roshan's banner. That could mean earlier teamfights and strategic plays around the Roshan pit because the banner gives big buffs to the lane creeps.
Rune Adjustments
Damage amplification and runes. Renamed and reworked, the double damage rune now amplifies spell damage and adds an extra layer of utility to this rune, hence more value for spell casters, too. Other runic changes, like the damage mitigation now provided from the invisibility run, could prompt more aggressive plays from heroes benefiting from short-term invisibility for initiating or escaping.
Arcane Rune and Regeneration
Runes Adjustments: There will be slight effects on the mid-game with the Arcane Rune and Regeneration Runes changes for spell usage and sustain. With that, heroes that rely much on spamming abilities might seem to like the Arcane Rune less, as the adjustments in the Regeneration Rune, rather than entirely negating, bring in an interesting dynamic for sustaining by poke damage.
Item Changes
Item Adjustments: Some item adjustments, like Helm of Iron Will, Black King Bar, and others, have to make the players rethink the item builds for their heroes. For instance, the longer cooldown on Black King Bar brings into focus an aspect of timing and decision-making in using it. In addition, changing attributes and costs may be other preferred items that, in general, affect the meta.
Hero Changes
Specific Hero Changes: Changes to heroes like Abaddon or others that affect the role they are to play in team compositions and viability versus certain opponents. For example, changes to Abaddon's Curse of Avernus would affect how potent he could be when it comes to harassing an enemy or even chasing an enemy down. Cumulatively, these changes to heroes should see shifts in the pick and ban phases of competitive play occur, with specific heroes being at the centre of the meta as their changes come within broader alterations being made to the game from the patch.
Neutral Creeps and Neutral Items Adjustments
With the balance changes to neutral line, the changes to neutral items could have an impact on strategic value in controlling the jungle. Increasingly, these will be changes that provide value to teams investing resources in securing the neutral item drops they want and in managing creep equilibrium to preserve maximum farm efficiency.
The speculated effects of these updates, briefly, point toward strategic shifts in more dynamic early-to-mid game engagements, some shifts in hero pick/ban priorities, and a higher focus on the control of objectives. The professional players and teams will have to adapt not only to these changes but as well to their strategies, drafting considerations, and even in-game tactics to be in a place where they can leverage the changes.
All in all, these are some very big changes that imply significant shifts in the game's strategic and competitive landscape, and so would require players and teams to adapt to the new meta. The changes in neutral creeps, items, and runes were all made to balance the game more, increase strategic diversity, and allow for more fairness to ensue in a fun game for all players involved. It will be interesting to see how the game changes with such updates. The professional gamers who aspire to remain on the top need to adapt more than anybody. They served as an ongoing evolution, which witnessed the dynamic nature of the game, ensuring a playing landscape that seemed like always in a state of change and held the promise to game communities similar to those that were built around Dota 2.