5 buffed and nerfed heroes in Dota 2 patch 7.30d

As The International 10 inches closer, Valve released a patch today to address a few balance issues left in Dota 2's new 7.30 update.

With only two weeks to go before TI, 7.30d will most likely be the final sub-patch on which the tournament will be played.

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Patch 7.30d reinstates Clinkz as the currently trending carry of Dota 2

5) Buffed: Clinkz

Clinkz changes in 7.30d (image via Valve)

After Clinkz's rework in update 7.30, he resurfaced as a big breakout carry of Dota 2. This is thanks to the new ability, Burning Barrage, and its unique interaction with Dota 2 attack modifiers. It is virtually identical to Drow's Multishot, except it procs effects like Chain Lightning from Maelstrom. After 7.30c balanced it with some stat and cooldown nerfs to Clinkz, 7.30d has again upped the ante by increasing the damage multiplier of Burning Barrage by 5%, and also buffing its lvl 20 talent. As the game switches to TI mode, Clinkz is currently among the strongest of Dota 2 carries.

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4) Nerfed: Silencer

Silencer changes in 7.30d (image via Valve)

Silencer's damage output as a core has been creeping up ever since the introduction of his Shard upgrade in 7.28. In the same patch, another addition buffed Silencer significantly: extra damage to silenced targets. Arcane Curse (Q) deals an absurd amount of damage on silenced enemies without being item-dependant, in addition to a 36% slow. The latest Dota 2 patch turns down the silenced multiplier from 2.0x to 1.7x, i.e. 68 damage over time instead of 80.

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3) Buffed: Zeus

Zeus changes in 7.30d (image via Valve)

The damage type on Zeus' passive, Static Field, has been changed to magic damage from HP removal. Simply put, Static Field will now count as a separate source of damage. It only serves to help the Shard upgrade to Static Field in practice. On top of a reliable single-target slow for 2.5 seconds, the Shard upgrade will also have other benefits of a full damage instance, like canceling Blink Dagger.

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2) Nerfed: Dawnbreaker

Dawnbreaker changes in 7.30d (image via Valve)

In a surprise move from Valve, Dawnbreaker was added to the Captain's Draft mode of Dota 2 in 7.30c. The current patch rescales the numbers on both of Dawnbreaker's basic active abilities. The nerfs mostly hurt support Dawnbreakers, as the damage of Starbreaker and the slow from Celestial Hammer has been nerfed in the early levels.

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1) Buffed: Warlock

Warlock changes in 7.30d (image via Valve)

The buffs to Warlock are relatively minor in the latest Dota 2 patch. Fatal Bonds is more economical in the lane in terms of mana management, and the early levels of Chaotic Offering spawn beefier golems. Given that Warlock was a relevant pick in pubs in the healing meta of 7.29, his pick rate might start rising again.

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Other changes

A whole swath of neutral items have been nerfed in 7.30d. The only non-neutral item change is on Overwhelming Blink, rescaling the damage from 200 + 100% of strength to 100 + 150% of hero strength. This can be seen as a slight nerf to a popular build on one of the most overtuned Dota 2 midlaners of the update: Tinker.

The patch also introduces numerous hero changes that can further refine the direction of the Dota 2 meta to get the game TI-ready.