Top 5 changes in Dota 2 patch 7.29c

In the early hours of the 30th of April, Valve released the 7.29c patch for Dota 2. The patch had a few balancing changes and some huge nerfs.

Follow-up patches in Dota 2 are usually balancing patches. Valve usually nerfs the overpowered heroes and buffs the underpowered heroes in these patches. But in 7.29c, more nerfs were applied to heroes than buffs.

Some items also received balancing changes. The newly added Water Rune also received a small nerf as it restores 80 Health and Mana instead of 100 and 80, respectively.

The 7.29c Gameplay Update has been released https://t.co/EAHySyBRXA

— DOTA 2 (@DOTA2) April 30, 2021

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The 5 biggest changes in Dota 2 7.29c

5. Invoker's Wex nerf

Invoker's 3 primary abilities Quas, Wex, and Exort were changed in Dota 2 7.29. Every point in Quas, Wex, and Exort gave +2 Strength, Agility, and Intelligence, respectively. The health regeneration provided by Quas and attack damage provided by Exort was also nerfed.

The attack speed provided by Wex was not nerfed in 7.29. But with 7.29c, Wex's attack speed bonus got reduced from 2/4/6/8/10/12/14 to 1/2/3/4/5/6/7.

This change weakens Invoker during the planning phase. This change to Wex will greatly hinder the invoker's ability to contest last hits and denials.

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4. Sange's healing nerf

In Dota 2 7.28, Valve removed status resistance from Satanic. This made Sange and its upgrades some of the best items in the game. Sange remained the only item in Dota 2 that provided status resistance. Sange's passive regeneration amplification turned out to be one of the best benefits of the item.

Sange & Yasha and Sange & Kaya's regeneration amplification was reduced from 30% to 25%.

Both of those items were two of the best items in the game. Every single attribute and stat bonus they gave was beneficial, and they felt broken at times. With regeneration nerf, they should be less viable in the game now.

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3. Dawnbreaker's agility nerf

Ever since Dawnbreaker was released, she has been one of the most popular heroes in Dota 2. Her abilities and attributes were potent, causing her to be very durable and deal massive damage. The community expected Dawnbreaker to be nerfed, and Valve did exactly that.

Dawnbreaker's agility was changed from 20 +2.4 to 14 +1.7. Her 2nd skill, Celestial Hammer's mana cost, was also increased from 110 to 110/120/130/140.

With 14 base agility, Dawnbreaker now has the lowest base agility in the game (except for Tiny who doesn't have agility). The nerf to agility greatly reduced her attack speed and armor by extension, causing her win rate to fall by 3%.

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2. Puck gets nerfed again

Since Dota 2 7.28 was released, Puck has been the most picked hero in the pro scene. At the Singapore Major, Puck was the most picked hero of the tournament and had a win rate of 62.7%. Puck was nerfed in the preceding patches, but the biggest nerf is probably in 7.29c.

Puck's ultimate Dream Coil had its cooldown increase from 80/75/70 to 80 at all levels. Damage dealt on breaking the Coil was reduced from 300/400/500 to 200/300/400. Aghanim's Scepter upgraded break damage was also reduced to 300/450/600 from 400/550/700.

These nerfs should be enough to reduce Puck's viability in the game since their late damage output was massively nerfed.

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1. Beastmaster's axe nerf

Beastmaster was the single most broken hero in Dota 2. In 7.29, Aghanim's Scepter upgrade was changed, making his 1st skill, Wild Axes, deal 40 bonus damage per stack. With no cooldown on the skill, Wild Axes could be spammed to deal massive amounts of damage to the enemy.

Aghanim's Scepter bonus damage was removed from Dota 2 in 7.29c. Damage dealt by Wild Axes was reduced by a lot as a result. The damage amplification of 6%/8%/10%/12% is still there, but without the bonus damage from Aghanim's Scepter, the ability is no longer broken.

Over the last month, Beastmaster has been the most contested hero in the pro scene, and hopefully, the viability of this hero will get reduced after this patch.