Dota 2’s The International 2023 season is now officially over, with developers Valve shipping a number of buffs, nerfs, and adjustments in Patch 7.34e.
All up, 29 Dota heroes and six items have seen changes. Many expected the likes of Bristleback, Kunkka, Spirit Breaker, and Dazzle—who stood above all others at TI—to receive hefty nerfs to bring them back in line. But, it’s looking like Valve has opted for a slower approach to adjusting heroes, meaning the meta shouldn’t look all that much different as the competitive season prepares to head to Malaysia for ESL One Kuala Lumpur in December.
Here is the full breakdown of what has changed in Dota 2 Patch 7.34e.
What’s changed in Dota 2 Patch 7.34e?
Bristleback, one of the heroes of TI 2023, cops multiple nerfs
Bristleback has proven to be a terror in both the competitive and public-ranked Dota scene over the past few months with the hero receiving gradual buffs ever since the New Frontier update. His time at the very top, however, appears to be over.
The thorny offlaner will now be dealing less damage with Quill Spray at max stacks while his passive quills won’t proc as often in the early game. His Aghanim’s Shard upgrade, Hairball, has also been heavily nerfed—it’s had its range nearly halved and its cooldown increased by three seconds.
Wait, that’s it? That’s all he’s getting? His 50.45 percent win rate in pubs and 50 percent win rate at TI aren’t enough to warrant anything further for Rigwarl despite how annoying he’s become to deal with.
Team Spirit Breaker is no more
Spirit Breaker, who saw a brief but surprising name change after a bashing performance at TI, has been brought back to earth after a stint in the top 10 for win rate. Charge of Darkness—arguably the most fun but frustrating piece of his kit—has had its cooldown increased slightly at all levels as well as after purchasing Aghanim’s Scepter.
Barathrum will also be dealing less damage to creeps with Greater Bash, which was implemented to help see him catch up faster with farm. Again, though, it feels as if Valve could have been a little more heavy-handed with his nerfs. It’s possible further nerfs are to come in the next update but these don’t feel that meta-defining.
Timbersaw receives a welcome buff after months of inactivity
Everyone’s favorite tree-lopper Timbersaw has finally received a welcome buff with an increase to the stat steal after landing a successful Whirling Death. The Pure-damage-dealing Universal hero has somehow struggled in a meta defined by extra tankiness and dominant Strength characters, normally his forte.
The nerf to Heart of Tarrasque, plus this buff, may see players opt back into picking up Timbersaw in the coming weeks. Will he see action at ESL One Kuala Lumpur? Given how light the nerfs feel it’s unlikely, but should another major update occur all eyes will be on Rizzrack and whether he finds his footing in the Dota meta again.
Dota 2 7.34e patch notes
Item updates in Dota 2 patch 7.34e
Eternal Shroud
- Magic Resistance bonus increased from 30 percent to 35 percent.
Hand of Midas
- Base Charge Restore Time increased from 100 to 110 seconds.
Heart of Tarrasque
- Recipe cost increased from 1300 to 1400. Total cost increased from 5100 to 5200.
- Strength bonus decreased from 40 to 35.
Helm of the Overlord
- Vladmir’s Aura Armor increased from three to four.
Pavise
- Protect Cooldown decreased from 18 to 16 seconds.
Vladmir’s Offering
- Vladmir’s Aura Armor increased from three to four.
Hero buffs and nerfs in Dota 2 patch 7.34e
Ancient Apparition
- Ice Vortex: Damage per second decreased from 12/20/28/36 to 12/18/24/30.
- Ice Blast: Frostbitten Duration decreased from 10/11/12 to 10 seconds.
Bristleback
- Quill Spray: Max Damage decreased from 550 to 500.
- Bristleback: Damage Threshold increased from 225 to 300/275/250/225.
- Hairball: Cast Range decreased from 1500 to 1000, cooldown increased from 10 seconds to 13 seconds.
- Talent: Level 20 Talent Quill Spray Stack Damage decreased from plus-25 to 20.
Chaos Knight
- Base Damage decreased by five.
- Chaos Strike: Lifesteal penalty against creeps increased from 40 percent to 70 percent.
- Phantasm: Mana Cost increased from 75/125/175 to 100/200/300.
Dark Willow
- Shadow Realm: Cooldown increased from 20/18/16/14 to 22/20/18/16 seconds.
Dazzle
- Bad Juju: No longer affects any Blink Dagger’s three-second mute period after taking damage.
Drow Ranger
- Multishot: Cooldown decreased from 26/24/22/20 to 24/22/20/18 seconds.
Earth Spirit
- Rolling Boulder: Cooldown now begins when the current roll is completed.
Enigma
- Black Hole: Cooldown decreased from 200/180/160 to 180/170/160 seconds.
Grimstroke
- Ink Swell: Aghanim’s Shard Spell Lifesteal now has a 20 percent penalty against creeps.
Gyrocopter
- Rocket Barrage: Rocket Damage increased from 6/12/18/24 to 8/14/20/26.
Juggernaut
- Omnislash: Bonus Damage increased from 30/40/50 to 40/45/50.
Kunnka
- Ghostship: Damage Delayed decreased from 45 percent to 35 percent.
- Tidal Wave: Damage decreased from 250 to 180.
- Torrent Storm: Duration decreased from five seconds to four seconds, cooldown increased from 70 to 75 seconds.
Leshrac
- Lightning Storm: Slow Duration increased from 0.4/0.6/0.8/one to 0.45/0.7/0.95/1.2 seconds.
Lion
- Earth Spike: Cast Range increased from 575 to 650.
Lycan
- Base Agility increased from 16 to 18.
- Agility gain increased from 1.4 to 1.8.
Marci
- Sidekick: Cast Range increased from 700 to 1000.
Muerta
- The Calling: Duration decreased from 7/8/9/10 seconds to 5/6/7/8 seconds, movement Slow decreased from 30 percent to 15/20/25/30 percent.
Necrophos
- Ghost Shroud: Mana Cost increased from 50 to 75.
- Heartstopper Aura: Regen Duration decreased from eight seconds to seven seconds, Aghanim’s Scepter Health Regen to Decay decreased from 60 percent to 55 percent.
- Death Seeker: Cooldown increased from 16 to 19 seconds.
Primal Beast
- Trample: Mana Cost increased from 90/85/80/75 to 90.
- Pulverize: Cooldown increased from 36/32/28 to 40/36/32 seconds.
- Talent: Level 25 Talent Pulverize Duration decreased from 100 percent to 67 percent.
Shadow Shaman
- Hex: Damage Amplification increased from 5/10/15/20 percent to 10/15/20/25 percent.
Spectre
- Base Armor decreased by one.
Spirit Breaker
- Charge of Darkness: Cooldown increased from 21/18/15/12 to 22/19/16/13 seconds, Aghanim’s Scepter Cooldown increased from eight to nine seconds.
- Greater Bash: Damage multiplier against creeps decreased from 1.5x to 1.3x.
Timbersaw
- Whirling Death: Stat Loss percent increased from 10 to 13.
Tiny
- Avalanche: Mana Cost decreased from 120 to 90/100/110/120.
Treant Protector
- Base Movement Speed decreased from 285 to 280.
- Leech Seed: Damage/Heal per second decreased from 25/40/55/70 to 20/35/50/65.
Weaver
- Geminate Attack: Cooldown increased from 7/5.5/4/2.5 to 8.5/6.5/4.5/2.5 seconds.
Winter Wyvern
- Cold Embrace: Base Heal per second increased from 30/35/40/45 to 40/45/50/55.
Witch Doctor
- Paralyzing Cask: Damage multiplier against creeps decreased from 2.0x to 1.5x.
- Death Ward: Now prioritizes heroes within its attack range over creeps.
Wraith King
- Vampiric Spirit: Skeleton Damage decreased by three.
