Dota 2 patch notes: What's changed in the latest update?

There are notable nerfs here, so it’s worth checking out to see if your favourite hero or item has been affected.

Alongside the hefty list of balance adjustments, you’ll also find a selection of gameplay fixes and a reworked Captains Mode draft order in the version 7.34 patch notes.

Read on for the full list of Dota 2 patch notes and to see what’s changed in the new 7.34 update.

What’s changed in the latest Dota 2 update?

The latest Dota 2 update has made a long list of hero and item balance changes, but the main headline could be the reworked Captains Mode draft order.

The reworked draft order has seen the time per ban during the first phase bans lowered from 30 seconds down to 15 seconds. In addition to this, the system has been altered from 2-3-2 bans, 2-2-1 picks to 3-2-2 bans (first pick) 4-1-2 bans (second pick) 1-3-1 picks (both).

In terms of hero and item balance changes, various different characters and items have been nerfed, while others have been improved. The Blood Grenade, for example, has had its cost reduced from 65 to 50, but has had its stock lowered from three to two and its restock time increased from 120 seconds up to 180 seconds.

With heroes, some have been changed more than others. Abaddon, as an example, has just two patch notes: Cooldown has been changed from 5.5 seconds to 6.5/6/5.5/5 seconds, and Damage/Heal rescaled from 110/160/210/260 to 10/160/230/300.

Invoker, meanwhile, who is now a universal hero, comes with a whopping 26 patch notes - including a base health regen increase of 0.25 up to 1.5.

Full Dota 2 patch notes explained

Alongside the reworked Captains Mode draft order and balance changes to heroes and items, the full list of Dota 2 patch notes in the 7.34 update also detail alternative cast abilities and various other general gameplay fixes and changes.

One such gameplay change is a new stat has been added to Dota 2: Slow Resistance. Slow Resistance reduces the impact of slows on a hero by a percentage.

There are so many patch notes to tell you about, though, we’d be here all day listing them down.

Below, instead, is the full list of general gameplay changes and fixes. Head to the official Dota 2 website for the complete list of hero and item balance changes.

Alternative Cast Abilities

• Updated the UI for many abilities that were using Auto-Cast to enable different behaviours on an ability
• Alternative Cast Abilities can be toggled in the same way as Auto-Cast (default to alt+keybind or right-clicking) to adjust their cast behaviour
• Alternative Cast Abilities have a unique icon for the different casting modes
• Holding the Ctrl key will allow you to cast the non-selected version of the ability without having to toggle it
• The following abilities have been updated to use Alternative Casting
  • Dark Seer's Surge
  • Doom's Devour
  • Elder Titan's Echo Stomp
  • Hoodwink's Acorn Shot
  • Meepo's Poof
  • Mirana's Leap
  • Monkey King's Boundless Strike
  • Morphling's Morph
  • Razor's Static Link
  • Sven's Storm Hammer
  • Templar Assassin's Trap

Dota 2 7.34 update gameplay changes

• Added a new stat: Slow Resistance. Reduces the impact of slows on your hero by a percentage
• Status Resistance no longer affects the impact of slows. About a half of existing slows in the game had both duration and impact reduced by Status Resistance, but now it affects only the duration of slows
• Scan now has 2 charges
• Killing Roshan no longer grants control of any Watchers on the map
• Main jungle Watchers for both Radiant and Dire have been moved to different locations
• Adjusted the position of the triangle Watchers
• Moved both Outposts from the main jungle to the triangles
• Mighty Mines buff in Mines area increased from +4 HP/s to +7 HP/s
• Added UI to support self-restoring item charges (i.e. Hand of Midas, Holy Locket)

Gameplay fixes

• Fix Beastmaster Wild Axes providing vision of the centre of the map
• Fix another way to cause the Earth Spirit Stone Remnants crash
• Fix Keeper of the Light Illuminate damage being wrong when casting a second Illuminate while the first is still travelling
• Fix Silencer Glaives of Wisdom not stealing temporary Int from Meepo clones or Arc Warden Tempest Double
• Fix an issue where Wards could move after spawning
• Fix Watchers showing as disabled still when they become capturable if that occurs in fog of war
• Fix a number of particle/FX issues, including adding back missing feet FX for Terrorblade arcana, Lina Immortal Laguna Blade FX etc

The gameplay fixes above can be found here.

Subscribe to our free Gaming Newsletter for weekly insights, and follow us on Twitter for all the latest updates.

Looking for something to watch? Check out our TV Guide or Streaming Guide.

Try Radio Times magazine today and get 10 issues for only £10 with delivery to your home – subscribe now.