Things have calmed down with drastic overreactions, but who are the winners and losers of Patch 7.36c in Dota 2? Let’s look.
The meta is still in shambles after Dota’s Patch 7.36. While there are certainly standouts who have cemented themselves as solid picks, the community and pros alike are constantly experimenting with every new Facet and Innate. Dota 2 has been closely monitoring this tumultuous meta as they’re quick to cut down overtuned heroes and buff underperforming ones.
Patch 7.36 has calmed down with drastic overreactions, since the changes are quite small. In fact, many of them are insignificant, especially against heroes who are clearly dominating the meta. Let’s take a quick look at the winners and losers of Patch 7.36c in Dota 2.
Losers of Patch 7.36
Witch Doctor
Witch Doctor’s Voodoo Festeration Facet turned the fragile support into a tanky core who walked straight into the enemy team without a care in the world. The persistent area-of-effect damage from the Facet combined with Radiance was too much to handle, but it was his self-healing combined with regeneration items that made it a problem. Nerfing the self-heal portion of the Facet was gut that playstyle and send him back to support.
Tinker
Tinker, the hero everyone loves to hate, was slowly finding a foothold in the meta despite all the previous nerfs. However, it only takes one positive change for Tinker to become oppressive again. His Translocator Facet turned Defensive Matrix into a strong dispel which also repositions him after it breaks.
Just like that, Tinker was back in pubs and more annoying than before. Patch 7.36c downgraded the Translocator Facet as the Defensive Matrix stays as a basic dispel. With that key change, Tinker is out of the meta gain until the devs figure out what to do with him.
Dark Willow
Dark Willow is one of those staple heroes who you’ll frequently see in matches, regardless of the current meta. The cunning fae’s offensive arsenal is always strong for making aggressive plays to take down enemies. However, Patch 7.36c decided that Dark Willow can’t send Bedlam to allies anymore, which is a significant nerf for the fragile hero. Additionally, the patch lowered Bramble Maze’s overall effectiveness by lowering the ability’s duration, which includes the bonus brambles from the Thorny Thicket Facet.
Pudge
Pudge has historically been the most picked hero in Dota 2, solely for his fun kit that can win games with well-placed hooks. The Flayer’s Hook Facet doubles down on his signature ability by making it and giving it bonus damage based on the pulled distance. Making the hook faster was too much for for his enemies as it often felt unfair in the hands of a skilled player. While Patch 7.36c corrected that by reducing the Facet back to its base hook speed, you should still expect to see Pudge in most of your games.
Winners of Patch 7.36c
After the first two extreme balance changes of the patch, 7.36c is more about small adjustments and tuning. Many of the dominant heroes were barely nerfed and still remain as powerful as ever. Heroes like Warlock, Ember Spirit, Dark Seer, Vengeful Spirit, Ursa, and Underlord received insignificant nerfs. In a way, these heroes are winners of the patch as they continue their stay at the top of the meta.
Sand King
There must be someone in the balance team that absolutely hates Sand King because this hero is not allowed to be strong for one patch. Sand King was started as of the best offlaners in Patch 7.36, but was quickly hit by nerfs. Fortunately, the recent patch buffed his Dust Devil Facet, making Sand Storm follow him much faster when he’s outside of it. Furthermore, Sand Storm’s damage value has also been increased. These two buffs were enough to keep the king above a healthy win rate for this patch.
Faceless Void
One of Faceless Void’s new Facets is an alternate effect on Chronosphere. Instead of halting everyone inside the sphere, it creates a wide square that speeds up all allies while slowing down every enemy inside. Time Zone is still weaker compared to his other Facet, but Patch 7.36c made it more attractive to use with more buffs to its cast range, attack speed bonus, and area. Time Zone is an amazing Facet that can work that more Faceless Void players are going to choose.
