Dota 2’s 7.27 patch is finally here, bringing with it massive changes to the game economy, two new items, nerfs to popular items from previous patches that effectively removes the ‘Zoo’ meta, and more.
There’s a lot to unpack in the massive update, so read our breakdown of the biggest and must-know changes below:
Item Changes
Introducing Blitz Knuckles and Voodoo Mask
One of the biggest changes in 7.27 is the introduction of two new base items, Blitz Knuckles and Voodoo Mask.
Blitz Knuckles increases the Attack Speed of its wielder by 35 at the cost of 1,000 gold. With more than half the Attack Speed bonus granted by Hyperstone at half the price, Blitz Knuckles should be a good acquisition for any carry looking to dish out damage faster.
Blitz Knuckles also replaces Quarterstaff as a component for Monkey King Bar, which now grants 35 bonus Attack Speed and 42 damage compared to just 10 Attack Speed and 52 damage before.
Meanwhile, Voodoo Mask grants +12% Spell Lifesteal (2.5% against creeps) for 900 gold and is a good choice for spell-reliant heroes such as Queen of Pain and Bristleback, among others.
Voodoo Mask replaces Mystic Staff as a component for Octarine Core, which now has a 900 recipe cost but no longer provides bonus intelligence. However, the item is now significantly cheaper, with a total cost of 5,000 gold compared to 5,900 before.
Farewell to the ‘Zoo’ meta
The Necronomicon has been nerfed and the Helm of the Dominator has been adjusted, which should spell the end of the ‘Zoo’ meta of the previous patch.
The Necronomicon Warrior’s Last Will ability no longer deals damage through Spell Immunity, so carries can now safely take it out by popping Black King Bar first.
The Necronomicon Archer no longer provides a movement and attack speed aura, with the bonus transferred to the base stats of the Necronomicon summons instead.
To compensate for those changes, the Necronomicon summons had their damage adjusted so that they deal much less damage to creeps and more damage to heroes. We should no longer see Necronomicons being built solely as a farming tool. The item’s bonus mana regen per second was also reduced from 3/3.5/4 to 2/3/4.
The Helm of the Dominator no longer provides the damage and regen aura that made it a popular item. Instead, it now makes its dominated creep stronger by giving it a +40 base damage, +12 HP regen, and +4 mana regen buff. The item now requires Helm of Iron Will, Crown and a 725 gold recipe and grants +6 Armor, +6 HP Regen and +6 to all stats.
As a result of the change to Helm of the Dominator, Vladmir’s Offering has been reverted to its old version that has a bonus damage and lifesteal aura.
Silver Edge, Blade Mail, and Meteor Hammer are even better now
Silver Edge is now stronger as an offensive item, as Echo Sabre has replaced Ultimate Orb in its list of requirements. The item now provides +40 Damage, +35 Attack Speed, +12 Strength, +10 Intelligence and +1.5 Mana Regen alongside the benefits from its other components. Silver Edge should now be a good first core item choice for heroes such as Slark and Dragon Knight.
Blade Mail returns to its roots from Dota 1, as it now has a passive component that returns 20 + 20% of the attack damage to whoever attacks its wielder. The item’s active return damage effect has been reduced from 100% to 80%, though it still effectively returns all damage received thanks to the new passive effect.
Blade Mail also has a 500 gold recipe. and no longer uses Robe of the Magi. This means that it no longer grants +8 intelligence, though its armor bonus has been increased from 6 to 7. Expect to see more of this item.
Finally, Meteor Hammer has a better buildup as it now requires Perseverance, Crown and a 250 gold recipe to build. The item provides +8 All Stats, +6.5 Health Regen and +2.5 Mana Regen, though its active ability’s stun duration has been reduced from 2 seconds to 1.75 while its cooldown has been reduced from 28 seconds to 24.
Primary Stat Items adjusted, plus Holy Locket is good now
The three primary stat-boosting items; Bracer, Wraith Band, and Null Talisman, got back their secondary bonuses. Bracer now grants +3 damage and +0.75 HP regen, Wraith Band grants +1.5 amor and +5 attack speed, while Null Talisman grants +0.6 mana regen and +3% spell amplification. To offset their secondary bonuses, all three items now grant a reduced +5 to its corresponding main attribute and +2 to the others.
In addition, the much-maligned item, Holy Locket, might actually be a good now. The item’s Magic Wand-esque active can now be used on allied targets within 500 range to instantly restore 300 health and mana. Combined with the its 35% passive heal amplification, it’s perfect for heroes like Io, Chen, and Oracle.
- ONE Esports Dota 2 SEA League Week 2, Day 2: Moon helps Fnatic stay perfect
- ONE Esports Dota 2 SEA League Week 2, Day 3: Neon Esports spoil Geek Fam’s debut
Mechanics Changes
Hunting for kills has been made worthwhile again
7.27 revamps the Dota 2 economy by making kills more valuable as the gold you gain for killing an enemy hero has been increased from 99 + 7.2 * Level to 120 + 8 * Level. The base amount of XP you gain has also been increased from 40 to 100. Gold gained from assists has also been rescaled from 45 + 0.033*NW (target’s net worth) to 30 + 0.038*NW.
The increase in the base gold and XP rewards for kills means early game kills are especially worthwhile. Economy changes in the previous patches had notably disincentivize midlaners from ganking the sidelanes, as the rewards they get for kills are much less than what they would’ve gotten if they just stayed in their lane to farm.
This change should see return of aggressive, tempo-setting mid heroes like Puck, Queen of Pain, and Quas-Wex Invoker as popular meta picks.
Mid heroes aren’t the only ones who should be happy about the economy changes in this patch, however. Supports would be glad to know that passive gold income has been increased from 85 to 95 gold per minute, and that Bounty Runes provide reliable gold again.
Laning dynamics have been changed
7.27 has also significantly altered laning dynamics with two relatively small changes. The first involved changing neutral camps nearest to the midlane from Medium Camps to Small Camps.
With the most accessible neutral camp now giving less gold, farming-oriented midlaners shouldn’t snowball as hard as they did before. This should also make ganking the sidelanes for kills a solid alternative to just farming, which plays into the kill reward changes above.
The other change makes lane creeps avoid hero aggro until they are near enemy or neutral creeps, or get within 1550 range of their Tier 1 tower. This change effectively kills creep skipping the offlane between the enemy tier 2 and 3 towers at the start of the game, as this effect will be active until the siege units spawn at the 5-minute mark.
While creep skipping is still possible by doing it between the enemy tier 1 and 2 towers, it’s not as rewarding as before, and should force offlaners and lane supports to contest the opposing lane instead.
Icefrog seems to have had enough of seeing countless couriers slaughtered during the laning phase as well. He has reduced the flying courier upgrade requirement from Level 5 to 4, and lowered the bounty on killing couriers from 30 gold + 7/Level of Owner to 25 + 5/Level. However, couriers will now move 15% slower than before while carrying consumables, which still makes them vulnerable when ferrying regen items to the lanes.
Miscellaneous changes
Better start focusing on the enemy Ancient to win games, as Fountain farming has been made riskier as its attacks increase in damage by 3 per hit. The effect works like Ursa’s Fury Swipes ability and, combined with the Fountain’s ludicrous attack speed, gives players a place on the map where they can truly feel safe (most of the time).
Neutral Items also continue to be tweaked, as consumables like Royal Jelly, Greater Faerie Fire, and Repair Kit will no longer drop if another consumable item in the same tier has already been acquired.
Lifesteal Amplification, HP Regen Amplification, Heal Amplification, and Spell Lifesteal Amplification now stack diminishingly rather than additively. This means that heavy heal and lifesteal strats that involve heroes like Chen and items like Satanic and Paladin Sword are now much less effective.
For the full list of changes introduced in 7.27, check out the patch notes here.
READ MORE: ONE Esports Dota 2 SEA League Week 2, Day 4: Fnatic cruise to the top of the standings
