Patch 7.25b comes roughly a week after its 7.25a predecessor and changes only three items and two heroes.
Dota 2 received three updates in the span of a week. First, it was 7.25 getting released early as the ESL One Los Angeles Major got canceled. What followed up were some minor changes in 7.25a which came out only a day after the original patch. Today it’s 7.25b and it’s arguably one of the shortest patches Dota 2 has ever had. Without further ado let’s take a look.
Items
Trusty Shovel
- TP Scroll bundle reduced from 2 to 1
Even before 7.25 Trusty Shovel was without a doubt the best Tier 1 neutral item your team could get. An active ability which would sometimes result in an extra bounty rune and in other cases your inventory and backpack will be filled with Healing Salves and Town Portal scrolls. In the worst-case scenario, it’s a Kobold, but hey the pros far outweigh the cons. Oh and on top of everything else the Shovel gives you an extra 100 health. Getting a Trusty Shovel basically means you’ll almost never have to buy a TP scroll again. With the changes coming to Boots of Travel and the price of scrolls going up from 50 to 90 gold we can see why the change above is necessary.
Ring of Tarrasque
- Cost increased from 600 to 650
You’re probably thinking that Ring of Tarrasque isn’t that popular by itself and you’re right. The item is a wild mix between Ring of Health and a Vitality Booster and its win rate is sub 50%. There’s another factor though, it’s also a requirement for Heart of Tarrasque. The latter has a much better standing in win rate with close to 70%. Heart is usually an item to seal an already won game and that’s probably the reason for it. So instead of nerfing the price of the recipe, Valve decided to increase the cost of the ring by 50. Definitely not a big change.Necronomicon
- Manacost increased from 50 to 150
Necronomicon is a popular pick for heroes like Arc Warden, Dazzle and Lycan. Dazzle will probably be seen much more often as a core due to his new Aghanim’s Scepter upgrade which allows him to attack all nearby enemies when casting a spell. The mana cost won’t hit him that much, but should make things a bit more difficult for Lycan who’s a hero with mana issues.
Heroes
Lycan
- Base damage reduced by 6
Talents
- Level 20 Talent reduced from +8s Shapeshift Duration to +6s
- Level 25 Talent reduced from +3 Wolves Summoned to +2
Lycan gets hit where it doesn’t really hurt that much. Reducing his base damage by 6 might seem like a lot at first, but consider that even on level one he can get two wolves with 26 damage each. His passive increases the damage further so the only thing that will suffer might be his level 1 last hits and even that is skill dependent. His talent changes seem fair, but the above mentioned Necronomicon mana increase might prove to be the most impactful for him.
Weaver
- Agility gain reduced from 3.6 to 3.1
Shukuchi
- Shukuchi movement bonus reduced from 220/240/260/280 to 200/220/240/260
Over the years Weaver turned from a hero with a really stat gain to an absolute monster. The agility nerf essentially reverts Weaver back to 7.21 when it was increased. Shukuchi remains more or less the same, a mobility spell with added damage.What are your impressions from 7.25b... and from 7.25 and 7.25b for that matter? Do you think these changes will have a solid impact on the meta?
