Dota 2 Patch 7.23 led to many changes with a lot of people feeling lost and out of place. Don’t worry, we will guide you through all the shifts.
The meta has changed
First and foremost, the tempo of the game is much faster when compared to 7.22. Heroes easily get levels thanks to the outposts and Dota 2 games tend to be shorter with an average duration of little more than 30 minutes. Despite that heroes reach higher levels than ever before. Naturally, picking a late game-oriented hero is a mistake most of the time. Right now, the earlier you can fight the better as the likes of Ursa, Slark, Drow Ranger dominate a big percent of matches. With the 5-man deathball making a comeback, teams will either group up and get an advantage early on or hope for a comeback that almost never comes.
Supports are stronger than ever
With observer wards becoming free of charge with Dota 2 Patch 7.23, supports were spared a huge chunk of gold throughout the game. This allows position 5 players to actually get decent items and have more impact than ever before. On top of that, there are also neutral items that add even more options for supports. The typical support heroes are still viable, but thanks to the extra gold so are less popular supports like who rely on a Blink Dagger to be useful. Alternatively, you can always pick Nature’s prophet, as there are now 5 couriers to snipe.
Don’t forget that couriers can use items
In most games, heroes will often make it to Level 25, the point when couriers get to use items. So, in case you have a Hand of Midas or some other item that you consider selling, there might be a better option. If the game drags for too long, you can use the courier to push creep waves, deal burst damage, provide additional crowd control, dispel buffs and more, all depending on the items you equip it with. While Dagon and Scythe of Vyse are the first to come to mind, they’re also very costly. Neutral items can play a big role with something like Book of the Dead.
Outposts become less important with each patch
On Dota 2 Patch 7.23’s release fighting for outposts was a must, but with each patch, the experience granted was reduced significantly. Eventually, we reached a point where outposts would grant the bonus once every 10 minutes instead of 5. As of the time of writing, there’s no reason to risk losing a core player over the chance of claiming control. The one thing that remains unchanged throughout all the recent updates is communicating with your team.
