
Analyst Brian “BSJ” Canavan shared his thoughts in a YouTube video on the decline in popularity of ranged heroes in Patch 7.41f.
The big difference between Radiance and Battle Fury as farming items is that Radiance lets you impact team fights even if you aren’t attacking anyone. Even if enemies are kiting you while you’re moving toward them, they still take damage. Battle Fury, on the other hand, does nothing if you aren’t hitting anyone. Furthermore, if a ranged hero is dealing a lot of damage to you, the extra evasion from Radiance is much more valuable than the regeneration from Battle Fury.
So, strange as it may seem, I think that nerfing ranged heroes, nerfing the items they buy, nerfing damage items, and slowing down the pace of the game actually greatly benefits heroes with Battle Fury—who previously could almost never land their timings— as well as slower heroes in general.
Bounty Hunter—I know he was good even before the patch. And although he was nerfed, he still boasts a 55% win rate across nearly 3,000 matches. Because what could be more annoying than a melee hero with very high armor, a fast support who runs all over the map, takes your gold, steals your experience, kites you across the map, and gives the enemy vision? Spirit Breaker follows the same concept. Invoker has always been one of the best heroes for kiting “mid-laners.” Rubick and Pudge are pretty much the same idea. There’s also Enigma, who’s incredibly effective against all these melee heroes in the lane.
I’m almost shocked that Slark has a 54% win rate, because, as far as I can tell, he’s been downright weak for quite some time now. Maybe I should try playing him, for example, against certain offlaners, because I really think many of the dominant offlaners have lost some ground lately.
Many global heroes have been nerfed. Underlord has been nerfed, and Io has also been nerfed a bit. But global map presence is still very strong. For example, Dawnbreaker performs much better against “melee heroes” than against ranged heroes, because many “melee heroes” dive headfirst into fights, and Dawnbreaker punishes them for it. And when a ranged hero simply attacks an opponent, you don’t really want to use your ultimate on them, because they’ll just use Hurricane Pike and escape the ultimate’s range. Dawnbreaker needs fights where opponents fully commit to the exchange.
Earlier, former Team Liquid offlaner Marcus Folke “Ace” Helgard Christensen analyzed the Dota 2 7.41f patch, noting nerfs to healing, lifesteal, and regeneration, and highlighting Ursa and Dark Seer as the strongest heroes in the update.
Photo by Igor Bezborodov, EWC Foundation.