Dota 2 patch 7.32c nerfs Refresher Orb, Refresher Shard; balances meta ahead of TI11

Dota 2 patch 7.32c has just been released and it will likely be the patch played for The International 11 (TI11), this year's iteration of the game's annual world championship tournament.

Nearly half the heroes received changes while multiple important bug fixes and tweaks to late game items were also implemented.

While you can check the full list of changes here, we've narrowed down the biggest changes in Dota 2's 7.32c update that you should know about:

Refresher Orb, Refresher Shard get more cooldown nerfs

With games going longer in the current Dota 2 metagame, Refresher Orb has become a core pickup on most carries as it allows them to double the effectiveness of expensive items such as Black King Bar, Satanic, and Abyssal Blade, among others.

Things are a little more complicated with the new patch, as players will no longer benefit from having both a Refresher Orb and Refresher Shard in their inventory.

Another big change is that the cooldowns of both those items don't tick down while in the backpack, so players will have to put the Refresher Orb back in their inventory, on the ground, or have their Courier ferry it around until it can be used again.

Refresher Orb is an ultra-late game item and this nerf will hit core roles the most. Faceless Void, Razor, Enigma, and Mars are just some of the heroes who will have to pay more attention to their items as the game progresses.

Meta heroes received expected nerfs

Almost all the meta heroes received nerfs and some of these were quite significant.

Among the most nerfed heroes, one of the hardest hit was Chen, whose Converted creeps now deal 10 less damage at max level, which significantly weakens his offensive power.

Death Prophet also took a big hit, as Spirit Spihon and Crypt Swarm now have longer cooldowns.

While it's too early to tell which heroes will be hit the hardest by the latest update, it's looking like Omniknight, Undying, Enigma, and Faceless Void will be the patch's biggest losers.

Undying and Omniknight lost a lot of their laning presence while Enigma and Faceless Void received multiple direct nerfs, on top of the changes to Refresher Orb also indirectly nerfing them.

More than 30 heroes got buffed

IceFrog doesn't just hand out nerfs, he also spreads the love to under-picked or low-win-rate heroes.

And he must have been feeling particularly generous ahead of TI11, as 32 heroes received buffs to their skills.

Most of the buffs in the patch focus on increasing a hero's damage, such as Bounty Hunter, Brewmaster, Keeper of the Light, and a lot more.

We'll have to wait to find out which heroes gained the most from the late gameplay patch, but so far Broodmother's extra health regen in lane will make life much easier for the hero in the early game.

Silencer received a massive armor buff that makes the hero unkillable along with 100 extra damage on Arcane Curse, while Tidehunter received the standard buffs to prepare the hero for his TI dominance.

Earth Spirit's Aghanim's Shard is finally fixed

We usually don't highlight bug fixes but this patch included a major fix to Earth Spirit's Aghanim Shard.

Before this update, Earth Spirit's Shard wouldn't give him 4 Stone Remnants instantly, which was a big reason to buy the Shard.

Stone Remnants take 20 seconds to recharge, so being able to instantly have 4 Remnants was half the reason people bought the Shard before the bug happened.

No more sleep-stunning

Another important bug fix is that Neutral Creeps no longer use their abilities at night when they should be sleeping.

This was one of the most infuriating things in the game, as for some inexplicable reason, a Centaur or Ogre would stun nearby teleporting heroes for no other reason than the fact that they didn't buy enough Battlepass levels.

TI11 will be hosted in Singapore from 8 to 30 October and features a revamped format with the new LCQ and a longer schedule. For everything you need to know about TI11, check here.

Otomo is a long-time gaming enthusiast and caster. He has been playing games since he was 10 and is the biggest Dota 2 fan.

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