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Dota 2 patch 7.31c: Tiny, Death Prophet nerfed; Sven, Wraith Pact buffed

Dota 2's 7.31c patch is shaking up the metagame just in time for the ESL One Stockholm Major. (Photo: Wykrhm Reddy)
Dota 2's 7.31c patch is shaking up the metagame just in time for the ESL One Stockholm Major. (Photo: Wykrhm Reddy)

The Dota 2 patch 7.31c gameplay update has been released, with this substantial balance patch nerfing popular heroes, rescaling newer items, and buffing some of the more underused heroes in the current metagame.

The previous Dota 2 patch failed to shake up the meta in the pro scene, as patch 7.31b felt very similar to 7.30, one of the longest patches the game has been on.

With the ESL One Stockholm Major also on the horizon, Dota 2 developer Valve Software is looking to give fans the best viewing experience possible by providing a brand new patch right before the tournament begins.

With all that said, let's dive into the biggest changes in patch 7.31c:

All the meta heroes have been nerfed

As with every iteration of the Dota 2 metagame throughout the many competitive circuits and across the scene's different regions, there are always multiple heroes that are simply too strong and dominant and thus are in need of nerfs.

The 7.31c patch nerfs 21 heroes in total, namely Tiny, Sand King, Medusa, Templar Assassin, Keeper of the Light, and Dragon Knight, among others.

Tiny, in particular, has received some long-awaited nerfs to his ability to mow through towers and buildings.

The building damage bonus the Stone Giant receives from Tree Grab now caps out at 85% while the tree attack damage multiplier he gets from Grow now caps out at 40%.

Harpy Scout has been nerfed

Without a doubt, the biggest change in 7.31c is the nerf to the infamous Harpy Scout. This neutral creep provided teams with 1800 flying vision with its Take Off ability. The vision provided was such a game-winning factor that every team would buy a Helm of the Dominator just to secure this creep for themselves.

Harpy Scout has taken a well-deserved hit from the nerf hammer.

Take Off now only provides 1200 flying vision during daytime and 800 during night-time, significantly reducing the value of the creep.

The ability also costs more mana to sustain, although that's not as important as the reduced vision.

Bloodseeker and Sven received huge buffs

In our list of the game's worst Aghanim's Scepter upgrades for agility heroes, Bloodseeker came first with his terrible Blood Mist ability that dealt more damage to him than to enemies.

Valve has buffed the Scepter upgrade to deal magic damage instead of pure damage to Bloodseeker, while the damage to enemies is buffed from 5% to 7%. On paper, it looks like a significant buff, though time will tell if it is worth picking up.

Sven is also a contender for the most buffed hero in the patch. Storm Hammer's stun duration is now longer on lower levels and costs less mana.

The Shard provides a passive seven armor now, which is nothing to scoff at regardless of the stage of the game. Support Sven is looking quite viable right now and might even make an impact in the Stockholm Major.

Death Prophet's Exorcism bug has been fixed

(Photo: Valve Software)
(Photo: Valve Software)

Death Prophet was perhaps the meta-defining hero of 7.31 due to a bug with her ultimate's damage. Exorcism dealt double the intended damage to buildings due to the fact that the Ghost's damage type wasn't updated in the previous patches.

This bug allowed the hero to be picked in any role and start taking down buildings as soon as she reaches level six.

Valve solved that problem in 7.31c by halving Exorcism's damage to towers. Death Prophet also received two nerfs to Spirit Siphon, with reduced health drain at lower levels and a shorter Fear duration when upgraded with Aghanim's Shard.

Death Prophet now has a weaker laning stage and deals half damage to enemy structures. Having received some of the biggest nerfs in 7.31c, we think she won't be as prominent at Stockholm as she was during the Spring Tour regional leagues.

Wraith Pact might be the new best item in the game

Wraith Pact was one of the three items introduced in the 7.31 update as an upgrade for Vladmir's offering.

On paper, Wraith Pact looked promising as it reduced outgoing damage from enemies while providing multiple aura buffs to all allies.

That didn't turn out to be the case though. Wraith Pact was simply too expensive to purchase and competed against the more appealing Helm of the Overlord.

This was compounded by the fact that 7.31 introduced multiple creep abilities that pro teams prioritized.

The 7.31c patch aims to rectify that by making Wraith Pact 150 gold cheaper while buffing its stats.

The Reprisal Totem now reduces enemy damage by an additional 5% and deals five extra damage a second. The aura also provides more lifesteal in a bigger area-of-effect.

It's a big buff to the item, but with Helm of the Overlord still looming large, it's unlikely that Wraith Pact escape its shadow and make its mark in the Stockholm Major.

Perhaps heroes such as Underlord can fully utilize the item and make it a core purchase on tanky offlaners.

Those are the biggest changes in Dota 2 patch 7.31c, you can check the full patch notes here.

Thanks to the latest gameplay update, the upcoming Stockholm Major is looking more exciting than ever, with potentially new heroes and items making their presence felt as the pros figure out which previous meta picks are still viable.

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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