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Valve's latest update, Patch 7.33e, marks the third balance update for the massive 7.33 patch that was released in late April, which brought various changes to the game. The patch focuses on hero balance, and a few fixes to gameplay issues, bringing significant changes to eleven heroes in the game, and mostly nerfs to these heroes.
Notably, these balance changes affect heroes that were part of the top 12 most contested picks at the recent Bali Major 2023, which indicate the strength of these heroes in the current patch.
Gameplay Issues Fixed
The patch fixed a few gameplay issues that existed, aiming to improve overall gameplay dynamics and address some imbalances that may exist. Among the notable fixes, one change was made to Kobolds that are dug up from Trusty Shovel, which now behaves similarly to Juggernaut's Healing Ward by following their owner.
Additionally, spells can now properly target invisible units that were revealed by a sentry ward, ensuring consistent gameplay mechanics. Furthermore, the hero stats tooltip for Evasion has been corrected to accurately round to the nearest integer value, providing players with precise information.
Lich's Sinister Gaze duration now respects status resistance, aligning with other abilities affected by this mechanic and promoting a balanced gameplay environment.
Hero changes - most important changes
Patch 7.33e introduces significant nerfs to three prominent heroes: Morphling, Enchantress, and Broodmother. All of these heroes were highly contested at the Bali Major 2023 and see significant changes to some of their skills:
Here are the key nerfs for each hero:
The first significant change is to Morphling, which saw a significant increase the cooldowns for Adaptive Strive (Agility & Strength), which is now 16 seconds at level 1. Additionally, the Aghanims Upgrade for his ultimate, Morph, now only gives 10% of stats stolen from the target, half of what it was before, and only 5% against universal heroes, which is a fourth of what it was before.
The four-legged support saw nerfs to Impetus and Enchant, both skills which helped her be a dominant force in the early game. The damage Impetus does now is decreased at lower levels, with level 1 damage being lowered almost by 50%. Enchant has received harsher nerfs, as it gives 0 damage bonus to creeps at level 1.
One of the most hated heroes by players all over the world, Broodmother received nerfs to Insatiable Hunger and Silken Bola. Insatiable Hunger now has a static mana cost of 80 at each level (almost double its level 1 mana cost), along with a slightly increased cooldown at each level. Silken Bola slows significantly less now, with only 10% slow at level 1, compared to 25% in the previous patch.
Unlike previous updates that also included general changes and item adjustments, this iteration exclusively focuses on balancing hero performance.
All of the eleven heroes that received changes in Patch 7.33e were part of the Top 12 most contested heroes at the Bali Major 2023. Each of them had over 45 games played at the Major, signifying their strength in the meta. The only hero from the top twelve that did not receive changes in this patch was Rubick, who remains untouched.
The new balance patch stands out as a patch solely dedicated to hero changes, with no changes made to items or general aspects of the game. While players were expecting a new patch before the Riyadh Masters 2023, it seems that fans will have to be content with this small balance patch.
