Cover-Credits:
Valve
On the 20th of November 2023, Valve released Patch 7.34e, a highly anticipated update following the conclusion of The International 2023 (TI12). This release addressed concerns voiced by numerous players who encountered challenges in their pub games, particularly when facing formidable heroes such as Bristleback, Spirit Breaker, and Chaos Knight.
The update, though relatively modest, strategically addressed these issues by implementing nerfs to the mentioned heroes and adjusting certain items like Heart of Tarrasque and Hand of Midas.
Notably, this letter patch adhered to the expectation of delivering more measured adjustments, a sentiment well-established among the Dota community. Valve effectively built anticipation through an in-game notification on 17th November, alerting players to the imminent release of the patch.
Differing Reactions Amongst Dota 2 Pros for Patch 7.34e
Despite the measured approach, reactions to Patch 7.34e have been diverse, especially among professional players. Illya "Yatoro" Mulyarchuk of Team Spirit bluntly labeled the patch as subpar, offering no further elaboration on his dissatisfaction. Along the same lines, Yaroslav "Miposhka" Naidenov echoed this sentiment. He expressed disappointment and said, “The patch is shit, [it] could have been released right after The International. Classic.”
Henrik "AdmiralBulldog" Ahnberg humorously conveyed his discontentment via a tweet, playfully suggesting that janitors, rather than developers, were responsible for the minor adjustments. Renowned Dota 2 streamer Janne "Gorgc" Stefanovski, who vocally criticized the patch, seconded this and emphasized the perceived insignificance of the changes. He questioned the developers' level of involvement in the game's evolution. He specifically questioned the lack of changes to heroes like Pugna and Grimstroke, who have been strong in the recent patches.
Gorgc said, “I am actually quite impressed with how little they did in this patch. I'm actually I'm literally impressed. I feel like they were fu****g 5 hours late yesterday with the patch, they probably wrote this during their fu****g lunch break or something. This is like nothing dude, this is so light.”
In contrast, Brian "BSJ" Canavan provided a nuanced analysis on his YouTube channel, adopting a neutral stance on the patch. Acknowledging the minimal nature of the changes, BSJ cautioned players to keep an eye on Lone Druid, identifying the hero as a potential standout in the evolving meta.
BSJ said, “I know the patch was pretty small. Um, a lot of people are underwhelmed by it but this is pretty much what they've been doing the last few years and I'm glad we got rid of the absolute bonkers heroes but we have new heroes to look out for.“
On a positive note, both Roman "RAMZES666" Kushnarev and Alexander "TORONTOTOKYO" Khertek endorsed the patch succinctly with one-liners, indicating their approval of the update. While RAMZES666 said, “Interesting patch ) ),” TORONTOTOKYO commented, “The patch is good.”
The limited changes in Patch 7.34e have emerged as a primary source of discontent among both professional and casual players. While some have expressed outright dissatisfaction, others have maintained a more measured perspective, recognizing the continuation of Valve's incremental approach to updates.
