Nerfs Over Buffs: The Impact Of 6.88e
It seems like we’ll be living with patch 6.88e for a couple more months, since Valve has announced that the next update won’t come until the “tail end of fall, on December 12, 2016.” That patch will most likely be the much awaited Monkey King patch and a batch of major changes in 6.89, but until then, and through the next Major, we’ll have to live with 6.88e. It’s a patch that has persisted past the usual expiration date of patches and much of it has to do with the overall balance of the meta, and Valve’s continued minor patches.
Before 6.87, minor patches were minor. It was possible to have minor patches that had only a few lines, such as a bug fixes, or as in patch 6.86, repeated nerfs to Invoker in 6.86c, 6.86d, and 6.86e. Since then, minor patches have widened their scope, and nerfed or buffed multiple heroes across the board. Patch 6.88e is no different, and its across the board changes have extended the life of 6.88, aiming to keep Dota fresh for the Boston Major.
Morphling
- Morphling intelligence gain reduced from 1.5 to 1.1
The nerf results in a 36% decrease in his intelligence gain, ranking the 2nd lowest out of all heroes (Phantom Assassin and Troll Warlord are tied for last). Couple this with a nerf in illusion damage to buildings, and Morphling has taken a noticeable, albeit slight, dip in his win rate.
While his pick rate has also taken a similar dip, there is some opportunity for renewed interest. NP’s carry, Aui_2000, recently debuted an interesting build during The Summit qualifiers.
Silver Edge on Morphling is a situational item, but in this game it enabled him to pick off Storm Spirit with Adaptive Strike stuns, and it allowed him to kill Vengeful Spirit without picking up the negative debuff aura. The build opens up a more dynamic way to play Morphling, rather than the usual farm and split pushing style.
Keeper of the Light
- Mana Leak manacost increased from 75 to 150
- Illuminate radius increased from 350 to 375
- Blinding Light knockback distance increased from 400 to 525
Keeper Of The Light’s has his highest win rate in the 2-3k MMR bracket, where Illuminate is the strongest against unwitting enemies. So it’s even more surprising to see a small decline in his win rate, especially because Illuminate is skilled first in 72.4% of games and maxed in 40.2% of games.
Mana Leak is skilled first in 44.5% of games, and the impact of its mana nerf is certainly felt. KOTL players can no longer indefinitely cast Mana Leak at level 2, using Chakra Magic to replenish their own pool. And later on in the laning phase, players will only be able to have one cast of Illuminate and Mana Leak, before running into mana issues.
Faceless Void
- Time Dilation now only freezes abilities that are on cooldown, rather than also affecting abilities cast afterwards
- Time Dilation slow per frozen ability increased from 8% to 10%
Invoker players can finally move now, thanks to a change in the way Time Dilation works. Previously, Invoker players, along with heroes with low cooldown spells, such as Skywrath Mage, were hamstringing themselves before they realized it. The change raised the skill floor of Time Dilation, making it no longer an automatic cast.
Even though the slow itself was buffed, Void players can only reap that benefit with a timely cast, whereas before it was a no brainer decision. The efficacy of the spell now depends on the caster, rather than the ignorance of the victim. In a game with countless spell interactions, this change in Time Dilation is a welcome one for newer players. There are only a handful of spells in the game that can hurt a player if that player doesn’t know how that spell works—Bloodseeker’s Rupture, Pugna’s Nether Ward Blademail, to name a few—and it was the right design decision, by changing Time Dilation to remove these types of frustrating interactions.
Low Risk Patching: Nerfs Over Buffs
Buffs, even minor ones, run the risk of bringing new heroes into the meta, buffeting good heroes into the overpowered, and disrupting its current balance. Windranger’s final buff was a seemingly benign reduction of her Shackleshot cast point from 0.3 to 0.15 before she rose to dominance.
Nerfs, however, run the risk of unintended consequences. One hero nerf can result in another hero’s advantage. But what they do, more often than not, is maintain the status quo, which is patch 6.88 and the meta that has resulted from TI6. Nerfs tamp down heroes that have become nuisances. It's a smoothing over of heroes that threaten the stability of a patch. Mirana was hit with her own nerfs, and this patch a spate of other heroes got theirs. Fans may prefer a patch sooner than December 12, but 6.88e may be enough to sate their appetite until then.
No first comments shall pass
Long time to go until 6.89 comes :(
maybe valve should just slow down morphling's morphs instead of reducing his int. I dunno, just saying
hell yea 4th
5th blood
5th?
1.1 INT gain WTF
all my friend are heathen take it slow
10th blood :P
The real 10th blood
I want more brewmaster buffs. I want some crits on his ult and make that fire spirit a bit more tanky cos literally 1 hit ko fire panda.
Come on 1.1 int gain? Why not just increase mana cost for wave form or morph?
PA's int growth was buffed to 1.4 a long time ago.
@1NTERISTIL
wait for them to ask you who you know
Those percentages for KOTL don't add up...
gg WP kek
Interesting
Keep it balanced I say!
FaKiNg Pa gOt SmArT fOr FoCkS SaKe I lIkE hOw NoBoDy GiVeS a FoRk
6.86
> Increased Intelligence and growth from 13+1 to 15+1.4
"especially because Illuminate is skilled first in 72.4% of games" "Mana Leak is skilled first in 44.5% of games"
That's already 116.9% of games included, I wonder how many people take chakra first.
EDIT: I think it's because the stat referenced is actually comparing against other levels the skill could be taken, not other skills taken at first level. Meaning that games when the skill isn't skilled at all aren't counted against? I think.
Anyway, the stats are actually 63.4% of games have illuminate skilled at level one, while 31.3% have mana leak skilled at level 1.
LOL @ the comment above mine
72.4% and 44.5% don't overlap mate.... jesus christ 116.9% made me lmAo ffs
Un-nerf KOTL
PA's int gain was (I forget when exactly) buffed to 1.4, so she's above Morph and Troll now.
Icefrog should nerf Stifling Dagger mana cost to 28/27/26/25 :3
Oh, and you spoke too soon. Later that day, 6.88F launched. LOL!
"It seems like we’ll be living with patch 6.88e for a couple more months". Boy you were wrong.
6.88F is out lol
Another nerf sigh
"It seems like we’ll be living with patch 6.88e for a couple more months." 6.88f is already released. LOL.
Fuck my Morph... was my main, now with the 6.88F is even more nerfed.
With this nerf patches players Brian gets nerf too,in 20 games I lost more than 50% cuz my teammate still used to buff patch
that moment when you make an article about 88e and 88f hits the deck...
After 88f Centaur now only hero with no nerfs.
Lol 88f is being released
Dotabuff, can you make a blog about this 26 changes in 6.88f please? :3
it's a known practice - you dont nerf good heroes, you buff weak heroes. Valve needs time to embrace it
LUL 6.88f
lmao 6.88f
I quote: "but until then, and through the next Major, we’ll have to live with 6.88e." Guys, stop racism. Show love and respect to 6.88f.
6.88 zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzgrejfbrjthreyqa ,a month later
All hail gaben, increase meepo's damage, thx my lord