Dota 2 patch 7.33d is out and it is an impressive balance update, aiming to bring down a few broken heroes while giving others a chance to shine. The patch has more than twice as many nerfs as it does buffs, most of them aimed at Universal heroes who are a little too strong right now.

The latest update will likely be the patch played for the upcoming Bali Major, as well as the ongoing Dreamleague Season 20 and Division II of the DPC.

The biggest changes in Dota 2 patch 7.33d

Vanguard can no longer be disassembled into Octarine Core

It’s interesting how a recipe change to an item can greatly affect the meta. Octarine Core containing perseverance and Soul Booster allowed offlaners to rush Vanguard and Arcane Boots and then disassemble both to make the item. The latest patch aims to rectify that by removing Ring of Health as a component for Octarine Core, requiring two Void Stones instead.

This drastically changes the offlane meta, as certain heroes such as Doom greatly benefitted from the previous Octarine Core buildup. Time will tell if this is enough to bring new offlaners into the meta or if we’re gonna get the same heroes as before.

Void Spirit and 29 other heroes received nerfs

Nearly a quarter of all the heroes in Dota 2 received significant nerfs, most of them aimed at Universal heroes who are dominating the meta. Some of the nerfs are relatively minor, such as Bloodseeker losing a little bit of damage to early levels of Blood Rite or slightly reduced stun duration on Boundless Strike for Monkey King.

The biggest nerfs go to Void Spirit, who lost a little stat gain from every attribute, increased mana cost on Dissimilate, a weaker ultimate, and the Outer Ring talent moved to level 20, instead of 15. The hero is now easier to catch, kill, and not nearly as scary as before.

Magnus and Windranger also received nerfs, although they are smaller changes. Both of them will deal less damage in this patch, and in Windranger’s case, be considerably easier to bring down due to her reduced strength gain and weaker Scepter upgrade.

Universal heroes are still strong but these changes will bring them down to a more manageable level. As Dreamleague season 20 continues, it’ll be interesting to see which heroes the pros stop favoring thanks to the new update.

IceFrog blesses 14 heroes with buffs

Quite a few underutilized heroes received some much-needed buffs to bring them back into the competitive scene. Some of the buffs are “notice-me” buffs, simply to remind players the hero exists, such as Lina receiving bonuses to her Aghanim’s Shard and Scepter, two mostly ignored aspects of the hero.

The two biggest winners based on patch notes are Leshrac and Primal Beast. Leshrac’s Split Earth is bigger at later levels, Diabolic Edict has a lower cooldown, and Lightning Storm deals 20 damage more. Personally, I think that is enough to bring him back into the meta as a core hero.

Primal Beast received some bonus damage to his ultimate, as each time he slams an enemy, Pulverize becomes more painful. The spell went from dealing 240/390/500 damage a level (assuming an enemy has 25% magic resistance) to 350/500/660, a significant buff, especially to his earlier levels. Primal Beast is a tempo hero and the bonus damage will help him bring down enemies

Dota 2 patch 7.33d aims to reel in some of the more outlandish aspects of the game and bring a few heroes into the forefront. Considering how big the New Frontiers update was, it’s good to see IceFrog continue to get the gameplay just right for the pro and casual scenes alike.

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