Dota 2 patch 7.41c is awful news for Batrider and Puck, and keeps Roshan under wraps

New Dota 2 7.41c patch notes have arrived to shake up the meta once again, and Valve is bringing some of the most impactful heroes in line with targeted nerfs across the roster. We’re still recovering from the grand shakeup of 7.41, which removed Facets from the game altogether, but it feels like the team is honing in on that balancing sweet spot once more. That doesn’t mean it’s resting easy, with 81 heroes receiving adjustments in the MOBA’s latest update. Here’s what you need to watch out for first.

Before we get into the hero changes, the new Dota 2 update adjusts a handful of items and mechanics. Top of the list is a change to the Roshan pits, which will now block vision for units with flying vision, meaning you can’t see in if you’re outside and vice versa. This also impacts skills that grant it temporarily, such as Monkey King while Tree Dancing, Night Stalker with Dark Ascension, or Clockwerk while using Jetpack. The Alleviation health regen effect left by Tormentor upon death is now a little stronger, and lasts an extra five seconds.

The most notable item change comes for Soul Ring, which has had its cooldown increased from 25 seconds to 30. As one of the most powerful and reliable sources of mana replenishment in Dota 2, it’s a core item for many, so expect to see this hit popular picks including Alchemist and Queen of Pain. Elsewhere, Bloodstone gets a slight nerf, offering more base health but with a longer cooldown on its active and a less powerful spell amp effect against nearby foes. Harpoon is also no longer able to move the caster if they’re rooted, leashed or bound, but you can still use it on other targets who are under those effects.

Batrider and Beastmaster will both be among those licking their wounds. The former suffers significant nerfs to the damage of both Firefly and Flaming Lasso, alongside a move speed decrease. The latter has had his early game potency dropped with less base strength and nerfs to the early levels of Wild Axes and the Razorback Boar. Drums of Slom also now deals less damage and across a narrower radius. Tidehunter’s base mana regen has been lowered, which will hurt even more alongside the Soul Ring nerf. Alch loses early game health regen on Chemical Rage, and late game Greevil’s Greed bonuses with melted Scepters.

Puck’s level 25 talent no longer causes Dream Coil to pierce debuff immunity, instead granting it a 30 second cooldown reduction. That makes it far less of an impactful swing in your favor. Lone Druid’s Spirit Bear now costs more and loses the level ten talent that sliced its cooldown by 25 seconds, along with a reduction in bonus building damage at level 25, lowering his potential to quickly push lanes. Pangolier starts with less base health regen and will now spend more mana on Swashbuckle and Roll Up.

Elsewhere, Bounty Hunter now moves faster with Shadow Walk at early ranks, and the mana cost of Track has been lowered, but you’ll pay more for Shuriken Toss at higher levels. Drow Ranger’s Frost Arrows deal more damage and her Gust is cheaper, Lina’s Light Strike Array and Laguna Blade are more powerful, and Nature’s Prophet’s Treants are stronger and cheaper, especially early on. Broodmother’s Insatiable Hunger radius has been raised by 50%, allowing her Spiderlings to benefit from the bonus damage and lifesteal at much greater distance.

There are a few more specific tweaks to watch out for across the rest of the patch notes. Doom’s health regen on Scorched Earth has been lowered to 6.66 at all levels – he wasn’t overperforming, but presumably Valve thought he was doing well enough to succumb to the temptation of the joke. Morphling’s Waveform now casts in your desired direction when the target location is beyond its range, which is a nice quality-of-life upgrade. Last but not least, the biggest patch winner is Tinker, who gets updated sound effects for his turrets.

Dota 2 patch 7.41c is live now, and you can play the game for free on Steam. If you’re looking to try out the changes for yourself, be sure to check our updated list of Dota 2 console commands to quickly set up the perfect testing environment. In particular, there are a lot of base move speed changes to keep track of this patch; for example, Templar Assassin can now run faster than Keeper of the Light’s horse. Make sure you don’t get caught out of position as a result.