posted by Tezzeret,
[I]Musica chilling[/I]
1. First off, have you played the new patch yet? What did you play and did you get any of the new items?
N9.xMusiCa: Yes, I have played the new patch. And boy I have to say this is one of the biggest patch I've seen for awhile. Reworking almost every hero in the pool and adding in alot of new features into it. I have not come around to test the new items yet. But they all seem like really interesting additions to the game and its definitely gonna make Dota 2 alot more interesting now.
LLL.Dutch_Freak: Nope I have not played the new patch yet. I'm planning to do so tonight. I'm realy looking forward to play with the newly added items & heroes.
Orange.Winter: Ya, I played around with all the new items and Axe seems really team orientated now. We may be able to see him in a lot of future competitive matches now. Good changes on mini map and putting TP scroll on quick buy permenantly is a great feature. Though I dislike that when you hit ALT, hero icons appear on the minimap instead of hero names.
2. The new patch has also introduced five new items which may or may not affect competitive play. What do you think about the new items and which item do you think will make it into the competitive scene. Why do you think so?
N9.xMusiCa: I think that all five of the items has its own uses and benefits. I especially like the Tranquil Boots and Ring of Aquila. As those are cheap items that will benefit supports/farmers greatly and i believe it'll be picked up alot. As for the rest of the three items, it might take the community awhile to figure out what kind of situations these items would be useful in, but I can definitely foresee the items made use of in tournament games
LLL.Dutch_Freak: I think each item is very interesting. Supports can now heal back that anoying collateral damage from wrath of nature with the new boots as well as getting some much needed armor. Alltough manaboots are probably way more important to get for the team.
In addition, I think that we will see more bashers being made in competative gaming now since you can upgrade it now to a really strong item. I also think that basher is stronger in general in Dota 2, due to the no 'psuedo random' mechanic, which means you actualy have 25% chance on your first hit to bash someone. The BKB-piercing disable is what's very appealing to this item. I think we will see this item a lot, after you got your core items (on carry's).
Some support heroes will go for the Rod of Atos. The buildup is okay, getting 250 hp fast and it has a usefull ability. My only concern is that 3100 gold is still a lot of gold for support heroes. I think we will see, if gold permits it, that one of the two supports will get this item and the other one a forcestaff.
Orange.Winter: I think that all the items will be able to make it into competitive play with a designated strategy and draft for it. Every item has their unique usage in countering certain heroes and strats.
3. With buffs applied to almost all the heroes, do you think this will make the game faster?
N9.xMusiCa: I feel that its definitely heading towards that direction. Heroes with higher killing abilities could possibly make the game more gank oriented. And This would greatly help matches move faster and that would help in making tournaments more enjoyable and a much better viewing experience.
LLL.Dutch_Freak: It would seem so, but it's hard to say. I think that currently most games are decided within the first 20 minutes. I really like this. What I realy like is that you revive with full mana. Waiting in the base for like 5-10 sec to get your mana back is the most pointless time in dota (next to being dead of course).
Orange.Winter: Ya. I think the game will go faster now, but not by too much.
4. Some of the more noticeable buffs to heroes are DK with his huge range boost for Dragon Tail in Dragon mode, Axe getting stats improvement across the board and Sand King's epicenter slow going through BKB. What other heroes do think have gotten significant buffs to warrant them being picked in the competitive scene more?
LLL.Dutch_Freak: Bane Elemental. He will make a comeback. He now has one of the highest base stats, and stats gain of any hero. +12 base stats is no small buff. His spells were always strong, and underrated. A little bit castpoint improvement and he'd be awesome! He also has some sexy ms now.
Orange.Winter: Alchemist may see a return to competitive scene with the buff to Goblin's Greed and his ultimate.
5. Besides all the hero buffs and item introduction, the other significant change will be the courier. The invulnerability skill for the courier has been removed making the courier more susceptible to dying and the death of it pretty much accounts for a tower kill for the opposing team. Do you think this change adds another element to the current metagame?
N9.xMusiCa: I feel that the huge courier change was not neccessary, they could have revamped it a little. But changing it entirely was not called for. Especially making it such that the flying courier only has 45 HP which is one hit from death.
LLL.Dutch_Freak: Not at all. The courier's best escape is the fact that its airborn and the high ms. Now it does require a bit more attention when using it. You cannot always press R then T and hope for the best. You may need to use some rallypoints to guide it safely to you when you're on the enemy side of the river. Perhaps this change is a buff to furion as well.
Orange.Winter: It adds another mini agenda in the game, courier hunting! Bottle crowing will be a bit more risky now without the shield.
[I]Winter in the heat of battle.[/I]
6. 6.73 is not yet balanced or used much in WC3 DotA, do you want to use the new changes when playing in Dota 2 tournaments?
N9.xMusiCa: It would ideally be better if we could stick to the old version for now. Until at least IceFrog determines that its ready for tournaments. But of course it would be fun to test out the new versions on tournaments to see how much the gameplay have changed.
LLL.Dutch_Freak: I like a lot of the changes. Many heroes got some nice buffs. But people need time to adjust to all the changes. This is a VERY big changelog with a lot of new content. In like two months I hope everybody will play tournaments with the new changes!
Orange.Winter: It will be balance with time, I think the changes are for the better and I am looking forward to playing it competitively.
7. How do you think these overall changes will affect your current team play?
N9.xMusiCa: It will take some time for us to get used to the new gameplay, but we will definitely be able to cope with it and still be a force to reckon with in the future.
LLL.Dutch_Freak: It will be a bit messy in the beginning. I think with the new changes we will try out a lot of the new stuff. We will try the recently added silencer asap. He will cut through that Dragon Knight's armor like no problem!
Orange.Winter: We have to scrim more and do a lot of research and analysis to find out what will happen.
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