Dota 2 7.09: The support update - Changes analyzed
The changes in the 7.09 patch will greatly benefit supports - particularly the position 5 - and overall reduce the toxicity in the team. Let’s analyze them.
Gameplay changes
Courier cost reduced from 200 to 50
The courier is so cheap that anyone could buy it. Be warned: there will be always supports refusing to buy it. I encountered one just yesterday, in the first game played after the update!
Starting gold is reduced from 625 to 600
Tangos now come with 3 charges and cost 90 gold
Before you spent 150 gold for 5 charges: 30 gold each. Now 180 gold for 6 charges: 30 gold each.
Technically, the price of each tango remained the same, but the package is different. As a solo support, you will have to buy two sets of Tangos because your mid player still needs two charges.
Initial bounty rune now gives +40 gold to all heroes instead of 100 to the hero that picks it up (those bounty runes look slightly different)
All member of the team gets the gold, so there will be fewer fights within the team in pubs to decide who actually takes the rune. Often, both mid and offlane players contested it.
The mid players can block the creep wave in each game as they can rely on their team for the first Bounty Rune.
Two runes, which are what your team will get in most games, are comparable to the team bounty from destroying a tier 1 tower, while three runes are as much as the last hit bounty of a tier 1 tower.
Considering all the adjustments and the reduced cost of the courier, the amount of gold available in the early game for the entire team is higher than before.
Roving Pathfinder loading screen for Windranger - Image: Valve
Killing a neutral camp stack now gives a bonus 15% gold bounty to the hero that stacked it. No bonus is given if the stack is cleared by an enemy or the hero that stacked it. (New audio is now played once a stack is successful. Stacked neutrals have a buff with the stacker's hero icon on it)
The audio produced by a successful stack and the number of camps stacked in the post game scoreboard are small but important rewards that will compel people to stack more. Of course, the 15% gold bounty is the main benefit, but never underestimate the weight of psychological factors.
Stacking neutrals for extra gold is also useful for all supports lacking farming abilities to clear creep waves. Now, even selfish players will have an incentive to stack!
Tier 1 mid lane towers are now a bit closer to the river
The mid lane is slightly safer and this could encourage more heroes to play there - especially ranged ones. The mid laner also requires less help from his supports.
Roaming and getting kills could be harder for the position 4 supports, so they will devote more time to other activities, such as stacking the jungle camps and securing all the Bounty Runes.
Removed a tree in the radiant jungle (to the top right of the blue crystals near the ancients)
Range creep attack acquisition range reduced from 800 to 600
A great help for supports as they can move in the jungle and harass the opponents in the lane with fewer chances to be aggroed randomly by the ranged creep. It is also a lot more challenging for the offlaner to pull.
General changes
Lane creeps now have a minor knockback based on the amount of hero damage in the killing blow
Nature's Guise now shows a buff icon to show when Treant remains within range of trees
Fixed Flesh Golem heal not taking into account temporary increases to max HP
Fixed location of familiars when player had bought Aghs or chose the +1 Familiar talent
Courier no longer try to deliver gems if your inventory is full.
Minor Windranger updates to model, textures and attachment point for bow strings
Fixed Windranger taunt not showing when you don't have vision of the center of the map
Added last updated time to the guide details view in the In-Game guide picker
Added number of camps stacked to the support column of the post game scoreboard
Added a toggle near the language filter to prioritize recent guides
Custom Games: The local lobby list is now sorted by oldest lobby first
Custom Games: Fixed a bug where loading into a custom game would occasionally fail to find the necessary files (resulting in a crash or missing interface elements)
If you are looking for a video analysis, I suggest Purge’s first impressions video:
Header Image: Valve
