Just a few days after the release of the significant Dota 2 7.36 patch, we have another set of patch notes focusing on balancing some of the heroes that became too strong. The Dota 2 7.36a patch notes, released overnight, include substantial nerfs to many of the top heroes from the initial 7.36 patch, such as Templar Assassin, Wraith King, and Clinkz. Additionally, a comprehensive list of bug fixes addresses various crashes and gameplay issues that have emerged in recent days.
Major hero nerfs in the 7.36a patch
Templar Assassin
Templar Assassin, who has seen one of the biggest win rate jumps since the 7.36 patch, receives significant nerfs. Her damage shield is reduced substantially, the initial range on her Psy Blades is shortened, and the damage from Meld is decreased. These changes mean she will now do less damage from a shorter range with a less effective shield.
Juggernaut
Juggernaut also gets substantial nerfs, primarily affecting his damage output, which had surged due to his new innate ability granting a 10% damage buff to targets facing him and the ability for his spin to crit while active. The nerfs to his ultimate and Blade Fury damage are intended to significantly reduce his damage potential.
Legion Commander
Legion Commander’s Stonehall Plate has been nerfed as well. She will no longer receive a barrier for damaging illusions, and the damage barrier has been halved, preventing her from running around with an excessively high damage barrier when playing against Phantom Lancer.
Other nerfed heroes
- Wraith King: Damage nerfs to his new Spectral Blade ability.
- Abaddon: Smaller but noticeable buffs to his shield’s damage output and passive damage.
- Clinkz: A major nerf through a bug fix—his Skeleton Archers no longer apply Burning Barrage when cast.
Bug fixes and crash solutions
The 7.36a patch also includes a long list of bug fixes addressing various issues:
- Force Staff and similar abilities can no longer be used on leashed targets (Slark Pounce, Puck Dream Coil, etc.).
- Fixed crashes related to abilities and items like Lich’s Chain Frost, Lycan’s Shapeshift, Mars’ Arena of Blood, Morphling’s Replicate, Silencer’s Glaive of Wisdom, and Venomancer’s Plague Ward.
- Numerous gameplay bugs fixed, such as Light Collector’s penalty value, Quelling Blade damage values, Blademail reflecting Witch Doctor’s Scepter Death Ward bounce damage, and more.
- Specific hero fixes include adjustments to Axe, Abaddon, Ancient Apparition, Batrider, Clinkz, Dawnbreaker, Dragon Knight, Faceless Void, Huskar, Invoker, Leshrac, Lich, Lion, Lone Druid, Lycan, Mars, Meepo, Muerta, Nyx Assassin, Ogre Magi, Phantom Assassin, Phoenix, Pudge, Puck, Shadow Demon, Silencer, Slark, Sniper, Spirit Breaker, Storm Spirit, Templar Assassin, Timbersaw, Tiny, Undying, Venomancer, Vengeful Spirit, Warlock, Windranger, and Wraith King.
Detailed patch notes for key fixes
- Fixed Light Collector incorrectly having a 25% penalty instead of 75%.
- Fixed Quelling Blade using flipped damage values for Melee/Ranged.
- Fixed Blademail reflecting Witch Doctor’s Scepter Death Ward bounce damage back to him.
- Fixed Yasha and Kaya Cast Speed stacking.
- Fixed Skadi slow values being inverted for Ranged vs Melee.
- Fixed Disperser applying 2 dispels if cast on self.
- Fixed Radiance and Shiva’s Guard not updating dynamically with changes to AoE Bonus.
- Fixed numerous tooltip inaccuracies and ability interactions for various heroes.
For a complete list of changes, you can refer to the full patch notes. This first letter patch just days after a major update addresses critical balance issues and gameplay bugs, likely having a significant impact on the Dota 2 meta.