In Dota Underlords, the 5-gold units have dominated the gameplay for quite some time. Now Valve wants to address this and is bringing a balance patch.
What does the new patch change? The new patch in Dota Underlords mainly makes changes to the 4- and 5-gold units and some alliances. The biggest change relates to the Tricksters.
They now only require 2 champions for their synergy instead of 3. In return, some units have seen an increase in their gold cost. There have also been gold changes with Treant, Razor, Medusa, and the Wind Ranger.
When will the new patch be released? The patch has not been released yet but is expected to be released before the weekend. No exact date has been provided so far.
Below, we present the most important changes brought by the patch. You can find the complete patch notes on Valve’s website.
Alliances may become more important with the patch
What changes will occur with the Tricksters? There will be changes to seven of the existing alliances with the patch. The biggest ones affect the Trickster heroes:
- Tricksters only need 2/4/6 heroes for the bonus
- Level 1 – A random Trickster gains +9 armor and +8 health regeneration
- Level 2 – All Tricksters gain +9 armor and +8 health regeneration
- Level 3 – All units gain +9 armor and +8 health regeneration
- Armor and health points are now always doubled when you have fewer units on the field than the opponent.
The last change is the most exciting, as it ensures that the buff dynamically doubles based on whether you prevail or struggle against the opponent. Previously, the bonuses only doubled if you started a duel with fewer heroes on the board.
With this, Valve has strengthened the Tricksters in their alliance. To ensure they do not become too powerful, the heroes will also be adjusted:
- Clockwork now costs 3 instead of 1 gold
- Armor is increased to 5/7/10.
- Health points are increased to 800/1600/3200.
- Minimum attack damage is increased to 55/110/220.
- Maximum damage is increased to 65/130/260.
- Inventor now costs 3 instead of 1 gold
- Health points are increased to 750/1500/3500.
- Minimum damage is increased to 50/110/225.
- Maximum damage is increased to 60/120/275.
- The skill cooldown is reduced to 8/6/0.5 and the damage is increased to 350/450/450.
What changes are made to the other alliances? The changes in the other six alliances aside from the Tricksters are significantly smaller and alternate between buffs and nerfs:
- Warlocks now heal the champions with the lowest health percentage rather than totals. In return, the values change from 50%/100%/150% to 50%/80%/120%.
- Trolls now grant 10% attack speed to allies already at the first level.
- The damage reduction from Knights changes from 15/20/30 to 15/20/25.
- The armor reduction from Undead changes from 5/10/20 to 5/10/15.
- Elementals now have an additional 10% chance to disarm ranged attackers for 4 seconds.
- The damage of Bloodbound units is increased from +100% to +125%.
What does the patch change for alliance items? All alliance items begin with a specific level from 1 to 3. This is determined randomly and differs from player to player.
Depending on the level, the alliance item varies in strength. The damage of dragons is not always increased by 1% but by 0.5/1/1.5% depending on the level.
Why might alliances become more important now? In the early game, alliances already play an important role, but they diminish in the late game since many 4- and 5-gold units simply overpower the synergies.
Exactly this could change with the new patch through adjustments to items and alliances. Additionally, some overpowered units will now be weakened.
The end of strong units in the late game?
What changes will occur with the heroes? The new patch aims to improve low gold value heroes, especially in the late game. Lycan, Phantom Assassin, and Abaddon have only received improvements at the third level.
Typically, health points, damage, or skill effects have been adjusted only at the highest level.
In return, the patch weakens certain 4- and 5-gold units to provide more variety.
What changes will occur with the 4-gold units? The focus for the 4-gold units is mainly on nerfs.
- Medusa now costs 5 instead of 4 gold.
- The damage modifier is reduced from 40 to 20%.
- The number of bonus shots is increased from 2 to 2/3/4.
- Kunkka is also being weakened.
- The damage from the Ghost Ship is reduced from 150/250/350 to 50/150/250.
- The skill cooldown is increased from 10 to 15 seconds.
- For Necrophos, the cooldown of his skill is increased from 5 to 7.5 seconds.
What changes will occur with the 5-gold units? The focus of the changes to the strongest units has particularly shifted to Enigma and Tidehunter.
- Enigma now has the alliance Shaman instead of Warlock.
- The radius of his skill is reduced from 2/3/4 to 1/2/3 tiles.
- Tidehunter now has the alliance Warrior instead of Naga. He also now costs only 4 gold.
- His health is reduced from 950/1900/3800 to 850/1700/3400.
- Health regeneration is removed.
- The radius of his skill is reduced from 2/3/4 to 1/2/3 tiles. The damage and duration are also reduced.
The popular units Techies, Gyrocopter, and Lich, however, are not affected. Again, some players have called for nerfs.
Better AI and more XP for the battle pass
What else does the patch bring? In addition to adjustments to alliances and heroes, the patch brings various other general novelties:
- Rounds now end only after all skills and attacks have run out.
- The first three rounds will have only 15 instead of 25 seconds of preparation time.
- If you lose against neutral opponents, you will only receive items from the next lower tier. In return, none of these will be discarded.
- Neutral opponents will be adjusted for balance.
- Units that cannot be healed will no longer be healed.
- There will be more XP for the battle pass for game placements and also more XP through daily rewards.
What do players say about the patch? Players on Reddit are surprised by the many changes. Most, however, are well-received by the players. Especially the changes to the 3-gold units at level 3 receive much praise.
How effective the changes actually are will only be revealed once the patch goes live.
