The Valve Dota Plus Summer 2022 Update Patch 7.31d brings the Meta Swinging patch and new mechanics for players to take advantage of, especially for the pro players participating in the ongoing DPC Tour III.

Not only will it bring some changes to the current gameplay, but with the updated items and hero changes, patch 7.31d possibly would shift the current meta for the pro players, or will it? Here are some notable changes coming from patch 7.31d.

Merci Added to Captain Mode

One of Valve's most significant changes for patch 7.31d must be adding Marci to Captains Mode. This makes her eligible for competitive play in the upcoming tournaments and other competitive leagues.

In addition to her Unleash cooldown buff reduced by 10 seconds for all levels, the Dispose range adjustment, and fixed bugs, the DOTA: Dragon Blood character can make some impact by exploiting her Unleash as aggressive support. Safelane players will especially have to be cautious when dealing with this whistling hero!

Roshan New Mechanics

Another significant change to Valve's balance in patch 7.31d includes Roshan's instant attack and destroying Ward units when no other melee units are in range. Shadow Shaman, who once could solo-target a core unit, was indirectly nerfed with the said adjustment.

In some cases, this might shift the current meta under a situation where a Ward could change the game or the similar one. Using Roshan with these changes will help the team shut down enemy Ward much faster. What a time to play support!

Other Hero and Items Updates

Other than the two major changes in Patch, we nitpicked some hero and item changes that we thought you’d want to know! These are go-to heroes in 7.31d, will we get to see more of them in the current patch?

Hero

Crystal Maiden

Given the currently high pick rate with the added Frostbite range buff and Crystal Nova duration up to 5 seconds, Crystal Maiden would instantly give her team advantage over the battlefield if used properly, albeit with the base strength reduced from 18 to 17.

Pugna

One of the most-picked hero in the EU and SEA region, Pugna Nether Ward’s nerf of damage used mana reduced from 1/1.25/1.5/1.75 to 0.75/1/1.25/1.5 and damage reduction reduced from 10/15/20/25% to 8/12/16/20% would heavily impact the his performance in the early phase.

Items

Null Talisman

The Null Talisman is coming to shuffle the meta and will no longer grant a 4% mana cost reduction but will be replaced with + 3% maximum mana to the user, which will prevent the user from having a huge mana pool after 30 minutes to give. Is Storm Spirit effectively nerfed because of this?

Black King Bar

With the cooldown increase from 75 to 90, spell-casting heroes will get to exercise their spells more often and cores will have to pick their fights more carefully to avoid the tables turn.

Bloodstone

Yet another update in favour for intelligence heroes, spell lifesteal is buffed from 25% to 30% and cooldown lowered from 40 to 30 seconds. Leshrac users will be particularly happy with this change as once squishy int heroes can now find this a viable weapon to sustain their late-game stats.

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