Valve releases Dota 2 gameplay patch 7.31 featuring Techies rework and new hero Primal Beast

The wait for the gameplay patch 7.31 is finally over for the Dota 2 fans as Valve delivered the patch on time, which is a little out of the ordinary for the developer.

Leading up to the patch’s release, fans were teased with a Techies rework and it arrived bundled with more content. New hero Primal Beast also joins the game’s roster in the new patch, and with it comes new changes to jungle camps.

Primas Beast’s arrival adds new abilities to some existing jungle creatures while also introducing new jungle spawns. These changes are designed to add more variety to the game. The item shop also welcomes new faces with three new items added to the Valve title. Four more have also been reworked.

In addition to getting used to new faces, players will need to adapt to all the gameplay and hero changes. Almost all heroes in the roster received buffs or nerfs with the new patch.

Here are some of the most notable gameplay changes introduced with patch 7.31:

• Techies Rework
  • Sticky Bomb (New Ability): Techies lob a bomb cart onto a target area. If the cart lands near an enemy, it sticks to them and reduces movement speed briefly before exploding.
  • Reactive Tazer (New Ability): Techies trigger a zap that provides a jolt of movement speed and temporarily disarms enemies attacking them. At the end of its charge, the zap explodes, disarming enemies in the area.
  • Blast Off!: Techies launch themselves into the air, dealing massive explosion damage to themselves and enemies upon landing. Importantly, this blast no longer deals lethal damage to Techies.
  • Proximity Mines: Now Techies’ ultimate ability. Techies plant a deadly mine that only appears visible when an enemy is close enough for it to explode.
• Gameplay Updates
  • Cooldown reduction now stacks diminishingly
  • Moved the bounty runes from the triangle to the primary jungle
  • Moved the Dire and Radiant offlane towers 320 units further away from base
  • When a hero respawns in the fountain, they are invulnerable as long as there’s at least one enemy hero in the base until they issue a command
  • Neutral creeps now increase their HP by 30, armor by 0.5, base damage by 3, attack speed by 5, gold bounty by 1 and XP bounty by 5 every 7.5 minutes, up to 30 times. (Last upgrade at 225 mins, same intervals as lane creeps)
• New Items
  • Revenant’s Brooch
    • Requires: Witch Blade, Mystic Staff, 800g recipe
    • Bonuses: +45 Intelligence, +40 Attack Speed, eight bonus Armor, +300 Projectile speed
    • Active ability: Your next five attacks have true strike and deal magical damage. Can attack Ethereal units. Expires after 15s. Mana cost: 250. Cooldown: 45s
    • Passive: Causes your next attack to apply a poison for 4s slowing by 25% and dealing 1x of your Intelligence as damage every second. Can only trigger once every nine seconds
  • Wraith Pact
    • Requires: Vladmir’s Offering, Point Booster, 400g recipe
    • Bonuses: +250 Health, +250 Mana
    • Active ability: It can be cast within 350 range to create a totem that reduces all enemies’ attack and spell damage within 900 AoE by 25 percent and deals 25 damage per second. Totem can move at 150 movement speed. Lasts 25s or five hero hits (10 creep hits). Mana cost: 100. CD: 60s
    • Passive: Vladmir’s Aura. Grants 15 percent Lifesteal, 18 percent Bonus Damage, 1.75 mana regeneration and three armor to allies in a 1200 AoE
  • Boots of Bearing
    • Requires: Tranquil Boots, Drum of Endurance, 1500g recipe
    • Bonuses: Eight Strength and Intelligence, +65 Movement Speed, +15 HP Regen. The item features eight charges and gains a charge every three minutes
    • Active ability: Consumes a charge to give +50 attack speed and 15 percent movement speed allies to allies within 1200 radius for six seconds. During the first two seconds allies can’t be slowed by other abilities. Does not stack with Drum of Endurance Active
    • Passive: Swiftness Aura: Grants +20 movement speed to allies within 1200 radius. Does not stack with Drum of Endurance Aura

Changes of this caliber often shake up the metagame, meaning strategies that worked yesterday may stop working after installing the latest patch onto your computer.

Considering it’s the first day of the new patch, players will be experimenting with the changes and it may take a few pro tournaments before professional players find the most optimal ways to play Dota 2 following its Primal Beast update.

Players can check out the complete patch notes here or on Dota 2’s main lobby once they load into the game after installing the February patch.