Guys, a BIG patch got released today (6.78)! This is a major patch in almost a year! Big balance changes and 2 new heroes.
6.78 Changelogs
Discussion on Reddit
**My take on 6.78 relevance to pro scene:**
* Scepter Reaper Scythe doesn't seem to be a big deal to me. He's rarely picked and that very situational buyback deny is not worth it similar to the reason why you don't pick Ursa because he's good at killing Rosh fast.
* I don't even care about Armlet, but Bear now gives 300 bounty!
* Omni getting Scepter in pro scenes? Nope.
* Heroes will reach level 11 much faster for that ultimate level 2.
* Gyro's Flak Cannon 30 cd from 20 is a hefty nerf in team fights.
* Lich's Chainfrost bounce to 10 from 7 is noteworthy. He would be quite deadly at level 6.
* Nyx got a nerf to his ridiculous Mana Burn.
* SF's ultimate isn't that big deal either. Yes 50% reduction will make a difference, but in grand scheme of things (positioning, all magic spells, stuns, etc), it's no big deal. It's similar to Tide's Anchor Smash (-40%).
* Scepter Silencer, lol. Nope. Gimmicky. He needs his Hex/Atos/Mek/etc.
* BIG nerf on Naix with Open Wounds cast range. He can always initiate with his far Open Wound casting at low levels. All that is GONE with 200 range. He can hardly gank now, but only act as a follow-up in pro scene level 1-5 wood ganks.
* Gem is indeed a big deal & new CM draft.
* Bat got a noteworthy slight nerf. Flamebreak will have him manage mana more conservatively. The vision is bad too.
* Tiderhunter's Ravage no big deal.
* AC's armor stacking with Vlad is noteworthy. Your supports will benefit greatly with +15 armor (AC + Vlad + Mek). Suddenly they all have mini ACs.
* BKB receives a bigger nerf.
* DK's Corrosive Breath carrying over is good. Now there's no more awkward delaying ultimate level 2 because it's not good enough early and pushing is better.
**My take on 6.78 relevance to PUB STOMPING:**
* Axe's HUGE 20% Helix CD reduction will further make him perform big turn-around Helix plays (suddenly triple kill, and Axe was ganked first? wtf).
* Dagger getting 12 CD from 14 is a HUGE buff to Puck. Puck relies on cycling all his CDs to dodge you forever and ever. That extra 2 second reduction means better clutch escapes with Phase Shift, Euls, Orb, etc. More big Puck plays incoming.
* Bristleback can sustain his Quill damage more. This will prove to be quite annoying.
* CM's new Brilliance Aura buff is double from level 1. And remember CM gets another double regen for herself. This is a quite a buff right from level 5 with 3-1-1.
* Doom's Scepter mechanic is lulz. But think of the opportunity cost. Who really gets Scepter on Doom? He's usually busy going hard carry with real DPS/HP/Armor items.
* Enchantress' Scepter is noteworthy because this will also guarantee +25 pure damage at every shot with no additional cost.
* Shredder is stronger than ever before now! With some farm, I think he's already good in pubs that can make big plays (Arcane & Wand). But now he got a massive set of 4 buffs. This will have him ROFLSTOMP his early game.
* Pudge's insane Flesheap buff will allow him to snowball more in pubs. This is good. Who doesn't like Pudge buffs?
* Lion Scepter Finger CD is lulz 20 seconds. I like this trend of really fine-tuning otherwise worthless Scepter users similar to Axe & Huskar (BIG low CDs!)
* Sand King's Sandstorm having full fade delay is awesome. He can make big plays, the only thing levels get you is the CD. Good stuff.
* Veno's 12 cd Poison Sting is a healthy buff since that's the lethal damage when combined with his ultimate. So it buffs both skills together. I thought this would be great for laning harass, but it's only +1 second more when Veno is level 5. Very smart Icefrog.
* Drums are still op.
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