Dota 2 7.35: Huge item changes and ability reworks explained

Royal Jelly is finally back in Dota 2 as 7.35 shuffles both neutral and shop items alike. The follow-up patch for The International 2023 is introducing a whole new meta.

It’s a great time to be a Dota 2 player. Valve spent the time after TI in top gear putting together a giant patch that celebrates Frostivus and reworks the meta. The biggest changes are for items, some of which were spoiled in a poem released last night. Valve declined, however, to spoil some major ability reworks for Juggernaut, Omniknight, and Vengeful Spirit. 

If you want a sneak peek at how the new Dota 2 meta will develop, here are the biggest item and hero changes in patch 7.35 explained.

Valve’s biggest tease from the poem related to neutral items, and it definitely followed through. First, there are now two versatile damage items in Khanda and Parasma. Khanda, which combines Crystalys and Phyactery, offers damage on both fronts by combining the passives of both items into one. The bonus is that Phylactery’s extra damage goes from 100 to 100 + 75% of attack damage. Right-click Skywrath Mage and Zeus could become viable after this change, but only time will tell.

Parasma is actually quite similar to Khanda with a build order of Witch Blade and Mystic Staff. It increases the Intelligence multiplier of Witch Blade and decreases the cooldown, but it also adds a new debuff effect. Magic Corruption decreases the target’s magic resistance by 20%, which could be potent on hybrid damage dealers like Puck, Queen of Pain, and Muerta.

As for neutral item changes, 7.35 has removed the following items from the game:

In their place are several reworked neutrals from ages past along with a few new additions. Old favorites like Craggy Coat, Magic Lamp, and the infamous Royal Jelly are back with major changes. Standout new items include Tier 4 Aviana’s Feather, which grants flying movement at low HP, and Tier 3 Nemesis Curse, which increases damage both taken and received. 

The strangest new neutral of all is Unwavering Condition, a Tier 5 neutral that sets the user's HP to a flat 1,500 no matter what. In exchange, they gain 95% magic resistance. This could be extremely valuable on supports and high-armor heroes that are vulnerable to magic like Phantom Assassin and Slark. 

All of this is combined with several number tweaks and build changes as well as the reintroduction of Ring of Tarrasque. Expect to see plenty of theorycrafting over the next few weeks.

Three of Dota 2’s most iconic abilities have been changed, and it's not clear if it will be for the better.

Juggernaut’s Blade Fury is no longer the spin-to-win lane dominator you know. It now deals significantly less damage, but ticks at twice Jugg’s attack speed. This should allow it to scale better, but it could greatly harm his presence in lane. The ability still does a healthy amount of damage, but it scales much worse at early levels. The DPS shoots back up with items, but Juggernaut players will need to do some serious math to figure out how much.

Vengeful Spirit’s Nether Swap can be extremely impactful, but now enemy heroes will really feel it. It now deals up to 450 magical damage at max level, starting the gank off with a bang. In exchange, it trades its generic damage reduction buff for a shield proportional to the damage. Both Venge and a friendly target benefit from the shield, which should prevent some clumsy deaths from damage-over-time effects. Most importantly, it allows Venge to Blink back to her team unimpeded by enemy damage.

Lastly, but perhaps most importantly, 7.35 changes Omniknight’s Guardian Angel into something completely new. It’s now a single-target ability with 2 charges accompanied by a decrease in mana cost and cooldown. The Aghanim’s Scepter upgrade is where things get crazy. It boosts the charges to 3, makes it global, and applies it to Omni himself whenever used. Combined with his current burst play style, Omni could become a serious threat both offensively and defensively.

The vast majority of hero changes in this patch are small, with number tweaks and talent swaps for the majority of the cast. A few holdovers from the TI meta, like Chaos Knight and Spectre, got slapped while unpicked heroes like Mars and Ursa got some bonuses. The pace of the game shouldn’t feel different, but the new items and reworks offer plenty of strategies to discover.

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