Patch 7.39e lands in Dota 2, attempting to nerf the Helm of the Dominator meta which was prevalent at The International 2025.
The International 2025 is already behind us, but for Dota 2 players, Patch 7.39e could not have come soon enough. With the Helm of the Dominator meta still extremely prevalent, Valve has finally attempted to address the item. The latest patch not only looks to nerf the item itself, but also many of the heroes that picked it up, as well as a few jungle camps.
Dota 2 Patch 7.39e – goodbye Helm meta?
It has been over two weeks since TI 2025 concluded with Team Falcons lifting the Aegis of Champions. In this brief period, Helm of the Dominator has continued to play a huge part in Dota 2, be it our pub games or professional qualifiers. The meta, which changed the shape of much of TI, remained strong until now. With Patch 7.39e, Valve has nerfed the item, a few neutral creeps, and many of the heroes that saw a strong affiliation with HotD.
HotD, and its upgrade, Helm of the Overlord, both now feature a mana cost. On top of this, the ability to dominate a creep incurs a small cooldown if the currently dominated creep is damaged by a hero.
Over and above this, nerfs were given to both the Alpha Wolf and Dark Troll’s Skeleton Warrior. While not directly a nerf to HotD, this affects the use of these two neutral creeps with the item.
Additionally, the patch nerfed Ghost Scepter and Ethereal Blade, while also making Refresher Orb less desirable on multiple uses with a cooldown increase.
The full list of item nerfs can be found over on the Dota 2 website here.
Hero nerfs (and buffs)
Some of the most prolific heroes of TI 2025 were, of course, under the spotlight of Patch 7.39e. Mars, Monkey King, Bane, Earthshaker, Distruptor, Beastmaster, and Hoodwink were just some of the heroes that saw nerfs in the new patch. With the first LAN event post-TI only a few weeks out, this could severely change the meta.
While there was a fair amount of nerfs, there were also a few buffs. These buffs came to many heroes who never got to see the light of dawn(breaker) at TI 2025. Crystal Maiden, Earth Spirit, Jakiro, Lich, Omniknight, and a fair few more were on the receiving end of these buffs. While some were small, they could make the heroes just viable enough for the pro-players to think about drafting.
You can find the full Patch 7.39e notes over on the Dota 2 website here.
Kez joins the party with Patch 7.39e
Kez has finally made its way into Captain’s Mode as of Patch 7.39e. Almost a year since Kez was introduced into Dota 2 with Crownfall Act IV, the hero will now be available in CM. This could be something interesting for the upcoming tournaments.
While Patch 7.39e is not a huge overhaul, it does work well to both nerf some of the prolific TI 2025 heroes while also buffing those that were absent. Whether or not HotD remains a strong item with its changes remains to be seen. The mana cost alone could deter a few heroes from picking it up in the future. However, with multiple tournaments on the way for Dota 2, we will get to see just what the pros do on the new patch and how the meta will swing.
