Meta: Very fast and lane dependent.
With a new DotA 2 patch coming I thought I’d write up some opinions on the 7.20e patch.
Heroes that I like to see on my team and do not want on the enemy team.
Heroes that I like on the enemy team and not on my team.
Anti-mage (He is really bad for the first 20 minutes)
Heroes that I don’t want on my team.
Phantom Assassin (This is weird because she is really good this patch)
I did not see a lot of Outworld Destroyer even tho he was played a lot as a counter to Phantom Assasin. For some reason my ELO doesn’t value OD. I am glad as he does not synergize well with Spirit Breaker.
Spirit breaker had a series of nerfs from 7.20 (He was really strong on release) which combined with the 7.17 nerf to Nether Strike makes it tickle. I like the new Bulldoze active, but the new charge is in my opinion worse overall. It may make charge do more damage as the old one did not add the movement speed to the greater bash damage. However the old one you could not be slowed so you could always get away when things go bad. Now charging through a monkey king ult with a echo sabre feels really really bad. Spirit breaker really needs EXP now to level all of his abilities, but as a 4/5 there is little spirit breaker can do to get EXP as he cannot jungle or clear waves well. He needs this EXP as his damage output has been nerfed significantly and you need Greater Bash & Bulldoze to do damage. I am currently a fan of 2/0/4/1 at level 7. Then maxing W, charge is maxed last but the duration at level 2 is 1.6 which lets you channel your ult after charging.
Spirit breaker is in a odd spot this patch. You should always compare him to Earth Spirit and Tusk. Currently Tusk has a way better level 1 with Tag team. That I find is very important in this meta where games are very fast and lane dependent. Snowball is a charge that trades range, for teammate saving potential. Walrus Punch has a lower cooldown, but no blink and is physical damage (may be better or worse). Of course Spirit Breaker is much easier to play than the other two. Hence why I play it. My win rate this patch is much much lower than 7.06. 66% vs 51%?
The armor changes to this patch where crazy. To me it was the biggest part of the patch. I found it to be really good to stack armor on spirit breaker. Get the lvl 10 talent +5 armor, build phase boots (+5) and build a medallion +7. I only started doing that later into the patch once I got the feel for the game again. The armor change cannot be understated.
Rambling thoughts:
I find it ridiculous that juggernaut can just max ward after spin and take T1 towers without taking any damage.
If you need to farm Meteor Hammer or Necronomicon level 1 are your best bets as Spirit breaker.
The spirit vessel nerfs to healing are very noticable. I have started going to medallion as the game is faster and I feel like I get less gold.
Glimmer cape is very good. You cannot start charge and glimmer cape. Its always cape than charge during fade time.
If you have casted Nether Strike you can spam W to cast it and get extra damage.