What's changed in Dota 2's 7.32 update: Slower gameplay, new creep

Dota 2's much-awaited 7.32 update has finally landed. After almost two years with the same map and metagame, players have finally received sweeping changes to Dota 2 ahead of the The International 11 (TI11) regional qualifiers.

As with any significant update to the game, patch 7.32 brings some major changes that can overwhelm players left unaware.

While you can check the full list of changes here, we've narrowed down the biggest changes in Dota 2's 7.32 update that you should know about:

The gameplay in Dota 2 just slowed down significantly

It now takes more experience to level up your heroes in Dota 2. This means they are now significantly less powerful compared to the same in-game time as they were in previous patches.

Teams will group up later in the game as they wait for power spikes from hitting certain talent levels.

Not only do heroes need more experience to level up, but there is also significantly less passive gold now. Heroes in Dota 2 gained 100 passive gold in patch 7.31 and that increases at the 5, 22, 40, 62, and 90-minute mark.

Heroes now start with 85 passive gold and don't gain 100 passive gold until 40 minutes into the game. Supports will now be a lot poorer in the new update so expect professional teams to field more thrifty supports in their games with cheaper item builds.

Primal Beast is now in Captain's Mode

Heading into TI11, Primal Beast has been inducted to Captain's Mode. Every single hero in Dota 2 can now be picked in Captain's Mode, the most commonly used competitive mode.

The last hero to be introduced to Captain's Mode was Marci and she ended up shaking the meta significantly. The silent heroine was the fifth most-picked hero at the PGL Arlington Major while being the 10th most-contested hero at the tournament.

Primal Beast received a significant Talent rework, a new Aghanim's Scepter upgrade, and a buff to his Shard, all of which makes the hero a more enticing pick now.

Primal Beast will likely be played as either an offlaner or a soft support. It will be exciting to see how the pros utilise the hero in the competitive scene.

Hero rebalance

Almost every hero received a significant change. For some, it came in the form of their Aghanim's Shard or Scepter upgrades, while other heroes got Talent overhauls, major stat changes, and in the case of Shadow Demon, a new base ability.

Death Prophet lost 40 movement speed, Ogre Magi gained 20 base damage in return for 3 less base health regen, while Templar Assassin can now use Refraction while stunned. Phantom Assassin also gained lifesteal for free while Pangolier now procs his Lucky Strike on all his abilities. Time will tell which heroes gained the most from the new patch and which heroes are the biggest losers.

The old meta is gone thanks to the massive hero revamp Dota 2 just received. Players looking to grind MMR will need to adjust quickly to all the new changes if they wish to keep climbing.

New Flagbearer creep

Every few patches, IceFrog likes to shake up the laning meta to keep players on their toes. He achieved that in the 7.32 update by adding a new type of lane creep, the Flagbearer Creep.

The new creep first shows up at the 2-minute mark and then spawns each minute after that.

The Flagbearer has 40% magic resistance and provides three health regen to all allies in a 700 radius.

It looks to be an extremely important creep, as killing it provides all opposing heroes in 1,200 radius the flagbearers bounty.

This helps mitigate the passive gold nerf in patch 7.32, as supports gain the same gold from the Flagbearer as core heroes when it dies.

It also means that all players in the lane will focus on securing the enemy's Flagbearer while denying their own.

The new creep will shift lane dynamics significantly, teams might draft support Doom to ensure they kill the enemy Flagbearer. Enigma also becomes more popular due to his ability to always deny his own Flagbearer.

A lot of new heroes may become viable due to their ability to secure this new creep. We're hopeful that previously ignored heroes will start coming back into the limelight thanks to this change.

A myriad of item changes

The 7.32 update rebalanced 28 items, with most items receiving buffs to make them more viable.

Some of the more notable item changes include the addition of a 50 mana cost to Black King Bar, which is a buff to heroes such as Anti-Mage, Invoker, and Nyx Assassin. Shadow Amulet's invisibility only lasts 15-seconds now, a huge nerf to griefers, poor souls.

Hand of Midas also received an interesting buff, as it now always drops a Neutral Item if one can be dropped.

The last major item change is a 200 mana cost attached to Refresher Shard, which greatly limits the number of heroes who can use this item now. Refresher Orb also got an additional 50 mana cost, bringing it up to 350 mana cost.

A new season of Neutral Items

Every few patches, IceFrog rotates some Neutral Items out of the game while introducing new ones.

The 7.32 update brings seven new Neutral Items while bringing back Havoc Hammer, and removing nine old items.

While the patch notes listed eight items being removed, they neglected to mention that Broom Handle has also left the game. Overall there is now one less Neutral Item in the pool compared to 7.31.

Most of the new items come with new mechanics, such as Seeds of Serenity's ability to heal allies in a 350 area, Specialist's Array providing multi-shot to ranged attackers, and our favourite, Ogre Seal Totem and the ability to belly flop like a seal.

Out of the nine items being removed from the game, Spider Legs is the most impactful, as the item significantly hurt heroes such as Nature's Prophet, Hoodwink, and Treant Protector due to its ability to move through trees.

A ton of Aghanim's Shards and Scepter upgrades are reworked

Almost a quarter of the heroes in Dota 2 received a change to either their Aghanim's Shard or Scepter or both in the case of Dark Seer, Enigma, and Hoodwink.

Nine heroes received changes exclusive to their Scepter and of those heroes we are paying close attention to Doom, who now affects heroes in a 325 radius around the target.

Viper's new Shard ability Nosedive is interesting as well, since it disarms nearby enemies for four seconds, giving the hero more utility in the late game.

Out of the 19 heroes who received changes to just their Aghanim's Shard, Nature's Prophet will be the most affected by the change.

The hero lost his old Greater Treants and in return gained Curse of the Oldgrowth. The new Curse slows nearby enemies and deals damage over time while revealing them, making it a fantastic teamfight ability.

There are a lot of new abilities introduced and it will be fascinating to see which new Shards and Scepter upgrades become core picks for heroes.

Otomo is a long-time gaming enthusiast and caster. He has been playing games since he was 10 and is the biggest Dota 2 fan.

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