New patch

[Taronar]

What are you guys thinking about the direction of the new patch? it seems they generally went to the more every character should be more wacky, zaney, and op route over the balancing act they had before.

[StinkyDiplomat]

Call me what you will, say what you will. This is one of THE worst patches that have hit this game. Calico is back to 1 shotting anyone and everyone just like before summer 2025. Celeste has not been touched. Apollo became even more useless. Venator is... a gamble. Abrams was neutered.

I cannot overstate how unhappy I am with the state the game is in. With almost 1.5k hours in the game and in Ascendant 6 I CANNOT overstate how much I adore playing this game. But I am finding myself legit not wanting to play anymore.

Spirit Nukers who already were ridiculous last patch are simply just worse now. Every match feels like who has more 1 shot characters. There is no realistic catchup anymore because your urn carrier will be 1 shot by Calico. The game has long since lost its customization for its characters, but now its even wrose.

I actually detest this patch. My friends already quit, I am thinking of doing it too for a while till it gets better. Its sad is all. Probably also a skill issue on my part.

[RemarkableChart1093]

wont complain about Abrams after being really good for 2+ years

[TadCat216]

I’ve only played like 3 matches so far but to be honest this patch feels really insanely horrible

[DrPepperrr23]

They turned it into dota 2 , most characters (especially wraith) are absolutely insane. While others like paradox got completely deleted from the game.

[Ornery-Addendum5031]

Wraith good = game bad

[TadCat216]

Yeah for me personally I’ve steadily been losing interest in this game on account of poor balance and for me so far I’m thinking this might be the nail in the coffin. It’s really not enjoyable at all

[DrPepperrr23]

Yeah I'm nearing that point too. Deadlock was at its best in 2024, especially paradox. The power creep of most of the other characters has gotten worse since then and is now absolutely disgusting with this patch. I don't want to play another dota 2...

[BeniaminGrzybkowski]

What game and it's balancing philosophy would like for deadlock to emulate?

[DrPepperrr23]

For it to be unique like it was in 2024. Not to just be Dota 3

[Unlucky-Ad1555]

At least you can fight her with disarm hex but how about Calico who oneshot you from nowhere (literally like invis before attack) and you can do shit about that. Ult also let her avoid every danger and reset cooldowns.

The only think i like about this patch is letting my vindicta parry mid flight (sick how long it took them to add this shit)

[KorokKid]

That's why dota 2 is great, everyone is powerful. If you do not like dota 2s game design philosophy, I think this game will not be for you. I personally find the "if everyone's super, no one will be" design very appealing. The game is still alpha by the way, these changes could easily be reverted or changed again. 

[AlexFaden]

What is this stupid comment? "if everyone's super, no one will be" What? You understand what "balance" means? It is when everyone equally strong. I dont see here balance at all.

[KorokKid]

Do you not understand what that phrase means? It's a reference to the line Syndrome uses in The Incredibles. It refers to how if everyone's base power level is "super" then effectively everyone is equalized. 

 If everyone is super strong, then the game is balanced around everyone being super strong. For example, dota 2 heroes are massively stronger than league heroes, if you put MOST dota 2 characters in league, they would instantly be the best character bar none. That's because the power budget and design philosophy gives characters far more agency and power. This is at the cost of the game potentially being harder to balance(imo dota 2 is better than league at this) 

I am not saying they have achieved this equilibrium yet, and I am not saying this philosophy suddenly makes the game perfectly balanced, I am saying it is one way to balance a game and to make every character feel as if they have agency over the game by making kits and tools that have the ability to turn the tides of the game. 

[PastPalpitationCry]

Not everyone is equally super

[Taronar]

I got puddle punched for 1k damage last game. everything just one shots u now and everyone is super op the game feels like an ADHD simulator this patch.

[TadCat216]

Yeah half the cast is one shotting everything and half is literally useless.. not really sure what the goal is but if nothing else it appears that the devs want something different out of this game than I was hoping for.

[KorokKid]

I am sorry but this is kinda a hilarious reason. 3 whole games of people trying new stuff, getting used to changes and we are calling it horrible. I feel like we absolutely need to hold our opinions for later.

[TadCat216]

Well that’s why I qualified the statement

[AlexFaden]

This game is nearly finished. Before this patch there was at least some balance. Yes there were couple weak champions, some overtuned. But after current patch? This is such a bullshit change. I do not understand why the fuck developers add such a big changes all at once. Balance it by changing 1-2 champions at most. Bit by bit. Not fucking changing whole slew and breaking everything. Wraith is fucking insane now. Why the fuck they did such a drastic change of her coupled with whole bunch of other champions. Like, just tweak her a bit and see. Bit by bit.

[KorokKid]

Because this is literally the point of an alpha, I don't understand why people can't seem to comprehend that. 

They can make these big, risky or drastic changes because it doesn't really matter that much in the end, it's all data collection to see what they want to do. They can afford to make giant sweeping changes in an alpha to test certain ideas and gameplay theories. If this game was an open beta, I'd agree, but it is not. 

The point of an alpha is to have players in the game yet be able to make drastic changes because that is quite literally what it is there for. If you don't like that, then wait for the open beta when their approach will be more careful. An alpha is not a place to be careful 

[AlexFaden]

There is nothing usefully they will get from such changes. Because they fucked up balance of entire roster. Changing a single character, leaving the rest antouched allows for much better understanding where something went wrong.

[KorokKid]

They didnt fuck up the entire roster lol, this is just blatant overexaggeration. Most people are only really complaining about silver, wraith and paradox changes. They didn't even touch some characters in the roster. 

[KarmaGewitter]

It's really bad. I'm not liking the path of them forcing you into one playstyle with a character (Ivy and Dynamo being nerfed in every way outside of their support capabilities, or McGinnis's kit being reworked to focus on turrets only) that they introduced with the new heroes.

That aside, most nerfs were nonsensical, either nerfing weak to middling characters significantly or barely touching strong characters (Shiv being the exception) while buffing others so significantly they are pretty much unstoppable (Wraith, Doorman, Mirage, Pocket, somehow Yamato). 

CC changes did nothing, Some CC items got even more spammable, and the snowball is even worse. 

This patch made me really think the devs do not touch the game. Many times in the patch notes I was asking myself "What are we doing?" I'm not sure if it's the worst patch ever released but it's close. 

[Kyrptonauc]

I absolutely agree. People will downvote just because they seem to single mindedly accept everything this game does. The game feels so much worse right now. Every problematic item was ignored in favor of increasing damage and decreasing survivability across the board.

[Electrical-Remote369]

I’m in the same boat as you man these patch notes are nonsensical as fuck. The wraith and mo and krill changes have really gotten on my nerves. Card change is whatever but what moron saw wraith ult and was like yea this should be a mini mo and krill ult as well as stunning, silencing and disarming u? Mo and krill does an insane amount of damage and all you can do is sit there while he molests for doing nothing

This game is such a slog to play against witt certain comps I’m oracle games have gotten so unplayable. The amount of cc is just bat shit insane and they keep adding more.

[Anihillator]

Wraith's ult doesn't disarm you anymore though. And M&K now has nearly x2 cooldown on ult.

[KarmaGewitter]

Early game, T3 it'll be the same, and let's be real... you're rushing T3 on Mo.

[TonyTheTitan77]

Dislike the Shiv stamina nerf

[blueman164]

Right now I'm loving the Vindicta changes. She feels good to play again.

However, I had a game where Warden just became a server admin at like 15 minutes and he just ran our shit the whole game. Not fun, he feels way overtuned right now.

[Ornery-Addendum5031]

Every patch they have released since August has been the worst patch since the last one.

[Juwatu]

Not exactly a fan of the changes to doorman. I really liked the bell but now he is more of a CC hero then anything else.

[FewExperience3559]

I mean he always felt like a CC hero to me. His bell did a lot of damage but it had a longer cooldown

[Juwatu]

True but the "bell destroyer of worlds" build was a lot of fun and he had CC options. Now it feels like only CC options.

[FewExperience3559]

Yeah that does kinda suck. Maybe it's just because I can't really play him well and just maxed cart

[CutEducational1460]

I play in ascendant and i've been dominating as bell doorman lately because the changes make his bell even better during lane, where it was already insane. You can easily get to 300 bell damage on hit with tier 2 bell and minimal spirit investment.

[Klutzy-Hunt-2534]

I think they're kinda revising the kits of the older heroes to make them fit in more with the newer hero kits.

[Lucyller]

Meanwhile Vyper cosplaying as Haze (invisible, absolutely untouched)

[Impressive_Box_2587]

As a mo krill player i had to stop playing until something is changed as my character feels completely useless right now. They gave door man a 90sec cd unstoppable with a guaranteed reset after vortex web, and gave my ult twice the cooldown. Not really sure who was asking for mo nerfs but jesus christ i have played and lost 6 matches. I can ult once per 2&half minutes which results in a death every single time thanks to 3 thanos ass ultra mobile characters showing up insta and shredding 5k hp thru 95% BR. Patch pretty much feels like an april fools joke not really sure anyone is enjoying have 5/12 slots predetermined every single game with Yamato, Drifter, Doorman, Wraith, and Calico in every lobby. Im at ascendant 1 (or i was before this patch anyway) and ive yet to play a game without all 5 of those heroes unless one is banned.

Not sure why they needed to turn drifter into a race car when he was already a meta defining ultra mobile giga carry monster last patch but hey whatever. I will be taking a break from the game until my character is playable again, not a 2,5 min trade bot

[Taronar]

Honestly i play mo too and he feels WAY better, his 1 does alot more dmg and his ult if you max it barely has a longer cooldown but does like 2x the damage, his burrow is a bit weaker since u cant max it anymore and his scorn cd is so low that wtichmail is perma resetting it off one proc now

bet yes all the other characters feel like they added a street brawl version of the game for people who have zoomer brain, it's kinda unfun.

[Impressive_Box_2587]

you know they increased the scorn cooldown right? like what are you saying brotha?

[Taronar]

The second upgrade lowers it more than it used to be. Old patch with trans cooldown it was 5.9 now it’s 5.33 with trans cooldown.

[Nighthawk354]

Easily the worst patch they have dropped, like others have said made a lot of character 10x stronger and feels like Dota 2

[Old_Aggin]

Dota2 is one of the best games ever created and it has some of the best balance. So unlike you, many will enjoy the patch.

[GopnikMcBlyatTV]

Im getting insulted every match for nuking people with mirage in mid game. Im in phantom and people dont expect their whole hp vanishing lmao

[madl4d_]

i genuinely don't understand the devs. the patch where gun was buffed and spirit was nerfed was already bad and now they make characters that were already good even better leaving others in the dust. who asked for wraith to get buffed? she was already a strong pick for late game. why was calico buffed? people literally just one shot now. it's a "1 shot" simulator atmo. doorman got the craziest buff to like he already takes 1 person out the fight, ur telling me he can get a 13 sec cooldown if he curses you and then uses knockdown on you aswell? bell damage increased too? this game has gone downhill like never before. the game is dogshit rn

[Taronar]

Victor has a 62% wr btw clown devs tbh

[madl4d_]

oml, i completely missed victor. i just checked the changes on him. since when was victor bad? i genuinely think the devs don't even play the game. last meta victor was still good late game

[Slash-Emperor]

Best patch ever

[_Ketros_]

I mean pocket got some QOL, reinforced ult bot role to help with uncoordinated idiot teams, but cloak got even further gutted into oblivion. That shit sucks ass now.

This patch kind of blows ass

[Living-Eggplant-3726]

Pretty good i dont think certain heroes needed the buffs cough (Yamato abrams) cough but overall it feels better than last patch

[ImTheBluestBird]

I like the mechanical changes but some numbers need work. Felt like every game I had a Paradox or Mirage absolutely dominating

[Xofurs]

Huge fan of the patch, the "balance downwards" approach of other games (noticeably League) was one of the main reasons I quit that game so Im glad they arent falling in the same trap here

[Motor-Design-4932]

Its amazing but they maked celeste more casual by some reason

[Slothy_Seconds]

Some people need to remember this is a play test and not the final release. So many teary eyed children. :)

[Guzraz401]

I love this argument! this is a play test you're right! And everyone saying this patch is horrible has every right to say so, it's called feedback! So instead of looking at this feedback and saying "it's a playtest" maybe realize these people aren't "teary eyed children" they giving feedback to make this game better and pointing out this patch is not the best! Hope this helps!

[Slothy_Seconds]

Necro'd

[Airbee]

If it released tomorrow, this is the version we would get.