We’re only two days into patch 7.41, and the meta is already starting to take shape. If you’re not sure what to play right now or your old heroes just don’t fit this patch, I’ve got you covered. I’ve been watching streams and playing pubs since the patch came out, and today I’m going to give you three heroes in every role that you should be trying right now.
Feel free to watch the full video about this on YouTube.
Let’s get into it.
Position 5 Heroes
00:33 – Venomancer
I think Venomancer is the absolute most broken five in the game right now. I’ve laned against it twice and laned with it, and here’s what makes him so oppressive. His innate ability Poison Sting now does 10 damage per second for 5 seconds at level one, which is 50 damage just for trading. On top of that, he got a new spell called Snakebite that does 160 damage over 6 seconds and makes it so enemies take damage every time they attack during it. Venomancer is the best trading five right now, and if you’re winning your lane, you can jungle quite early after controlling it for your carry and get those early neutral items.
01:10 – Lich
Lich got his old Sacrifice back. It starts at two minutes, and it’s just a free way to get experience as a five while also denying. If you’re denying creeps outside of range of the opponent, that’s effectively two denies because denies usually only give 50% experience. Both Lich and Venomancer are still going normal utility items, but the fact that their laning stage is so much better now on top of what they already had makes them very strong.
01:46 – Pugna
Pugna’s win rate has skyrocketed, and here’s why. They made him the source of damage from his Nether Ward. Since he’s the source, his spell amp works for all of the ward damage. His innate gives him free spell amp from killing enemy towers, and he doesn’t even need to get the kill himself. So now Pugna’s ward just does more damage than it did before, and it was already the most annoying ability later in the game.
Position 4 Heroes
02:48 – Spirit Breaker
Ever since the map expanded, Spirit Breaker has always been a really nice hero to have because you can catch people so far across the map. As we get into the core roles, there might be a lack of initiation, so coming from the four position with BKB piercing stuns is going to be really nice. Make sure on Spirit Breaker that you’re likely dragging the creep wave because you’re going to be laning against these really annoying fives if people know what’s up. He’s the best creep dragging four in the game because he has really high built-in armor and HP, and he doesn’t mind going boots since his entire kit synergizes with movement speed.
03:31 – Techies
I’ve laned with Techies and against Techies, and what they did was make his Reactive Taser usable on teammates from the start of the game. There were twice where I got gone on and he just used it on me and completely saved me. It’s good against any lane with stuns that can commit. You can’t commit onto the Techies and you can’t commit onto his teammate. Then he just plays for the Blast Off from out of fog. His laning stage is insanely strong now, and that Reactive Taser buff is no joke.
04:05 – Shadow Shaman
Shadow Shaman is on the same realm as Spirit Breaker where he’s just insanely good for catching in the game right now. Lion is also fine, but Shadow Shaman is always good in new patches where you’re going to have a lot of chaos happening. You need that objective threat and the ability to go high ground. He also got a nice new shard, so definitely check that out.
Offlane Heroes
04:28 – Night Stalker
They made Hunter in the Night his innate, which means he got his old shard as an ability for free. You can only consume creeps when it’s nighttime, but now you have this free spell that helps you consume creeps and gives you health and mana back. It’s literally sustain, kind of like a pseudo-Midas. A hero that’s always struggled with farming and sustain because none of the items he wants to buy give him sustain now just got his old shard for free. Guess what? He’s good.
05:15 – Doom
It was kind of a meme with the patch notes that they made all of his numbers sixes. A lot of those numbers went up, and even though they weren’t a significant amount individually, it adds up when you add a little bit to every single spell. His new innate is like Wraith King’s old Spectral Blade facet, cursing enemies to take damage when he attacks. He was given extra damage, HP regen on Scorched Earth for the laning phase, and free damage. This hero is just winning his lane and builds into a late game beast. I had a Doom against me today go SnY, Satanic, Harpoon from the offlane and just dumpster us.
06:08 – Legion Commander
She’s been reworked pretty significantly. The Press the Attack no longer gives you BKB, but her new innate makes it so any allies around her who cast spells get armor, and she also gets free armor from her spells. She’s basically the same hero other than removing the attack speed, and now she has a lot more presence in team fights just by existing. You might have to go BKB to be fully impactful, but you’re also a much more impactful save because Press the Attack is now AoE. You can counter AoE stuns and heal your team all at the same time. The W also gives a lot of move speed, which can’t be understated after seeing what happens when Largo buffs his entire team’s movement speed. She has two ways to play the game now, not completely all-in on dueling. And if you’re crazy snowballing and go into late game, she has a new level 25 talent that refreshes Duel’s cooldown when you win it. Duel into duel into duel is actually pretty OP.
Mid Lane Heroes
07:24 – Leshrac and Queen of Pain
I was a little surprised after reading the patch notes, but after seeing it play out, I’m no longer surprised. The item defining the mid lane is Bloodstone. The number one candidate is obviously Leshrac, but Bloodstone is effectively the same item as before without the dispel, now giving 12% extra spell damage. We’re seeing a lot of just Kaya into Bloodstone to make up for the lack of mana regen on the item.
07:46 – Queen of Pain
I just got done playing Queen of Pain and went Kaya Sange into Veil into Bloodstone plus Wind Waker, and I was just unkillable because Bloodstone is effectively a Satanic. You blink in, do all the damage with the screams, win long fights, and then you’re just this mobile hero with Wind Waker. Super fun to play, definitely try it out. It feels like you have limitless spells to cast, and Bloodstone makes fights that go long even more in your favor. I think Queen of Pain might even be better at it than Leshrac.
08:21 – Necrophos
Necro got a lot of buffs to his sustain in the lane. I want to try him myself with Consecrated Wraps. I don’t think he’s going to be a Bloodstone hero, but Consecrated Wraps seem insanely good on him for the magic resistance, stats, and health. That’s literally all this hero needs in the early game, just to exist and live. Giving him these relevant stats in the early to mid game might make him the best hero in the game to use that item.
Carry Heroes
09:00 – Lifestealer
Lifestealer’s win rate has skyrocketed. He’s the one exception to the formula I think is the case for carry right now. Lifestealer just has the classic numbers too high balancing problem. I think he’s going to be nerfed in the near future. I haven’t even gotten a chance to try him yet, but I’ve seen him in three of my five games today. The fact that he was given 10 base damage for a hero that all he can do is right click and CS in the laning phase, plus getting attack speed from Ghoul Frenzy for free, just feels like the hero is all around very nice right now with the same build as before. I’ve been seeing Radiance every time.
09:46 – Luna and Wraith King
I said Lifestealer doesn’t fit the mold of what I think a good carry is right now because there’s a formula. Right now, the formula is that you farm the two camps behind your tower with level four or five, get super early neutral items, rotate between lane and jungle, and just accelerate like crazy. Wraith King with his skeletons at level three, and Luna with her Glaives at level four or five with treads, these heroes are the absolute best in the game for abusing those two camps. All carry is about hitting your timings.
They also buffed Wraith King’s laning phase a bit with the early Vampiric Aura buff on his lifesteal. Luna actually received a bit of a nerf moving from last patch to this one because the Moon Glaives defensive facet was the better one, but I’ve been seeing a lot of Luna. Wraith King also gets his old shard for free, and his new shard is more damage. It’s literally his Spectral Blade facet in his shard. His shard is insanely good now, way better than it was before, and the old one is now in his kit. That’s what makes Wraith King’s laning phase reliability and his late game scaling even better than before.
Other heroes I’m looking at for clearing those two camps are Muerta, who I’ve seen two or three times already, and Sniper with Shrapnel. Alchemist also fits the melee role. I’m more of a carry player, so let me give you a few extra suggestions. As long as you’re playing a hero that farms those two camps behind your tower, has a decent laning phase, and potentially buys Mask of Madness, I think you’re in really good shape to make it work in the carry role.
12:04 – Final Thoughts
That concludes the meta update for the top three heroes I think you should be playing right at the start of patch 7.41. The meta is going to continue to evolve, and if you want to make sure you keep up with it, drop that subscribe and I promise to keep delivering you up-to-date relevant info on the best heroes, best items, and best strategies in 7.41 and beyond.
If you’re liking the list so far and have your own ideas for the new patch, come join me in the Dota Dojo, my free Discord server that has forums, places to find teammates, and much more.
