Desolator
| Change | Before | After |
|---|---|---|
Damage bonus increased from +50 to +55 | +50 | +55 |
Io is optional. Content is ready.
Official patch notes · historical static snapshot
OFFICIAL PATCH NOTES · COLLECTED SNAPSHOT
Tracking the evolving meta.| # | Change | Before | After |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Dire Safe Lane Jungle The Dire Safe Lane Tier 1 tower has been moved forward, away from the Dire base and closer to where the creeps initially meet | the Dire base and closer | where the creeps initially meet |
| 2 | Dire Safe Lane Jungle The Top Lane creep paths have been slightly adjusted so the creeps meet closer to the Dire tower | — | — |
| 3 | Dire Safe Lane Jungle The tree lines above and below the tower have been reworked | — | — |
| 4 | Dire Safe Lane Jungle The Dire Safe Lane hard camp has been moved away from the Dire Safe Lane Tier 1 tower, and had its tree line reduced and rotated to face the river | the Dire Safe Lane Tier 1 tower, and had its tree line reduced and rotated | face the river |
| 5 | Dire Safe Lane Jungle The cliff above the Dire Safe Lane small camp has been extended slightly towards the Dire Safe Lane Tier 1 tower, and the small camp has been moved and had its tree line adjusted | — | — |
| 6 | Dire Safe Lane Jungle The ramp leading to the river and the Roshan Pit from the Dire Safe Lane pull area has been moved towards the Pit slightly | — | — |
| 7 | Dire Safe Lane Jungle Several additional tree and visual adjustments have been made to this area | — | — |
| 8 | Top Roshan Pit Fixed a spot at the north side of the pit that had incorrect vision rules | — | — |
| 9 | Top Roshan Pit Fixed some areas that visually looked pathable but were not | — | — |
| 10 | Bottom Lane Trees have been added around the Dire Bottom Tier 1 tower, and several tree positions adjusted | — | — |
| 11 | Bottom Lane A tree near the Radiant Safe Lane hard camp has been removed | — | — |
| 12 | Bottom Lane The Watcher above the secret shop has been repositioned between the ramps from Dire Mid Tier 1 and the bottom Roshan Pit | — | — |
| 13 | Bottom Lane Fixed unnecessary pathing blockers at the left of the entrance to the Dire Base through the team only gate | — | — |
| 14 | Bottom Lane Several trees have been removed from the Radiant high ground leading to the Bottom Roshan Pit | the Radiant high ground leading | the Bottom Roshan Pit |
| 15 | Bottom Lane Several additional tree and visual adjustments have been made to this area | — | — |

| Change | Before | After |
|---|
No notes supplied for this section.
| Change | Before | After |
|---|---|---|
| Omnislash Slash Jump Radius is no longer increased by AoE bonuses | — | — |

| Change | Before | After |
|---|
No notes supplied for this section.
| Change | Before | After |
|---|---|---|
| Crash Landing · Toss Movement Slow increased from 15/20/25/30% to 20/25/30/35% | 15/20/25/30% | 20/25/30/35% |
| Crash Landing · Toss Attack Slow increased from 10/20/30/40 to 15/25/35/45 | 10/20/30/40 | 15/25/35/45 |
| Grow Bonus Damage decreased from 60/120/180 to 55/110/165 | 60/120/180 | 55/110/165 |
| Grow Movement Speed Bonus rescaled from 10/20/30 to 15 | 10/20/30 | 15 |

| Change | Before | After |
|---|---|---|
| Base stats / mechanics Base Damage increased by 3 | — | — |
| Base stats / mechanics Damage on level 1 increased from 44–56 to 47–59 | 44–56 | 47–59 |
| Change | Before | After |
|---|---|---|
| Killshot · Powershot Execute no longer goes through any death denial effects (Dazzle's Shallow Grave, Oracle's False Promise, etc.) | — | — |

| Change | Before | After |
|---|
No notes supplied for this section.
| Change | Before | After |
|---|---|---|
| Tidebringer Damage Bonus increased from 30/60/90/120 to 35/70/105/140 | 30/60/90/120 | 35/70/105/140 |

| Change | Before | After |
|---|
No notes supplied for this section.
| Change | Before | After |
|---|---|---|
| Light Strike Array Mana Cost decreased from 100/115/130/145 to 100/110/120/130 | 100/115/130/145 | 100/110/120/130 |

| Change | Before | After |
|---|
No notes supplied for this section.
| Change | Before | After |
|---|---|---|
| Krill Eater Starting attack range and Anchor Smash penalties increased from 50 to 60 | 50 | 60 |
| Dead in the Water Cooldown increased from 25s to 35s | 25s | 35s |

| Change | Before | After |
|---|---|---|
| Base stats / mechanics Defense Matrix: Mana Cost increased from 80/95/110/125 to 90/105/120/135 | 80/95/110/125 | 90/105/120/135 |
| Change | Before | After |
|---|---|---|
| Talents Level 15 Talent Defense Matrix Damage Barrier decreased from +75 to +60 | +75 | +60 |
| Laser Aghanim's Scepter size and health reductions decreased from 15% to 13% | 15% | 13% |

| Change | Before | After |
|---|
No notes supplied for this section.
| Change | Before | After |
|---|---|---|
| Eldritch Summoning Imp explosion delay increased from 0.2s to 0.3s | 0.2s | 0.3s |

| Change | Before | After |
|---|
No notes supplied for this section.
| Change | Before | After |
|---|---|---|
| Time Zone · Time Zone Movement, Cast and Turn Speed manipulation decreased from 60% to 50% | 60% | 50% |
| Time Zone · Time Zone No longer leashes enemies | — | — |

| Change | Before | After |
|---|
No notes supplied for this section.
| Change | Before | After |
|---|---|---|
| Bone Guard · Talents Level 10 Talent +25%/-25% Bone Guard Duration / Cooldown replaced with +2s Wraithfire Blast Slow Duration | — | — |
| Bone Guard · Bone Guard Cooldown decreased from 50s to 42s | 50s | 42s |
| Bone Guard · Bone Guard Skeleton Duration increased from 40s to 46s | 40s | 46s |
| Wraithfire Blast Cooldown decreased from 17/14/11/8s to 14/12/10/8s | 17/14/11/8s | 14/12/10/8s |
| Reincarnation Mana Cost increased from 200 to 225 | 200 | 225 |

| Change | Before | After |
|---|
No notes supplied for this section.
| Change | Before | After |
|---|---|---|
| Phantom Strike Cast Range decreased from 1000 to 650/750/850/950 | 1000 | 650/750/850/950 |

| Change | Before | After |
|---|
No notes supplied for this section.
| Change | Before | After |
|---|---|---|
| Talents Level 25 Talent Refraction Instances increased from +3 to +4 | +3 | +4 |
| Refraction Cooldown decreased from 16s to 14s | 16s | 14s |
| Refraction Number of instances increased from 2/3/4/5 to 3/4/5/6 | 2/3/4/5 | 3/4/5/6 |
| Meld Fixed not applying to both attacks if Meld was used twice in quick succession | — | — |

| Change | Before | After |
|---|
No notes supplied for this section.
| Change | Before | After |
|---|---|---|
| Moon Glaives No longer bounce to attack-immune targets | — | — |

| Change | Before | After |
|---|
No notes supplied for this section.
| Change | Before | After |
|---|---|---|
| Elder Dragon Form Bonus Move Speed decreased from 20/25/30/35 to 20 | 20/25/30/35 | 20 |

| Change | Before | After |
|---|
No notes supplied for this section.
| Change | Before | After |
|---|---|---|
| Talents Level 10 Talent Poison Touch Attack Range decreased from +300 to +200 | +300 | +200 |
| Talents Level 15 Talent +90 Attack Speed replaced with +5s Nothl Projection Duration | — | — |
| Shadow Wave No longer has increased healing and damage when bouncing on enemies with Aghanim's Scepter | — | — |
| Nothl Projection Cast Range decreased from 600 to 450 | 600 | 450 |
| Nothl Projection Leash pull strength growth increased from 0.5 to 1.5 This means for every 1 unit past 1600, the strength of the pull will increase by 1.5 unit/s instead of 0.5 | 0.5 | 1.5 |
| Nothl Projection Max Duration decreased from 15s to 12s | 15s | 12s |

| Change | Before | After |
|---|
No notes supplied for this section.
| Change | Before | After |
|---|---|---|
| Ironwood Treant · Nature's Call Treant Health decreased from 800/1050/1300/1550 to 750/950/1150/1350 | 800/1050/1300/1550 | 750/950/1150/1350 |
| Spirit of the Forest Bonus damage per tree decreased from 4% to 3% | 4% | 3% |

| Change | Before | After |
|---|
No notes supplied for this section.
| Change | Before | After |
|---|---|---|
| Fleshfeast · Feast Max HP per hero kill decreased from 20/25/30/35 to 15/20/25/30 | 20/25/30/35 | 15/20/25/30 |
| Open Wounds Mana Cost increased from 75 to 100 | 75 | 100 |

| Change | Before | After |
|---|---|---|
| Base stats / mechanics Base Damage decreased by 2 | — | — |
| Base stats / mechanics Damage at level 1 decreased from 54–60 to 52–58 | 54–60 | 52–58 |
| Change | Before | After |
|---|---|---|
| Heart of Battle Radius increased from 900 to 1200 | 900 | 1200 |
| Talents Level 10 Talent Wall of Replica Illusion Damage decreased from +20% to +15% | +20% | +15% |

| Change | Before | After |
|---|
No notes supplied for this section.
| Change | Before | After |
|---|---|---|
| Omnipresent Damage increase interval decreased from 0.3s to 0.25s Time for maximum effect decreased from 6s to 5s | 0.3s | 0.25s |
| Purification Cooldown decreased from 18/16/14/12s to 15/14/13/12s | 18/16/14/12s | 15/14/13/12s |

| Change | Before | After |
|---|---|---|
| Base stats / mechanics Intelligence gain increased from 3.8 to 4.0 | 3.8 | 4.0 |
| Change | Before | After |
|---|
No notes supplied for this section.

| Change | Before | After |
|---|---|---|
| Base stats / mechanics Heart of Darkness: Bonus health regen at night decreased from 40% to 20% | 40% | 20% |
| Change | Before | After |
|---|---|---|
| Talents Level 15 Talent Hunter in the Night Status Resistance decreased from 30% to 20% | 30% | 20% |

| Change | Before | After |
|---|
No notes supplied for this section.
| Change | Before | After |
|---|---|---|
| The Swarm Bugs are now destroyed if the host unit becomes invulnerable i.e. using Eul's Scepter of Divinity, etc | — | — |

| Change | Before | After |
|---|
No notes supplied for this section.
| Change | Before | After |
|---|---|---|
| Ice Breaker · Ice Path Secondary Damage decreased from 75/125/175/225 to 50/100/150/200 | 75/125/175/225 | 50/100/150/200 |
| Dual Breath Mana Cost increased from 125/140/155/170 to 135/150/165/180 | 125/140/155/170 | 135/150/165/180 |

| Change | Before | After |
|---|
No notes supplied for this section.
| Change | Before | After |
|---|---|---|
| Talents Level 20 Talent 2 Flamebreak Charges replaced with -6s Flamebreak Cooldown | — | — |
| Talents Level 20 Talent Smoldering Resin Duration increased from +2s to +4s | +2s | +4s |
| Talents Level 25 Talent Sticky Napalm Damage increased from +15 to +20 | +15 | +20 |
| Firefly Radius increased from 200 to 250 | 200 | 250 |
| Flaming Lasso Forced movement applied by Batrider's allies to the lassoed target from certain abilities no longer cancel lasso | — | — |
| Flaming Lasso Dark Willow's Terrorize | — | — |
| Flaming Lasso Death Prophet's Spirit Siphon (Fear from Aghanim's Shard) | — | — |
| Flaming Lasso Keeper of the Light's Will-o-Wisp | — | — |
| Flaming Lasso Lich's Sinister Gaze | — | — |
| Flaming Lasso Lone Druid's (and Spirit Bear's) Savage Roar | — | — |
| Flaming Lasso Muerta's Dead Shot | — | — |
| Flaming Lasso Pudge's Dismember | — | — |
| Flaming Lasso Ringmaster's Wheel of Wonder | — | — |
| Flaming Lasso Shadow Fiend's Requiem of Souls | — | — |
| Flaming Lasso Terrorblade's Terror Wave | — | — |
| Flaming Lasso Tinker's Defense Matrix (blink with Translocator facet) | — | — |
| Flaming Lasso Tinker's Warp Flare (still applies damage, but does not move the target) | — | — |
| Flaming Lasso Tusk's Walrus Kick (still applies damage, but does not move the target) | — | — |
| Flaming Lasso The following abilities continue to break the lasso: Centaur Warrunner's Hitch a Ride, Chaos Knight's Reality Rift, Disruptor's Glimpse, Kunkka's X Marks the Spot, Magnus' Reverse Polarity, Mars' Arena of Blood (created by an ally) and Vengeful Spirit's Nether Swap | — | — |

| Change | Before | After |
|---|---|---|
| Base stats / mechanics Summon Convert: Convert is now considered a creep-hero It cannot be dominated, persuaded or enchanted, and it isn't instantly killed by Hand of Midas, Mirana's Sacred Arrow, etc. | — | — |
| Change | Before | After |
|---|
No notes supplied for this section.

| Change | Before | After |
|---|
No notes supplied for this section.
| Change | Before | After |
|---|---|---|
| Ice Vortex Mana Cost increased from 40/50/60/70 to 40/55/70/85 | 40/50/60/70 | 40/55/70/85 |
| Chilling Touch Attack Range Bonus decreased from 80/120/160/200 to 60/90/120/150 | 80/120/160/200 | 60/90/120/150 |

| Change | Before | After |
|---|
No notes supplied for this section.
| Change | Before | After |
|---|---|---|
| Corrosive Weaponry Unstable Concoction stack count per second of brew time now rounds up to the nearest second (minimum 1 stack) | — | — |

| Change | Before | After |
|---|---|---|
| Base stats / mechanics Brain Drain: If Silencer is out of range, Intelligence will now be stolen only if the dying enemy is debuffed by Silencer the moment they die This effect used to have a grace period equal to the full Assist-gaining duration even when the debuff was removed | — | — |
| Change | Before | After |
|---|
No notes supplied for this section.

| Change | Before | After |
|---|---|---|
| Base stats / mechanics Base Strength increased from 26 to 28 | 26 | 28 |
| Base stats / mechanics Damage at level 1 increased from 50–55 to 52–57 | 50–55 | 52–57 |
| Change | Before | After |
|---|
No notes supplied for this section.

| Change | Before | After |
|---|
No notes supplied for this section.
| Change | Before | After |
|---|---|---|
| Primal Split Earth Brewling's Debuff Immunity magic resistance increased from 50% to 80% | 50% | 80% |
| Primal Split Void Brewling's Astral Pull Damage increased from 50/100/150 to 75/150/225 | 50/100/150 | 75/150/225 |
| Primal Split Void Brewling's Astral Pull Distance increased from 300/500/700 to 450/575/700 | 300/500/700 | 450/575/700 |

| Change | Before | After |
|---|
No notes supplied for this section.
| Change | Before | After |
|---|---|---|
| Codependent · Divided We Stand Armor bonus decreased from 2 to 1 | 2 | 1 |

| Change | Before | After |
|---|
No notes supplied for this section.
| Change | Before | After |
|---|---|---|
| Mind Flare Cooldown decreased from 13/11/9/7s to 11/9.5/8/6.5s | 13/11/9/7s | 11/9.5/8/6.5s |

| Change | Before | After |
|---|
No notes supplied for this section.
| Change | Before | After |
|---|---|---|
| Chakra Magic Self-cast bonus increased from 25% to 30% | 25% | 30% |

| Change | Before | After |
|---|---|---|
| Base stats / mechanics Venomous Volley: No longer slows cast speed | — | — |
| Change | Before | After |
|---|
No notes supplied for this section.

| Change | Before | After |
|---|---|---|
| Base stats / mechanics Base Strength decreased from 25 to 23 | 25 | 23 |
| Base stats / mechanics Damage at level 1 decreased from 55–63 to 54–62 | 55–63 | 54–62 |
| Change | Before | After |
|---|---|---|
| Shockwave Damage decreased from 90/160/230/300 to 75/150/225/300 | 90/160/230/300 | 75/150/225/300 |
| Empower Self bonus decreased from 50% to 30% | 50% | 30% |

| Change | Before | After |
|---|
No notes supplied for this section.
| Change | Before | After |
|---|---|---|
| Timber Chain Damage rescaled from 50/95/140/185 to 45/100/155/210 | 50/95/140/185 | 45/100/155/210 |
| Reactive Armor Bonus HP Regen increased from 0.3/0.4/0.5/0.6 to 0.4/0.5/0.6/0.7 | 0.3/0.4/0.5/0.6 | 0.4/0.5/0.6/0.7 |

| Change | Before | After |
|---|
No notes supplied for this section.
| Change | Before | After |
|---|---|---|
| Arcane Bolt Mana Cost decreased from 85 to 70 | 85 | 70 |

| Change | Before | After |
|---|---|---|
| Base stats / mechanics Base Armor decreased by 1 | — | — |
| Change | Before | After |
|---|---|---|
| Mephitic Shroud · Aphotic Shield Cooldown increased from 14/12/10/8s to 15/13/11/9s | 14/12/10/8s | 15/13/11/9s |
| Talents Level 15 Talent Curse of Avernus DPS decreased from +50 to +40 | +50 | +40 |
| Talents Level 25 Talent Curse of Avernus Attack Speed Bonus decreased from +80 to +65 | +80 | +65 |
| Curse of Avernus No longer deals damage to buildings | — | — |

| Change | Before | After |
|---|
No notes supplied for this section.
| Change | Before | After |
|---|---|---|
| Spoils of War · Duel Press the Attack duration on allies after duel win is now decreased by 50% | — | — |

| Change | Before | After |
|---|
No notes supplied for this section.
| Change | Before | After |
|---|---|---|
| Sleight of Fist Bonus Hero Damage decreased from 40/80/120/160 to 25/70/115/160 | 40/80/120/160 | 25/70/115/160 |

| Change | Before | After |
|---|
No notes supplied for this section.
| Change | Before | After |
|---|---|---|
| Talents Level 10 Talent Geomagnetic Grip Cooldown Reduction increased from 2s to 3s | 2s | 3s |
| Talents Level 20 Talent Rolling Boulder Damage increased from +160 to +180 | +160 | +180 |
| Boulder Smash Damage rescaled from 120/180/240/300 to 110/180/250/320 | 120/180/240/300 | 110/180/250/320 |

| Change | Before | After |
|---|
No notes supplied for this section.
| Change | Before | After |
|---|---|---|
| Conjure Image Illusion Damage Taken decreased from 275% to 250% | 275% | 250% |

| Change | Before | After |
|---|
No notes supplied for this section.
| Change | Before | After |
|---|---|---|
| Talents Level 15 Talent -1s Purifying Flames Cooldown replaced with +25% Purifying Flames Enemy Damage | — | — |
| Talents Level 20 Talent +30% Purifying Flames Enemy Damage replaced with -1s Purifying Flames Cooldown | — | — |
| Rain of Destiny Damage/Heal per second decreased from 35 to 30 | 35 | 30 |

| Change | Before | After |
|---|
No notes supplied for this section.
| Change | Before | After |
|---|---|---|
| Acorn Shot Bonus Damage increased from 40/80/120/160 to 45/90/135/180 | 40/80/120/160 | 45/90/135/180 |
| Sharpshooter Max Damage increased from 550/900/1250 to 600/975/1350 Damage with Hipshot facet increased from 412.5/675/937.5 to 450/731.25/1012.5 | 550/900/1250 | 600/975/1350 |
| Hunter's Boomerang Movement Slow increased from 20% to 25% | 20% | 25% |
| Hunter's Boomerang Incoming Spell Damage Amp increased from 20% to 25% | 20% | 25% |

| Change | Before | After |
|---|
No notes supplied for this section.
| Change | Before | After |
|---|---|---|
| Lil' Shredder Base Damage per shot increased from 20/35/50/65 to 25/40/55/70 | 20/35/50/65 | 25/40/55/70 |
| Mortimer Kisses No longer interrupted when Snapfire uses items/abilities that can be cast while channeling (Glimmer Cape, etc.) This also fixes being interrupted when receiving Madstone | — | — |

| Change | Before | After |
|---|
No notes supplied for this section.
| Change | Before | After |
|---|---|---|
| Sideshow Secrets · Crystal Ball Now indicates the exact position of each enemy hero in the area without revealing their identity | — | — |
| Sideshow Secrets · Unicycle No longer gets knocked off if the damage taken is below 20 | — | — |
| Sideshow Secrets · Unicycle No longer gets knocked off from any damage for 1.5s after mounting the unicycle | — | — |
| Sideshow Secrets · Unicycle Can now cast non-channeling spells and pick up runes without dismounting the unicycle Still requires Ringmaster to be facing in the spell direction | — | — |
| Sideshow Secrets · Weighted Pie Now also slows movement of the affected enemy by 45%. Similarly to vision, movement speed is recovering over the debuff time | — | — |

| Change | Before | After |
|---|
No notes supplied for this section.
| Change | Before | After |
|---|---|---|
| Buddy System · Bodyguard Now also increases duration from 6s to 7s | 6s | 7s |
| Pick-me-up · Rebound Ally damage increased from 25% to 35% | 25% | 35% |

| Change | Before | After |
|---|
No notes supplied for this section.
| Change | Before | After |
|---|---|---|
| Provoke the Beast · Uproar Now also provides stacks upon being Silenced | — | — |
| Uproar Max Stacks increased from 5 to 6 | 5 | 6 |

| Change | Before | After |
|---|
No notes supplied for this section.
| Change | Before | After |
|---|---|---|
| Ofrenda · Ofrenda Attack Speed Bonus increased from 15/25/35/45 to 20/30/40/50 | 15/25/35/45 | 20/30/40/50 |

| Change | Before | After |
|---|
No notes supplied for this section.
| Change | Before | After |
|---|---|---|
| Talents Level 25 Talent Shodo Sai Mark Critical Strike increased from +75% to +100% | +75% | +100% |
No neutral-creep section in this official patch.
This collection contains official balance changes. It has no patch-aligned match sample, so pick rates, win rates and performance trends are not established.
Explore match evidence →These notes describe patch 7.38c. Later patches may change or remove these mechanics. Historical Facet and Innate sections are preserved as written, rather than presented as current hero rules.
Balance changes alone do not prove a win-rate effect. Compare a stated sample, role and time window before drawing a performance conclusion.
Explore this patch →Collected 2026-09-18T16:00:25.042681+00:00. Dates use Valve’s official patch timestamp in UTC. All meaningful note text, nested sections and explanatory notes from this response are retained. Standalone news posts and client bug-fix announcements are outside this gameplay-patch collection.
Valve source data ↗SHA-256: b1f3f7344dca0b2ac89801b68b654d9e828cb4b4d81fafdf8901d432a95c6c2f