Dota 2 Patch 6.83 Review - Part One

From the recent Shifting Snows Dota 6.83 update...

Summary of Gameplay changes:

• Barracks destruction provides more team gold, less individual gold
• Some buffing abilities now affect magic immune.  'bout time...

Here's a quick summary of hero changes and what they mean:

Who got buffed:

• Abaddon:  slight buff to ultimate.  Meh.
• Alchemist:  Greevil's Greed buffed.  Alch can farm faster, should be relevant sooner.
• Windranger:  Focus Fire & Power Shot buffs.  Higher semi-carry potential, easier skill shot
• Bounty Hunter:  Buffs to Track cooldown & self-gold.  Teamfight buffs, ganker buff.
• Bristleback:  buff to Quill Spray dmg.  Slightly better laning.
• Chaos Knight:  Reality Rift dmg buffed, Phantasms last longer.  Comes online earlier.
• Chen:  more units, can now summon units to you.  Large buff.
• Clinkz:  slight attack range boost.  Slightly better laning.
• Crystal Maiden:  buffs to all damage skills.  Better ganking, teamfight.
• Dark Seer:  slight armor buff, cast time buff.  Meh.  Are they hoping to see more of him as an offlaner?
• Dazzle:  slight attack range buff.  Slightly stronger lane harass.
• Disruptor:  cooldowns decreased, mana cost of Glimpse rescaled.  Slightly stronger overall.
• Dragon Knight:  Corrosive Breath now stays for Levels 2,3 Dragonform.  Slightly better push mid to late game.
• Drow Ranger:  Illusions now benefit from Marksmanship.  Carries slightly harder with Manta.
• Earthshaker:  Buff to Enchant Totem (mana cost reduction).  Slightly better early game with Enchant Totem + Aftershock.
• Enchantress:  now moves even faster (335!).  I have no idea why a speedy prancing Dryad needs to be even faster..
• Gyrocopter:  Buffs to ultimate, slight buff to homing missile (using Force Staff).
• Huskar:  slight buff to Inner Vitality.  May result in stronger laning.
• Juggernaut:  More agility = better early laning, Blade Dance ult slighlty early-mid game.
• Kunkka:  Buff to "X" skill. Icefrog attempts to encourage more use of this powerful skill.  Mostly affects Kunkka as a support, and late-mid game.
• Leshrac:  slight buffs to Edict and Lightning.  Slightly better for push and positioning.
• Lifestealer:  An interesting buff to infest, where you can now use a creep as transportation.
• Lina:  Fairly large damage buffs.  Lina likely to return as a ganking support or mid.
• Lion:  better early right-click for harass, slight utility optimization on Mana Drain
• Luna:  slight buff to Glaives and Eclipse.  Not sure what Icefrog was trying to fix here, but the problem is usually Luna getting to the higher levels, not doing damage once leveled and geared...
• Morphling:  buff to Adaptive Strike stun.  Slight utility improvement.
• Nightstalker:  Buffs to early laning and to Crippling Fear.  I view the Darkness changes as a slight buff, allowing more frequent use and the standardization to enemy vision is a boon.

Who got nerfed:

• Brewmaster:  Armor & Thunderclap nerfs
• Death Prophet:  nerf to strength growth (2.2 to 1.9).  Snowballs less hard, slightly weaker later in game compared to previous.
• Earth Spirit:  Rolling boulder nerf
• Elder Titan:  nerf to Astral Spirit damage.  Slightly less strong in lane.
• Faceless Void:  Time Walk debuff nerf, Chrono cooldown nerf.  Hero offense slightly weaker.
• Jakiro:  Liquid fire damage nerf.  Slightly weaker push and lane harass
• Meepo:  slight nerf to respawn time after level 16.
• Ogre Magi:  Nerf to Fireblast damage and range.  Booo!

Who got rebalanced / small fixes

• Axe:  Changes to Battle Hunger
• Bane:  Nightmare cooldown now static by level
• Bloodseeker
• Broodmother:  nerf to Broodling vision (1400 --> 1100 daytime)
• Io (Wisp):  No turning required - slightly less delay on cast, nice fix because how can you tell which way he's facing, anyway?