Notorious Dota 2 pub hero Tinker has had its win rate nosedive after Patch 7.36 on May 23 owing to drastic changes to the hero’s abilities, which saw a key component of Tinker’s playstyle wiped out overnight.
A Metagame Shakeup: Tinker’s Wild Swing in Win Rate
As with previous big patches, the current one introduced Facets and Innate abilities to all heroes, causing a substantial shakeup in the metagame, but Tinker stands out as having witnessed the most dramatic change in terms of victory rate. The hero is currently sitting at a measly 35.18% win rate according to stats site Dotabuff, dropping from 49.40% before the patch.
The Fundamental Change: Rearm’s Demise
Tinker had the majority of his kit changed with Patch 7.36. There is one significant change, however, that significantly alters the way the Dota 2 hero has been played throughout its existence: Rearm no longer replenishes item cooldowns. This implies that the hero can no longer use the Soul Ring to spam his spells or other equipment indefinitely, no more non-stop Blinking over the map, no more perma-Hex in the late game, and no more constant Wind Wakers as a get-out-of-jail-free card.
A community in disarray: Tinker’s unique playstyle is lost
While Tinker undoubtedly was a notoriously hard hero to deal with, especially in an uncoordinated pub, even the hero’s biggest detractors are astonished at the neutering of the hero’s unique playstyle. “By eliminating the ability to replenish ANY item, they murdered the hero and its flavor. Slowly but gradually, every single hero is being dumbed down to a boring version of itself,” one player remarked in a Dota 2 subreddit discussion on May 24th.
Tinker made only a few appearances in both pro and pub games as the metagame shifted to concentrate playmaking mid lanes. Tinker only had a 4.34 percent pick rate prior to the patch. In Pro Dota 2, he has been an uncontested hero in the last four tier-one tournaments—DreamLeague S22, Elite League, ESL One Birmingham, and PGL Wallachia. Tinker was not in the same league as the Disruptors and Dooms from the previous patch, who required a significant nerf. If anything, he needs a couple buffs to get back into the meta.
A Shift in Identity: Tinker as Support?
However, it appears that Valve is moving Tinker into a support position with the Repair Bots Facet and the removal of AoE on Laser, Tinker’s previous farming tool. Although the number of matches is quite small on Dota2ProTracker, we can see a developing trend of high MMR pub players trying Tinker in a support role, building items like Guardian Greaves and Solar Crest.
Having said that, this represents a significant shift in Tinker’s essential identity. The Dota 2 community is comparing it to the Techies rework of Patch 7.31 where Remote Mines were removed from their kit. One may argue that both of these reworks indicate that Valve is homogenizing the hero roster and making the most divisive heroes more palatable. This is also reflected in some of the Facets added in Patch 7.36 for former micro-heavy heroes such as Visage and Lycan.
The Complexity Conundrum
While making less popular heroes more accessible is an admirable goal, Valve must tread carefully here. Dota 2 is praised for its breathtaking intricacy, and now that the game is arguably in its retention phase, committed players would not want to trade complexity for casual appeal.