Outworld Destroyer’s Recent Update Puts Support Role in the Spotlight
The recent 7.28b update for Dota 2 brought about balance changes and new Aghanim’s Shard upgrades. One hero that stood out from the rest was Outworld Destroyer.
Outworld Destroyer received a range of buffs to his base stats and skills, resulting in a significant increase in his win rate. Within just two days, his win rate went from below 40 percent to over 50 percent.
However, Outworld Destroyer has weaknesses as a carry, such as lacking wave clear and farming capability. His win rate decreases as skill level increases, according to Dotabuff’s meta trends.
In professional-level matches, Outworld Destroyer performs better in a support role, as shown by Dota2ProTracker’s limited data.
Considering these factors, it may be a good time for Outworld Destroyer players to explore the support role and adapt to the hero’s new strengths.
From Dominant Mid Laner to Poor Farmer
Outworld Destroyer used to be a dominant mid laner, capable of neutralizing his opponent with Astral Imprisonment. However, the recent update has changed his playstyle. Astral Imprisonment no longer traps heroes for a static four seconds and prevents last hitting. Additionally, his Arcane Orb now has a cooldown, requiring players to max it for optimal performance.
Furthermore, Outworld Destroyer is not an efficient farmer in the current patch. He relies heavily on spells for damage, making popular farming items less viable. His high attack time also limits the effectiveness of attack speed items.
A Strong Hero in Trading Hits
One of Outworld Destroyer’s strengths lies in his ability to trade hits with opponents. His base stats make him one of the best hit-traders in the game. With high starting armor, health regeneration, and solid damage, he can excel in trading blows with enemies.
Unlike other laning dominators, Outworld Destroyer doesn’t rely on excessive mana usage. His trading skill, Arcane Orb, consumes a percentage of his mana to deal extra pure damage. Additionally, Essence Flux provides a chance to restore mana with each Arcane Orb, allowing him to sustain his aggression.
Mana-Based Scaling and Astral Imprisonment
Outworld Destroyer’s spells now scale off raw mana instead of intelligence. This change opens up new itemization opportunities, with mana-providing items like Aether Lens becoming more valuable. It also reduces the effectiveness of intelligence-based counters like Nyx Assassin’s Mana Burn.
Astral Imprisonment remains a powerful ability regardless of Outworld Destroyer’s role. It can be used for saving allies or initiating fights. By focusing on a spellcasting support playstyle, Outworld Destroyer can shine with the increased cast range of Astral Imprisonment and the use of items like Aether Lens.
While Outworld Destroyer can still be played as a mid lane core, it’s important to consider his lack of wave clear and farming ability in low kill-count games. Having capable initiators or scaling offlaners and supports can compensate for these weaknesses.
If you’re interested in learning more about support Outworld Destroyer, check out this excellent guide by 2B, an Immortal player known for playing unconventional support heroes.
Dota 2, Outworld Destroyer, support role, balance patch, hero buffs, win rate increase, weaknesses, dominant mid laner, poor farmer, hit-trading, mana-based scaling, Astral Imprisonment