Dota 2 Patch 7.40c Update

This Dota 2 update focuses on tightening item efficiency, trimming a few outlier talents, and cleaning up mechanics such as illusion based procs, while still delivering plenty of meaningful 7.40c hero changes for both pubs and competitive drafts. On the GoRanked platform, you can also purchase a Dota 2 boost to reach your desired rank faster with the help of experienced players.

Item Changes

• Khanda: Khanda is now disassemblable, which is a real quality of life shift for progression and slot planning. In practice, this change makes Khanda feel less committal, because you can pivot into different components later without fully selling the item. For Dota 2 patch 7.40c, that flexibility alone can alter mid game timing choices.

• Phylactery: Phylactery received straight efficiency nerfs: all attributes went from 7 to 6, and mana regeneration dropped from 2.5 to 2.25. This slightly lowers its early value for heroes that leaned on the stat bundle plus steady casting. In the Dota 2 Patch 7.40c update, it’s a subtle push towards more selective Phylactery purchases rather than an automatic pickup.

Hero Changes

• Buffs: This bucket covers heroes that gained base stats, scaling, stronger talents, or cleaner ability numbers. Examples include improved growth or direct ability boosts such as Batrider’s gains, Brewmaster’s stance and Shard improvements, Monkey King’s Jingu scaling, Nature’s Prophet’s treant damage increase, Pangolier’s kit tuning, and several cooldown or mana cost reductions that help tempo heroes take more fights in Dota 2 7.40c.

• Nerfs: This bucket covers heroes that lost growth, had key talents toned down, or had important mechanics weakened. You’ll see a lot of this in talent trimming at levels 10, 15, 20, and 25, plus targeted reductions such as Axe strength gain, Drow’s level 25 chance nerf, Slardar and Spectre scaling hits, and several illusion related proc removals that reshape certain matchups in Dota 2 Patch 7.40c.

• Mixed Adjustments: Some heroes were shifted rather than simply buffed or nerfed. Ember Spirit, for example, trades duration for higher DoT, while a few others gain in one area and lose in another, changing how they lane or hit timings. These “mixed” edits often matter most because they change play patterns, not just power.

Full Hero List Breakdown

Below is a clean, complete breakdown of the source changes, hero by hero, matching the 7.40c hero changes you provided.

Abaddon

• Curse of Avernus no longer triggers from illusion attacks.

Axe

• Strength gain reduced: 2.8 → 2.7.

• Level 15 talent: Battle Hunger DPS bonus reduced: 10 → 8.

Batrider

• Agility gain increased: 1.8 → 2.0.

• Damage gain per level increased: 3.4 → 3.5.

Bloodseeker

• Bloodrage max HP loss per second reduced: 1.4% → 1.2%.

• Level 10 talent: health bonus increased: 175 → 200.

• Level 20 talent: agility bonus reduced: 20 → 15.

• Level 20 talent: Rupture cast range reduced: 425 → 400.

Brewmaster

• Liquid Courage (Shard) health regen per second increased: 2% → 2.5%.

• Drunken Brawler (Earth stance) armour increased: 2/4/6/8 → 3/5/7/9.

Broodmother

• Necrotic Webs: enemy health regen reduction reduced: 10/30/50/70% → 10/25/40/55%.

• Spin Web: max charges reduced: 4/6/8/10 → 3/5/7/9.

• Incapacitating Bite no longer triggers from illusion attacks.

• Level 15 talent: Incapacitating Bite bonus damage reduced: 8 → 6.

• Level 25 talent: Insatiable Hunger attack interval reduction reduced: 0.2 → 0.15 seconds.

Clinkz

• Skeleton Walk: building damage reduction increased: 25% → 75%.

• Aghanim’s Scepter change: removed the extra “attacks to kill skeletons” effect; Scepter now only grants Burning Army.

• Level 15 talent: attack range bonus reduced: 60 → 50.

• Level 25 talent: “Two Searing Arrows targets” no longer affects skeleton archers.

Dark Seer

• Base armour increased by 1.

Doom

• Infernal Blade mana cost reduced: 40 → 35.

Drow Ranger

• Level 25 talent: Marksmanship proc chance bonus reduced: 10% → 8%.

Earthshaker

• Fissure mana cost reduced: 120/125/130/135 → 115/120/125/130.

Ember Spirit

• Searing Chains duration reduced: 1.5/2/2.5/3 → 1.25/1.75/2.25/2.75.

• Searing Chains damage per second changed: 50/70/90/110 → 100.

Grimstroke

• Base damage increased by 1 (level 1 range adjusted to 47–51).

• Ink Swell cast range increased: 500/600/700/800 → 650/700/750/800.

• Level 15 talent: Ink Swell movement speed bonus increased: 12% → 15%.

Gyrocopter

• Base attack speed reduced: 125 → 115.

• Agility gain increased: 3.2 → 3.4.

• Level 25 talent: Call Down cooldown reduction increased: 30 → 40 seconds.

Huskar

• Berserker’s Blood cooldown increased: 50/40/30/20 → 60/50/40/30.

Jakiro

• Base intelligence reduced: 26 → 25.

• Level 1 damage adjusted: 53–61 → 52–60.

• Ice Path ice duration reduced: 3/3.5/4/4.5 → 2.6/3.1/3.6/4.1.

Largo

• Added to Captains Mode.

• Intelligence gain increased: 2.4 → 2.6.

• Frogstomp damage per stomp increased: 35/45/55/65 → 36/48/60/72.

• Amphibian Rhapsody can now be toggled while silenced; radius increased: 750 → 800.

Legion Commander

• Duel (Scepter) duration reduced: 5.5/6/6.5 → 5/5.5/6.

Lone Druid

• Base agility increased: 20 → 22.

• Level 1 damage increased: 42–46 → 44–48.

• Savage Roar duration increased: 0.8/1.2/1.6/2 → 1.1/1.4/1.7/2.

• Level 25 talent: slow resistance during True Form increased: 60% → 70%.

• Spirit Bear: Return can now be interrupted by stun and leash.

Meepo

• MegaMeepo: Poof damage per clone reduced: 75% → 50%.

• Level 10 talent: Poof damage bonus reduced: 50 → 40.

• Level 20 talent: Ransack lifesteal bonus reduced: 8 → 7.

Monkey King

• Jingu Mastery bonus damage increased: 30/75/120/165 → 30/80/130/180.

• Level 10 talent: Primal Spring max damage bonus increased: 85 → 90.

Nature’s Prophet

• Nature’s Call: treant damage increased: 16/24/32/40 → 16/25/34/43.

Pangolier

• Base strength increased: 19 → 20.

• Fortune Favors the Bold: probability reduction increased: 40% → 50%.

• Swashbuckle cooldown reduced: 20/17/14/11 → 19/16/13/10.

Phantom Assassin

• Level 10 talent: Stifling Dagger cooldown reduction increased: 1.5 → 2 seconds.

Phantom Lancer

• Illusory Armaments: minimum level 1 damage reduced: 18% → 17%.

• Doppelganger mana cost increased: 50 → 70.

Pudge

• Meat Shield mana cost increased: 50/60/70/80 → 65/70/75/80.

Ringmaster

• Base agility reduced: 13 → 11.

• Agility gain increased: 1.4 → 1.6.

• Whoopee Cushion stink cloud radius increased: 200 → 250.

Rubick

• Telekinesis cooldown reduced: 23/20/17/14 → 22/19/16/13.

Shadow Demon

• Disseminate current health damage reduced: 9/11/13/15% → 9/10/11/12%.

Slardar

• Strength gain reduced: 3.6 → 3.4.

• Level 15 talent: health bonus reduced: 300 → 250.

Slark

• Saltwater Shiv: health restoration steal changed to 2/4/6/8%.

• Health regen steal increased: 2/3/4/5 → 2/4/6/8.

• Movement speed steal increased: 2/3/4/5 → 2/4/6/8.

Spectre

• Strength gain reduced: 2.5 → 2.4.

• Level 20 talent: health bonus reduced: 350 → 325.

• Level 25 talent: hero illusion damage bonus reduced: 20% → 15%.

Terrorblade

• Conjure Image mana cost reduced: 55/65/75/85 → 50/60/70/80.

• Sunder cooldown reduced: 120/80/40 → 110/75/40.

• Demon Zeal no longer affects Reflection doubles.

• Level 15 talent: Reflection doubles damage and slow increased: 10% → 15%.

Tidehunter

• Base strength reduced: 27 → 26.

• Level 1 damage adjusted: 52–58 → 51–57.

Timbersaw

• Base strength reduced: 26 → 23.

• Level 1 damage adjusted: 49–53 → 46–50.

• Strength gain increased: 3.5 → 3.6.

• Level 15 talent: Whirling Death attribute reduction reduced: 2.5% → 2%.

Treant Protector

• Eyes In The Forest: destroying a sprout now grants 50 gold.

Ursa

• Fury Swipes damage per stack reduced: 13/21/29/37 → 12/20/28/36.

Viper

• Corrosive Skin DPS changed: 8/16/24/32 → 10/15/20/25.

• Level 20 talent: Predator %HP damage bonus increased: 0.25 → 0.3.

• Level 20 talent: Viper Strike DPS bonus reduced: 80 → 70.

Talent and Level Adjustments

In Dota 2, letter patches often look small on paper, but they quietly reshape how games flow once people start scrimming and grinding ranked. Patch 7.40c leans into trimming extremes at key talent tiers, so late game spikes feel less automatic and more tied to execution.

Level 10 Changes

Early talents in Dota 2 are usually about surviving lanes and turning the first rotations into something tangible. Bloodseeker’s level 10 health talent goes from 175 to 200, giving him a bit more breathing room when he dives into early fights. Meepo loses some punch with his Poof damage talent dropping from 50 to 40, which slows down the “snowball off one good timing” pattern. Monkey King gets a slight lift as his Primal Spring max damage talent rises from 85 to 90, rewarding cleaner engages around runes and side lane moves.

Level 15 Changes

Level 15 tends to define the mid game feel in Dota 2, and 7.40c uses it to tone down pressure tools while improving a few utility payoffs. Axe’s Battle Hunger damage per second talent falls from 10 to 8, so his long fight annoyance factor is lower. Broodmother’s bonus damage talent for Incapacitating Bite drops from 8 to 6, pairing with other changes that reduce how oppressive her mid game can feel. Grimstroke stands out in the opposite direction, with Ink Swell movement speed talent improving from 12% to 15%, making saves and chases more dependable when team fights start clustering around objectives.

Level 20 Changes

This tier is where Dota 2 heroes often turn from “strong” into “unfair,” so it makes sense that 7.40c targets several level 20 spikes. Bloodseeker’s agility talent is reduced from 20 to 15 and his Rupture cast range talent is trimmed from 425 to 400, slightly narrowing his ability to start fights safely from the edge. Meepo’s Ransack lifesteal talent drops from 8 to 7, which matters when he is trying to live through chain disables and heavy burst. Viper is adjusted in a more directional way, with Predator percent health damage talent rising from 0.25 to 0.3 while the Viper Strike damage per second talent falls from 80 to 70, pushing value towards consistent damage rather than pure ultimate burn.

Level 25 Changes

Level 25 is the “endgame identity” tier in Dota 2, and this patch tweaks several heroes that were scaling too reliably. Drow Ranger’s Marksmanship proc chance talent drops from 10% to 8%, reducing how often she hits that fight flipping moment. Spectre’s hero illusion damage talent is reduced from 20% to 15%, which makes ultra late fights a bit less suffocating when she is fully online. On the buff side, Gyrocopter’s Call Down cooldown reduction talent improves from 30 to 40 seconds, letting him threaten fights more frequently, while Lone Druid’s True Form slow resistance talent rises from 60% to 70%, helping him stay glued to targets despite layered slows.

Mechanics and Gameplay Impacts

Even in a numbers focused patch, Dota 2 always has a few rule changes that alter what feels consistent in real matches. Patch 7.40c cleans up illusion interactions, tweaks mana and cooldown pressure points, and clarifies a few Aghanim’s and Shard cases that influence item choices.

Illusion Interaction Changes

Two changes in Dota 2 will be instantly felt by anyone who hates losing trades to “fake units” doing too much. Abaddon’s Curse of Avernus no longer triggers from illusion attacks, and Broodmother’s Incapacitating Bite also stops proccing from illusions. This makes team fights clearer, because passive value is tied more tightly to the real hero committing rather than replicated hits doing the work. It also gives opponents more predictable counterplay when facing illusion heavy drafts.

Mana and Cooldown Tuning

Small resource edits are often the most meta defining in Dota 2, because they decide whether a hero can take one extra skirmish without retreating. Doom’s Infernal Blade mana cost drops from 40 to 35, which adds up over repeated casts and makes his lane pressure slightly less punishing on his mana pool. Earthshaker’s Fissure mana cost is reduced at all levels, so he has more freedom to block paths, defend towers, or start fights without feeling empty after one combo. Phantom Lancer goes the other way as Doppelganger mana cost increases from 50 to 70, meaning he cannot spam resets as freely and will be punished harder if he wastes a defensive dodge early.

Aghanim’s and Shard Related Updates

Patch 7.40c also includes a few clean “definition” edits that matter in Dota 2 item planning. Clinkz loses a Scepter interaction and now Aghanim’s Scepter only grants Burning Army, removing the extra layer where skeleton durability was indirectly improved by needing more attacks to kill them. Legion Commander’s Duel duration with Aghanim’s Scepter is reduced, which lowers how long she can hold a target in the most decisive part of a late fight. Brewmaster’s Shard upgrade for Liquid Courage is strengthened by increasing health regen from 2% to 2.5% per second, making the Shard feel more rewarding when you want sustained presence rather than a quick burst window.

Emerging Meta

In Dota 2, patches like 7.40c usually don’t flip the game overnight, but they do move the centre of gravity. The biggest signal here is that illusion value is being cleaned up, a few late game talents are brought down, and several mana and cooldown tweaks quietly change who can force fights more often. That combination tends to reward line ups with clearer initiation and sustained team fight, rather than drafts that rely on passive abuse or one oversized talent spike.

Winners and Losers

Some of the clearest winners in Dota 2 7.40c are heroes that gained consistency without losing identity. Brewmaster benefits a lot because the Shard regen increase and the extra Earth stance armour make his brawling feel sturdier across multiple engagements. Pangolier comes out well thanks to base strength and a Swashbuckle cooldown reduction, which together improve both survivability and uptime. Monkey King’s Jingu numbers and his level 10 talent bump help him convert good jumps into real pressure more reliably.

On the loser side, several cores that were already comfortable in late game have their ceiling reduced. Spectre takes a direct hit to the level 25 hero illusion damage talent, which will be felt in drawn out games when she normally becomes inevitable. Drow Ranger losing Marksmanship proc chance at level 25 is another meaningful endgame trim, especially in fights where one or two extra procs decide the outcome. Phantom Lancer is also softened by the Doppelganger mana increase, making repeated resets and prolonged fights harder to sustain.

Draft and Role Shifts

Drafting in Dota 2 often follows one question after a patch, which heroes get to play their game with fewer constraints. The mana cost reductions on Doom and Earthshaker make them more forgiving, so they can show up in more drafts without the same resource penalty. That kind of change often pushes them up in priority for teams that value reliable initiation and objective control.

The illusion interaction removals on Abaddon and Broodmother also influence how teams think about “free value” from replicated units. It encourages line ups to commit real heroes to trigger real effects, which naturally favours coordinated execution. Meanwhile Clinkz having a more straightforward Aghanim’s Scepter identity makes his item decisions cleaner, and Legion Commander losing a bit of Duel duration with Scepter slightly reduces how often drafts can rely on a single long lock to win a late fight.

Pub vs Competitive Takeaways

In pubs, Dota 2 players will mostly feel 7.40c through resource pressure and easier punish windows. Phantom Lancer’s higher Doppelganger mana cost will catch a lot of people out, because one wasted usage can now leave him unable to disengage again. Drow Ranger and Spectre will still be strong in the right games, but the late game will demand cleaner positioning and better fight selection rather than expecting talents to carry the final stages.

Conclusion

Patch 7.40c keeps Dota 2 moving in a direction where power is earned through timings and clean fights rather than hidden mechanics. Disassemblable Khanda adds flexibility, Phylactery becomes a slightly more deliberate purchase, and several talent and illusion changes reduce late game inevitability on a few favourites. If you want a simple way to adapt, prioritise heroes that can fight often without running dry, and treat late game talents as an advantage you still need to play around, not a win condition on their own.