Here’s why Techies has become viable and how to play this hero in the latest patch.
Has the time finally come when Dota 2 players can pick Techies and not be side-eyed? Techies has gone through changes and reworks in the past years but none of them have turned this hero desirable - not until Patch 7.33. After some buffs and ability rework, Techies surged in popularity and win rate. In high MMR pubs, Techies is the most-picked position 4 with a 53% win rate.
The changes to Techies in Patch 7.33
What exactly changed in Techies that makes him strong in this current patch? Here's what Patch 7.33 tweaked.
In general, Techies received massive buffs to his basic stats. He is now a Universal Hero, and thus, his base damage is also decreased to balance the change. Apart from that, his damage gain is also increased.
- Now is a Universal Hero
- Base Damage decreased from 21-23 to 12-14
- Damage on level 1 unchanged (46-48)
- Damage gain per level increased from +3 to +4.08
Techies' abilities are not heavily changed, but Blast Off! now applies a stun instead of a silence. The Proximity Mines are also stronger as the debuff stacks independently.
- Reactive Tazer - Aghanim's Scepter upgrade moved to Shard
- Blast Off! - Shard upgrade removed. Now stuns enemies for 0.8/1/1.2/1.4s instead of silences.
- Proximity Mines - Magic Resistance Reduction debuff now stacks independently
Finally, Techies now has a new Aghanim's Scepter upgrade - the Minefield Sign. His Minefield Sign has a larger AoE and whoever steps in and walks inside the active minefield will receive quite the damage.
- Minefield Sign - Now an Aghanim's Scepter upgrade. Increases effect radius to 1000 and duration to 4 minutes. When an enemy hero gets within 200 units of the sign, the entire 1000 radius area becomes a minefield for 10 seconds. Enemy units will take 300 damage for every 200 units moved. Minefield area is visible to enemies once activated. The sign is destroyed after the minefield expires. Only one sign can exist at a time.
How to play Techies in Dota 2 - General tips and tricks
With Techies now surging in popularity, many people are now playing and experimenting with this pesky hero. And fret now, if you have never played Techies in Dota 2 before, he has a straightforward spell kit and most of them are easy to execute.
Here are some of the general tips and tricks to play Techies:
- As Techies is now a Universal hero, you can easily punish enemies during laning with his powerful right-clicks
- Use Sticky Bomb to secure last hits and harass opponents
- Sticky Bomb can provide vision and it also works on cliffs
- Blast Off! has quite a large area of effect, making it easy to aim
- You can use Blast Off! as an escape option and jump away from danger
- Make use of the short stun duration from Blast Off! to stop Teleports or heroes like Faceless Void and Queen of Pain from escaping
- You can time Reactive Tazer before using Blast Off! in a fight, though it must be timed properly
- Ethereal Blade has great synergy with Techies' abilities - use it to amplify bomb damage and to stop the enemy from destroying your Mines
- Proximity Mines will not expire - plant them all around the map whenever you can!
- In most cases, max the Sticky Bomb and Blast Off! abilities first.
What items to buy on Techies?
In general, a lot of players tend to go for Arcane Boots, Aether Lens, Ethereal Blade, Aghanim's Scepter, and Force Staff. These are typically great for Techies regardless of the situation.
Screencapped from Dota 2 Pro Tracker
In high MMR pubs, however, there's a slight difference in item build that the pros tend to go for. Here are the items for Techies that are recommended in the latest patch:
- Magic Wand
- Bracer
- Arcane Boots/ Tranquil Boots
- Pavise
- Mekansm > Guardian Greaves
- Force Staff / Glimmer Cape
- Aghanim's Shard
- Ethereal Blade
- Aghanim's Scepter
- Octarine Core
That is all on our quick and simple guide on how to play Techies in Dota 2 for Patch 7.33c. Stay tuned to Esports.gg for more Dota 2 guides and meta overview!