Some of the hotly debated subjects proper now could be the HP pool inflation. Through the years, the baseline and doubtlessly achievable survivability skyrocketed, leading to a a lot decrease lethality of Dota engagements. Right this moment we wish to add our voice to the dialogue, highlighting what we contemplate to be the professionals and cons of the present Dota strategy to time-to-kill.
That is what we contemplate to be the most important profit of upper common HP swimming pools. Getting caught out of place on a tanky hero means you continue to get to react. Since targets are a lot tougher to explode and exhausting crowd management doesn’t final as lengthy, the opportunity of counter-play is far increased.
This ends in extra dynamic fights, the place brawling is doubtlessly much more forwards and backwards. Pondering of Well being Factors as a useful resource that may be spent on baiting the enemy to overcommit and get out of place is a possible additional layer allowed by increased survivability.
Heals are additionally extra pronounced if you get a goal that doesn’t evaporate in a break up of a second. Equally, save objects and heroes are so much simpler to utilise successfully. All this makes the sport extra participating, in our opinion. As a substitute of fights being determined by good initiations, we get a sport that’s balanced round smarter capability utilization and itemisation.In idea, it is usually a really sturdy diversification device. Tanky heroes can get very tanky, whereas squishier heroes really feel much more squishy by comparability.
Nonetheless, there are a number of issues which can be particularly noticeable on the highest degree of play. The first transfer benefit continues to be very sturdy, however it’s now not a viable technique as an entire. Beforehand, imaginative and prescient heroes could possibly be the cornerstone of a group’s draft, the place fast pickoffs on precedence targets would result in a teamfight victory. The present degree of tankiness merely doesn’t enable for it, therefore heroes like 
Night time Stalker are largely ignored.
Furthermore, heroes who may beforehand boast unparalleled tankiness are actually weaker as compared. In making an attempt to diversify tanky heroes from squishy ones, the present steadiness made traditionally tanky heroes much less related. 
Tidehunter continues to be a really tanky and survivable hero, however when in comparison with different offlane heroes he now not stands out as a lot.
Glass cannons are additionally not having the best of instances, although there are some examples of heroes who match this class and are within the meta. Glass cannon-punishers, although, are totally irrelevant. Heroes like 
Spectre, 
Bloodseeker and 
Juggernaut who’ve a protected quantity of burst harm merely don’t supply something, when their burst is just not killing heroes.
The one model of carry at the moment viable within the meta is survivable, sustained harm carry. It isn’t even essentially a 
Gleipnir downside, although it is part of it. Merely put: a good battle in opposition to targets which will have half your DPS, however have thrice your survivability is simply not mathematically a very good choice.
What we find yourself with is an undeniably EHP-dominated meta, which isn’t unhealthy by itself for a time, but it surely does restrict the pool of viable heroes. Hopefully it should change within the subsequent patch.
There are a number of apparent options to the issue. One is a blanket lower within the effectivity of HP objects. It’s by far the simplest and probably the most intuitive one. Firming down Energy to twenty HP per level and reducing flat HP values on among the artefacts may go a great distance.
On the identical time, we’re afraid it should consequence within the lack of potential counter-play choices. Present brawling group fights are enjoyable to look at and are enjoyable to play, in our opinion. Dota is balanced on a knife’s edge and it’s straightforward to skew it too exhausting within the different course with minor modifications.
Making dangerous heroes extra rewarding could possibly be one other technique to go. Let tanky heroes be typically tanky, however ensure that glass cannons deal sufficient harm to chop via all that survivability, in the event that they see a gap.
This, nevertheless, can result in an issue the place help gamers will as soon as once more endure. For instance, Juggernaut’s Blade Fury is at the moment irrelevant in opposition to most meta targets. If it was moderately buffed, it will nonetheless be irrelevant in opposition to very tanky heroes, however may make help play barely extra depressing. Which, actually, doesn’t sound like too unhealthy of a steadiness difficulty, however may result in much less pleasing help expertise.
Lastly, balancing the sport on a per-hero foundation is an choice. It’s typically the most typical choice in Dota, the place overperforming heroes get slight nerfs, whereas underperforming ones get stronger. The issue with this strategy, although, is it continuously results in energy creep.
Energy creep is kind of how we bought to the place we are actually. It isn’t essentially a foul factor: this energy creep did make enjoying help extra fascinating and impactful, it made the sport extra participating and it does end in heroes’ strengths and weaknesses being extra pronounced.
Nonetheless, we really feel like the beginning of the season is when a large shake-up is desperately wanted. Sport-wide economic system and attribute modifications will probably be painfully unbalanced, almost certainly, however it’s a band assist that must be ripped off sooner, moderately than later.
What are your ideas on the matter? Do you are feeling like Dota wants a game-wide “ruleset” change that offers with the EHP points, or do you assume that balancing across the present ranges of EHP is a greater resolution? Share your ideas within the remark part beneath.
