Dota 2’s latest update is huge and there’s good news and bad news when it comes to Techies. The good news is that Techies aren’t going anywhere. The bad news is that Techies aren’t going anywhere – sorry Team Secret. Squee, Spleen, and Spoon – of Techies Demolition – are divisive figures in Dota 2 but Valve isn’t giving up on them yet. Valve’s Dota 2 patch 7.81 Techies rework aims to bring them back into the fold as team players with a pair of new abilities.
With “new ways to inflict joyous pain”, Valve has swapped out Minefield Sign and Stasis Trap for Sticky Bomb and Reactive Tazer in a change that aims to shake-up Techies’ role in the meta. They’re still bringing the boom as Nukers, but these changes also lean into their secondary role as Disablers a lot more.
Techies’ Sticky Bomb doesn’t just blow up when it sticks to an enemy, it can also reduce their movement speed up to 55%. With a cooldown of six seconds when fully upgraded, it’s easy to see how this will be a devastating build up to the final blow for anyone trying to escape a teamfight.
Techie’s other new ability, Reactive Tazer, opens them up even more for new avenues of gameplay – and could also make them a fantastic initiator for late-game teamfights. When triggered, Techies get additional movement speed for six seconds. If an enemy attacks Techies while Reactive Tazer is active, they’ll also be disarmed for three seconds.
If that wasn’t enough, Techies’ electrical charge will explode when the six seconds are up and disarm all enemies within a 400 radius. Timed correctly, this could be a devastating disruption to the enemy team.
At the moment, looking at the numbers shared by DotaBuff, Techies are the 15th most picked Off Lane heroes but sit well over 50th when looking at win percentages. With any luck, the Dota 2 patch 7.81 Techies rework will change that, but only time will tell. They might even sneak into our guide to the best Dota 2 heroes to play in ranked, but that might be wishful thinking for this trap-happy trio.