Dota 2 can feel like a game that even an omniscient being cannot fully understand — but somebody’s getting a head start.
Omniknight is blowing things out of the water in 7.32b. The data, especially in pro-level pubs, shows Omniknight as one of the most powerful heroes in the meta — just above a 58 percent win rate, according to Dota 2 Pro Tracker. There’s also a very small sample size of the hero in the offlane — just 16 at the time of writing — but those players enjoy a nearly 70 percent win rate.
Across all skill levels, Omniknight enjoys a nearly 56 percent win rate, according to Dotabuff. While these stats are undoubtedly influenced by how strong the hero is as a support, offlane just might become the hero’s new home.
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Omniknight is a surprisingly potent damage dealer
While Omniknight didn’t receive a direct buff in the latest 7.32b patch, there were notable nerfs to some of the most powerful offlaners. Mars, Dawnbreaker, Enigma, and Razor all received further changes to cripple their effectiveness, on top of the nerfs already present in 7.32. These threw the door wide open — and Purist Thunderwrath the Omniknight slips through with a surprising amount of damage.
With the level 10 plus 50 base damage talent, along with a Heavenly Grace buff, Omniknight gets 88 damage through his spells alone. Along with Phase Boots, a couple of Bracers, and maybe, Hammer of Purity has gone from a solid harassment ability to a legitimate physical damage nuke that can take down unsuspecting heroes well into the mid-game.
Since the ability scales off base damage, he’s better off stacking strength rather than going for pure damage items, allowing him to always remain a tanky frontliner.
He’s not as oppressive in the lane as a 7.31 Dawnbreaker — but then, few heroes in history were.
However, a fully physical Omniknight might not be able to carry games due to his slow farming speed and lack of DPS — unlike something like Ember Spirit’s Sleight of Fist hitting several targets, or Terrorblade’s intense single-target focus. But as a tertiary core, there’s less pressure to be an all-out offensive force, and he more than makes up for it in spades on the defensive end.
Defensive offlaners might make a return
At the same time, professional match lengths have been steadily increasing, though there’s a small sample here — 7.32 clocks in at an average of 37 minutes and 46 seconds, compared to 7.31’s 36 minutes and 50 seconds, according to Datdota. This benefits more defensive offlaners like Omniknight rather than gung-ho, always-ready brawlers.
Omniknight’s Purification and Guardian Angel have changed little over the years, but Heavenly Grace deserves another look as a frankly ridiculous spell. The spell strongly dispels on cast for both an ally and Purist himself.
At level four, there are just four seconds of downtime — as well as providing at least 38 strength and 20 health regen. That’s at least 760 health. Heavenly Grace also gives additional strength for each debuff dispelled, up to six, which translates to 120 health for each debuff.
It’s not unreasonable to assume that at any given moment, Omniknight can instantly give a hero of his choice upward of a thousand health. That’s almost as much as an entire Heart of Tarrasque, and almost twice that of Eye of Skadi.
And if said target was a strength carry like Sven or Alchemist, they would also gain damage!
READ MORE: Phantom Assassin was meta for only a week: Was patch 7.32b too harsh on her?
