Timbersaw in Patch 7.41f: what changed and what the stats show

Hi. Today I’m looking at Timbersaw in 7.41f, and the reason is pretty simple: this hero has long lived at the intersection of tempo, map pressure, and survivability, and in the latest updates he’s already been noticeably adjusted in terms of numbers. Patch 7.41f itself, according to the data, didn’t touch him, but there’s still a reason to break down Timbersaw right now — you can clearly see where the recent versions were pushing him.

Role and abilities

Timbersaw is a melee strength hero with a focus on Nuker, as well as the roles of Durable and Escape. By design, he works very straightforwardly: he chops through the map, applies pressure with area damage, latches onto trees, and stays alive by forcing fights to happen on his terms. Nothing extra, really.

• Whirling Death — circular damage around the hero with tree cutting and a temporary reduction of part of the target’s primary attribute; it also gets stronger from felled trees.
• Timber Chain — the chain pulls the hero to the first tree in its path, dealing damage to enemies it hits.
• Reactive Armor — when enemies attack the hero, he gains armor stacks and health regeneration.
• Flamethrower — through Aghanim’s Shard, the hero spits flames in front of him, burns enemies, and slows them; buildings take less damage.
• Chakram — launches a saw to a point, dealing pure damage, slowing enemies, and cutting trees in its path; while the effect is active, the hero can’t attack and spends mana.
• Exposure Therapy — innate ability: destroying a tree restores mana.

For all intents and purposes, Timbersaw still relies on getting into fights quickly, breaking positioning, and not falling apart under focus at the same time. His kit really needs space, not a long, careful firefight.

Changes in recent patches

The hero’s latest tweaks were not cosmetic. In 7.41d, they slightly reduced the tempo of his autoattacks, but left a few nice compensations in place. In 7.41c and 7.41b, his base damage numbers and some individual abilities were adjusted, while in 7.41a and 7.41 they reworked the mana economy around Exposure Therapy and Chakram.

• 7.41d: base attack speed reduced from 100 to 90.
• 7.41d: Whirling Death — attribute reduction duration decreased from 11/12/13/14 to 7/9/11/13 seconds.
• 7.41d: Flamethrower — movement slow increased from 30% to 40%.
• 7.41d: level 20 talent for Chakram slow bonus increased from 5% to 6%.
• 7.41d: level 20 talent for Exposure Therapy heal increased from 10 to 12.
• 7.41c: base damage increased by 2.
• 7.41c: damage at level 1 changed from 46–50 to 48–52.
• 7.41c: base intelligence increased from 23 to 24.
• 7.41c: Reactive Armor — bonus health regeneration increased from 0.4/0.5/0.6/0.7 to 0.5/0.6/0.7/0.8.
• 7.41b: Whirling Death — damage changed from 75/120/165/210 to 60/120/180/240.
• 7.41b: Timber Chain — damage increased from 45/100/155/210 to 45/105/165/225.
• 7.41b: Chakram — burst damage changed from 100/150/200 to 75/150/225.
• 7.41a: Exposure Therapy — mana restoration increased from 3.75 + 0.25 per level to 4 + 0.5 per level.
• 7.41a: Chakram — mana cost reduced from 100/140/180 to 90/120/150.
• 7.41a: Chakram — mana cost per second reduced from 14/22/30 to 10/15/20.
• 7.41: Exposure Therapy no longer upgrades with Chakram.
• 7.41: Exposure Therapy — mana restored per destroyed tree changed from 4/6/8/10 to 3.75 + 0.25 per level.

If you look at it without any extra drama, the hero was clearly being nudged toward more careful resource management and more defined windows of pressure. That makes sense to me: Timbersaw already has plenty of tools to create chaos, so the important thing was not to give him another button, but to fine-tune the ones he already has.

Statistics

According to OpenDota data from the last 7 days, Timbersaw looks rough in pubs: 206,503 games, a 45.7% win rate, 120th out of 127 heroes by win rate, and 75th by pick count. That’s not the kind of profile that looks comfortable on paper. I’d be cautious reading this: if a hero is neither near the top in win rate nor among the most popular picks, it usually means he either requires very precise execution or the current meta doesn’t help him shine.

• Herald — 44.4%
• Guardian — 44.9%
• Crusader — 44.7%
• Archon — 45.2%
• Legend — 45.9%
• Ancient — 45.9%
• Divine — 46.2%

The rank distribution is fairly steady: the higher the skill level, the slightly better the numbers, but without any dramatic jump. That’s usually a good sign for a hero where execution matters more than simply pressing a damage button.

• Professional matches: 31 picks, 16 wins, which is 51.6%, and 79 bans.

In pro matches, Timbersaw looks noticeably better than he does in pubs. On the numbers, that’s a completely different story: the hero isn’t collapsing, which means that with the right draft and an understanding of timings, he can still work.

Items and opponents

His common items in professional matches show a pretty clear pattern: the hero starts with stats and regen, then moves into mana, armor, and survivability. The matchup picture is interesting too: against some heroes he feels much freer, while others make things significantly harder.

• Starting items: Iron Branch, Gauntlets of Strength, Tango, Circlet, Magic Stick, Quelling Blade.
• Early game: Boots of Speed, Soul Ring, Bracer, Chainmail, Phase Boots, Staff of Wizardry.
• Mid game: Ogre Axe, Kaya, Sange, Kaya and Sange, Staff of Wizardry, Platemail.
• Late game: Reaver, Shiva’s Guard, Black King Bar, Heart of Tarrasque, Mystic Staff, Blink Dagger.

• Best against: Earthshaker — 47 games, 66.0% win rate; Anti-Mage — 38 games, 60.5% win rate; Techies — 70 games, 60.0% win rate.
• Worst against: Legion Commander — 34 games, 29.4% win rate; Wraith King — 30 games, 33.3% win rate; Bane — 62 games, 35.5% win rate.

What stands out to me here especially is that Timbersaw has a pretty hard dependence on how well the enemy can force an awkward tempo and control on him. Against one group of heroes, he clearly feels better; against another, his game plan gets noticeably broken.

Conclusion

In my view, Timbersaw in 7.41f remains a hero for players who like tempo and like counting timings. The recent patches didn’t make him easier, but they didn’t break his core either: he still revolves around trees, mana, and a tight commit into fights. In pubs, the stats look restrained, but in professional matches the hero is alive and very workable. I’d be waiting to see whether he stays in this borderline state or gets nudged again toward a more stable tempo in the next set of changes. In practical terms, right now this is not a hero for random button mashing, but for a clear plan on the map.

Source: official Dota 2 data and OpenDota.

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