Clinkz has been terrorizing high-level Dota 2 pubs in 2026, posting a 55% win rate in 7,000+ MMR games. He’s been contested in almost every game, forcing players to either ban him or suffer the consequences — but the latest patch may have changed things.
However, like all broken heroes in Dota 2, Valve brought the hammer, hitting Clinkz with a series of heavy nerfs in the latest 7.40c patch. But, the real question is whether the Bone Fletcher is still viable, or has he been nerfed to the ground?
Clinkz Nerfs on Patch 7.40c
Valve dropped patch 7.40c on January 21, and Clinkz was one of the biggest losers. His changes were primarily targeted at his ability to delete buildings in a matter of seconds with Aghanim’s Scepter and Refresher Orb – one of the main reasons he was such a pain to play against.
His changelogs are:
Skeleton Walk
- Skeleton Walk Building Damage penalty increased from 25% to 75%
- No longer upgraded with Aghanim’s Scepter
- Now Aghanim’s Scepter only provides Burning Army ability without increasing Skeleton Archer Hits to Kill by 1
Talents
- Level 15 Talent Attack Range decreased from +60 to +50
- Level 25 Searing Arrows Multishot no longer applies to Skeleton Archers
All in all, these nerfs were clearly targeted at Clinkz’s sieging potential. Most of his damage output – except for his Level 25 talent – remains relatively untouched.
What Made Clinkz So Broken?
To answer our question on whether Clinkz is still viable after nerfs, we first need to look at what made him so overpowered in the first place – and how the latest patch has targeted those exact strengths.
At his peak, Clinkz offered way too much value in too many areas:
- Strong laning stage:
- His high attack range naturally makes him a threat in the laning stage. However, Searing Arrows makes him extremely difficult to trade into and out-last hit.
- Explosive damage output:
- If there’s one thing Clinkz is always good for, it’s his damage. He excels at pickoffs, deleting supports and squishy enemies before they can react. Clinkz can deal massive damage to multiple targets in fights with his Aghanim’s Scepter – Burning Army.
- Aghanim’s Shard value:
- Clinkz has one of the best Aghanim’s Shard upgrades in the game with Burning Barrage. This ability allows him to deal heavy burst damage, but it also serves as an incredible flash farming tool that lets him cut waves and split push. It’s almost too efficient for farming.
- Unmatched sieging power with Aghanim’s Scepter:
- And then there’s the elephant in the room – his sieging power. Closing out games and taking the enemy high ground is the most difficult phase in every Dota 2 game, and Clinkz makes it look effortless with Aghanim’s Scepter and Refresher Orb.
When a hero can dominate lanes, erase heroes, farm fast, and end games on his own, there’s clearly an issue.
Is Clinkz Still Viable After the Nerfs?
Clinkz’s core identity has always been about dealing heavy damage and picking off heroes, and with these changes, that part of his kit is still completely intact. His wave-cutting with Aghanim’s Shard is very annoying and remains untouched, but it’s simply part of his design and is manageable.
Where Clinkz really crossed the line was not in killing heroes, but in ending games all by himself.
In Dota 2, taking high ground is supposed to be the hardest part of closing out a match, and Clinkz just bypassed that challenge entirely with Aghanim’s Scepter and Refresher Orb, essentially deleting an entire lane of Barracks in seconds.
Now, he no longer has this “free pass” to win the game off one successful fight, making his role as a “closer” now much more limited.
This doesn’t mean Clinkz is buried to the ground. He’s still strong in lane, farms quickly with Aghanim’s Shard, lethal in pickoffs, and his damage output in fights remains almost untouched. What he no longer has is the ability to carry fights and erase an entire base at the same time.
So far, Clinkz’s win rate in high-level pubs has dropped from 55% to 51%, so there’s no question this nerf was a big hit to his toolkit. However, I don’t think the hero is dead by any means. He still fulfills his identity and is now just a balanced hero, rather than a broken one. The terror is gone, but the hero remains.