When patch 7.41f hit Dota 2 as the first update after TI 15, it contained not only a range of balance changes – it also revealed that Bounty Hunter's Big Game Hunter had not been granting bonus gold at all. The bug has now been fixed, but the combination of a period with a non-functioning talent and subsequent nerfs raises real questions about the hero's competitive status.
It is unknown exactly when the bug occurred, and therefore which matches may have been played with a Bounty Hunter who was effectively missing part of his kit. In competitive settings, where gold advantages are crucial to tempo, this represents a potentially significant period of diminished hero performance – without teams or players necessarily being aware of it.
On top of the fix, patch 7.41f brings a significant nerf to Track: the ability now grants far less bonus gold to Bounty Hunter and his team. Access to Track's shared vision has also been moved from the Level 20 talent to the Level 25 talent, delaying the hero's full utility to late in the game. Additionally, the Level 10 Shuriken Toss Slow Talent has been reduced, and the Level 20 and Level 25 talents have been swapped. The result, according to the patch analysis, is that Track now functions primarily as a True Sight tool rather than a gold-generating ability.
With PGL Wallachia Season 9 just a few days after the patch release, professional teams have minimal time to adapt. Bounty Hunter arrives at the first major tournament of the new season with a fixed – but heavily weakened – kit, which will likely affect how highly the hero is prioritised in drafts going forward.