Dota 2 doesn’t get new maps every day. In fact, it’s mostly just today.of new frontier update (opens in new tab) Update Dota 2 to version 7.33. This is a big patch that changes the matchmaking algorithm, changes the interface, adds new hero types, changes the balance a lot, and expands the map by 40%.
Valve says there is “40% more terrain” on the edge of the map, while the lanes remain close together as usual. The two main his jungles have also been completely reworked, with revamped vision placement, juk routes, farming, and more. Here’s what’s new.
- Four new named areas: The Well, The Graveyard, The Statue, and The Mines.
- Roshan has two pits instead of one.
- Twin Gates allow you to teleport between top and bottom lanes. Roshan also uses them to travel between pits.
- Lotus pools on the left and right sides of the map spawn healing lotuses that grant mana and HP.
- A neutral creep mini-boss called Tormentor spawns near the base 20 minutes into the game.
- Eight Watchers scattered across the map give vision to the team that activates them. This is useful as outposts do not grant vision or true sight.
- Two new outposts, the original outpost has also been redeployed.
- Over 12 (!) creep camps.
- Two new Power Runes: Wisdom Runes near map edges and bases grant XP, and River Shield Runes grant a barrier equal to half your max HP. (Also, shields are now called barriers.)
- Defender’s Gates are one-way emergency back doors located at each base. Or, as Valve puts it, “Defender’s Gate combines the sparkling high fantasy of Dota with the practicality of a house door that you can lock when you go to the grocery store and destroy its antiquity.”
On the mechanical side, perhaps the most significant change is an all-new hero type, Universal Heroes. Universal heroes are heroes that don’t specialize in a single attribute, instead taking 0.6 damage for every point they have in the attribute. , Enigma, Lone Druid, and Vengeful Spirit.
There are a number of other tweaks, such as neutral creep abilities now scaling over time, and the duration of all disabling effects has been reduced, thus reducing the amount of time you are stunned. Creeps no longer drop items, instead dropping tokens that can be used on 1 of 5 neutral items. Also, there are many new items. The Kill Formula and Black King Bar have been reworked, and some heroes have been significantly overhauled, including Muerta, Arc Warden, Ogre Magi, Medusa, Alchemist, and Clinks. As Valve puts it, “Most of Clinkz’s abilities, like the best in life, are now creating skeletons.”
Matchmaking has been affected by what Valve calls “undesirable clumping in the 0-1000 MMR range” and how difficult it was for returning players to get back to the correct matchmaking ratio after spending time. changed accordingly. From now on, instead of calculating MMR with the Elo algorithm, Dota 2 will use the Glicko algorithm. In fact, it’s been running in the background for a minute, and Valve says:
Finally, UI changes make it easier to track your HP and everyone else’s HP. Barriers (remember what used to be called shields?) are displayed on the health bar, and any that don’t have a total HP will be defeated after taking a certain number of hits. For example, periodically like the skeleton archer Clinkz summonsāhave a health bar pip to guide you through it. Abilities that consume health also display health as a number, similar to mana cost. Wise!
As expected in a MOBA, the update comes with the hero overhaul mentioned above, plus a big helping of balance changes. New Frontier Update Page (opens in new tab) You can see the full details of its contents or hover over the interactive version of the new map.
