We take a look at the days between previous Dota 2 patches and new heroes and compare those to what we might be expecting with the next patch and Ring Master.
Dota 2 can begin to feel stale after a few months if there aren't major changes to the game. These changes can be in the form of a new patch, a new hero or even a beloved event like Aghanim’s Labyrinth or Diretide.
When Valve announced that the Crownfall update would be released in mid April, the Dota 2 community was expecting Dota 2 patch 7.36 as well as the new hero, Ring Master, to brace the game. But as has been the case in the last few years, the update ended up disappointing, releasing just a story event along with two arcanas, and nothing else.
Unsurprisingly, the response on social media has not been the most positive. While there were a few players happy with the Crownfall update, the majority of the community would have loved a new patch or hero. That leads us to the question – how frequent are patches and new heroes in Dota 2, and are we overdue one?
Days Between Dota 2 Patch Releases
This is something GosuGamers has looked at in the past.
Read: Dota 2 patch durations through the ages
Read: Dota 2 patches: When too long is too long
The most recent 15 patch durations are shown below, with the assumption that Dota 2 patch 7.36 will be released on the 29th of April, the day after ESL One Birmingham ends.
Patches have definitely gotten longer in recent years. Dota 2 patch 7.32 lasted for 240 days, which is approximately 8 months! However, the current patch (Dota 2 patch 7.35) is not that far in its journey. If the new patch is released after ESL One Birmingham, patch 7.35 will have lasted for 137 days, which is barely anything in comparison to some of the 6 month long patches not so long ago. Of course, just because IceFrog and Valve did us this disservice in the past doesn't mean they should continue to do it, but around 4 to 6 months is the standard duration Dota 2 patches last. In addition to that, we got Dota 2 patch 7.35 earlier than usual this season. So it isn’t too much of a surprise that Dota 2 patch 7.36 hasn’t been released yet.
Days Between New Hero Releases
What is a surprise, however, is that Ring Master hasn’t been released. The days between new heroes releases for the last few heroes are shown below, and it seems Ring Master might be the hero arriving after the biggest hiatus in Dota 2. The previous highest number was 387 days, which was the time between Snapfire and Void Spirit being introduced to the game and Hoodwink being released over a year later. For Ring Master, even if the hero is released after the upcoming tournament, it will be 420 days! Fascinating as that number may be, that is a long time between the release of two new heroes.
(taken from Dota 2 Wiki)
A good chunk of the Dota 2 community is not happy, and rightly so. But it isn’t for the lack of a new patch. If anything, the current Dota 2 meta is relatively balanced and promotes many different heroes. But the delay in Ring Master’s release after introducing him in October paired with the fact that the Crownfall story event is not something players are used to hasn’t gone down so well. Hopefully, the new hero arrives before the end of April and by then, the Dota 2 community might have even warmed up to Crownfall.
