The New Frontiers Update along with the gameplay changes of Dota 2 patch 7.33 have made the new Dota 2 patch one of the biggest ones the game has ever seen.
It had been a long time coming. The game of Dota 2 hadn’t changed a lot in a while, so the cumulative changes were bound to blow the game out of the water. And that is exactly what has happened! What we have got with the Dota 2 New Frontiers Update and patch 7.33 could easily be branded as Dota 2 8.00. Or Dota 3, even?! Whatever you call it, the game has changed from the ground up.
The New Frontiers Update page has a done a great job in dividing up the patch notes. They can be divided into five main categories-
· New Map
· Major Gameplay Changes
· Matchmaking
· User Interface
· Balance Changes
The whole update will need to be dissected to understand the changes in detail. For now, let’s take a quick look at some of the biggest changes the game has to offer with Dota 2 patch 7.33.
Map Changes
Map changes were missing in quite a few of the last updates, and we were overdue for a new map. And that is just what we have, with a 40% larger map with a whole set of new buildings and areas of interest. The interactive map on the New Frontiers Update page tells you exactly where an object/building is and what it does.
The key takeaways from the map are-
· The map is 40% bigger
· Roshan now has two pits, and occupies one depending on whether it is day (Radiant side) or night (Dire side)
· Twin Gates allow players to teleport from the one corner of the map to the other
· Lotus Pools allow players to collect lotuses that can heal them
· There are now four Outposts which don’t give experience or vision or true sight and just provide a place to teleport to
· Tormentors (mini-bosses) now offer Aghanim’s Shards, not Roshan
· Watchers give you vision at different points on the map
Other than these, the map has undergone a host of changes which GosuGamers will explore in detail in a separate article.
Major Gameplay Changes
Like the map changes, the major gameplay changes deserve a separate analysis of their own. The big takeaways here are-
· Besides Strength, Agility and Intelligence, there is now a fourth hero attribute called Universal, which will get 0.6 damage from each point of the other three attributes
· Black King Bar no longer grants magic immunity; it grants debuff immunity, pure damage immunity and 50% magic damage reduction (why make BKB now?!)
· Neutral creeps will now drop tokens, and when opened, players can choose one out of five neutral items which cannot be shared with teammates
Muerta has a new Aghanim’s Scepter and Aghanim’s Shard upgrade, and has been added to Captains mode, which means we get to see her in action at the DreamLeague Season 19 playoffs and the Berlin Major!
Besides these changes, there are a ton of new items and nearly every hero has had changes made. As we digest the huge patch (will take time, might need some acidity pills), GosuGamers will bring you some detailed analysis of specific parts of Dota 2 patch 7.33. Till then, let’s see what some of the people in the professional scene think about the patch.
