Dota 2's Latest Update Adds Two New Heroes, Reworks Five Old Ones

Valve has just dropped their big Dota 2 patch for the year, titled Dueling Fates, and it's a doozy.

First, the update adds two new heroes. Pangolier is a carry who deals heavy amounts of physical damage with his Swashbuckle ability, as well as Heartpiercer, which slows a target and negates all of their armor. His ultimate lets him roll into a ball and damage enemies he runs into, and can ignore terrain when players use Shield Crash (which normal has Pangolier jump in the air to damage enemies) while in ball form. Dark Willow, meanwhile, is a support who focuses on controlling fights with a mixture of disabling spells, magic damage, and surivabiltiy. She is also the first hero with two separate Ultimate abilities, which are simultaneously available but cannot be used in tandom: Bedlam summons Dark Willow's companion, Jex, to deal damage to enemies near her, while Terrorize forces them to flee in terror. 

Several heroes also see major changes. Every talent tree has been redesigned, with plenty of new options for players to strategize with. Beastmaster, Broodmother, Tiny, Viper, Wraith King, Medusa, Morphling, Necrophos, Riki, Shadow Demon, Undying, and Vengeful Spirit have all undergone big changes, with the latter five given full reworks. Several other heroes have also received minor buffs and nerfs.

We also see changes to items, as well as a few new ones. Meteor Hammer drops a meteor that deals damage to structures and stuns enemy heroes. Aeon Disk makes at-risk heroes more survivable by giving them a buff that makes them harder to kill when they're below 80 percent health. A new powered-up version of Urn of Shadows, Spirit Vessel, deal more damage, reduces healing applied on an enemy hero, and amplifies it on an ally. Nullifier is the first item that can mute enemy heroes, and it also slows targeted heroes any time they're attacked while muted. Kaya breaks off from Aether Lens (which no longer grants bonus magic damage) and is the go-to spell amp item, offering 10 percent bonus magic damage, as well as mana cost and mana loss reduction.

Some base-level changes also shake up the game. Shrines (which heal all nearby heroes when activated) are gone from bases, though Glyphs can now be used more aggressively, as they turn creeps invincible when used. Roshan also now drops a single-use Refresher Orb item (which resets the cooldown of all of a players abilities and items) when killed for the third time. Mana and health regeneration have been reworked to provide direct values instead of percentage-based values (Void stone now grants 1.0 mana regen instead of 100%). This should make items that grant mana regen more useful to non-spellcaster heroes. Lots of other under-the-hood changes have been made to towers, creeps, and more, so make sure to get a look at the full change log.

Several other quality-of-life changes also improve the game. Beginning in two weeks is a shift to a new season-based medal matchmaking system, which looks to replace the old number-based system. Guides have been reworked as well, making it more clear which role the guide is placing a hero in, as well as how recently it's been updated. A new Turbo Mode also accelerates games and makes them more casual, which should make it easier for players to hop into matches without being intimidated. Ability Draft now includes a slew of new abilities from heroes like Tusk, Timbersaw, Keeper of the Light, and Puck. Animations have also slightly improved (warning: Spiders!).

Of course, there are new hats to buy. The Emblems of the Dueling Fates bundle offers different cosmetic effects for one of Pangolier and Dark Willow's abilities each, new taunts for them, a courier, and ward for $10. The update is now avaialble in the test client, and will release for everyone on November 1.

Our Take
I was expecting a Techies rework, but I'll take a couple of buffs to him and Phantom Lancer. Pangolier looks to be right up my alley. I am very excited about this video game again.