What’s new in Dota 2? Breaking down the New Frontiers Update

Dota 2 fans from all over the world finally got what they were waiting for. In the middle of DreamLeague Season 19, Valve have decided to drop one of the largest Dota 2 updates in years.

Dota 2’s Patch 7.33, the New Frontiers Update, includes a wide range of options, tons of new items and a whole slew of changes. Even though this patch is massive and there is no way to cover everything without watching an eleven-hour-long video by Purge, here at BLIX.GG we’ll try to walk you through the most important changes in this new update. After reading this article be sure to also check the official Valve blog for more information about this massive patch.

A Big and Bountiful New Map

Starting with the elephant in the room, the new map is one of the biggest changes after the arrival of the Dota 2 Patch 7.33. Valve said the map had been “massively expanded,” and they weren’t joking. Even though the core objectives remain the same, the map is 40% larger, meaning it provides new resources and the option for all sorts of new strategies.

One of the other surprising changes the New Frontiers Dota 2 update brought are the “Roshan’s New Homes”. That’s right, there are now 2 places on the map where players can fight Roshan. What’s interesting about one of the game’s icons is he no longer drops Agh’s Shard, and players can get the Cheese item after his second death.

There are also tons of new buildings on the map, such as:

• Twin Gates – Connects two corners of the map near the safe lane towers, which means players can TP from one edge to the other.
• Lotus Pools – This is another curious little addition, Lotus Pools allow players to get “fruits” that restore HP and mana. Plus, the Dota 2 patch 7.33 allows players to stockpile this fruit and even combine it into a larger and more effective ones.
• Tormentors – These will spawn neutral creeps near each base. However, they will only be active after 20 minutes, and it’s important to remember they’ll have mega shields. The latter will reflect most of the damage, so it will be hard for enemies to destroy them.
• Watchers – As their name suggests, they’ll be like wards granting you vision. However, players will need to activate them first,
• Defender’s Gates – The idea behind this is to allow you to go into your base, and it will keep the enemies away.
• Wisdom Runes – The Wisdom Runes following The New Frontiers Dota 2 update will grant an XP boost to any hero who gets them. They will spawn near your base.
• Shield Runes – This is one of the new runes in the game that will give you 50% of your HP as a barrier. Needless to say, heroes can use this to dive towers.

Aside from everything mentioned above, Patch 7.33 also has New Outposts, as well as 12 new creep camps.

New Hero Attribute

Besides the new Dota 2 map which shocked everyone, the new update from Valve also introduced an entirely new hero attribute. Besides having AGI, INT and STR heroes, there are several Universal Heroes.

Interestingly, this new stats group following 7.33 will gain 9.6 damage from each stat of all of the other attributes. In terms of the heroes that fall into this category, it includes numerous heroes, such as:

• Lone Druid
• IO
• Marci
• Lycan
• Windranger
• Techies
• Bane
• Broodmother
• Sand King
• Pangolier
• Vengeful Spirit

There are even more options, so don’t forget to check the complete list on Valve’s patch notes.

New Items

Looking to the new items following patch 7.33, there are fourteen new options to choose from. Seven of them are regular items, meaning you can buy them from the shops, whereas the rest are Neutral items.

When it comes down to the regular ones, each one is special and offers something. Some of them provide small mana/hp regen, but many expensive items, such as Disperser, give tons of damage and AGI.

Regarding the Neutral Items following the new update, you can find several noteworthy options. Here’s a complete list of the new items:

• Blood Grenade
• Cornucopia
• Pavise
• Diadem
• Harpoon
• Phylactery
• Disperser
• Duelist Gloves (Neutral)
• Spark of Courage (Neutral)
• Gossamer Cape (Neutral)
• Defiant Shell (Neutral)
• Dandelion Amulet (Neutral)
• Vindicator’s Axe (Neutral)
• Martyr’s Plate (Neutral)

Matchmaking Changes

Besides all of the changes to items and heroes (we’re yet to discuss those), the New Frontiers Update also brings a new matchmaking system. Valve have decided to change the existing one in the hopes of providing players with a better experience. So, instead of using the old system, we now have access to a new ELO algorithm called “Glicko”.

What’s promising is that it should represent people’s skill groups more accurately than before. In fact, Valve added it alongside the old system a while ago, and the company said it has allowed it to “build confidence in the changes.”

Players will have to play a couple of games in order to get calibrated. One of the most important news is those who haven’t been active for a while will eventually drop down in ranking. Also, the Dota 2 match won’t include an MMR loss or MMR gain like before because the entire process is based on the new algorithm.

While talking about the matchmaking changes after the new Dota 2 patch, Valve also added the so-called Immortal Matchmaking. The idea is to allow Immortal players to have an even better experience because they can choose their teammates based on their roles.

User Interface

Another new addition to Dota 2 following the arrival of The New Frontiers Update is a better user interface. There are new health bars, as well as health costs. The latter is important for heroes, such as Phoenix, because you can see exactly how much HP you’ll lose before using a specific ability.

Balance Changes

As you can imagine, the new Dota 2 patch has tons of balance changes to numerous items and heroes. There are also numerous general changes we just can’t include in this article because there’s just so much in patch 7.33. So make sure to read the complete changelog if you want to learn additional information.

Of course, some heroes and items received more changes than others. BKB is probably one of the best examples because this item is completely new and will change many aspects of the game.

If you want a truly exhaustive list of changes be sure to also check out Purge’s 11-hour-long video going over every single change in the New Frontiers update.