What’s new in The Summer Client Update?

Here’s everything you need to know about The Summer Client Update.

Considering that The International 12 is around the corner, we’re not expecting Valve to make many drastic changes prior to the event. With that said, it’s been a while since we’ve received an update regarding the quality of life in our games, which is exactly what The Summer Client Update focuses on.

There are a lot of new things you need to be aware of, most of which are aimed at making the game more enjoyable. So, let’s learn more about everything related to The Summer Client Update.

Keep in mind The International 12 is coming soon, so stay tuned for more information about the biggest Dota 2 event. We’ll make sure to keep you up to date with all the details you need here on BLIX.

A New Armory

Dota 2’s New Armory. Credit: Valve

According to the latest update, we can now access a new armory. Valve calls it a “one-stop shop” for every cosmetic item in the game. The idea behind this change is to make the armory look cleaner and easier to understand.

The new interface will allow you to do everything related to items, including selling, buying, previewing, and doing tons of other things. You just need to select a specific hero, allowing you to check everything it offers. Furthermore, you can equip items you already own, try different combos in a demo mode, and even have access to a completely new global item section, where you can change your backgrounds, wards, couriers, and more.

One of the interesting features allows you to stack the items based on their market value. The Summer Client Update will also let you stack duplicates.

Collector’s Cache

In addition to the changes related to the new armory, our Summer Update review also revealed there’s a new Collector’s Cache. The latter is a popular item that contains different cosmetic items for some heroes. In this case, you can find options for the following heroes:

• Abaddon
• Alchemist
• Anti-Mage
• Marci
• Spirit Breaker
• Snapfire
• Dawnbreaker
• Dazzle
• Death Prophet
• Spectre
• Storm Spirit
• Hoodwink
• Kunkka
• Jakiro
• Legion Commander
• Wraith King

Each set looks interesting, and if you want to get it, you need to pay $2.49. Even though the price is a bit higher than it was a few years ago, it is obtainable, at least for most players.

Player Behavior

Dota 2 is many people’s favorite game, but there is no arguing there’s a problem with players’ behavior. In fact, a lot of people consider this to be one of the most toxic games in the world, and for a good reason.

Valve took action in the last couple of years to battle this, but there are still plenty of griefers out there. Luckily, the company hasn’t given up on improving players’ experiences, so there are new player behavior features.

The first one is related to the commending feature because, after the changes, the commend you make to a player won’t affect his next matches. Instead, this player is more likely to be in your future games. There will also be a dislike button, which you can use on players you do not want to have in your team.

New Report System

Another thing that’s new is a completely new reporting system. The latter contains a few options to choose from:

• Toxic Chat
• Smurfing
• Griefing
• Cheating
• Role Abuse
• Toxic Voice

Interestingly, the new report system is way more advanced and can track the required data more effectively. Also, players have the opportunity to report others while playing or even after the game. There’s also no cap on the number of reports you can submit, and it allows you to report players on both teams.

If you’ve reported someone and Valve took action against this person, the company will show you that it has taken action against the given player. Another very interesting thing is Valve intend to analyze toxic chat reports in real time and can mute the player’s voice and chat while playing. Check the full update to learn more.

Behavior and Communication Scores

Another interesting thing about The Summer Client Update is there’s a new communication score. Each player already has a behavior score, but Valve also added a communication score, but instead of 10k, both scores are capped at 12k.

An interesting thing about the behavior score is it will affect people’s options. For example, those with a low score may not be able to pause the games, play ranked matches, or receive post-game item drops. The communication score, on the other hand, will affect pinging, coaching, tipping, and more.

Other Changes

In addition to what we’ve mentioned, Valve also updated the map rendering, which means the game looks a lot better than before. Also, since there are a lot of new changes, the brand said they’ll be more conservative with the new rules, at least for now. We can’t wait to see what’s going to happen once the changes start working as intended.