Dota 2 New Frontiers update expands everything, even the map

Dota 2, bigger than before

A new gameplay update is out for Dota 2, and it’s a big one. Seemingly everything, from items to hero attribute types and abilities, has been adjusted or altered, and even the map is getting a bit larger.

The 7.33 patch for Dota 2, dubbed the New Frontiers update, hits many points. And though Dota updates have been traditionally massive compared to other live games, this one might be the most game-shifting since at least the 7.0 update.

For starters, the map itself is now 40% larger. New structures line the lanes, with objectives like the Lotus Pools and their fruit, or the vision-providing Watchers. New runes dot the landscape, and neutral creeps—the monsters that live in the jungle between lanes—have been updated and overhauled.

Alongside a larger field of battle, there’s also a significant paradigm shift for the heroes of Dota 2 in a new hero attribute type. As a base, Dota 2 has three stats—Strength, Agility, Intelligence—that determine things like HP, attack speed, and magical prowess. Each hero’s primary attribute would also give them extra damage for more points in their set attribute, which generally helps inform players on how to build and play a hero.

In the New Frontiers update, Dota 2 adds Universal heroes. These existing heroes now draw on all attributes. Characters like Enigma, Io, and Venomancer may have received changes already, but I’m curious to see how this shift in the basic building blocks changes all the newly Universal heroes. Then you start to add on hero changes, new items, a completely new distribution method for jungle items, and even changes to the ranking system, and the scale of this update starts to dawn on you.

There are, frankly, too many updates in this patch to explore in a single blog. It’s enough that I wonder how content creators like Purge will even get through all the data. There’s actually a Dota 2 tournament being held right now, and the teams are about to enter the playoffs playing on a brand-new patch from the one the tournament started on.

It’s a bit chaotic, but hard not to love. Though I’m a bit of a lapsed player, I’m excited to see teams try to pick apart the notes and theorycraft on the fly this weekend. There’s something about the massive overhauls of these patches that almost make it feel like you’re playing a completely new game. And with everything from heroes and items to the map itself changing, it really might as well be a new game.