Valve has announced the New Frontiers update for its multiplayer online battle arena (MOBA) title Dota 2, with “major” changes including a large map expansion, new items, matchmaking changes and more.
As outlined yesterday (April 20), Valve confirmed Dota 2‘s map has been “massively expanded” with 40 per cent more terrain. These new areas will include Twin Gates to teleport players from one side of the map to the other, along with Lotus Pools that produce fruit to restore players’ health and mana.
Two new neutral monsters – Tormentors and Watchers – have been added, while Defender’s Gates will offer a convenient “back door” for players to safely enter and exit their own base.
Elsewhere, New Frontiers has brought two new outposts, 12 more creep camps for monsters to lurk, and powerful new Shield and Wisdom Runes.
On top of all that, Valve has detailed “major changes” to a long list of Dota 2‘s heroes, including tweaks for Muerta, Clinkz, Alchemist and Medusa. These are backed up with seven new items for players to purchase in-game, including a Blood Grenade that will dish out 50 damage to enemies caught in its explosion.
Additionally, a further seven neutral items have been added, including some “old favourites” that have made a return.
Behind the scenes, Valve has also detailed changes to Dota 2‘s matchmaking, which should help players “quickly and accurately get matched with other players at a similar skill level”. However, fans ranked who have achieved the lofty Immortal rank in Dota 2 will find an all-new matching system that allows captains to draft their teams from a pool of players.
Elsewhere, New Frontiers has brought an extensive list of balance changes to the game — it’s worth checking out the full patch notes here to catch up on every single tweak.
Earlier in the year, Valve announced that it had banned 40,000 Dota 2 cheaters by using their own hacks against them.