Massive Dota 2 patch makes the map 40% bigger, changes the UI, matchmaking, so much other stuff it's basically Dota 3 now
It's not every day Dota 2 gets a new map. In fact, it's pretty much just today. The New Frontiers Update(opens in new tab) brings Dota 2 up to version 7.33, and it's a hefty patch that changes the matchmaking algorithm, alters the interface, adds a new hero type, makes a heap of balance changes, and expands the map by 40%.
Valve notes that, while there is «40% more terrain» around the map's edges, the lanes remain as close together as always. There's just more to explore around and between them, and «Both main jungles have also been fully reconfigured, shaking up vision placement, juke routes, farming and more.» Here's what's new.
On the mechanical side of things, the most significant-seeming change is a whole new hero type: Universal heroes. Universal heroes are ones who don't specialize in a single attribute, instead getting 0.6 damage for each point they have in any attribute. Existing heroes who have been reshuffled into the Universal category include Bane, Broodmother, Enigma, Lone Druid, and Vengeful Spirit.
There are plenty of other tweaks as well, like neutral creep abilities now scaling over time, and every disable effect having its duration reduced so you'll spend less time stunlocked. Neutral creeps no longer drop items, instead dropping tokens that can be spent on one of five neutral items, and there's a whole bunch of new items too. The kill formula and Black King Bar have been reworked, and some heroes given major overhauls, including Muerta, Arc Warden, Ogre Magi, Medusa, Alchemist, and Clinkz. As Valve puts it, «Most of Clinkz's abilities, like the best abilities in life, now create skeletons.»
Matchmaking has altered in response to what Valve calls «an undesired clumping in the 0-1000 MMR range» and how
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