The still massively popular and competitive Dota 2 has begun a new ranked season and along with it comes a multitude of changes to not just the game, but over 100 heroes. Valve Corporation made the Balance Patch 7.21 live on January 29 and has given an enormous amount of information about the many changes that have arrived for the multiplayer online battle area (MOBA) title.
To start, Dota Plus subscribers have received many perks and other in-game content. They now have four exclusive item sets for the Medusa, Enchantress, Monkey King, and Centaur characters. Adding to that, subscribers also received a new set of Seasonal Quests to conquer during the new ranked season. This new season has completely reset all Rank Medals so that “players will have a chance to recalibrate.” Instead of five star tiers, Rank Medals will now go up to seven, which give players the opportunity to advance and set themselves apart even more. As an extra bonus for a player’s higher tier, they will have access to new emoticons associated with their rank. The last quality-of-life change that 7.21 brings is the ability to see numerical behavior scores in profiles so that it is more apparent how one’s play is affecting others’ “enjoyment of the game.”
Along with general gameplay changes to tower armor and protection, barracks armor, experience points required to advance some levels, and primary attributes benefits comes a vast array of tweaks to over 100 heroes. The characters with the most changes include: Io, Chen, Beastmaster, Medusa, Lycan, Dragon Knight, Chaos Knight, Alchemist, and Brewmaster. By far, Io has received more adjustments than any other hero. Io is temporarily removed from Captains Mode, Overcharge’s toggle has been removed, and the same ability’s speed bonus reduction and damage reduction have both been increased. A notable benefit that Io now has is that Tether will transfer health and mana even when the character has maximum health and mana.
It will be interesting to see how all of these changes affect the strategies of professional Dota 2 players. Valve made an appealing documentary recently named True Sight, which gives audiences a look into what these professional teams go through and The International 2018 Finals.