Teased back in August, a brand new Dota 2 character named the Monkey King has now arrived, leading the massive update for Dota 2 that has now gone live for Valve's free-to-play Multiplayer Online Battle Arena, or MOBA.
The update, to reiterate, carries quite a number of significant change-ups. Patch 7.00 carries a refined head-up display, new pregame phases, and a fresh new interface, which according to Valve has been completely redesigned and reworked from ground up.
Here's what's included in Patch 7.00 for Dota 2.
Monkey King
The new hero, Monkey King, is a melee character with escape and disable abilities playing in the carry position. Wukong's Command, his ultimate ability, lets him blast a tuft of fur onto the battlefield, which prompts a legion of monkey soldiers to aid him in combat. Mischief, Monkey King's innate power, sees him transform his appearance to deceive his enemies, often taking his surroundings as the inspiration for his camouflage.
Valve is separately selling a map themed after the Monkey King, alongside special Arcana skins for the new hero.
Hero Talent Trees
The Hero Talent tree has been regarded over at the Dota 2 subreddit as a game-changing update. With it, players can select talent for heroes at levels 10, 15, 20, and 25, which adds powerful augmentations to the heroes' capabilities. Each hero will have their individual set of talents to choose from, alongside special bonuses for each level tier.
New HUD
Patch 7.00 also brings significant user interface changes for Dota 2, fine-tuning the head-up display, or HUD, to give players an increased vision of the map and a variety of ways to see what's happening in each game. Dota 2's hero control console has been reworked to occupy a smaller space, which is also apt to give more screen estate to the new Hero Talent interface and Backpack slots.
The new backpack allows heroes to carry three additional items, which can be kept for reserve. The backpack may also be used as storage for recipes or other materials as players attempt to build a stronger end-game item.
The new interface changes are quite complex and hefty. Valve has published detailed descriptions of all the changes on a site created specifically for Patch 7.00.
New Pregame
Dota 2 comes with "Pick Phase" and "Strategy Phase," two new approaches to battling. In Pick Phase, players are treated to a new selection screen that matches the Heroes gallery layout, making it easier to use to common hero filters. To quickly locate a specific hero, players can type out the name, though there's also an option to let the in-game randomizer to select the heroes for the players.
In Strategy Phase, players will only have 30 seconds of strategic pregame planning once everyone has locked down a hero, pushing players to rapidly make decisions on lanes, ward spots, or what starting items to purchase.
Dota 2's Patch 7.00 is now live. For those of who have already tried Patch 7.00 out, what do you think about the new changes and additions? Feel free to sound off in the comments section below!
Dota 2 is available as a free-to-play download for PC via Steam.
