Dota 2 patch 7.33 introduces the huge New Frontiers update
It’s time to forget everything you ever knew about Dota 2, because patch 7.33 for the game that defined a whole new genre is now out and has made some truly massive changes to the title. The New Frontiers update has expanded the Dota 2 map’s size by about 40% and introduced a series of additional neutral buildings such as the Twin Gates, which allow players to teleport from one edge of the map to the other, and the Lotus Pools, which periodically provide fruits that heal HP and Mana.
Ever since it was a WarCraft 3 custom game, Dota featured three hero attributes: the classic Strength, Dexterity, and Intelligence trio. New Frontiers added a fourth attribute, the Universal stat, and moved over 30 heroes into this class.
Neutral creep camps and their item drops, disables, the kill formula – Valve left no stones unturned in New Frontiers, so here is an overview of the most important changes to Dota 2 in the 7.33 patch notes.
Dota 2 update 7.33 patch notes
Dota 2 update 7.33: map changes
Roshan, the mightiest of creeps, has finally killed enough heroes to afford a second dwelling place. Instead of remaining at his pit near the center of the map, the powerful creature now has two homes and rotates between them.
You can now find him in the North Pit or the South Pit, which will influence what kind of loot he will drop as well. In the northern spawn location Roshan will drop a Refresher Shard, in the southern one a Scepter. He’ll also drop Cheese on his second death now and won’t give players Aghanim’s Shards any longer.
The following new buildings have been added to the Dota 2 map:
- Twin Gates: These gates let players teleport from one edge of the map to the other.
- Lotus Pools: These pools periodically spawn fruits that heal HP and Mana. You can combine several fruits to make larger fruits with a better effect.
- Tormentors: This structure spawns powerful creeps at the 20 minute mark, which drop Aghanim’s Shards. However, they have powerful shields that reflect most damage back to you and grow stronger with each one you kill.
- Watchers: These buildings are basically fixed Observer Wards, which remain active for seven minutes once you’ve activated them (or until the opponent sabotages them). Killing Roshan turns all the Watchers on the map over to your side, giving you a massive vision advantage.
- Defender’s Gates: Each base now has an additional back entrance, which is protected by a shielded gate only the defenders can pass through. That should make it easier to mount an attack on a besieging force.
- Wisdom Runes: These new runes offer an XP boost to those who collect them and are a new way for a team on the backfoot to keep up a bit better. They are placed in a relatively safe spot on the edges of the map.
- Shield Runes: A new addition to the runes found in the river, Shield Runes provide you with a barrier worth 50% of your maximum HP.
- New Creep Camps: A dozen new Creep Camps have been added, massively expanding the available farm on the map.
- New Outposts: A duo of new Outposts is present on the expanded map as well, while the original Outposts have been moved a bit from their old positions.
The expanded Dota 2 map with all new buildings and landmarks.
Valve
Dota 2 update 7.33: Universal heroes
Universal is the long-awaited fourth attribute for heroes. They gain 0.6 damage from each point in any attribute, making them, well, quite universal when it comes to item builds, as they won’t have a primary attribute.
Here are all Universal heroes in Dota 2:
- Abaddon
- Bane
- Batrider
- Beastmaster
- Brewmaster
- Broodmother
- Chen
- Clockwerk
- Dark Seer
- Dark Willow
- Dazzle
- Enigma
- Io
- Lone Druid
- Lycan
- Marci
- Magnus
- Mirana
- Nyx Assassin
- Pangolier
- Phoenix
- Sand King
- Snapfire
- Techies
- Timbersaw
- Vengeful Spirit
- Venomancer
- Visage
- Void Spirit
- Windranger
- Winter Wyvern
Dota 2 update 7.33: Neutral Items rework
There are now a dozen more Creep Camps around the map and the jungle creatures now also scale over time, which means they’ll grow more powerful over the course of the game. That’s great news for any hero being able to control these neutrals, because they make for better allies now.
Valve has reworked the way Neutral Item Drops work as well. Instead of dropping an item that goes into the entire team’s pool, these creeps will drop a Token, which lets you choose from five available neutral items. Teams can give these Tokens to any member to use, but once an item has been selected, it can’t be shared anymore.
Dota 2 update 7.33: BKB and Disable rework
Black King Bar, better known as BKB, now applies a basic dispel, grants 50% Magic resistance, and Debuff immunity. While it’s active, negative effects from debuffs don't affect you. Plus, you’ll have immunity from Pure and Reflected Damage (that might come in handy against those creeps from the Tormentor).
If BKB expires before the duration of any of the debuffs, their effect will be applied for whatever duration is left. Effects that pierce magic immunity now also pierce debuff immunity.
Disables have had their duration reduced through the board, so you should spend less time being stunned and sitting around without anything to do.
Dota 2 update 7.33: Kill Formula rework
Valve wants to make kills in the early game more impactful to provide better motivation to gank other lanes. Sitting on your lane to farm will be much less effective as well now, as the Gold scaling for lane creeps has been reduced. Eliminating other players is going to be a lot more profitable, so it seems clear that the developers want to see less farming and a lot more fights.
Dota 2 update 7.33: new items
It’s probably been a while since anyone thought “man, Dota 2 really doesn’t have enough items” – Valve added some more anyways, just in case.
Here are the new items found in the shop:
- Blood Grenade
- Diadem
- Cornucopia
- Pavise
- Phylactery
- Harpoon
- Disperser
Here are the new neutral items you can get from Tokens:
- Duelist Gloves
- Spark of Courage
- Gossamer Cape
- Defiant Shell
- Vindicator’s Axe
- Dandelion Amulet
- Martyr’s Plate
For the changes to matchmaking and the countless numerical balance adjustments to heroes and items, please check out the official website.
