Dota 2 Patch Introduces Two New Heroes and Revamped Ranking System
Valve has released the patch notes for Dota 2’s major Dueling Fates update. The game will get two new ‘heroes’, whose names are now known, a new game mode and changes to the ‘ranked matchmaking’ system. The patch will be released on Wednesday.
The first new hero is Pangolier, a pangolin who has to rely on close-range hand-to-hand combat with his sword. He is able to cover a considerable distance in a flash and once he arrives at the new location he immediately attacks any enemies. With Shield Crash, Pangolier leaps into the air to create a shock wave on the ground, dealing damage and temporarily reducing damage to enemies. Pangolier is able to slow down enemies and ignore their armor for a short time with the Heartpiecer ‘ability’. With the ultimate ability, Rolling Thunder, Pangolier turns into a rolling ball, which he can use to trap enemies and deal damage.
Valve has also revealed the second hero: Dark Willow. Unlike Pangolier, this fairy must have dark magic spells from a safe distance. For example, she is able to grow a variety of stinging brambles; enemies take damage and are pinned. With Shadow Realm, Dark Willow can make herself invulnerable and her next magical attack becomes more powerful. She can also curse enemies or use her sidekick Jex, who deals damage to everyone around Dark Willow. Jex also supplies the ultimate ability; the beast creates so much fear among enemies in a certain area that they run back to their base disoriented.
In addition to the two new heroes, the change in the ranked seasons is also an important innovation. First of all, the season now lasts six months. According to Valve, these short seasons mean that the Match Making Rating is more current and accurate. The MMR roughly indicates how good you are as a player; this will match you with players with similar ratings. Before the start of each season, the MMR is reset and players are placed based on their rating from previous seasons. Furthermore, there is a system with seven different medals. A medal is awarded based on the highest MMR achieved. To get a higher medal, a player must first collect five stars.
Valve has also introduced a number of new items and talents with the new patch, and a new Turbo mode is coming, where players gain more gold and experience, towers are weaker and respawn times shorter. This mode seems to be mainly intended for practicing with new heroes. The first season, including all these changes, starts two weeks after the release of the new patch, which comes out on November 1.
Left in the foreground Pangolier, right behind him the fairy Dark Willow