For the final two years Dota has been getting large, elementary updates within the early Spring and this received us spoiled. After a drastic map measurement enhance two years in the past and the Aspect replace final 12 months, we hope for one thing comparable in scope this 12 months as effectively, and as we speak, as a substitute of concentrating on minor stability points nonetheless current within the sport we want to dream massive and begin a dialog on what this 12 months’s updates might deliver to Dota.
The Nice Confluence was teased for nearly six years at this level and the overall consensus throughout the neighborhood on the time was that it alluded to the introduction of heroes from the Heroes of Newerth universe into Dota. This concept may be very… optimistic, however we’re dreaming massive as we speak, proper?
There are good causes to imagine that it might realistically occur, although. IceFrog did work on HoN again within the day and it’s full of attention-grabbing designs that might work in Dota with minor changes.
There’s in fact the issue of turn-rates and cast-points, which have been a lot quicker in HoN within the early 2010s, nonetheless it’s one thing that may be tweaked throughout the transition. Furthermore, Dota itself received considerably quicker through the years and turn-rates have been steadily rising since 2015, culminating in a full hero pool flip charge buff again in 2021.
It’s not like Dota gamers are starved for brand new heroes, not less than not within the final 12 months, however when there are dozens of Dota-fitting designs already playtested in situations just like Dota, one has to marvel why not less than a number of the fan-favorites, like Puppet Grasp, didn’t make it into our favourite sport already.
Lastly, the rationale we even remembered in regards to the Nice Confluence and the way it may very well be, theoretically, associated to Heroes of Newerth is that this very latest tweet. One thing is occurring with HoN universe and as a fan of it again within the day and a large fan of Dota as we speak, I do hope these two universes are going to get much more intently associated.
The overall talks in regards to the Nice Confluence began with the introduction of Void Spirit into the sport, as it’s his voice traces that began teasing the idea. Dota has many alternative, attention-grabbing storylines and since we received a really lore-focused Crownfall this 12 months, it’s maybe affordable to imagine that we’re going to get one thing comparable this 12 months.
Possibly “assume” is the flawed phrase, “hope” might be extra apt, as Crownfall was sensible and we will’t get sufficient of lore-dumps, although we realise it was most likely a variety of work to do, between all of the writing and all of the mini-games (no extra sand-fishing, although, please).
A Crownfall-style epic journey revolving across the Spirit Brothers might be the one we would like essentially the most. All 4 heroes are persistently performed whatever the patch, as they’re simply too enjoyable to play in pubs, whereas having robust design identities to at all times discover themselves situationally viable within the skilled scene.
Arcanas for not less than a number of the Spirit Brothers are additionally long-overdue, with my private hope that we are going to see the return of the chubbier Storm Spirit from earlier than his beauty rework. In some way he feels significantly extra relatable to me personally.
We’ve talked about potential new beauty content material and potential new hero content material, however these are simply the spice on prime of what makes Dota nice. The rationale most of us love Dota is as a result of it’s an infinitely-replayable, deep and fascinating sport. That isn’t going wherever and the meta retains evolving regardless of there being no massive patches for an extended whereas.
Nevertheless, we wouldn’t thoughts one other massive shake-up. Naturally there’s nonetheless a variety of work to be completed with the Aspect system. It’s nice, however the increased the extent of play will get, the extra cracks begin displaying: most often there’s a “good” and a “unreliable” side, versus them being situational and permitting for adaptation. Nonetheless, getting one thing that may basically change the method to the sport, versus stability tweaks, is one thing we hope for this 12 months.
Right here lies the issue, although: Dota is already an extremely advanced and deep sport and altering its fundamentals is at all times going to be arduous. There are most likely lots of of varied variables to tweak and techniques to remodel, so guessing what Valve may very well be cooking is unlikely to yield correct outcomes.
So we’re going to ask you, the neighborhood, what concepts and modifications you want to see in Dota. Personally, some map modifications and a few extra factors of curiosity may very well be good, and, maybe, one thing may very well be completed about Impartial Camp blocking, since as a help participant I’m simply bored with consistently paying the Sentry tax throughout the laning stage.
