The MOBA Dota 2 received the major Outlanders update on November 26. It brought many new features and changed already known content. Some eSports professionals even jokingly refer to it as Dota 3.
What are the major new features? Valve has made changes in nearly all areas of the game with the new update. The most important new features are:
- Heroes now have an increased level cap. Instead of 25, the maximum level is now 30. Additionally, they can now carry 10 items: six in the inventory and four in the backpack.
- The shops on the outer lanes have been removed and replaced with outposts. You can bring these under your control by interacting with them. As a reward, there is bonus experience, and you can teleport to controlled outposts.
- Every player now automatically starts the game with a courier. It levels up with the hero and learns abilities like a speed boost.
- Observer Wards no longer cost gold.
- In the jungle, there are 62 new neutral items waiting for you. These can only be dropped by creeps. They are divided into 5 categories, with weak items dropping at the beginning and strong ones only at the end of the game.
- Two new heroes, Void Spirit and Snapfire, have been introduced.
- There were adjustments to the layout of the map.
In addition to these changes, there were further small new features and balance adjustments to many items and heroes in Dota 2. You can read the full patch notes on the official website.
What can the new heroes do? The hero Void Spirit is a melee carry and relies on magical abilities. He is supposed to become stronger over time and develop his full potential only in the late game. Void Spirit is the fourth and oldest of the spirits of the lamenting mountains.
Beatrix Snapfire, on the other hand, is a goblin grandmother and takes on the role of a support. She rides on a dragon toad and uses a revolver to bombard enemies with a hail of bullets.
eSports pros refer to the update as Dota 3
Who refers to the update as Dota 3? Many eSports players and teams expressed their opinions on Twitter about the Outlanders update. For example, the team Secret, which achieved fourth place at The International 2019, wrote:
Outlanders update, more like Dota 3 pic.twitter.com/Lck7KfYgAV
— Team Secret (@teamsecret) November 26, 2019
This sentiment was echoed by the teams Natus Vincere, OGesports and subreddit mod Wykrhm Reddy. The changes seem to be generally well received.
Particularly, the heroes, the outposts, and many balance changes are praised. Only opinions differ significantly on the neutral items.
Dota Underlords also benefits from the update
What is changing in the Auto Battler? Dota Underlords has also received an Outlanders update. The two heroes Void Spirit and Snapfire were introduced. Additionally, the three other elemental spirits Storm, Earth, and Ember came into play.
With them, the new alliance Spirit is introduced:
- Whenever a spirit uses an ability, it enters the charged state.
- If 3 spirits are in the charged state, a triangle delta strike is activated, dealing damage to all enemies in the triangle.
Additionally, the new game mode Knockout is activated, where you have 4 lives instead of 100 health points.
