For the final two years Dota has been getting huge, basic updates within the early Spring and this received us spoiled. After a drastic map dimension improve two years in the past and the Side replace final 12 months, we hope for one thing comparable in scope this 12 months as effectively, and at present, as an alternative of concentrating on minor steadiness points nonetheless current within the sport we wish to dream huge and begin a dialog on what this 12 months’s updates may carry to Dota.
The Nice Confluence was teased for nearly six years at this level and the final 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 could be very… optimistic, however we’re dreaming huge at present, proper?
There are good causes to consider that it may realistically occur, although. IceFrog did work on HoN again within the day and it’s stuffed with fascinating designs that would work in Dota with minor changes.
There may be in fact the issue of turn-rates and cast-points, which had been a lot sooner in HoN within the early 2010s, nevertheless it’s one thing that may be tweaked throughout the transition. Furthermore, Dota itself received considerably sooner 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, no 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 no less than a few of the fan-favorites, like Puppet Grasp, didn’t make it into our favourite sport already.
Lastly, the explanation we even remembered in regards to the Nice Confluence and the way it could possibly be, theoretically, associated to Heroes of Newerth is that this very current tweet. One thing is going on with HoN universe and as a fan of it again within the day and a large fan of Dota at present, I do hope these two universes are going to get much more intently associated.
The final 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 various, fascinating 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 fallacious phrase, “hope” might be extra apt, as Crownfall was good and we will’t get sufficient of lore-dumps, although we realise it was in all probability numerous 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 wish essentially the most. All 4 heroes are persistently performed whatever the patch, as they’re simply too enjoyable to play in pubs, whereas having sturdy design identities to all the time discover themselves situationally viable within the skilled scene.
Arcanas for no less than a few of the Spirit Brothers are additionally long-overdue, with my private hope that we’ll see the return of the chubbier Storm Spirit from earlier than his beauty rework. By some means 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 high 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 anyplace and the meta retains evolving regardless of there being no huge patches for a protracted whereas.
Nonetheless, we wouldn’t thoughts one other huge shake-up. Naturally there’s nonetheless numerous work to be executed with the Side system. It’s nice, however the greater the extent of play will get, the extra cracks begin displaying: typically there’s a “good” and a “unreliable” aspect, versus them being situational and permitting for adaptation. Nonetheless, getting one thing that may essentially change the strategy to the sport, versus steadiness 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 all the time going to be exhausting. There are in all probability lots of of assorted variables to tweak and techniques to remodel, so guessing what Valve could possibly be cooking is unlikely to yield correct outcomes.
So we’re going to ask you, the neighborhood, what concepts and adjustments you wish to see in Dota. Personally, some map adjustments and a few extra factors of curiosity could possibly be good, and, maybe, one thing could possibly be executed about Impartial Camp blocking, since as a help participant I’m simply uninterested in continuously paying the Sentry tax throughout the laning stage.
