Dota 2 patch brings back Diretide, adds two heroes, makes $38K item non-unique

Dota 2 has received a huge patch, with a number of interesting new additions and changes, including one which has made at least one person very, very unhappy.

Called the Three Spirits Update, the latest patch introduces two new heroes - Earth Spirit and Ember Spirit. Their sibling Storm Spirit has been given a makeover, too.

The update also brings in-game coaching, which allows veteran players to join matches but not control a character, instead using spectator tools, drawing lines, dropping pings, and giving advice over chat.

Another new feature is Showcase View, which allows you to zoom and pan in on matches and replays to get a different, more cinematic and immersive view of the game's world.

There are also a bunch of fixes, rebalancing, new player items and treasures, as well as the promised return of Diretide, the delayed Hallowe'en event.

The change that's making waves, though, is an overhaul of crafting introducing recipe scrolls, which allow you to combine items to get something fancier. This, in addition to sockets on cosmetic items, means you'll be able to make really customised items.

This is all very interesting of course, but as PCGamesN points out, it also means that unusual couriers are no longer as rare as they were after Valve patched out randomly generated coloured flame particle effects just a few weeks after introduction. One unique example was sold for $38,000 last week, and in a very short amount of time there will be copycats popping up everywhere. Ouch.

The patch is live on the test server and in the process of rolling out to everyone else.

Thanks, Shack News.