Dota 2's next big update will make it so new players don't get scared off
If you've ever struggled to get into the famously dense and complicated Dota 2, you'll be pleased to know that Valve's next big update for the game is designed for you.
The introduction to the awkwardly complex game is going to be entirely rethought in a new update that hits the game later today. In a pretty huge, in-depth post, Valve explained exactly what's going to change.
"We think a mixture of diverse tools and resources have the greatest potential at helping new players learn based on their specific needs," says the developer before jumping into some of the specifics.
The main change comes in the form of a dynamic and responsive wizard that'll hover over your game and give you on-the-fly advice about what's going on in front of you.
There's also New Player Mode, which is based on the concept of the game's old Limited Mode, featuring "a small and stable hero pool" that will let players learn the basics without encountering new heroes and abilities in each game and overloading your processing capabilities.
"To give new players flexibility while they learn, this mode will allow them to leave a match at any time without penalty," explains the developer. "We want new players to feel safe sampling different heroes or trying to learn a few things in free moments even when pressed for time. To support this, if a player in New Player Mode does leave the game, a bot will immediately take their place."
The shop is also going to simplified massively, and new objectives will give fresh players something to aim for as they play. If you're interested in the far-reaching changes being implemented into the game, it's worth checking out the full post yourself – it goes into a lot of detail.
We recently heard that Valve has ended development on Artifact 2.0, and the company is planning on rolling out a Dota anime soon, too.