Dota 2 has just received its latest update, adding a new furry-fiend and multiple hero changes.
Steams most popular MOBA Dota 2, has just unveiled its 120th hero; a squirrel wielding a crossbow named “Hoodwink” along with many new game-play changes, including a new shard upgrade for aghanims scepter and a long list of minor hero tweaks.
Dota 2 had not received a new hero since November of last year, with the addition of void spirit in the 7.23 update. The new hero, Hoodwink, is classed as a “Nuker” with the ability to escape difficult situations. It comes with 4 abilities:
- Acorn shot – Hoodwink fires 1 acorn at a group of enemies, which bounces between the enemy ranks and stuns them on impact. It works almost exactly like Witch Doctors “Paralyzing Cask” abilitiy.
- Bushwhack – This ability is used to entangle units by strapping them to a tree, stunning them for a minimum of 1.3 seconds and dealing base damage of 90 on a successful hit.
- Scurry – Hoodwink gains the chance to passively evade attacks when near trees. It also provides an additional 25% movement speed, advancing up to an impressive 40% on level 4. It works in a similar way to Windrangers “Windrun” ability.
- Sharpshooter – Hoodwink cranks-up his crossbow for 5 seconds, releasing a devastating shot after the 5 second countdown, dealing a staggering 600 base damage, but knocking them back 350 metres after the shot its fired. This ability is free-fire and not lock on.
(Hoodwink doesn’t have an aghanims scepter/shard upgrade yet.)
The lore of Hoodwink:
Hoodwink’s earliest years were spent in the idyllic expanse of green that once filled the edges of Krimwohl. But as that kingdom grew, rival timber barons raced to outpace each other in devouring the natural beauty of the border forests. The folk living in these timberlands had little choice but to surrender, fall defending their homes, or flee north to tempt fate in the haunted glens and groves of the misty Wood Tomo’kan.
Having learned the tricks of safe passage in the tangles of those very mistwoods, where most living creatures wisely fear to tread, Hoodwink now strikes out against any who dare try to further pacify the wilds — happily taking what she likes from their belongings, destroying what she has no use for, and helping guide any kindred survivors back to a life in the green once again.
(Hoodwink doesn’t have an aghanims scepter/shard upgrade yet.)
Moving onto the gameplay changes now and there are a whole host of changes for heroes, so we will just be looking at the most note-worthy ones for now.
Anti-Mage, Arc Warden and Axe are among some of the heroes to be getting a new rework for their scepter upgrade, these 3 getting some of the most notable buffs, with axes “berserkers call” now reducing enemy armor by 7, Arc Warden got a big buff by being able to spawn a new wraith after impacting an enemy and lastly Anti-Mage’s blink ability got an upgrade, with the character now able to spawn an illusion that damages the enemy for 7 seconds.
12 new items have been added to the game, with Helm of the dominator making a surprise return among others.
Onto the item changes now and here are the ones that caught our attention:
- Silver-edge now requires oblivion staff instead of Echo Sabre
- Blade Mail now costs 675 for the recipe as opposed to 500
- Divine Rapier damage reduced from 330 to 300
- Radiance now attacks ancient creeps
- Satanic no longer provides status resistance
Lastly we’ll take a look at the most important general changes and what you can expect next time you login to Dota 2:
- Additional lore has now been added to all items
- Game now starts at night and goes into daytime once creeps have spawned
- Radiant ancient camps now easier to stack
- Neutral creep stacked gold bonus reduced by 30% from 40%
- Neutral creeps no longer increase their bounty throughout the course of the game
Additional changes can be found on Dota 2’s website
So there you have it, the 7.28 has dropped with a vast magnitude of changes, a new hero, many new abilities and items to keep you entertained over the Christmas period. If you were looking to jump back into the fast-paced world of Dota 2, now would be a great time.