The Dota 2 community has been waiting for the MOBA’s next update with bated breath, and on the eve of its launch, Valve has treated fans with a small preview of what’s to come—as long as they could work together. Well, they did, and the results are shocking.
As part of the second chapter of Crownfall, The Deserts of Druud, Valve is also bringing a multitude of changes to Dota in the now-confirmed May 22 update later today. Players who had completed chapter one were allowed a glimpse at an ancient tablet spoiling a few of the upcoming patch notes similar to the Frostivus patch—each player held a candle to the tablet in a specific spot, and by combining every player’s candlelit tablet, text was formed containing a few of the changes.
The community pieced it together late on May 21, combining images and uncovering the text within. The full notes revealed include:
- …base armor decreased by 0.5.
- Whenever the sun comes out… reveals the whole map for five seconds.
- Disruptor Kinetic… replaced with Kinetic…
- Enemy attack projectiles within 500 range of… are slowed down.
- … can travel in a curve.
- … can use items in their backpack as if they were in their inventory.
- Silencer cannot be…
- … has zero ability points at level…
- (Life)stealer permanently gains… when killing a creep.
- … starts with 250 extra gold.
- Enemies with the… cannot see their allies.
Fans immediately speculated which heroes these patch notes applied to—aside from the obvious ones, such as Disruptor, who will be receiving a new ability to replace Kinetic Field. Some believe the following line mentioning slower attack projectiles or even the curved objects thrown at Disruptor is connected to this new ability.
One player believes recent rumors that every Dota hero will be receiving an innate passive will be proven true tomorrow, pointing to the bonus starting gold and the Silencer and Lifestealer mentions, as well as the map reveal on sunrise mention—but as to which hero Valve means to add this to remains a mystery. Some believe it to be Phoenix, who disrupts the day/night cycle of Dota by using her Supernova ultimate. But Keeper of the Light and Dawnbreaker also have interactions with the cycle, so the jury remains out.
Another said the sixth note regarding backpack item use will be added as a bonus for reaching level 30, while some are utterly convinced Pudge’s Meat Hook will be able to curve after tomorrow’s update (please Valve, I beg you to reconsider this one if you still can). The community is absolutely loving these Easter egg hunts ahead of the patch’s arrival and cannot wait for the update to land.
The second chapter of Crownfall—and a sizeable gameplay update—is expected to arrive sometime later today.
