After years of asking for major changes to wreak havoc on the map, Valve has finally given Dota 2 fans what they wanted by completely reworking the battlefield in the New Frontiers 7.33 patch this week. This includes tons of smaller updates along with game-shaking alterations made to mechanics like Roshan and laning.
This is the first major Dota gameplay update since Aug. 2022 and is larger than even optimistic players may have been expecting when it comes down to exactly how sizable the changes were in certain areas.
For the map, most of the changes involve it being expanded by 40 percent and moving key objectives to completely different areas. That is paired with rotations for Creeps, new locations, and even more things for players to learn and use to their advantage during matches.
All map changes in Dota 2 Patch 7.33: Roshan pits, Outposts, and more
With the map getting 40 percent bigger, Valve had a lot of room to work with when it came to moving objectives around, making additions, or altering other aspects.
Despite those changes, Valve focused on keeping gameplay the same while moving resources away from the middle of the map.
“The core objective of the game remains the same—your lanes aren’t further away from each other, and everything you need to win is still in the center of the map,” Valve said in the April 20 patch notes. “But with 40 percent more terrain, there’s plenty of room to reap new resources and discover new strategies. Both main jungles have been fully reconfigured, shaking up vision placement, juke routes, farming, and more.”
Two Roshan Pits
The biggest alteration Patch 7.33 made was finally adding a second Roshan Pit that is far away from the river pit players had grown used to fighting around.
With this update, a Roshan Pit has been placed in the northwest and southwest corners—one for Dire and one for Radiant. He will appear in Dire at night and Radiant during the day, with the spawn being clearly noted on the map for players.
Related: Here are the full Dota 2 New Frontiers 7.33 patch notes
Roshan has also had some of its drops altered and is going to take longer to kill thanks to some additional buffs, so there is plenty to adjust for when planning your approach.
The Twin Gates
Paired with the new importance of the corners of the map, Valve has added teleporters called the Twin Gates that will let players quickly travel to the other location on the map. These are located near the safe lane towers on both sides.
This connection works by channeling the energy of the gates—and apparently puts Dota in the same universe as Pac-Man, according to the patch notes.
Tormentors and Watchers
Tormentors are two new Neutral Creeps that spawn at the 20-minute mark on either side of the map for players to tackle.
These creeps will drop Aghanim’s Shards when killed, but deflect damage when attacked using a megashield. They grow stronger when killed and can be very difficult to deal with, but if you don’t attack them they won’t mess with you.
Meanwhile, Watchers are eight objectives that spawn at the start of a game and remain inactive until a player clicks on them. When activated, they give expanded vision over the area they occupy for seven minutes, though they can also be destroyed by the enemy teams and take two minutes to respawn.
As a bonus, when a team kills Roshan, they get access to all Watchers.
Lotus Pools and Outposts
The first of several new locations, two Lotus Pools have been added to either side of the map on the expanded edges.
These are near the creep wave spawns and content fruit that grant players HP and mana when consumed. They can also be stacked multiple times for bigger replenishing effects throughout the game.
Outposts have also been moved around, with some new additions thrown into the mix too so players can really get their channeling on. They don’t grant experience anymore.
Wisdom Runes and Shield Runes
Wisdom Runes are placed on the outskirt of the map, closer to each base, and hold Runes that grant XP to any hero that can steal one.
Shield Runes have been added as part of the Power Rune rotation too, giving players a way to beef up their heroes early by offering a 50 percent barrier based on their max HP. This is an early-game option that could lead to early rotations and tower kills.
For the Power Rune rotation, Runes will not repeat until all of the other Runes have already spawned.
More Creep Camps
Creeps were subject to some serious changes this patch. This includes adding more camps to the map since there is more room for players to roam and gather resources. There are 12 new camps that have been added to the Dota 2 map to pair with all of those other alterations, which include Gold bounty updates and more.
