Throughout the course of their adventures exploring the new map introduced in Dota 2’s New Frontiers update on April 20, players are already uncovering hidden secrets at some of the new locations, including a mysterious door in the Mines and a well at the aptly named The Well.
The locations themselves are not secrets. They’re two of four new named areas listed in the patch notes, along with The Graveyard and The Statue. They include a portion of the 12 new neutral camps featured on the map and give units in those areas a special buff. The thought of the door and the well leading players to hidden areas at some point down the road, however, is what’s gotten players talking.
Some believe they’re nothing more than features that will forever be non-interactable, while others are convinced they’re landmarks that could allude to something coming in the future. One player even suggested it could eventually lead to an underground portion of the map.
The door, in particular, looks a lot like the one leading to Aghanim’s Labyrinth, which has featured as an event mode in previous patches. The thought of that being integrated into the map in some way is certainly an entertaining one, but perhaps it’s better in theory than practice.
The patch totally revamped the map, adding all sorts of new features, paths, objectives, landmarks, gates, and neutrals. It also expanded all four edges of the map, making the jungle bigger and more imposing than ever before. Players will likely discover more hidden secrets as time goes on.
It’s been the biggest change Dota 2 has had in its decade-long history—perhaps even bigger than players expected after enduring one of the longest content droughts to date—and so far, they seem to be enjoying the process of having to learn the ropes once again.
