The veil has been lifted, and fans can now pilot the twin-pistoled engine of dead-eyed vengeance, Muerta, in Dota 2 as the newest hero joins the game as part of the Dead Reckoning update—but players are baffled that it is actually just patch 7.32e.
After playing on the current Dota 2 patch since last November, the community was hoping for a substantial shakeup with Valve’s next big update post-Lima Major. Despite those high hopes, Valve is positioning this patch as a holdover with some significant new content ahead of a bigger release plotted for April.
This Dead Reckoning update does add a lot of content, with Muerta being playable and bringing a very unique element to the game with powerful trick-shots and spiritual abilities that can turn the tide of battle.
But that isn’t all, since a full Dead Reckoning mini-game where you hunt down assigned targets during a match is also playable—and includes a slate of new rewards.
Related: Biggest winners and losers of Dota 2 Patch 7.32e
Trade Flowers you earn in that mini-game for Dead Reckoning Chests, which contains deadly delight in the form of new themed item sets for heroes like Lina and Dawnbreaker. Even Io got a new set for the first time in six years. Those treasures are technically part of the Spring 2023 Seasonal Treasure too, since Valve has bundled them in together.
Upgraded Advanced Battle Stats and updated quests and rewards for seasonal content are also live as part of the Dota Plus Spring Update. Even Turbo Mode got some love for the first time in ages, such as all hero selections being blind and some new Arcana progress tracking.
The issue players have with the patch is not with the content being added, but rather the patch’s balance adjustments.
Sure, Lina got a needed nerf alongside others like Treant Protector and Broodmother, but the overall hero changes feel minimal. Some of the item changes and cost cuts for things like Mango or Nullifier could make a big impact in early and late-game decision-making though.
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It boils down to most of this being backend numerical changes that will artificially change what each character is capable of. In practice, most heroes will still work largely the same as they did in the last patch and the meta might reflect that at the highest level.
Now players have to wait more than a month for the next update, as Valve gave an updated timeline for its more “ambitious” patch that will likely go live prior to the next Major.
“We’ve been working on an ambitious gameplay patch for a while, and we were hoping to get it done in time for this update,” Valve said. “We’re currently aiming to release it in late April. So in the meantime, while we put the finishing touches on it, enjoy the Dead Reckoning Update and Patch 7.32e.”
So if you were tired of the meta that has been around for the last 194 days, don’t get your hopes too high for that to change right away. There are no buffs that will blow players away, most of the nerfs are light or were expected, and the biggest changes were made to items or through the addition of new content like Muerta.
Hopefully that “ambitious patch” will live up to the undeadly amount of hype it is building by following Muerta’s lackluster update. Can anyone say map changes?
