Fans And Pros Harbor Mixed Feelings For ‘Dota 2’ Update 7.00

What are your thoughts as we say hello to a new era of Dota 2? Pros and fans are feeling both excited and concerned about the new changes and it certainly will take time getting used to.

As we say goodbye to Dota 2 Version 6.xx, we usher in a new era of MOBA (multiplayer online battle arena) gaming with Dota 2 Update 7.00. A gigantic 6 GB update, Dota 2 7.00 is introducing a massive lineup of updates that will overhaul not only Dota 2‘s user interface, but more so its gameplay and strategy.

The addition of new hero Monkey King was one of the well-received additions to Dota 2 7.00 across the board. But apart from this lovable (and, at times, overpowered) hero, the massive changes to the well-loved MOBA game has the pros and the fans in a love-hate purgatory.

If Monkey King’s tree is destroyed, he falls & is stunned for 4 seconds. This some easy abilities destroying trees.#sevenupdate@twt_dota pic.twitter.com/3fomGmSLCi

— Diari.Dota2.Malaysia (@diari_dota2) December 14, 2016

Dota 2 gamers are all very impressed with the new Aghanim’s Scepter upgrades, which is bringing a whole new level of gameplay with the right teamwork. We can also get used to the new and improved UI, which, frankly, is a beautiful addition after a decade of first bloods. The pre-game strategy screen at the start of each Dota 2 match is a welcome addition that would provide a 30-second window for arguments to be settled—and it couldn’t have come sooner.

But a huge chunk of concern from pros, pub players, and analysts, stem from the new talent and shrine mechanics. Incorporating the new talent system into the traditional skillsets will be quite a challenge for Dota 2 players in the new 7.00 update. But it’s all in good fun. While change is very scary, especially changes this massive, there is no going back to the past and Dota 2 players have no other way than push forward now with the 7.00 update.

Team Liquid’s Kanishka ‘Sam’ “BuLba” Sosale told ESPN the following.

“The talent tree thing is also a bit confusing for now. It’s hard to think about the other heroes in the game and what talents they have so far. They didn’t nerf many of the heroes, but gave really good talents to the weaker heroes and added mediocre ones to the heroes that were already strong. That was a cool approach.”

But don’t fear, iTechPost has compiled a list of all new spell changing talents for Dota 2 Update 7.00 and it’s a good birds eye view reference for those starting to get a feel of the new mechanics.

Red Bull notes about the new talent system of patch 7.00:

“Gone are the days of heroes like Anti-Mage taking early points in stats to bolster what can otherwise be a considerably weak laning stage. In arguably one, if not the largest revamp in the 7.00 patch, stat points have been replaced by a four pronged talent tree which allows each hero to pick at levels 10/15/20/25 a different talent altering something as intricate as XP gain all the way through to a percentage cooldown reduction.”

And if you’re a fan of Aghanim’s Scepter, you’ll also have to take note that a lot of upgradeable ulimates have been revamped in Dota 2 7.00. Valve added more upgradeable ultimate abilities and reworked others, adding a whole new playing field of uncertainty to the game. If you’re particularly interested in overpowered Aghanim’s Scepter upgrades in Dota 2 7.00’s current meta, then you’ll want to check out this other guide by iTechPost. We’re pretty sure your Anti-Mage, Sniper, Skywrath Mage, and Zeus will be happy.

When you give a Sniper 1 Aghanim’s Scepter and 4 Divine Rapiers…#Seven #Dota2 pic.twitter.com/RF6yRuymJB

— Steven Chen (@Chen_tweets) December 12, 2016

theWonderCow from Unikrnhas also expressed how the new Dota 2 7.00 mechanics have tremendously affected the length and speed of play:

“The pace of play has been faster at all levels, including the professional level. Since the patch’s release earlier this week, we’ve seen a sharp decrease in games with fewer than a kill per minute. Pro games from China’s i-League and Europe’s Dotapit typically have close to 1.5 kills per minute. In Dotapit, the average kills went from 47 to 49 per game, not an enormous spike overall, but half of all games on the new patch were only 20-30 minutes long, a sharp decrease from Dota‘s previously longer matches.

“The increase in action can be traced to quite a few factors. First, the change in jungle creep spawn times makes for less stacking potential, forcing rotations out of the lane formerly known as safe. Increased bounty rune count (now four scattered around the map instead of one) increases experience gain for roamers and reduces the cost of rotations for cores. Presumably, it’ll take a few weeks for teams to begin to figure out optimized stacking and farming patterns, at which point combat rotations may wane somewhat. Right now, the best move is usually to invade opponents’ space rather than maximize returns from your own.”

In a pro play perspective, theWonderCow has noted that drafting preferences haven’t changed radically—just yet. Drafting has already shifted to damage-dealing heroes.

At this point, no one can say for sure that the whole impact of the Dota 2 7.00 update has already taken effect since Dota 2 players are still trying to explore the vast new lands that Dota 2 7.00 has brought.

If you think you understand @DOTA2 7.00 think again….this is going to take a good couple of months before we see the full patch effects pic.twitter.com/f0cUhWaGCm

— Toby Dawson (@TobiWanDOTA) December 11, 2016

While we can more or less grasp at the bird’s eye view of Dota 2 7.00, we have yet to discover the full potential of the new talents and system. In fact, with bugs and crash abound, Dota 2 is still working on several patches to stabilize 7.00 completely, and that would surely include augmenting new overpowered heroes and tactics.

Austin Walsh says: “This new patch will make for a crazy few months. But I think that in the long term this patch will create a more dynamic and faster-paced game while maintaining the strong strategical element that is at Dota‘s core.”

Team Liquid coach Lee “Heen” Seung Gon agrees and added the following.

“I have played this game for more than 10 years, and 7.00 is the biggest change I’ve seen after the transition to Dota 2. I think I echo a lot of people’s sentiments when I say I have mixed feelings of excitement and concern.

“I have faith that this patch will bring the game forward like every patch has in the past. It’s human nature to grow attached to things they get used to, but everyone will get over it and enjoy the new changes before they know it.”

In the mean time, let’s enjoy Dota 2 7.00 as much as we did for the past decade.

Check out everything that’s new with Dota 2 7.00 at the launch site here.

[Featured image by Roman Kosolapov / Shutterstock.com]