Dota 2 Gets A New Player Experience ahead of Netflix Anime Release

Valve’s Dota 2 has received a much-needed update that brings in a new player experience with detailed guides, glossaries and a new player mode. Smurfing is now a bannable offense in Dota 2 which should help improve the first few days for a new player in Valve’s MOBA. 

A few weeks ago, Netflix announced the release of Dota: Dragon’s Blood on the streaming platform. This is the first time Dota 2players will get to experience the game’s massive lore on a mainstream platform. Dota: Dragon’s Blood (Book 1) launches on March 25.

Hours before the release of the anime, Valve has released a massive new update. The update is aimed at the influx of new players after the release of the Netflix Dota 2 anime. 

There are many new features in the latest update. Valve has learnt from past experiences where a linear tutorial simply doesn’t work for a complex game like Dota 2. Instead, the new player experience will provide a gradual learning curve which should help new players in having a better understanding of the complex game.

New player objectives and the glossary break down the massive amount of Dota 2 information into smaller blocks. Players can choose and focus on areas they want to improve in a new quest-like system. Players can explore different aspects of the game in a controlled environment. Some objectives include warding, teleporting, courier control, teamfights, lockdown, or initiation

Items are a big part of playing Dota 2. They provide statistical bonuses which can often decide the course of a game and team fights. For a game that has been around for nearly two decades, Dota 2 has a long list of items in-game. For a new player, the long list of items can be a daunting prospect.

Valve has provided a streamlined shop-experience that will tell players what items to make and how to make them. The streamlined shop will reduce the burden on the player to browse through the hundreds of in-game items. However, once a player feels confident in his gameplay he can revert to the original shop.

Finally, the new player mode allows new players to compete in games with other newcomers. Players can leave the new player mode at any time without any penalty. If they do so, a bot will immediately replace the new player. Matches will start much faster, which means a game will often start even without the full ten players with bots filling the empty slots. 

With coaching, in-game tips and hero briefs, the new player experience is a comprehensive all-round tool for newcomers. Valve has also worked with community members such as SirActionSlacks and Immortalfaith in this update.

Valve has finally disallowed smurfing. The game developer will focus on new account creations after today, but will slowly and surely expand to manually banning obvious smurf accounts. 

Starting today, smurfing will be a bannable offense. We will primarily focus on new accounts created after today for which we have high confidence in their smurfing and game-ruining behavior. Moreover, we will also occasionally manually ban old pre-existing accounts that are clearly game-ruining. Furthermore, if you are found to be selling accounts, boosting or engaged in similar game ruining behaviors, your primary account may also be subject to a ban. To go along with this, we've recently increased our ban rate for boosters and purchased accounts.

The ONE Esports Singapore Major 2021 kicks off on March 27 featuring eighteen of the best Dota 2 teams. This is the first LAN event in over a year and brings the best of Dota 2 esports to its fans. 

Valve has also announced that the next update, 7.29 will feature a new Dota 2 hero. There will also be several balance changes in the new update that will release on April 9, 2021. 

Stay tuned to Esports.gg for the latest Dota 2 game updates and news.