It was foretold, and now it is so. Valve have released the latest update to Dota 2, and it comes with the predicted Phantom Assassin, Gyrocopter and Chaos Knight. This is the first time that we’ve ever managed to get three heroes all at once, the closest being when we managed Omni and Dragon Knight all at once, which was like an all you can eat buffet of hero goodness. Only now we’ve got three, so I’ll have to come up with an even more tortured food metaphor. A smorgas… No. Never that.
There are also a few other changes, which are more interesting than you might think.
Morphling now has effects for when he’s in Agility and Strength mode, mostly just a green or red haze, respectively, with no effect meaning he’s being a thinker and sticking to intelligence. It’s a useful change, as it lets you know whether he’s going to take the hits, deal the damage, or start throwing abilities all over the place, which was always a slight problem with that slippery bugger.
The other notable change is that there are a few additions to spectator mode, mostly regarding replays. They can now be watched via URL, and there’s a button in replay mode that lets you copy the URL of that match into the clipboard, to share particularly brilliant plays with your friends. And then there’s something called the ‘Hall of Fame’, which lets you see the winners of the International. It’s not clear whether that’s going to be permanent, in every single game, but if so that’s a pretty big incentive to win; you’d become immortalised in every single Dota 2 match, ever.
Today also marks the day that the International tickets go on sale in the store, coming in at $50. They’re tradable, and give you access to all three days of the tournament, so get your buying fingers warmed up.