14 DAY TRIAL // A brand new Dota 2 update has just been rolled out worldwide by Valve via its Steam service, bringing fresh rewards for The International 4 Compendium owners, not to mention a huge list of tweaks and balance changes for existing heroes.
Dota 2 is one of the most popular Multiplayer Online Battle Arena titles out there, with millions of players jumping into Valve's game each month.
After rolling out a fresh update at the end of last week, Valve has followed up with another patch yesterday, June 2, designed to not just reward Compendium owners but also to tweak the balance of certain heroes, from Drow Ranger to Juggernaut, Lina, Tusk, or Wind Ranger.
First up, according to the changelog on Steam, those who own the Compendium for The International have received a new set of rewards, in the form of the Daily Hero Challenge, but also the ability to vote on what hero should receive an alternate voice and a new model.
Those who got the immortal treasures for the Dragon Knight or Death Prophet should enjoy the appropriate sound effects, while the visual effects of the Hellborn Grasp Upheaval have been fixed. Last but not least, the Vici Gaming gem should no longer cause game crashes.
A huge set of balance changes to a variety of heroes is also a part of the new Dota 2 patch.
Ancient Apparition has seen the slow amount of Ice Vortex decreased, while the bonus damage of Batrider's Sticky Napalm has been halved for non-hero units. The Bounty Hunter's Shadow Walk duration has been increased, while the mana cost of Doom's Devour has been set at a fixed amount of 60.
The Drow Ranger's Gust has been augmented, as the duration of the knockback can even reach 0.9 at max level. Earthshaker's Turn rate has been improved, while his other abilities have also been enhanced.
Elder Titan's Echo Stomp damage has been increased, as has been the Midnight Pulse duration of Enigma. Juggernaut's Omnislash damage has been improved as well, while the base attack time has been lowered to 1.4 from 1.5.
Lina's Light Strike Array stun duration has been increased, as has been the Phantom Assassin's Phantom Strike bonus attack speed.
Tusk's cooldowns for Snowball and Walrus Punch have been decreased, alongside the Windranger's Focus Fire mana cost.
Last but not least, Zeus' lightning bolt vision and truesight duration have been increased to 4.5 from 3 seconds, while the search area of effect has gone from 250 to 325.
Players who use the Mjollnir item will have to pay 900 gold for the recipe, as opposed to 600, while the Static Charge duration has been decreased from 20 to 15.
The new Dota 2 update is now available for download via Steam and clocks in at 28.9MB.