With a current total prize pool of $22,920,127, The International 2017, “Dota 2’s” world championships, is sure to amass thousands of players through live streams and in the venue itself. That said, this is also one way for Valve to entice newcomers into playing the massive online multiplayer, so it’s just proper to be welcoming. The developer did just that and rolled out an update that made the game a lot easier to learn.
Two new features in ‘Dota 2’
For most “Dota 2” fans, playing the game is a satisfying way to burn time, if not, the best way to spend time off from work or school.
However, learning how to play and mastering it is a feeling incomparable, according to the team behind “Dota” themselves. It’s a challenging phase, their blog post says, as one begins to see complex strategies taking shape in the battles. Apart from that, are the various choices a player needs to decide on, which the new update addresses.
In come two new features for “Dota 2” – the first of which includes changes to the hero selection system. For new players’ first 25 games, hero selection has been restricted to “a curated group of 20 heroes.” According to Valve, the heroes are chosen according to what they think will make it easier for a noob to get through it, which will not only make them successful but allow them to enjoy the learning curve.
However, it’s not clear as of writing if the roster of 20 is going to be the same for each player, or if the selection changes at random.
The second feature will make online battles a bit less challenging. With the new update, new players won’t be randomly paired to anybody anymore – they will be partnered with those players who have “consistently high behavior scores.” What this means is that pairing will not be based on skill level alone; it’s dependent on the behavior of the opponent as well.
The International ‘Dota 2’ Championships
The International 2017 will be the seventh event of “Dota 2’s” flagship annual championship. It will again take place at the KeyArena in Seattle from Aug. 7 to Aug. 12, which can be live-streamed through Steam, Twitch, or YouTube. As the event inches nearer, fans are excited about the upcoming fights.
Many look forward to Team Liquid, Evil Geniuses, and Team OG this year.
For Newbies, Valve has a special Newcomer Stream complete with contextual overlays aimed at easing people into understanding the huge world of “Dota.” Meanwhile, Battle Pass owners can also make in-game Battle Predictions for a chance at bonus Battle Points. More details are available at Dota2.com.
