Dota: Dragon's Blood is streaming on Netflix now, and Valve expects this to drive a lot of new players to its old-school MOBA. So to make things easier for all those new players, Valve decided to overhaul the new player experience in a big way.
"It's true that the highs of Dota are surprising and joyous, but for new players it's often difficult to sift through all the information and find clear paths to positive results," wrote Valve on Dota 2's blog. "Today's update aims to help with that."
Valve didn't just add a new tutorial mode (although they did do that too). Dota 2's latest update overhauls every aspect of the game to make it way more player-friendly to both newcomers and veterans alike.
Starting with the store. Purchasing items has always been the most difficult aspect of Dota 2, thanks to its byzantine menu system and hundreds of different items to choose from. The new shop is "streamlined" to offer a "guided experience," only showing the right items for a player's particular build. Veterans can toggle the new store layout if they wish to see every item, but this change alone will make Dota 2 far less daunting to new players.
Valve has also added a new tutorial section with a set of quest-like objectives that will help new players explore Dota 2 in a piecemeal fashion. There are four tiers of progression, with some featuring specific scenarios on game elements while others take players step-by-step through the game client itself. Completing each tier of objectives earns new player rewards like skins, emotes, and new characters.
A new player mode provides a smaller pool of heroes to choose from and face off against to make it easier to keep track of what each character can do. Playing in this mode will also matchmake against new players or bots--no veterans or human teams.
For returning players, Dota 2 will now take into account how long it's been since your last game to determine your MMR. This will make it easier for veterans to return to Dota 2 by taking into account the fact their MOBA skills might have gotten a little rusty after an extended break.
There's a new glossary, improved bots, a new coaching system, and best of all, smurf accounts are getting banned. And not just smurfs--Valve is also banning primary accounts if a player gets caught smurfing, boosting, or selling accounts.
Check out the full details on the new player experience over on the Dota 2 blog. Dota: Dragon's Blood is also on Netflix now, but you don’t have to play Dota 2 to understand what’s going on.