Dota 2 has undergone a visual change and now features a giant snail.
Valve has released a surprise patch Dota 2Known as the Summer Client Update, that brings a lot of quality-of-life changes including some massive visual improvements, a revised behavior and reporting system, and a really usable user interface for Arsenal.
The update can be seen as somewhat of a spring cleaning kind of patch that arrived at the end of summer. No gameplay changes or balance changes, but these will be all updates Dota 2 Much better and easier to play.
The most noticeable change to everyone will be how the game looks, with Valve adding some fancy new tech like shadows to the game. All shadows have been overhauled, including cloud shadows, particle lighting and tone mapping (contrast originally in the game), and when put together are massively improved Dota 2 Looks. It might not be too noticeable if you jump into the game, but looking at the comparison shots on the update page will give you an idea of just how much of an upgrade it is.
Next up among the changes is the behavior and reporting system, which has been overhauled and may now be a bit more useful. Appreciation will eventually be incorporated into matchmaking, so you’re more likely to connect with players you’ve appreciated and less likely to meet those you’ve disliked or reported.
A new communication score is added to your behavior score and this new addition is specifically tied to your comms in the game. Also behavior scores can now have a dire effect on people, as a low score can eliminate your access to ranked play, pauses, and even item drops. So basically, if you’re a terrible person at sports, you get less fun things to do.
If you encounter someone like this in game, there are now new ways to report them and the in-game report limit has been lifted to weed out repeat offenders. And finally like many other games, Valve is adding real-time chat monitoring to identify and mute toxic players as the game progresses.
The final area of improvement is access to the armory where you keep all those cosmetics. The system’s user interface has been completely redone to make it usable, unlike the cluttered and convoluted mess that has been around for years. The new system clarifies what you have and what you can buy, identifies duplicate items, and generally looks a million times better than it does.
To make the most of this new look, Armory Valve has also released a new Collector’s Cash Chest that includes tons of cool sets and then an awesome anime style Marcie set. It’s available now for $2.49.
