Dota 2 New Player Experience Update Revealed

Dota 2’s new player experience has finally received the rework that the fans have been yearning for a long time. Valve has introduced several features aimed at simplifying various aspects of the game like heroes, in-game shops, objectives. A dedicated new-player mode, in-game real-time tips, and a live coaching facility have also been incorporated to help the players understand the basics of the game. All these new elements to the game have come ahead of the Dota 2 anime, DOTA: Dragon’s Blood, which is expected to attract several new players to the game.

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Valve unveils a modern Dota 2 new player experience approach.

With the release of the DOTA: Dragon’s Blood, Valve stated, “It’s a good time to introduce a comprehensive update to the new player experience to help guide any potential newcomers as they join up to play.” This refurbished approach solves the problems that the newcomers to the game previously had when there was no dedicated tutorial. “We can offer a system of steady engagement that provides gradual learning opportunities rather than relying on a single dump of complex information,” Valve stated.

So, here is a look at the changes to the new player experience. 

Dota 2 Shop Rework

A new streamlined shop displays only a limited number of items “that limits the complexity of choices presented and helps avoid information overload.”

• Guides players step-by-step on the next item to be built. New choices are displayed once the previous items are purchased. 
• New default guides for every hero in the game
• Players can turn it off in the settings to switch back to the normal shop.

New Player Steps and Objectives

This new tutorial has separate sections, each of which will help players learn about various aspects of the game. 

• Divided into four tiers, this “Quest-like system” provides knowledge about the objectives in the game.
• In addition to the very basics, knowledge is provided on concepts like “warding, teleporting, or courier control. Others touch on teamfights, lockdown, or initiation. And some introduce you to things like Demo Hero, playing with friends, or spectating.”

New Player Rewards

Dota 2 will reward players for the completion of various quests in the new four-tier tutorial.

Glossary of Dota 2

A menu that lists the following. 

• Basics 
• Mechanics
• Units
• Items
• Battlefield
• Teamwork
• Advanced

A new player can click on any of the topics mentioned above to learn about them. 

Game Mode for New Players

This new player game mode’s rules are based upon the Turbo mode and it will have the following features:

• A limited number of heroes to choose from.
• Players can leave the match at any time without incurring a penalty. If someone does so, a bot will immediately take the player’s place.
• Solo queue players will always match with other solo queue players. On the other hand, party queue players will “instantly be placed into a match with bots.”
• A max queue time has been implemented. If the time exceeds the limit, the game will automatically start by filling empty slots with bots.

Bot Match Update

Bots have been updated to support the gameplay changes of recent times like “outposts, neutral items, and new abilities; improved their behavior for things like laning, farming, rune pickup, ability use, and item use; rebalanced their strategy; added a new bot difficulty level custom-built for players learning the game.”

In-Game Wizard

The game will now provide tips and suggestions while new players play against other humans in pubs. A wizard will advise and warn players about various aspects like when they are at a very low hp for a long time, unnecessary tower damage, ability counters, backdoor protection, and more.

Exclusive Chat for New Players

New players can chat and talk about the game among themselves through a chat channel.

• Accessible upon completion of the first set of basic tasks/quests. 
• Experienced players with high behavior scores will help answer any questions newcomers have and encourage their progress in the community.
• “Trusted community leaders” will be choosing moderators for this chat channel. The moderators will be monitoring the experienced players.

Coaching for New Players

Players can request a coach when they need help while in a Dota 2 game.

• Coaches who will be “experienced players” can choose the player they want to coach and then join that player in-game or from the dashboard.
• Coaches can only communicate with specific players, so their pings, voice chats, texts, and draws will only be available to the players being coached.
• Coaches and the players rate each other after the session is over. Both parties can lose their respective features if they get too many bad ratings.

Hero Briefs

Each Dota 2 has an overview of its main playstyle and functioning. They can be accessed “through the bottom left of each hero’s loadout page” and “on the bottom of the hero info pane during the pick phase.”

Free Dota Plus

New players will get two months of Dota Plus free of cost. 

Dota 2 Smurfs will be Banned

Smurfing is now a “bannable offense.”

• New accounts created after this update will be the primary focus of these bans. Previous accounts that are related to smurfing and game-ruining behavior will be manually banned occasionally. 
• Players engaged in selling accounts, boosting activities and similar game-ruining behavior may get inflicted with a ban on their primary account. 
• Accounts that are believed to be smurfs will be matched with other similar accounts.

Help for Returning Dota 2 Players

Players who have been away from Dota 2 will have a smoother and better time returning and adjusting to it for a long time. Returning Players will be placed in a “special new calibration mode” based on the time they have been away.

New Dota 2 Website

The Dota 2 website has left the beta version. The refurbishment to the website, which is currently in the process, includes:

• Dota 2 Heropedia reworked. Will provide information about the heroes similar to the way the in-game hero briefs does. Players can view videos for each hero’s ability functioning through Heropedia.
• An updated blog that will help players read the info they want.

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Dota 2 fans are hoping that this changed outlook towards new players helps increase the game’s player base, which has majorly been declining in the past few months. In addition to these changes, Valve has also announced that patch 7.29 and a new hero would be unveiled on April 9, 2021.