Dota 2 23rd May Patch – Content Analysis

This week’s Dota 2 test patch brings the arrival of the much loved double headed buffoon, Ogre Magi.  You can view the full changelog here. 

Front End Changes

As well as the arrival of Ogre Magi we’ve some huge updates to the UI and a couple of updates to older hero models, Chen is the latest hero to have his textures/portrait/look redone.

UI Updates

This week’s update finally brings the arrival of the new card based hero/loadout selection system and a completely new version of the dashboard.

The New Dashboard

The base dashboard has been completely redone and now matches the same style of UI that we got with the newest version of the in game interface.

The background for the new dashboard:

The New Hero Selection System

The card based hero selection system has finally been released, after being in the client files for a number of months we now have the updated selection system, although we’re still missing the loadout aspect of the HUD which allows you to equip cosmetic items on your hero.

The new selection system allows you to favourite heroes.

There are a number of different filters built into the new selection system, for example the heroes you do best with, recently played heroes, your favourites and heroes you have cosmetic items for.

There are also filters for the different hero roles and attack types (melee vs range).

The new selection system also lets you suggest heroes for your team mates to pick.

There is also a grid based system which lets you see a “Guess Who” style layout of the hero cards, this is particularly useful in Random Draft mode.

Other UI Updates

The top bar will now display a disconnection symbol over the hero’s icon when the player has disconnected.

You can now fill the private game player slots with individual bots allowing you to select a specific difficulty for each one.

Hero Updates

We’ve a couple more hero updates this week with Chen being the latest hero to have his textures redone.

Chen’s Hero Update

Chen is the latest hero to receive a fresh new look/texture update and a new hero icon.

New Chen:

Old Chen:

Sandking’s Hero Update

Small update to the Sandking’s textures, his eyes now stand out more.

Lion’s Hero Update

Lion’s selection icon has been updated to reflect his recent model update.

Back End Changes

A number of extra back end changes in this week’s patch, updates to the unreleased hero portraits, another new courier and some new music stingers.

Updated Strings

There are now references to “Battle Points”, these are gained by playing matches, increase the player’s profile level and can also help increase your cosmetic item drop rates.

    "DOTA_BATTLE_POINTS"  "Battle Points"
    "DOTA_Scoreboard_Header_Battle_Level"  "BATTLE LEVEL"

    "DOTA_Chat_DropRateBonus"    "%s1 increases the <font color='#FFD700'>Battle Points</font> points earned by all players in this match by <b><font color='#FFD700'>%s2%</font></b>!"
									

We’ve more updates to the in game team system’s strings, I expect this system to be released sometime soon now that we’ve the new dashboard.

    "DOTA_Community_CreateTeamCaps"    "CREATE TEAM"
    "DOTA_Community_ManageTeam"    "Manage Team"
    
    "Team_Create_Header"        "CREATE YOUR TEAM!"
    "Team_Create_Desc"          "Create a team of 5 people to show off your name and logo in practice lobbies.nnComing Soon: Team Profile with your team's match history."
    "Team_Create_Full_Name"     "Please enter the Full Name of the team you want to create: "
    "Team_Create_Tag"           "Please enter a Tag/Abbreviation for your team:"
    "Team_Create_Logo"          "Upload team logo:"
    "Team_Browse_Logo"          "Click the BROWSE button below to select a rectangular logo. It must be at least 250 x 150 pixels."
    "My_Team_Header"            "MY TEAM"
    "Team_Members_Header"       "TEAM MEMBERS"
    "Team_Edit_Logo"            "EDIT LOGO"
    "Team_Invitation"      "TEAM INVITATION"
    "TEAM_HAS_INVITED_YOU_TO_JOIN"    "HAS INVITED YOU TO JOIN"

    "DOTA_TeamInviteAccept_Success_Message"              "Congratulations. You have joined %s1. You will now be able to view your team in the TEAM tab."
    "DOTA_TeamLogo_Error_Header"                  "Failed to change logo"
    "DOTA_TeamLogo_Error_Unspecified"                "A problem occurred while attempting to change your team logo. Please try again."

    "DOTA_TeamDisband_Confirmation_Message"              "Do you wish to disband %s1? You will not be able to undo this action."

    "DOTA_Team_Invite_Accepted_Desc"                "New team members will appear in the 'Manage Team' area under the TEAM tab."
									

String updates for the new card based hero selection system.

    "DOTA_Hero_Selection_Msg_Desc_Favorites"  "You haven't chosen any favorite heroes yet. To mark a hero as a favorite, click on the Star in the top left of the hero's card. You can mark up to 10 heroes as your favorites at any time. It's a great tool for marking down a set of heroes that you'd like to improve with."
    "DOTA_Hero_Selection_Msg_Desc_Suggestions"  "Here you would be able to see heroes that other players on your team suggest you play, if any had been suggested. To suggest a hero to the other members of your team, click on the Suggest Hero flag. You can suggest up to two heroes at a time."

    "DOTA_Hero_Selection_Suggest_Title"      "Hero Suggestions"
    "DOTA_Hero_Selection_Suggest_Text"      "Here you can see heroes suggested by your team. You can suggest a hero to your team by clicking on the Suggest button on the Hero's card."
    "DOTA_Hero_Selection_Suggest_Hero_Title"  "%s1"
    "DOTA_Hero_Selection_Suggest_Hero_Text1"  "Suggested by: %s1"
    "DOTA_Hero_Selection_Suggest_Hero_Text2"  "Suggested by: %s1, and %s2"
    "DOTA_Hero_Selection_Suggest_Hero_Text3"  "Suggested by: %s1, %s2, and %s3"
    "DOTA_Hero_Selection_Suggest_Hero_Text4"  "Suggested by: %s1, %s2, %s3, and %s4"
    "DOTA_Hero_Selection_Suggest_Hero_Text5"  "Suggested by: %s1, %s2, %s3, %s4, and %s5"

    "DOTA_Hero_Selection_TT_Random_Title"    "Random Selection"
    "DOTA_Hero_Selection_TT_Random_Text"    "Allow the game to randomly select a hero for you. You will be granted a bonus of 250 extra starting gold."
    "DOTA_Hero_Selection_TT_Repick_Title"    "Repick your Hero"
    "DOTA_Hero_Selection_TT_Repick_Text"    "Go back and select a different hero. You forfeit 100 of your starting gold, and you lose any extra gold you earned by randoming. You may only repick once per game."
    "DOTA_Hero_Selection_TT_Suggest_Title"    "Suggest Hero"
    "DOTA_Hero_Selection_TT_Suggest_Text"    "Tell your team that you think it's a good idea for someone to play this hero. You can suggest up to 2 heroes at a time."
    "DOTA_Hero_Selection_TT_Favorite_Title"    "Favorite Hero"
    "DOTA_Hero_Selection_TT_Favorite_Text"    "Mark this hero as one of your favorites. You can mark up to 10 favorites at a time."

    "DOTA_Hero_Selection_Pick_InGame"      "Pick"
    "DOTA_Hero_Selection_Pick_Loadout"      "Customize"

    "DOTA_Hero_Selection_RD_Soon"        "It will be your turn to pick soon."
    "DOTA_Hero_Selection_RD_Next"        "You will be picking next!"

    "DOTA_Hero_Selection_Intro_Header"    "SELECT A HERO"
    "DOTA_Hero_Selection_Intro_Body"    "Scroll through heroes using your mouse or the arrow keys.nnJump directly to a hero by typing its name.nnHit ALT + Enter to quickly confirm your selection.nnUse filters to narrow down your selection to the role your team needs the most."
									

Updates to the performance bar description and a new system which will now automatically rate new players after their first five matchmaking games.

    "dota_pb_description"                    "Your performance bar shows how well you've played each hero compared to other players at your skill level.  It is not based on your wins and losses."

    "pb_desc"                          "Five games are needed to establish a performance rating.  Your ratings will become more accurate the more you play."


									

Updates to the different game mode’s descriptions.

    "dota_game_mode_0_desc"                      "Each player selects a hero from the entire hero pool."
    "dota_game_mode_1_desc"                      "Each player selects a hero from a set of three heroes randomly chosen for them."


    "dota_game_mode_2_desc"                      "Each player is randomly assigned a hero."
    "dota_game_mode_3_desc"                      "Players take turns selecting a hero from a shared pool of 20 random heroes. You will be told when it's your turn to select."

    "dota_game_mode_4_desc"                      "Captains alternate 1/1/1/1 ban picks. It then goes into a 1/2/2/2/2/1 hero draft."
    "dota_game_mode_5_desc"                      "Each team is assigned a Captain, who makes all the hero selections for their team. Captains also ban heroes from the pool."
									

There are now references to a “League Pass” system, potentially allowing the users to subscribe to leagues through the in game client?.

    "DOTA_LeagueViewPass"  "Activate league view pass?"
    "DOTA_LeagueViewPassEnabled" "Activated league pass!"
									

Nolan North <3 has been credited for voicing the double headed fool, Ogre Magi.

    "DOTA_ActorCredits"          "Nolan North - Brewmaster, Lone Druid, Lycan, Ogre Magi, Shadow Demon"
									

Updated In Game Store Strings

We now have more “killeater” references to leveling up your cosmetic items, similar to the strange weapon system in TF2.

    "DOTA_KillEaterLevel_Text"      "Your %s1 has increased in level! It is now %s2!"
    "DOTA_KillEaterLevel_Title"      "Your item has leveled up!"
    "DOTA_Event_KillEater_Leveled_Chat"   "%s1's <font color='#FFD700'>%s2</font> has reached a new rank: <font color='#FFD700'>%s3</font>!"
									

“Battle Points” are most likely going to be linked with the drop rate of cosmetic items/treasure caches etc. With the possibility of boosting it with another item of some kind (Most likely the Souls)

    // Drop Rate Modifiers
    "DOTA_DropRateModifiersNone"            "You currently receive <font color='#FFD700'>Battle Points</font> at the base rate."
    "DOTA_DropRateModifiers"              "Battle Points Modifiers:"
									

We’ve a number of new item sets added for a range of other heroes.

    "DOTA_Set_Furion_Peace_Bringer"        "Garments of the Peace-Bringer"
    "DOTA_Set_Sven_Mono_Militis"        "Sect Armor of the Mono Militis"
    "DOTA_Set_Sven_Flameguard"          "Sect Armor of the Flameguard"
    "DOTA_Set_Faceless_Chronite"        "Chronite Defense"
    "DOTA_Set_Ursa_Alpine_Stalker"        "Garb of the Alpine Stalker"
    "DOTA_Set_Blood_Seeker_Hlotl"        "Ritual Garb of the Seeker"
    "DOTA_Set_Tidehunter_Pirate_Slayer"      "The Pirate's Booty"
    "DOTA_Set_Tidehunter_Punisher"        "The Paleogeneous Punisher"
    "DOTA_Set_Kunkka_Admirable_Admiral"      "The Admirable Admiral"
    "DOTA_Set_Dragon_Knight_Uldorak"      "Uldorak's Hide"
    "DOTA_Set_Omniknight_Crusader"        "The Radiance of the Crusade"
    "DOTA_Set_Invoker_Exort"          "The Fires of Exort"
									

Unreleased Hero Portraits

With the arrival of the card based system, all of the previous unreleased hero portraits have been updated to fit the new size.

Chaos Knight’s Hero Portrait

Chaos Knight’s portrait has been updated and he now has some finished ability icons.

   

Disruptor’s Hero Portrait

 

 

Gyrocopter’s Hero Portrait

Similar to the older unreleased heroes (Templar Assassin and Phantom Assassin), Gyrocopter is also getting a complete rework of his previous unreleased model.

 

Luna’s Hero Portrait

Luna also has some finished ability icons as well as her new portrait.

   

Meepo’s Hero Portrait

Naga Siren’s Hero Portrait

Naga Siren has some WIP ability icons as well as her portrait update.

   

Nyx Assassin’s Hero Portrait

 

Phantom Assassin’s Hero Portrait

 

Templar Assassin’s Hero Portrait

 

Undying’s Hero Portrait

Unreleased Custom Couriers

We’ve another new custom courier in this week’s patch.

Mech Courier

Bonus GIF:

Flying Mech Courier

Unreleased UI Updates

The team system has been updated to include the new dashboard style, it’s still not implemented but I wouldn’t be surprised if we saw it arrive in the next few patches, who knows, it main even be the tool used to enter a team into the Valve International tournament’s wild card east/west spots.

Updated Sound Files

We’ve another new set of stingers this week, specifically for ganking.

Music Stingers

gank_1a.wav:

gank_1b.wav:

gank_2a.wav:

gank_2b.wav:

gank_3a.wav:

gank_3b.wav:

UI Sound Files

The Radiant and Dire both have their own individual horns now which will play from their respective bases.

horn_radiant.wav:

horn_dire.wav:

Ogre Magi’s Voice Work

All of Ogre Magi’s voice work can be heard on the Dota 2 Wiki, voiced by the amazing Nolan North: http://www.dota2wiki.com/wiki/Ogre_Magi_responses

Highlights:

BLOOD LUST

ogmag_ability_bloodlust_01.mp3:

ogmag_ability_bloodlust_02.mp3:

ogmag_ability_bloodlust_03.mp3:

ogmag_ability_bloodlust_04.mp3:

And DUHZZLE:

Materials Update

We’ve a few materail updates for the unreleased heroes this week.

Disruptor’s Materials

Gyrocopter’s Materials

Nyx Assassin’s Materials

Templar Assassin’s Materials

Particles Update

Another batch of particle updates for the unreleased heroes.

Luna’s Particles

Naga Siren’s Particles

Undying’s Particles

Wisp’s Particles

Predictions For The Next Hero

Last patch I said it would either be Ogre Magi or Chaos Knight next with preference going towards Chaos Knight, with the arrival of Ogre Magi that means I will continue to keep my choice of Chaos Knight for the next hero.

Although it would be nice to see a wild Gyrocopter, Luna or Phantom Assassin appear sometime soon. (That’s in order of favourite if you’re reading Valve).

See you next week. 

PS:

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