Patch 7.33 has been possibly one of the most ground-breaking updates added to the game in a long time. Besides various balance changes, the patch has completely changed one of the key aspects of the game – the map itself. While the previous patches have introduced some changes to the map, such as new juking paths or different positions of the Roshan pit, none of them have been as serious as what we got in the patch 7.33.

It’s safe to say that the Dota 2 new map will significantly change the way we play and approach the game for a long time, introducing new meta and opening new possibilities for big plays, both in pro matches and your regular matchmaking. If you want to get on with the times and see how the new map affects gameplay, here’s a quick guide on what you need to know about the meta defining new features of the updated Dota 2 map!

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What Are The Dota 2 New Map Changes?

Patch 7.33, titled New Frontiers, has introduced some of the most drastic changes to the Dota 2 map so far. While at the core the game remains the same, many of the new changes will affect how your team will try to achieve the core objective. Here’s what you need to pay attention to:

Larger Map Size

The 7.33 patch has drastically changed the map size, much more than any of the previous Dota 2 patches. The Dota 2 new map is 40% bigger than in its previous iterations. This change in map size was intended to take off the pressure from the middle of the map, as well as the river running between the middle lane. Previously, the middle lane played a much greater role in the game, with mid heroes having a very serious impact on the early part of the game with the river power runes spawning next to the lane itself, as well as the Rosh pit being located quite close. With the extended map size, more space on the edges of the map, as well as new objectives added on the top and the bottom lane, players outside of mid will now be able to affect the match a little bit more, outside of ganking and securing kills. In addition, the jungle will now hold more neutral camps, and those that were there previously will be moved to different locations on the map.

Two Roshan Pits

The Roshan pit has been a subject of controversy since the dawn of Dota. Previously, the Rosh pit was located on the dire side of the map, just above the mid river. However, this placement of Roshan pit gave the Dire team some serious advantage. While the radiant team had to cross the river in order to try and take down Roshan, the dire team only had to walk around the corner to get inside. This meant that it was much more difficult to detect them going in with wards, and made characters that could solo Rosh early much more powerful when they played on the Dire team. In order to deal with this issue, Valve has moved the Rosh pit towards the upper part of the mid river, to even out the playing field. Sadly, this wasn’t enough either, since the Radiant team now had an easier access, with the Dire team having to walk around in order to reach the pit.

Since none of these solutions have proven to be effective in balancing the field, Valve has now introduced two different Roshan pit locations, at two corners of the map. Roshan will now move through these two pits, with him sitting in the South-West pit during the day, and in the North-West during the night. Players will be able to clearly see on the map where Roshan is currently residing and will be able to plan accordingly. Also, bear in mind that Roshan doesn’t merely teleport, but actually dashes across the map, meaning that heroes can be hit on his way and pushed away, which can further affect gameplay.

In addition, Roshan himself has undergone some significant changes. Valve has given the iconic Dota boss some extra edge, Roshan’s HP increase and armor has been buffed, meaning that soloing Rosh is now much more difficult, if not impossible. Also, upon Death, the boss no longer drops aghanim’s shard on the second kill, but will instead reward players who kill Roshan for the second time with Cheese.

Twin Gates

With such an increased map size, maneuvering around might be a little bit more difficult. In order to account for these changes, the map will now have two teleports in the northwest and southeast corners, known as the twin gates. The gates connect two corners of the map and allow the entire team to travel quickly. While the gates allow both teams to quickly travel across the map without having to rely on teleport scrolls, they also post additional challenges for players warding the map. In order to stay safe from any ganks and to secure vision, support players will need to ward the twin gates as well.

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Lotus Pools

Lotus pools are another new structure introduced to the game with patch 7.33. The new map holds two lotus pools at the western and eastern edges of the map, and the pools can be accessed by any of the players, regardless of the side they are on. The lotus pools spawn a healing lotus every 3 minutes, which can be taken by any of the players and stored in their inventory. Plucking an individual lotus takes only a second, and players can spend up to 6 seconds plucking all of the lotuses in the pool. However, whenever any of the players starts plucking lotuses, the enemy team will both hear them channeling and be able to see them on the map. While the lotus pools provide efficient healing, trying to get them can be a risky endeavor.

Tormentors and Watchers

While Valve has removed Aghanim’s shard buff dropping from the second kill of Roshan, it has moved to a new type of mob – Tormentor and Watcher. Both of the new neutral creeps will drop Aghanim’s shard buff upon kill, although they are significantly difficult to kill, and are almost impossible to solo by any player. While the Tormentos and Watchers don’t exactly attack players, but simply reflect the damage done to them. This means that in order to kill any of the new bosses you will need to have the help of your team. However, if you do manage to take them down, you will be rewarded with an early Aghanim’s shard buff, which can really turn the game around for your team.

Watchers

Watchers are an interesting new variation and function essentially as neutral wards. Any player can walk up to them and channel for a brief moment, in order to gain control over an unclaimed watcher. When they do, their team will get vision around the claimed watcher, as if they had a normal vision ward placed there. The watchers are visible to all players, and the enemy team can simply destroy your watcher when they spot it. If this happens, the watcher will respawn in two minutes, again in its neutral state.

New Runes

In additon to new resources and changed to mid lane, the New Frontiers patch has introduced some significant changes to how runes work in the game. The standard power runes will now spawn in a cycle, meaning that the mid river power runes won’t spawn again, until they have went through the entire rune selection. In addition, there is a new rune added to the mid-river, the shield rune. When picked up, it provides the player with a shield, that gives them some extra HP and works great when you need to gank any of the lanes.

Also, there’s another completely new rune in the game, the wisdom rune. Wisdom runes spawn closer to your map, and allow any player who walks over them to gain extra XP. Players can find them near the entry to their safe lane, and the wisdom runes can greatly prevent the game from snowballing into any of the directions.

In Conclusion

Here are all the changes introduced to the game in the patch 7.33. If you even feel like you might want to research some more Dota 2 knowledge, be sure to check out the rest of our blog for more articles that will help you become a better Dota player! Also, if you want to trade Dota items at best prices with other players, be sure to check out OPmarket!