Dota 2: The changes the community is looking forward to in The Outlanders update

Fall is coming, which means that the Dota 2 community is eagerly waiting for the The Outlanders update that Valve has promised.

The current dota 2 patch is affected by the The International meta. While the tournament introduced new picks, like carry Io, support Invoker and offlane Ogre Magi, it was adversely affected by the low number of carry heroes.

Therefore, fans are very much looking forward to the changes that post-TI patches can bring. Here are the tweaks we’re most looking forward to seeing in The Outlanders update.

Hero pool in safe lane is too small and weak

The current carry is pretty bad. Of course no one wants to go back to the 6.83 era, when Troll Warlord and Sniper dominated the world, but the traditional carry safe lanes are too weak right now.

Good carries like Juggernaut, Slark and Lifestealer were nerfed right before TI9 started. Alchemist was the most contested hero in the tournament, while Faceless Void, the most popular carry, was beaten down by Icefrog. Meanwhile, heroes like Drow Ranger, Luna, and Medusa take a long time to get strong and are easily overwhelmed in lane.

Hard carries of course can’t be strong in the laning phase. But, the meta has now changed to the point that players would rather choose safe lane offlaners, like Night Stalker, Pudge, and Bristleback. Hopefully we will see more diversity and reform in roles, most carry agility (and Lifestealer) are still not good enough at the moment.

New Item

Post-TI patches often bring new items. Often they will bring new mechanics into the game, like the magic lifesteal of the Octarine Core, or the damage immunity of the Aeon Disk. Many items become meta-defining items and certain heroes are forced to level up.

After last year’s TI, we got two new small items, Crown and Ring of Tarrasque, and then Kaya can combine with Sange or Yasha to diversify the duo, and Holy Locket increases healing. Holy Locket is the only item that introduces a new mechanic, and it ranks as one of the worst items in the game due to its ease of being countered with a Spirit Vessel.

There are some status effects that the item cannot perform. These mechanics include Leash – which prevents movement with magic or teleport, Fear – which causes enemies to run towards their fountain, or Taunt, which forces enemies to attack the target. All of them are ‘soft disable’, not as good as traditional stun. These status effects can be turned into items to give players more options to counter heroes.

Snapfire and Void Spirit with new mechanics

The release of Pangolier and Dark Willow after TI7 brought excitement to the game. Pangolier is the first hero to have the ability to navigate with arrows (Swashbuckle), while Dark Willow is the first hero that cannot be targeted by attacks and spells while Shadow Realm is on.

Last year, Grimstroke was a hero with a unique ultimate, Soulbind, that made single-target spells hit two targets. Mars is a fairly simple hero, but has a pretty strong ultimate, Arena of Blood, which limits movement and blocks long-range attacks from the outside.

Snapfire and Void Spirit will definitely bring a breath of fresh air to Dota 2. Snapfire seems to be the support hero that deals damage, while Void Spirit masters space maneuvers. Let’s wait and see what IceFrog’s team will bring.

Matchmaking changes to improve solo queue at high MMR

Changing from solo and party MMR to core and support MMR has fundamentally changed Dota 2 matchmaking. Overall, the quality of the game has improved markedly. Pro players and high ranked Immortal gamers now party together, thereby increasing the quality of ranks and eliminating the large disparity in level.

While this gives viewers and fans a chance to see top-notch gameplay in pubs, Immortal players who enjoy solo queue have been adversely affected. Recently, Jaron “moneys-forever” Clinton had to wait more than 9 hours to find a match and many other pro players have complained about this confusing wait time.

If Valve were to focus on party matchmaking, the solo queue might be forgotten. The game does not have enough players to match.

One option Valve might consider is to add an official internal tournament for high MMR gamers. Since the early days of Dota, intramural tournaments have been maintained, organized, and played by passionate gamers.

A tournament maintained by Valve could help gamers stay connected. Instead of having to wait for a matchmaking system, tournaments can help them meet each other in chatrooms and enter the lobby together.

It will certainly take a lot of work from the community and Valve, but that’s better than finding a game that takes more than half a day.