The Dota 2 New Frontiers update recently went live, revealing many major changes and adding a brand-new map for gamers to master. Along with that, the update also brings several balance changes to characters, drops, and reworks.

The game also offers new features such as matchmaking updates and interface changes. Here we list some of the important ones –

Map Addition

While the core gameplay and objective of a match remain the same, the new map is 40% bigger, according to the official patch notes. Along with a large size, Valve also reconfigured the jungle placements along with adding new juke routes.

Roshan, one of the neutral creeps, has also gone through some changes and has now been shifted to new pits either in the northwest or southeast corner of the map. Along with that, he is even more powerful now, so players will have to take the fight more seriously.

There are now two portals that connect the corners of the map for fast travel, along with watchers which provide visual aid in the area they are located. Although the watcher needs time to activate, with one done it will provide visual feed of the area for seven minutes.

Another addition includes Lotus Pools that grant Mana and HP to players and Tormentors. The latter are a new type of creeps and are present near each base. Valve advises, “You leave them alone, they’ll leave you alone”. Alternatively, a player can group up and take it down, or die trying.

Other general additions include Wisdom Runes for character XP, Shield Runes for Shields ‘Duh’. Players can also farm gold in new creep camps and find two new outposts.

Matchmaking

Since there are a lot more casual players than the top ones, matchmaking tends to get difficult. A good team which knows what its doing can ruin the mood for the whole day as no one likes to lose in the first 20 minutes of a game that is supposed to go for 45 minutes.

To resolve this, the game has shifted to an algorithm called Glicko. The new algorithm apparently helps in properly factor in Rank Confidence of a player. A player’s Matchmaking Rating (MMR) is based on their Rank and Rank Confidence. Confidence here is the game’s estimate that you are in the correct rank.

With the new matchmaking system, every player is placed in calibration mode according to their rank at the time of the update. Players getting new ranks and medals do not need to worry about much as they will be matched with others having a similar skill level.

There are a few more full balance changes and item additions which you can know more about here.