Let's start with the main aspects of the patch that changed the balance of the game. A big update that came out a couple of weeks ago (patch 7.33) brought many changes to the game, and subsequent small patches only slightly corrected the gameplay that the developers offered us.
The most fundamental change that can’t be overlooked is the resizing of the map. The Dota 2 map has become 40% larger; what follows from this? This means that players must coordinate everything in order to have an advantage on the map. For example, to place the wards, because their number has not changed, but the map’s area has become larger. Carry players can get more money from farming in the jungle and not only from their own jungle. That being said, it’s now much easier to do single outings against a carry farming in the jungle, and it all comes down to vision on the map again.
New portals, the appearance of an additional lair of Roshan and the presence of Tormentors - the use of all innovations critically affects the result of the game, with portals you can quickly move to the sideline, make a kill, demolish the tower and pick up Roshan. If you take the Tormentor, the supports will receive a critical Aghanim’s shard and allow you to use it effectively, thereby not spending extra gold on it.
In total, the team's victory has become even more dependent on the role of each hero on the map, whether it be support or carry. General coordination of movements across the entire area of the map is the key to success in this update. After all, even under the condition of complete domination, when you completely blocked the exit of rivals somewhere beyond the borders of your base, they still have a chance to win, you can trust me - I have already won such games).
In confirmation of this, let's add a short review of the former CEO of the HellRaisers organization Alexei "Magician" Slabukhin, from an interview about the Berlin Major:
Due to the fact that players still do not feel the maps and updates, they make many banal mistakes, one of the most common is that new wards give a great view and players, when running or doing TP, do not understand that they are visible. Dota has become more of a team game, and only synergy can bring something to the map
The next important change was the balancing of items that looked too unbalanced after the release of the global patch 7.33. For example, all items that provide a passive buff, whether resistance to physical or magic damage, have been slightly weakened (Vanguard. Crimson Guard, Pipe of Insight). As for the neutral items, they weren't touched much, literally, each of them was either buffed by a couple of units or percentages or slightly weakened.
In the new update 7.33c, Dota 2 characters have also been slightly changed. It doesn’t mean that these are the changes that made a particular hero an imba, or vice versa, made the character unplayable. All meta heroes have been tweaked a bit so that they can't gain too much dominance at the very beginning of the game, breaking away from everyone else and quickly ending games.
Perhaps the most noticeable and expected fix was for Medusa, because this hero stands out from the others and makes it as difficult as possible to win when you don’t have heroes or items with mana burn in your clip. Even the fact of having Medusa makes the team play smart and well-coordinated, which once again confirms the hypothesis that victory in Dota 2 has become very dependent on team efforts.
Overall, patch 7.33c made Dota 2 more of a team game, encouraging players to work together towards a common goal. Hero balancing, mechanic changes, team battle improvements, and map updates all create a deeper and strategic game environment where teamwork becomes a key success factor. With patch 7.33c, Dota 2 continues to evolve, offering players new challenges and opportunities for close cooperation, which makes it even more attractive for fans of team competitions. Wish you victories!
