Big news for Dota 2 fans – a brand spanking new map is now available as part of the New Frontiers Update! This update is so huge that it’s bumped Dota 2 up to version 7.33. Valve has really gone all out with this patch, making some major changes to the matchmaking algorithm, tweaking the interface, introducing a new hero type, and balancing a bunch of stuff.

But the biggest change by far is the map expansion, which now offers a whopping 40% more terrain to explore. Even though the lanes remain in the same positions, there’s now more space to roam around and check out what’s happening between them. Valve has also completely reconfigured both main jungles, which will affect things like vision placement, juke routes, and farming strategies.

Let’s dive into the details of what’s new in Dota 2:

• Four new named areas: The Well, The Graveyard, The Statue, and The Mines.
• Roshan has two pits instead of one.
• Twin gates let you teleport between the top and bottom lane. Roshan also uses them to move between his pits.
• Lotus pools on the map’s left and right spawn healing lotus that gives mana as well as HP.
• Neutral creep minibosses called tormentors spawn near the bases 20 minutes into a match.
• Eight watchers scattered across the map grant vision to whichever team activates them. That’s handy because outposts no longer grant vision or True Sight.
• Two new outposts, the original ones have been repositioned too.
• 12 (!) more creep camps.
• Two new power runes: wisdom runes on the map’s edge and near bases give XP, while shield runes in the river give a barrier equal to half your max HP. (Shield renamed to Barrier)
• Defender’s gates are one-way emergency back doors on each base, or as Valve puts it, “Defender’s Gate combines the sparkly high fantasy of Dota with the practicality of doors on your house that you can lock when you go to the grocery store to destroy its Ancient.”

In addition to these changes, there is also a new hero type – Universal heroes. These guys don’t specialize in just one attribute and instead get 0.6 damage for each point they have in any attribute. Some existing heroes like Bane, Broodmother, Enigma, Lone Druid, and Vengeful Spirit have been reshuffled into this category.

But wait, there’s more! Neutral creep abilities now scale over time, and the duration of disable effects has been reduced. Instead of dropping items, neutral creeps now drop tokens that can be spent on one of five neutral items, and there are plenty of new items to try out. The kill formula and Black King Bar have been reworked, and some heroes like Muerta, Arc Warden, Ogre Magi, Medusa, Alchemist, and Clinkz have been given major overhauls. In fact, Clinkz’s abilities now create skeletons!

Valve has also made changes to the matchmaking algorithm, switching from the Elo algorithm to the Glicko algorithm to avoid clumping in the 0-1000 MMR range and to help returning players get back to an accurate Matchmaking Ratio after spending time away. And if you’re a UI enthusiast, you’ll be pleased to know that the health bars now have visible barriers, health bar pips for things that don’t have a total HP but are defeated after receiving a set number of hits, and abilities that cost health display that as a number, just like mana cost.

Of course, as with any update, there are a ton of balance changes to go along with all of these new features. If you want the full details, head over to Valve’s New Frontiers Update page, where you can check out an interactive version of the new map too.