Sameed Khan·

Dota 2 v7.23 Outlanders Update Brings Two New Heroes, Major Gameplay Changes

Announced at this year’s The International, Dota 2‘s The Outlanders Update is now live. The content update brings two new heroes, Void Spirit and Snapfire, and is accompanied by a massive v7.23 gameplay patch that entails several major changes and new core mechanics.

Of course, all eyes will be on the two new characters added to the MOBA’s extensive roster. Void Spirit, the fourth spirit brother, is a melee carry with escape, disabling, and AoE nuking abilities while Snapfire is a ranged support with AoE skills that are made to aid in team nukes. Both heroes have been placed in the same skill bracket, with both rated as having moderate complexity.

Void Spirit Abilities

  • Aether Remnant: Void Spirit dispatches a remnant aspect of himself to stand sentinel over a small area. The remnant peers in a single direction, waiting to pull in and damage enemies that cross its gaze.
  • Dissimilate: Void Spirit temporarily fades into the aether, creating a number of portals through which he can reassemble himself and cause damage to enemies in the area where he reappears.
  • Resonant Pulse: Void Spirit wraps himself in a protective shield that absorbs physical damage and emits a single damaging pulse around him. The shield gains increased damage absorption for each enemy hero the pulse hits.
  • Astral Step: Void Spirit consumes a charge to rip through reality into the astral plane, damaging all enemies along the rift path and inflicting a void mark that slows and detonates for significant damage.

Snapfire Abilities

  • Scatterblast: Snapfire unloads with a wide blast from her trusty scattergun that damages and slows enemies. Particularly effective at point-blank range.
  • Firesnap Cookie: Snapfire feeds a potent cookie to Mortimer or an ally, causing them to hop a short distance. The hopping unit stuns and damages enemies in the landing zone.
  • Lil’ Shredder: Snapfire unleashes a volley of fixed-damage attacks with her lizard-mounted battle cannons, gaining rapid fire and bonus attack range while slowing the attack speed of enemies she hits.
  • Mortimer Kisses: Snapfire rears up on Mortimer, guiding his aim as he launches burning globs of firespit that damage on impact and linger on the ground to slow enemies and cause more damage over time.

The latest patch makes some very bold additions and changes to core mechanics as well, the most prominent of which include a new neutral building called Outpost, which essentially acts as a control point that can be captured or contested by teams. Once captured, these offer bonus XP at 5-minute intervals, 500 AoE truesight, and can be teleported to. There are two Outposts on the map, though XP bonuses from these do not stack.

Another major change is that neutral creeps now drop unique items. There are a whopping 62 different neutral items divided into five “tiers,” each with a set drop chance based on in-game time. In addition, each player now has a separate courier, with it gaining levels as their hero does. The courier gains bonus movement speed, health, and GPM per level.

Support players will be pleased to know that Observer Wards no longer cost gold, all heroes start with three TP scrolls, and that there is now an additional backpack slot.  There are a bevy of other item and hero balancing changes to go through this time around. For the complete changelog, head on over dota2.com/outlanders.

You may also like to check out:

You can follow us on Twitter, or Instagram, and even like our Facebook page to keep yourself updated on all the latest from Microsoft, Google, Apple, and the Web.