Valve released a new beta update for their upcoming action RTS, DOTA 2. This new update comes with the addition of Lycan and enables Shadow Demon in Captain’s Mode. In addition, the new beta patch adds all Random game mode for private lobbies, adds setting for ambient creatures in the Advanced Video Settings, sports various bot improvements and a number of fixes. As always, the update will be auto-downloaded next time you start the Steam client and you can view its changelog after the jump. Enjoy!

DOTA 2 Update Changelog:

GAMEPLAY
– Added Lycan!
– Enabled Shadow Demon in Captain’s Mode.
– The Stable version is now updated to the Latest version.
– Added All Random game mode for private lobbies.
– Alchemist: Fixed Acid Spray killing couriers.
– Batrider: Fixed Flamebreak not having an aoe targeting cursor.
– Beastmaster: Fixed Wild Axes killing couriers.
– Bounty Hunter: Fixed illusions procing Jinada’s critical strike.
– Clinkz: Fixed a bug with level 2 Death Pact not gaining the .5% damage buff.
– Mirana: Fixed Arrow getting blocked by Linken’s Sphere.
– Morphling: Added timer to Replicate that shows up as a buff.
– Outworld Destroyer: Fixed Astral Imprisonment stealing Intelligence from illusions.
– Outworld Destroyer: Fixed Astral Imprisonment being castable on Warlock Golem.
– Queen of Pain: Fixed being able to dispell Shadow Strike
– Razor: Fixed Static Charge damaging friendly units and towers. Note that towers can still proc the ability.
– Razor: Fixed Static Link damage from being purgable.
– Shadow Demon: Fixed attack animation time
– Shadow Shama: Fixed Serpent Wards having instant attack point (instead of 0.3)
– Storm Spirit: Fixed attack projectile speed
– Sven: Fixed Storm Bolt not stunning nearby targets if the primary target became magic immune while the projectile was traveling.
– Venomancer: Fixed being able to dispell Venomous Gale, Poison Sting and Poison Nova
– Warlock: Fixed Golems having incorrect magic resistance.
– Weaver: Fixed Time Lapse forgetting its history when upgraded
– Witch Doctor: Fixed Death Ward projectile speed being too slow
– Fixed Diffusal Blade’s mana burn effect going through Magic Immunity.
– Units that are smoked can now be revealed by magic immune enemies.
– Fixed some abilities having incorrect durations against creep heroes (like Dismember).
– Fixed Disruption being castable on Warlock’s Golem.
– Fixed gold over time being very slightly off sometimes.
– Fixed Smoke of Deceit not showing movement speed in the stats area
– Fixed Fountain projectile speed being too fast
– Fixed Furbolg attack point being too high
– Fixed Black Drake projectile speed being too fast

UI
– Added setting for ambient creatures in the Advanced Video Settings.
– Advanced Video Settings is now versioned and will automatically update this release
– Undroppable items are no longer put in the stash when near the fountain.
– Items will no longer move when they are attempted to be picked up by a unit with a full inventory.
– The courier can no longer pick up certain items (Aegies, Rapier).
– Hooked up XP graph button.
– There is now a different ring effect for the primary unit when you have multiple units selected.
– Fixed second courier not being controllable if enabled by a courier
– Fixed bug where you could cast your ultimate by pressing either the Ability 4 or Ability 5 keys, on a 4 ability hero.
– Added setting to draw hero icons as default in the minimap. Alt will show X’s and O’s.

BOTS
– Increased bot ability usage reaction time by about 50%.
– Fixed bug where bots would pick up or destroy teammates’ items on the ground.
– Increased bot desire to defend their base.
– Fixed nasty bug that would often cause bots to idle in their current location when wanting to go defend.
– Bots now get an added desire to attack a hero that Bane has Gripped.
– Bots no longer random their heroes. They will now try to build a somewhat reasonable team comp based on hero role, stuns, and melee/ranged, and do so over the entire hero selection phase.
– Reworked bot lane selection logic. They should be smarter about which lanes they select, and who they pair with.
– Changed how human pings affect the bots’ desires to push/defend. Should be more consistently powerful now.
– Bots in lanes with carries will try to avoid stealing their farm.
– Fixed a few cases where bots would oddly try to cast abilities at neutral creeps (such as when pushing or defending a lane).

VISUALS
-Improvements made to some of Shadow Demon’s effects.

John Papadopoulos

John is the founder and Editor in Chief at DSOGaming. He is a PC gaming fan and highly supports the modding and indie communities. Before creating DSOGaming, John worked on numerous gaming websites. While he is a die-hard PC gamer, his gaming roots can be found on consoles. John loved – and still does – the 16-bit consoles, and considers SNES to be one of the best consoles. Still, the PC platform won him over consoles. That was mainly due to 3DFX and its iconic dedicated 3D accelerator graphics card, Voodoo 2. John has also written a higher degree thesis on the “The Evolution of PC graphics cards.”
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