Dota 2 7.33 introduced a secret Cheese upgrade, and it’s nuts

Dota 2 7.33 added tons of new mechanics to the game, and one of them is a very well-kept secret involving Cheese.

Dota 2 players are currently scrambling around the map trying to figure out how to play the game again. For some, it’s the most fun time to play since so many strategies are still unexplored. For others, it’s a massive headache. No matter which side of the issue you fall on, there’s one new mechanic that you definitely haven’t learned about yet. 7.33 added a new upgrade to Cheese (of all items) but good luck trying to pull it off in-game.

The secret upgrade involves the new lotus pool mechanic, which is usually meant as a nice little pick-me-up for the laning stage. To start the upgrade, players need to collect as many lotuses as possible. Collecting three combines them into a Great Healing Lotus, which can be combined with another Great Lotus to create a Greater Healing Lotus. Once you have three of those in your inventory, it’s time to get the Cheese.

This mechanic works roughly the same as it did in previous patches, with the powerful team fight-turner dropping from Roshan starting with his second death. When a player with three Greater Healing Lotuses picks up the Cheese, all four items will combine into a Block of Cheese. 

The consumable item grants Savory Shield, a unique permanent buff that gives heroes a 500 health shield. The shield tanks damage until it runs out, but it will begin regenerating after five seconds of no incoming damage. It heals at 100 health per second, so a ten-second break can net an extra 1,000 effective HP. 

This new item wasn’t mentioned at all in the 7.33 patch notes, and Valve was probably hoping it would take fans longer to notice it. Then again, how would players possibly discover it naturally?

Is it possible to get the new 7.33 Cheese upgrade in a real game?

The Block of Cheese item is so hard to create that Dota 2 players probably aren’t expected to actually get it in a match of 7.33. But if you really wanted to try, here’s what you need to do:

• Collect a lotus at three minutes, then use the warp gate
• Collect the other lotus for two total
• Repeat this process 13.5 times to get three Greater Healing Lotuses
• Kill Roshan twice

This is an extremely elaborate process that requires neither enemies or your teammates to get a single lotus. This can obviously be done over the course of an entire game, and the backpack makes it easy to store them. Still, it’s very clear that Valve intends the Block of Cheese to be a silly 7.33 easter egg instead of an actual item.