Latest Dota 2 update changes bounty runes and guides

Steven Rondina Published 10/12/2019

A tweak has been administered to Dota 2 version 7.23c, bringing some UX updates as well as a change to bounty runes.

The Outlanders Update brought a slew of changes to Dota 2 including Neutral Items, a heavily changed map, and outposts. Though Valve undoubtedly invested a great deal of time and effort into making the update a reality, not all features in the game were updated to reflect these changes.

Guides have now been updated to allow for Neutral Item suggestions.

The addition of Neutral Items has been hugely impactful in Dota 2, and certain items naturally synergize with specific heroes. Examples include Bounty Hunter with Poor Man’s Shield and Dragon Knight with Dragon Scale. Picking out which Neutral Items work with specific heroes is important, and Valve is allowing players to help one another make good calls on when to keep a Neutral Item and when to share it with a teammate.

Alongside this was an update to the standard guide to the Phantom Assassin, with different recommendations for her talent tree. Valve also updated some localization files and fixed a minor typo in its item descriptions.

Bounty Rune changes in latest Dota 2 update

Most of the changes in the latest Dota 2 update were UX-related, but there was one notable change to the actual game regarding bounty runes. Bounty runes now feature a fixed value based upon the time at which they spawn, rather than the time at which they are picked up.

Bounty runes’ values are determined based on time, and previously that value would increase based upon how long the rune stayed on the map. For example, a bounty rune that spawns at 25 minutes and is immediately picked up gives less gold than a rune that spawns at the same time but gets picked up four minutes later.

This update fixes that by giving bounty runes that spawn at the same time an identical gold value regardless of when they are picked up.

Why Valve chose to do this is a mystery, but the most likely answer is the introduction of outposts. With bounty runes spawning outside each outpost and vision being fairly easy to maintain, teams were likely able to easily wait to pick up runes in order to increase their value.

This prevents teams from exploiting the defensive value of outposts in this way and could lead to bounty runes being a greater point of contention in the future.

Steven Rondina

About Steven Rondina

Steven Rondina is a true lifelong gamer. His earliest memories are of playing video games, and he has continued playing them throughout his life with no plans to stop any time soon. Steven’s favorite franchises in gaming include Pokemon, Dark Souls, and Counter-Strike. He has previously published with Bleacher Report and other gaming outlets.

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