The latest Dota 2 update brought bugs that ruin games and more

Steven Rondina Published 05/02/2020

The most recent Dota 2 update has left the game in a bad spot for many different players.

A small patch arrived on February 3, bringing various small tweaks to things like localization and cosmetic slots. Those changes had a much greater effect on Dota 2 than just that however, as a slew of bugs have popped up as a result.

Dota 2 players have reported a wide-ranging number of issues. A redditor using the handle Lechy901 made a list of some of the issues, while other players discussed troubles of their own. They include:

Broken animations. While playing, heroes can be hit by a stun and have the animation become stuck in a loop. Players can play as normal, but the animations will be stuck until death.
Buffs and debuffs not appearing properly. Normally, players will be able to track the effects and durations of buffs and debuffs such as auras, stuns, and passive item effects with a small icon that appears over the health bar. Some players are reporting issues with these icons not staying on screen for long enough.
Various audio bugs. The redditor describes playing a game and hearing the crackling, electrical sound of Razor’s Static Link spell linger throughout. When Razor used the spell again? They’d hear the spell’s sound twice.
Illusions appearing as real heroes. There are several different types of illusions in Dota 2, and some of them appear with a blue coloration to make them visually distinct from the real hero. Now that’s sometimes not the case, as some illusions can appear to be the real thing.
Enormous server-side lag. The game grinded to a halt for some players as some were unable to enjoy a game due to overwhelming slowdown.
UI recolored. One user reported having their game suddenly change color. This removed Dota 2’s red coloration and made it into a dusty blue. Frankly, it looks pretty nice.
Black King Bar activating on courier. A player had their courier bringing them a fresh BKB. The item can be heard activating and ends up being on cooldown once the item arrives. A charge was not consumed in the process, but this is still a strange one.

The most common issue? Major graphical issues.

Any longtime Dota 2 player has seen bald Crystal Maiden or maskless Bounty Hunter at some point, and those issues are returning here. On top of this are even more serious issues with in-game textures.

These sorts of bugs are somewhat common, but the Dota 2 development team has done a generally good job of preventing this sort of widespread meltdown from happening. Though Dota 2 has had its fair share of bugs, the game has generally been more stable than most competitors. Having so many issues pop up at once is something Dota 2 fans haven’t experienced in a long while.

Of course, Valve is already working on fixes for these issues. Small patches have been rolled out over the last several hours, plugging the holes the last update made.

Expect Dota 2 to be back to full speed soon.

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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