Valve announced the Duelling Fates Update during The International 2017 amidst much fanfare. The announcement showcased two new heroes that would be released soon. However it has been almost 4 months post TI and we are yet to see the release of the Duelling Fates update. With the community exerting a lot of pressure on the developers to release an update; Valve announced that the Duelling Fates update will release on November 1, 2017.

The Dueling Fates update will arrive on November 1st — DOTA 2 (@DOTA2) October 19, 2017

The Duelling Fate Update promises us two new heroes. Valve has been quite limited in the information handed out about the two heroes. But with a final date announced for the release of the update everyone is finally excited about the update.

The Announcement

The International 7 was the biggest esport event ever. The event saw interest from several quarters and was quoted by other titles in the industry as they pitched the benefits of esports. This event, being the showcase event for Valve they feel a lot of pressure to announce something big during the event.

This year they announced the Duelling Fates Update, a name that definitely sparks a lot of interest in the actual content. However despite announcing the update during TI; Valve has still to release the patch

After a lot of community pressure, Valve announced the release date for the update. It will be released on November 1, 2017.

The Two Heroes

The first hero is a armadillo with a very stylish hat on top of his head. The hero looks extremely mobile in the little that we saw of him. He also has the ability of rolling into a ball. The hero that he lands on, seemingly will take a lot of damage.

The Stylish Armadillo closely resembles ‘Puss in Boots’ and definitely looks like it will be an interesting hero to play in both competitive and casual games. He uses his shell in an aggressive stance, one that definitely has an impact on the way his skill-set works.

These are speculations from the video that was uploaded by Valve, however these two heroes will definitely change the meta. Valve has always shown an affinity to buff new heroes until they can be deemed viable in the competitive play. One such example is that of Monkey king who was buffed so much that he was considered too powerful even in competitive. Ofcourse he has since been nerfed a lot, but one cannot simply forget the huge buffs that the hero received.

The second hero sadly did not receive as much screen time as the first hero. However the pixie-like hero definitely looks like it will be causing a lot of mischief. It releases some spirit as it tends to attack/cause mischief amongst its opponents. That being said, it does definitely look like a support hero from the get go.

Balance Changes

The Duelling Fates update primarily revolves around the two new heroes. However it is not limited to the two heroes. Since the update got pushed back almost 5 months after The International, we can only expect more changes in the meta.

The game has definitely become very stale right now with the same meta being used. Certain heroes are drowned into oblivion and that is never good for any game. Creating a balance between the various heroes is necessary for the developer to keep his focus on. Ice frog has definitely done a commendable job of the same till today, but with Dota2 player base declining, this update will be a challenge for him.

Demand For A New Patch

The demand for a new patch (The Duelling Fates update) reached a crescendo with members of the Reddit website going out of their way to “Summon Icefrog”. It is definitely one of the most up-voted thread on the subreddit. These up-votes are not only an appreciation for the effort that the user put in, but also an appeal to Valve to release the new update.

What are the balance changes that we want from Duelling Fates?

There are several strong heroes right now. Some strong heroes such as Necrophos, Nyx Assassin, Earth Shaker, Venomancer and Night Stalker definitely need to be nerfed. These heroes are a must pick right now and are just too imbalanced in their current form. The performance of these heroes is difficult to counter right now. While it’s not impossible there is an unfair advantage to these heroes right now.

Checking on reddit and social media for potential changes that the community wants, we found this post. The user details on what he wants from the next update. It is definitely detailed and one which has been given a lot of thought process.

There are also rumors of what we might see in the form of item changes. We definitely expect Mask of Madness to be nerfed a lot. The item is currently too strong and definitely one that has taken a big leap in terms of usage. On the other end of the spectrum, we have the Scythe of Vyse. This item, which was once a very strong item in the late game has seen it’s usage fall drastically.

In addition to slight tweaks to existing items, we expect certain items to interact differently with different heroes. The Aghanim’s scepter is an item which buffs ultimate abilities in various heroes. We expect it to be useful for more heroes in the next update. It will be interesting to see how the item combines with other abilities and how it affects the game overall.

Regardless of what the changes are, one thing is certain. Valve’s Duelling Fate Update will change the meta for a long time. It will possibly create a Meta that is befitting of the upcoming esports calendar and definitely more fun to watch. We do hope that it will bring back players who have been leaving the game ever since.

What changes would you like to see in the game right now?

Which heroes are unbalanced and need changes?