Dota 2’s 7.36 patch dropped late on May 22, bringing with it some of the most dramatic hero changes we’ve seen in the game since the introduction of Universal Heroes. The enormous patch, which also included Act II of the Crownfall story, as well as balance changes, also introduced Innate Abilities.
Innate Abilities are always-available traits serve to give heroes an inherent boost to one element of their playstyle. Some are quite basic, and some dramatically shift the way the game is played. Either way, these incredible new abilities are here to stay, so here’s everything you need to know about Innate Abilities in Dota 2.
What are Innate Abilities?
Credit: Esports.net
Before you’ve even leveled a single skill at the start of the game, each hero will have an innate ability. These range from minor passive buffs to stats like range, damage, and crit, to huge dramatic changes like Dawnbreaker revealing the entire map for five seconds whenever the sun rises.
More subtle ones include Sniper’s Keen Scope gaining an extra 100 units of range on his basic attacks every time he levels his Ult. Very much less subtle ones include Chaos Knight having a 50% chance to spawn another illusion every time his spawns a single illusion.
If you’ve ever played League of Legends (We know, worse MOBA), these are like “Passives” from that game, where every character has a passive ability. However, this being Dota 2, a game that’ll really put some hairs on your chest, almost every single one of these Innates feels absolutely broken as of release.
How can I find out about Innate Abilities?
Credit: Valve
There are 124 heroes in Dota 2 now, and each one has gotten a new Innate Ability. As a result, the game has absolutely transformed, and you’ll want to check what’s going on. In-game you can check out Innates before the match by loading up the hero and highlighting the little teardrop icon.
In a match, you can see your own Innate by hovering over the icon above the teardrop on your character bar. This is just right of your Q ability and left of the Talent Tree. Each hero’s Innate Ability has a unique icon. You can also check out your opponent’s innate ability by clicking on them.
What is this? Where do I start? Oh god I only just finished learning Shards!
Relax! While it can seem overwhelming on first inspection, this series of changes really just reinforces what Heroes were already good at, or their character is good at. Doom is a demon and can make a Devil’s Bargain. Techies is three people so they can carry more stuff. It all makes sense. Kinda.
Credit: Valve
Beyond this, the game also added Facets, a kind of “choose your own adventure” pre-match selection of a way to buff your character. These are similar to Innate abilities, but do more to change the playstyle of the hero.
Overall, this is the most dramatic series of changes we’ve seen in Dota 2 since, well, they increased the entire map size by 50%. It seems we’re going to be getting monumental, ground-breaking changes more frequently in the game, and we’re here for it. Now if you excuse me, I’m going to buy nine Iron Branches as Techies and bully my lane opponents.
You must be logged in to post a comment Login