Valve dates Dota 2’s next big patch but is playing mind games with its big changes

Valve confirmed Dota 2’s long-awaited Patch 7.33, which is expected to drastically change the meta for the first time in six months, will release on April 20 just like leaks last week claimed. The announcement came in the form of an official blog, but rather than being forthright, the devs spiced it up by turning it into a series of riddles.

The first one was the simplest. It said: “The next big Dota Update is going to release on a date that rhymes with Smaypril Twemmieth and comes between April 19th and April 21st,” confirming the release date.

The others, however, were more obscure, forcing Dota players to figure out what they mean, and they’ve done a pretty good job at figuring them out.

For example, one riddle said “[UNIT] is now controllable by the player that dug it up,” which players immediately knew was a reference to the Kobold dug up from the Trusty Shovel. Another read: “[HERO]: Always has 0 Intelligence. Always,” which some believe is a reference to Ogre Magi or Troll Warlord.

Some of the other Dota clues were pretty predictable, too. “[ITEM]: Requires Echo Sabre (2500), Diadem (1000), Recipe (1000). Total cost: 4500,” hints that a new late-game item is likely in the pipeline. “Any player can use a [NOUN] to [VERB] to the other one after channeling for 3 seconds,” is also believed to mean players will be able to teleport between outposts quicker, which makes controlling them more important.

Some have proven a little tougher to decipher since release.

One in particular, which reads “[ITEM]: Now has an initial and max stock of 4 and a restock time of 120s” has Dota 2 players stumped. It could be anything from Tangoes to Sentry Wards or even Smokes. “After this effect, the soul is forcefully returned to the body” may have something to do with Muerta and an Aghanim’s Scepter upgrade.

The riddles are generating a lot of hype in the community, but they barely scratch the surface of just how much is expected to be included.

After all, it’s a Dota 2 content release that will break the game’s longest content drought ever, and fans have been theorycrafting what it could include for months. It’s taken a while, but the wait will finally be over tomorrow.

Expect a few Dota 2 server issues once the patch finally arrives.