The first balance patch for Dota 2’s massive Outlanders Update has been released, with it, comes a predictable tweak for the new Neutral Item Drop following a mixed reception from the community alongside other hero balance changes.
The new Neutral Item Drops have been changed to always drop only three items from its five tiers, with the drop rate per item changed from 10%/5%/2.5%/1.25%/ to 9%/6%/3%.
The item drops for each tier will also no longer be tied to specific time intervals from its initial introduction, with each tier instead having a start period from when they will start to drop from neutral creeps.
The new start periods for each neutral item tier are as follows:
- Tier 1: 5-minute mark
- Tier 2: 15-minute mark
- Tier 3: 25-minute mark
- Tier 4: 40-minute mark
- Tier 5: 70-minute mark
The changes will make it so that players will no longer spend a long amount of time continuously farming neutral creep camps to get as many items as they can.
- All the notable Aghanim’s Scepter upgrades from the Outlanders Update
- Dota 2 is now an entirely different game with the Outlanders Update
Having only three neutral items randomly drop per tier also ensures that their impact on the game won’t be as much as what the normal items that players actually decide to build have.
Alongside those changes to the Neutral Item drop mechanics, many of the items themselves have been tweaked and shuffled between tiers.
The game breaking Tome of Aghanim has been removed from the game, seeing as it gave a ridiculously huge advantage to a lucky player once it drops after the 15-minute mark.
Other items such as The Leveller and Mirror Shield had their mechanics reworked, with the former now granting +25% Demolish instead of a Cleave and the latter having a four-second cooldown instead of a 75% chance to proc.
The Helm of the Undying and Repair Kit have been moved up from Tier 2 to Tier 3, while Clumsy Net and Vambrace have been shuffled down from Tier 3 to Tier 2.
Alongside those Neutral Item changes, the Outlanders Update’s new heroes, Snapfire and Void Spirit, have been buffed after posting sub-50% win rates a day after being released. A number of other heroes have also received some tweaks, with Ursa and Vengeful Spirit, in particular, being nerfed.
To see all the changes that come with patch 7.23b for yourself, check out the patch notes from the official Dota 2 blog.
READ MORE: All the hero buffs and nerfs from the Outlanders Update
