Unexpectedly, Dota has once again received a major content update with version 6.76, which focuses predominantly upon hero ability balance adjustments, but also brings with it an array of new user capabilities aimed at enhancing the game. This update comes less than three weeks since the release of version 6.75, following more than six months of no improvements to the game. While critical to the overall development of Dota, 6.75 was not without its controversies, with major adjustments to the core functions of the game and hero remakes that were initially viewed as overpowered. Naturally, the most prevalent issues, such as Zet's targeting capabilities and Phoenix's new forte are amongst the issues that received IceFrog's attention for balance.

Centaur Warchief's ultimate, Great Fortitude, has been replaced with an active ability called Stampede, which removes unit collision and increases movement speed of all allied units on the map and has its damage output provided by running through enemies, temporarily stunning them. Drow Ranger's Trueshot Aura and Marksmanship abilities have been refined to center around passive damage. Phoenix's Sunray and Icarus Dive abilities have been reworked significantly, with the former regaining its controlling abilities, at the expense of slowing units, while the latter no longer heals and deals moderate damage, rather than exponential damage. Fans of Silencer are in for a surprise, as this hero has undergone major balancing tweaks, including a new version of Last Word, which is now an active ability that places a debuff upon a target and when a spell is cast, said target will be silenced and begin taking damage, even without the target casting a spell.

The most notable addition to Dota, however, is the new game mode called Tag Team. At the start of the game, players are assigned two different heroes of unique classes and are given an ability with a three-minute cooldown that swaps out the heroes. While the heroes gain inventories and abilities individually, the gold and experience gained is shared and synchronized between them, removing a plausible disadvantage for switching out with one particular hero.

In the tradition of Valve's ability for porting updates from DotA to Dota 2, this latest update is expected to be implemented later this week, along with Centaur Warchief.

For the map download, visit www.getdota.com.

Source: DotA v6.76 changelog