Running Rivers Are Now More Than Just Decoration In Dota 2, But That Comes With New Amphibious Creeps

It's funny that the day before Funcom announces the release date for Dune: Awakening, the Dota 2 team is citing Dune and the importance of water in that franchise and our own real-life universe as part of its new update. In the MOBA's patch, 7.38, Valve makes the river through the center of the map more than just a cosmetic decoration providing visual variance.

Just like real rivers, Dota's running water can now be used to speed up traversal of the map if you are moving in the same direction as the current. That said, things have flooded a bit and the waters have risen to new heights. It's great for a speed burst through new waterways, but it does come with the downside of a new amphibious creep type that evolves from Pollywog to Boglet to Croaker throughout the match.

In addition to the wet changes, new "Madstones" have been added, allowing players to craft their own neutral items. Wisdom runes are no more as new Wisdom Shrines now litter the map. The revamp also comes with quite a few changes to the terrain and if you want to peek at them ahead of jumping in, hit up the "Wandering Waters" special site that has a few "before and after" sliders you can view.

A few additional quality-of-life additions are arriving including the ability to mark items for sale which will trigger them to automatically be sold when you're alive in your base next. You'll also notice a new all attributes view, an update to how backpack grace periods work so you can use a newly-acquired item without having to wait through the 6-second backpack cooldown, and a new Dota Plus HUD Timer tool.