Patch 7.40 has been released for Dota 2, adding a new hero, a treasure, and redesigned terrain

16.12.2025

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31 min.

On December 16, Valve released update 7.40. The patch introduced changes to the balance of heroes and items, the terrain, Captains Mode, and other aspects of the game, as well as the release of a new character, Largo.

New hero — Largo

Largo Dota 2

"On the battlefield, Largo amplifies his allies, inspiring efficient spellcasting and projecting greater harm upon his foes. He's quick to catch friends and enemies alike, controlling the flow of a skirmish with his sticky tongue, and his froglings are always eager to stomp around underfoot. When a battle really gets hopping, Largo's happy to step into the spotlight and play the hits, strumming his set list of Murkroot classics that grant his team powerful blessings to slide the tone and tempo of a fight firmly into their own favor."

Largo is a melee strength hero. His strengths are durability, disables, and support, but he does not yet have any facets. The main feature of the frog-bard is his ultimate, which has a unique QTE mechanic.

Abilities:

Catchy Lick — Largo licks the targeted unit with his tongue, pulling it back a short distance, applying a basic dispel, and dealing damage if it's an enemy. Dispelling an effect from a target grants Largo temporary health regeneration.
Frogstomp — Largo tosses froglings to an area. They stomp the ground every 1 second, dealing damage and ministuns, and enemies in the area have reduced movement speed.
Croak of Genius — Largo strums a tune to a friendly hero. The hero's items and abilities have reduced mana cost and a percentage of their damage reverberates over the following 5 seconds. When an affected hero spends mana, the remaining buff duration is reduced by 0,5s.
Amphibian Rhapsody — Largo gets ready to groove. He is disarmed and his ability bar switches to 3 song abilities, each with different effects. Songs are only effective if strummed on the beat. Every time he strums successfully, he gains a stack of Groovin'. Each stack gives him bonus armor and reduces the mana cost of every song, but he loses a stack if he misses a beat. Stacks linger for a short duration when Largo's song ends.

Valve has also published a comic that tells the story of the character's origin.

General Updates

Talents no longer require a skill point to level. Now talents are learned by using their own talent points available at levels 10, 15, 20, 25, 27, 28, 29, and 30. This results in all +2 All Attributes bonuses skilled by level 22
All Facets that used to have 6 All Attributes bonuses now have 7 bonuses again (Arsonist for Batrider, Diminishing Return for Magnus, More Meepo for Meepo, Simian Stride for Monkey King, Voidbringer for Night Stalker, and Synaptic Split for Silencer).
Tier 4 Towers now have a Barracks Reinforcement buff. Each allied barracks that has not been destroyed provides +4 armor to both Tier 4 towers. Bonus is for each individual building, totaling in +24 Armor for 6 Barracks
Assist Gold Formula Reworked:

OLD: 60 + ( ( VictimNetworth * 0.037 ) / NumHeroes )
NEW: 15 + ( ( 50 + ( VictimNetworth * 0.037 ) ) / NumHeroes )

Melee Creep: Gold Bounty now increases by 1 per lane creep upgrade interval (every 7:30)
Flagbearer Creep: Gold Bounty now increases by 1 per lane creep upgrade interval
Flagbearer Creep: AoE Bounty Radius increased from 1200 to 1500
Flagbearer Creep: When killed by a player controlled unit, the Flagbearer Creep always grants Bonus Bounty to the killer's hero regardless of the hero's proximity to the Flagbearer Creep
Flagbearer Creep: Bonus Gold from killing Flagbearers is now classified as creep gold instead of ability gold
Flagbearer Creep: Inspiration Aura no longer affects heroes
Flagbearer Creep: Inspiration Aura now also provides a magic resistance bonus to affected creeps starting with 0% and improving by 4% with every lane creep upgrade interval, up to a maximum of 15 upgrades
Courier respawn time decreased from (60s + 6s per Hero Level) to (45s + 5s per Hero Level)
Courier no longer has a 15% movement speed penalty while carrying a Clarity, Enchanted Mango, Faerie Fire, Healing Salve, or Tango
Flying Courier will now go to a more obscure shopping area within range of the Secret Shop when using Go To Secret Shop
All illusions now have 800 daytime vision and 400 nighttime vision

Captains Mode

Changed order of the first and the third ban phases.

First Ban Phase (First = team with the first pick, Second = team with the second pick):

OLD: First - Second - Second - First - Second - Second - First
NEW: First - First - Second - Second - First - Second - Second

Third Ban Phase:

OLD: First - Second - Second - First
NEW: First - Second - First - Second

Additional Improvements

Multiplayer Demo Hero Mode

"We’ve taken the radical step of changing Demo Hero mode from a lonely singleplayer silo into a multiplayer party pit. Fascinating breakthroughs in the friendship sciences suggest that testing out game mechanics with friends might be more fun than testing all alone. But these are just preliminary findings. Jump into Demo Hero mode with some friends to confirm for yourself. You'll find Roshan and a Tormentor waiting for you, along with a host of menu changes that let you spawn any neutral, control time, and modify a variety of other global settings."

Dota Plus

Added 'Buffs' tab to post game. Players can view the number or duration of buffs and debuffs on enemies and allies.

Ability Draft

Fixed Walrus Punch interaction (Swashbuckle, Starbreaker, etc.)
Fixed Time Lock not proccing with Swashbuckle, Lil' Shredder, and Falcon Toss.
Fixed Fatal Bonds + Sinister Gaze (Evil Eye facet) causing infinite damage.
Shadow Fiend: replaced Necromastery with Feast of Souls.
Phantom Assassin: replaced Blur with Imaterial.
Phantom Assassin: Coup de Grace now grants Blur.
Spectre: replaced Desolate with Shadow Step.
Spectre: Haunt now grants Reality.
Lone Druid: New ability: Entangle.
Slark: replaced Essence Shift with Saltwater Shiv.
Medusa: New ability: Gorgon's Grasp.

Map Objectives

Roshan

Roshan is no longer considered a hero for Lifesteal mechanics. As a result, Physical Lifesteal from damage to Roshan is reduced by 40%, and Spell Lifesteal from damage to Roshan is reduced by 80%
Roar of Retribution: Disarm debuff is no longer dispellable
Slam: No longer has double duration against creeps
Slam: Now deals double damage to creeps

Tormentor

Added a Tormentor Timer near the minimap. Functions similarly to the Roshan Timer. Can be pinged to communicate the current state of Tormentor
Pinging Tormentor's location in world will trigger the same ping as the timer (same behavior the Roshan Timer has)
The minimap now only has one Tormentor icon and reflects where Tormentor is or will spawn
The Shining: Now only starts dealing damage to the surrounding enemies when attacked/damaged

Runes

Bounty Rune: Now grants gold based on when it was created, not when it was activated
Haste Rune: Duration no longer increases by 3s per rune cycle, and is always 22s now
Invisibility Rune: No longer grants incoming damage reduction

Terrain Changes

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Extended the streams into both Radiant and Dire bases and added defender's gate to the outside of the respective safe lanes where the stream flows
Removed some trees inside the base near the new safelane defender's gate positions
The Hard camp nearest to Tier 3 towers where the streams used to start has been demoted to a 'medium' camp
Moved the safelane medium amphibian neutral camp closest to the Tier 2 tower up the stream, slightly closer to the respective bases
Lowered the Wisdom Shrine areas to low ground, compared to the respective offlanes, filled them with water and connected to the water areas by the Tier 1 towers
Moved Wisdom Shrines and Watchers to the low ground and slightly closer to the Tier 1 towers. These Watchers now have vision over the shrines at night
Hard camps nearest to Wisdom Shrines have been moved slightly back towards the bases
Changed the 'bridges' to actual bridges
Slightly expanded the entrance to the bridge by the Lotus pools and adjusted the area within the nearby water areas
The Hard camp in the 'triangle' has been demoted to a 'medium' camp
Twin Gate mana cost decreased from 75 to 30
Twin Gates now refund the mana cost if the teleporting channel was interrupted
Cleared up some areas around the Tormentor locations
The watchers nearest to the mid-lane and near the small water camps south/north of the tier 1 tower have been removed
The watchers in the primary jungles have been repositioned from stairs near the small camp to the cliff above the bounty runes
Added additional blocks preventing flying movement around the edges of the map (e.g. the highground areas behind the Tormentors will no longer be accessible by Batrider during Firefly)
Watcher night vision range decreased from 800 to 450
Watcher capture time decreased from 1.5s to 1s
Defender's Gate vision radius increased from 525 to 700
Defender's Gate will now show their vision radius when holding ALT (similarly to Wards, Watchers, etc.)
Removed a tree between Dire Safelane Tier 1 tower and the small pull camp
Very slightly adjusted the paths and spawn points of the Radiant Offlane lane creeps, and the position of the Radiant Offlane Tier 2 tower. This results in creeps pathing to the right of the tier 2 tower instead of sometimes splitting up to go around it
Radiant Secret Shop trigger area moved slightly towards the radiant Tier 1 tower and more centered around the shopkeeper

Invulnerability Targeting

Invulnerability targeting rules of certain items and abilities have been updated. Most items and abilities that previously could target and/or affect invulnerable units no longer do so.

The following spells have been changed:

Nullifier's Nullify can no longer target invulnerable units
Satyr Banisher's Purge can no longer target invulnerable units
Dark Seer's Vacuum no longer affects invulnerable units
Naga Siren's Ensnare can no longer target invulnerable units unless this invulnerability is provided by Song of the Siren
Ogre Magi's Bloodlust can no longer target invulnerable units
Can still target invulnerable buildings (i.e. Tier 2-4 towers when the previous ones are not destroyed)
Oracle's Fortune's End can no longer target invulnerable units, but does affect invulnerable units in the radius
Shadow Demon's Demonic Purge can no longer target invulnerable units
Shadow Demon's Demonic Cleanse can no longer target invulnerable units
Sniper's Assassinate can no longer target invulnerable units
Sven's Storm Hammer with Aghanim's Scepter can no longer target invulnerable units, but does affect invulnerable units in the radius
Vengeful Spirit's Nether Swap can no longer target invulnerable units
Since Cyclone (Eul's Scepter of Divinity) effects also make the unit invulnerable, all changes mentioned above apply to them as well. As a result, there are these special cases:
Nullifier's Nullify will dispel Cyclone off the target immediately if Cyclone was cast on a unit already affected by the Nullify debuff
Oracle's Fortune's End cannot target Cycloned units, but will dispel Cyclone off the units in AoE around the target
Sven's Storm Hammer with Aghanim's Scepter cannot target Cycloned units, but will dispel Cyclone off the units in AoE around the target
All three of these will also dispel Cyclone if the spell projectile was launched (or started channeling) before the target got Cycloned

Featured Hero Reworks

Slark, Lone Druid, and Treant Protector have undergone the most significant changes.

Slark has lost both of his facets and has not yet received a replacement. His innate ability, Barracuda, has once again become part of his ultimate. The hero has been given a new ability, Saltwater Shiv. It is an attack modifier similar to Essence Shift, which, in turn, has taken the place of his innate ability. With Saltwater Shiv, the character steals the enemy's movement speed, health regeneration, and a percentage of health regeneration with each strike.

Treant Protector's Leech Seed ability has become an attack modifier that deals additional damage and stuns enemies, as well as healing the hero and his allies. Living Armor now gives a shield of 100 units for 12 seconds instead of armor (durability decreases by 20 units each time it is triggered). The Eyes In The Forest ability is now available with Aghanim's Shard, but the ultimate effect no longer applies to enchanted trees. Aghanim's Scepter now enhances the ultimate. With it, after using Overgrowth, the hero becomes stronger for 16 seconds — he receives a 100% bonus to strength, 60% to splash damage, and a fixed movement speed of 345 units. The buff cannot be dispelled. Like Slark, Treant Protector does not yet have facets.

Lone Druid has also lost his facets. Summoning the bear has become an innate ability that is available without leveling up at the first level. The bear itself is now considered a full-fledged universal hero. Because of this, the interaction of the summoned bear with most of the abilities of other heroes has been changed. For example, with Legion Commander's Duel. The bear is now able to reveal enemies' smoke, capture objects on the map, and deal full damage to Supernova, Tombstone, and other objects. The bear's root system has been reworked — now they are activated not randomly, but after five attacks, and the attack counter is visually displayed. Lone Druid has received a new ability, Entangle. With it, he enchants his attacks and can also roots enemies. Entangle becomes especially powerful with Aghanim's Scepter — it instantly applies 5 stacks to all heroes in the area of effect and also allows the hero and the bear to apply stacks to enemies who are already rooted.

Spectre has also undergone a minor rework. Now the hero's main attribute is agility. The facets Forsaken and Twist the Knife have been removed, with no replacement yet. The innate ability Spectral has been removed and replaced by Desolate. The ability Shadow Step has become basic and has a limited range of application. Haunt is now an ultimate ability. Aghanim's Scepter reduces Haunt's cooldown by 20 seconds. When Reality is applied to an illusion from Haunt for the first time during Haunt's duration, enemies are frightened and flee from Spectre for 1.5 seconds with 50% reduced movement speed within a 400 radius of the selected illusion. Reality can no longer be cast on an area. Reality no longer creates an illusion at Spectre's location if she has moved to a hero. Reality can no longer be cast if Spectre is stunned, and Reality always destroys the illusion that was targeted.

In addition to Slark, Lone Druid, Treant Protector, and Spectre, 7 other heroes remain without facets: Phantom Lancer, Pangolier, Riki, Brewmaster, Clinkz, Earth Spirit, and Largo.

New Neutral Items

Ash Legion Shield

New Tier 1 item
Active: Shield Wall. Decreases wearer's movement speed by 12 to give all friendly player-controlled units within 800 radius a 140 physical damage barrier. Duration: 6s. No Mana Cost. Cooldown: 40s
Doesn't affect ward units

Weighted Dice

New Tier 1 item
Passive: Loaded. When calculating wearer's base damage or creep bounty from last hits, the value is computed 2 times and the highest value is taken

Flayer's Bota

New Tier 4 item
Active: Bloodthirst. Increases wearer's base damage by 15% and attack speed by 30 for 6s. No Mana Cost. Cooldown: 65s
Passive: Bloodrush. The cooldown of Bloodthirst is reset whenever an enemy hero dies with 1200 unit

Idol of Scree'Auk

New Tier 4 item
Active: False Flight. Grants phased movement, 50% slow resistance, and 25% evasion for 5s. No Mana Cost. Cooldown: 30s

Metamorphic Mandible

New Tier 4 item
Active: Pupate. The wearer enters an insect form for 4 seconds, increasing magic resistance by 35% and movement speed by 15%, but decreasing size by 20% and armor by 45%. No Mana Cost. Cooldown: 30s. Can be dispelled. Can't be cast while channeling

Riftshadow Prism

New Tier 5 item
Active: Refract. Spends 10% of the wearer's current health to create a full health illusion that lasts for 20s. The illusion has 50% outgoing damage and 240% incoming damage. No Mana Cost. Cooldown: 30s

The following neutral items have been removed: Ripper's Lash, Sister's Shroud, Spark of Courage, Brigand's Blade, Gale Guard, Magnifying Monocle, Outworld Staff, Pyrrhic Cloak, Helm of the Undying.

Other

Along with patch 7.40, the developers added a new treasure to Dota 2 — the Winter Collector's Cache 2025. It includes 16 sets that were selected through a player vote.

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For Shadow Fiend and Monkey King, the developers added separate “Hero Base” slots for Arcana items, as was previously done for Juggernaut, Pudge, and some other characters, allowing an additional cosmetic item to be used in the “Head” slot.

For the first time in a long time, Chen and Morphling received new sets. For the latter, one of the items in the set (Fluid Frenzy - Shoulders) changes the animation and effects of the extremely outdated hero model to more detailed and modern ones.

In addition, all players received a special set of materials for the Monster Hunter event “Since it's the holidays”. The Expedition Pack is now available at a discount, and anyone who purchased it earlier will receive additional crafting materials.

You can find detailed information about all the changes to heroes and items on the game's official website or in the Dota 2 client.

As CyberScore reported earlier, the average online player count in Dota 2 has risen to a record high for the last 6 years.