Dota 2 Patch 7.38 released: What's new in the Wandering Waters gameplay update?

Dota 2 Patch 7.38 is here! Discover all the latest changes, including hero changes, items rework, river and map changes, gameplay tweaks, quality of life changes, and more. Dive in and explore what's new in this exciting gameplay update.

Dota 2 Patch 7.38 gameplay update: What’s new?

Dota 2 Patch 7.38 is here to completely change the game. The update introduces new elements to the game such as the waterways, new neutral (amphibious) creep type, Shrines of Wisdom replacing wisdom runes, Roshan’s relocation back to the river, Madstone, and more.

• New River Paths: Dota 2's latest update introduces new river paths in the jungle, dramatically changing navigation. Gain a speed advantage by flowing with the current towards your safe lane, with no penalty for heading upstream.
  
• New Neutral Creeps: The Wandering Waters update also introduces a new amphibious creep type that evolves from Pollywog to Boglet to Croaker throughout the match.
  
• Shrines of the Wisdom: Wisdom Runes have been relocated and replaced with the Shrines of the Wisdom. Gaining additional experience with an ally is now done at shrines, but not by picking up runes. However, the shrine only activates if no enemies are present.
  
• Lotus Pool: Lotus collection now requires standing within a Lotus Pool. However, the same dynamics of the Wisdom Shrines apply. No Lotus if enemies are present.
  
• Tormentor changes: Earlier there were two tormentors, one each in the Radiant and Dire base. However, the Tormentor now spawns at one of two corner locations, opposite Roshan, and its position changes based on day/night. It now leaves behind a healing AoE upon death.

Roshan’s Relocation: Back to the river

Roshan's got new digs! His two pits have been moved to the river, right near the Power Runes. He spawns initially in the southern pit during the day time and transitions to the other side during the night time between both pits. In the meantime, any unit crossing his path during this subtle transition will be tossed around.

Madstone: Craft your perfect neutral items

Dota 2's gameplay evolves with Patch 7.38 and the arrival of Madstone. This new resource allows for the creation of unique Neutral Items, giving you greater flexibility in your builds.

Here’s how the custom neutral items can be farmed:

• Farming Madstone: The first step to getting a custom neutral item is to fully clear a neutral creep camp. It will earn you Madstone – two for yourself and one for a random ally
  
• Artifacts and Enchantments: You can now craft personalized neutral items by saving up Madstone. Each item is composed of an Artifact, granting new abilities, and an Enchantment, providing passive stat and attribute bonuses.

That’s it… Easy peasy!

How to stay informed about crafting: See who's crafting what and browse all possible Artifact/Enchantment combinations in the updated Neutrals tab. Five tiers are available at different times.

Quality of Life changes in Dota Patch 7.38

The gameplay and mechanics have been vastly improved in the latest quality of life changes in Dota 2 Patch 7.38. Let’s take a quick look:

• Roshan Timer: Check the Roshan timer for a hint: is he still in the Underhollow, or has he returned to the surface?
  
• Mark for Sell: Mark items for instant sale when in base or at the Secret Shop. Couriers will now automatically ferry marked items back to base after deliveries.
  
• Added item targeting effects: Item visual effects have been improved, making it clearer which hero is using them (e.g., Glimmer Cape, Lotus Orb).
  
• All Attributes display: See at a glance which talent tree attributes you've skilled up so far.
  
• HUD Timers: No more map searching! Hold ALT to see all your Dota Plus timers at the top of the screen. Easily ping them to your team for strategic plays
  
• Backpack grace period: No more backpack cooldown delays! Drag newly acquired items directly from your backpack and use them instantly, even in teamfights.

Patch Notes 7.38

There’s a flurry of changes with Patch 7.38. We’ve highlighted the major ones below:

Major Mechanics

• Universal Heroes' damage per attribute decreased from 0.7 to 0.45
  • As a result, many heroes have had their Base Damages and attribute gains changed
    
• Skill points can now be spent on All Attributes starting at level 2 instead of level 6
  
• Reflected spells now benefit from all bonuses the original cast had, including the following:
  
  • Caster's facet upgrades
  • Bonuses from talents
  • Aghanim's Shard and Aghanim's Scepter upgrades
    • Upgrades used to depend on Aghanim's items the reflecting unit had
      
• Slow Resistance now also increases minimum movement speed by the slow resist percentage
  • 20% Slow Resistance increases your minimum movement speed from 100 to 120
    
• Glyph of Fortification: Creep duration decreased from 4s to 3s
  
• Units no longer gain bonus movement speed during the night
  
• Items that have entered a Hero's backpack for the very first time now have a 3 second grace period where they can be swapped into the main inventory without any cooldown. This can only happen once per item per Hero

Wandering Waters

• The top and bottom outer rim areas are now flooded by streams of traversable water
  
• These streams have a current, starting near the T3 towers (right before the medium camp location), down to the T1 towers (former Twin Gate location)
  
• Going downstream increases current and max movement speed, while going upstream inflicts no penalty
  • Streams are separated by two zones: ones with a 'strong current' which provides up to 150 bonus movement speed and ones with a 'moderate current' which provides up to 100 bonus speed. The current is 'strong' from stream beginnings near each base up to the waterfalls near T2 towers. All other stream sections are considered to have a 'moderate current.
  • Bonus value depends on the faced direction, ranging from 100% while going downstream to 0% at 90 degrees
    
• Watchers, camps and pathways in the areas have been slightly adjusted to give way for the stream
  
• Radiant and Dire main jungles now also have a stream with moderate current, starting near the easy camp close to the mid T1 towers. They join the outer streams, crossing the safelane near the T2 towers.

Other Changes

• Spawn interval of Bounty Runes increased from 3 minutes to 4 minutes
  • Gold provided after the initial set rescaled from 36 + (9 per 5 minutes) to 40 + (6 per 4 minutes)
    
• Terrain changes: The region-specific map buffs (Mighty Mines, etc.) have been removed
  • Corner outposts have been removed
  • The Twin Gates have been repositioned to the corners of the map on a new high-ground area near Tormentors

Neutral Creeps and Item Updates

New Neutral Creep camps have been added termed as Flooded Camps (residing within the stream). Pollywog, Boglet, Marshmage Apprentice, Croaker, Marshmage, Ancient Croaker and Ancient Marshmage are the latest neutral creep entrants.

Oh, and Ancient Prowlers have been readded to the game.

Orb of Frost is the new item in the latest Dota 2 patch 7.38 update. Heaven’s Halberd, Gleipnir, Orb of Corrosion and Khanda have been reworked.

Patch 7.38 Hero Changes

Hero changes have also taken place in Dota 2 gameplay patch 7.38. Many heroes have received buffs while few have been nerfed. Few heroes get new facets while few facets have been reworked. Let’s take a look:

• Abaddon: This hero has received a buff. Base damage and strength gain has been increased.
  
• Alchemist: Alchemist gets a new facet: Dividends. He gets +75 GPM for each Aghanim’s Scepter he has granted to allies.
  
• Anti Mage: Magebane’s Mirror has been reworked.
  
• Arc Warden: Two new facets, Runed Replica and Power Capture, have been introduced.
  
• Bounty Hunter: Cutpurse Facet’s gold steal has been increased.
  
• Bristleback: Seeing Red facet (Warpath) – Bristleback now shares his vision with his team, but still does not receive his team's vision.
  
• Chaos Knight: Two new facets, Fundamental Forging and Cloven Chaos, have been introduced.
  
• Chen: New Facet Marshmage Convert introduced.
  
• Crystal Maiden: New Facets, Arcane Overflow and Glacial Guard, have been introduced.

The latest Dota 2 patch is huge and promises to completely overhaul the game. All the changes and full patch notes can be found in detail here.