Valve confirms release date for Mistwood Update with 7.28 patch

At long last, Dota 2’s stale meta is set to be shaken up.

Valve has announced the official release date for the Mistwood Update, which is set to add a new hero, as well as Dota 2 update 7.28. This will be the first gameplay update to Dota 2 since August, when 7.27d was launched. The news was teased in a post from the official Dota 2 Twitter account:

The Mistwood Update, likely containing patch 7.28, arrives December 17.

The moniker is a new one in Dota 2 and there is no previous discussion in Dota 2 lore descriptions or items that discuss Mistwood. It is unclear what might come with the update, but speculation is running wild after the tease.

Valve previously announced that a major Dota 2 update was set to drop in mid-December, and that’s welcome news that should tide fans over for the time being. The last major Dota 2 update came in October with the launch of Diretide. The Halloween-themed game mode was widely praised by fans, but it came at the expense of standard patches that tackle overpowered heroes and items. That has left those grinding on the ranked ladder frustrated by a stagnant metagame.

What will be in Dota 2 update 7.28?

Anything can happen in Dota 2 updates, as fans have seen major patches strictly include economy updates while others roll out changes to almost every hero and item. There are some pressing issues with the current Dota 2 meta that will likely get tackled, though. 

First and foremost is that the zoo meta that continues to live on. Though Valve reduced the power of the Necronomicon, split pushing-focused heroes with summonable units including Lycan, Broodmother, Venomancer, Visage, Beastmaster, and Chen all enjoy winrates above 50% in high-MMR play. Broodmother’s current winrate at Immortal rank currently standing at 57.6% over the last 30 days, while Lycan’s is 55.8%.

Other strong pushing heroes such as Leshrac, Pugna, and Troll Warlord also make the cut. Valve could address this in a number of different ways including nerfing those specific heroes, buffing towers, or even implementing something similar to League of Legends’ turret plating, which makes it very difficult to immediately start pushing down lanes early in the game.

Who is the next Dota 2 hero?

No details have been given regarding the next Dota 2 hero, but there are hidden files in the Dota 2 client for a number of different unreleased characters. These characters are at varying stages of development, with heroes codenamed Valkyrie, Vampire, and Puppet Master being the most likely to arrive in Dota 2. More information can be found in previous reports.