New Ward Spots And Terrain Changes in 7.00

By Skim on Dec 14, 2016 21:08 UTC

With the biggest balance change in Dota 2 yet, Valve has made drastic changes to the map and its terrain, creating several new neutral camps and with them new paths and treelines to look out for.

For supports, this means discovering new ward spots to keep carries safe and to spot out gank rotations and as new rune spots emerge, it'll be more and more difficult to keep track of all of them. Click on any image to enlarge it.

Ward Hills

For a while now, Valve has addressed warding directly and has given newer players an easier way to find simple ward spots. By marking certain hills with an eye symbol, beginners have had it easy to find the most simple ways to ward and de-ward.

These hills have come and gone and of course 7.00 has some changes here as well. These ward hills may not be new in the sense that they've not existed before, but slight alterations have been made and their positions as well as the vision a ward provides on top has changed quite a bit.

Radiant

The "secondary" Radiant jungle, the one around the Secret Shop, has kept his three ward hills, but all three have slight changes around them. The ward hill closest to the T1 tower now has a path around it and the other hill next to it has been removed. The ward on top of it will oversee the T1 tower and the Secret Shop like it used to, while also keeping track of the new shrine.

The second ward hill used to provide vision over both neutral camps on the Radiant side, while also spotting movements on the pathway alongside the river. That pathway is gone and the ward hill no longer provides vision over the ancient camp--no ward hill does now. Instead, it provides vision over 2 rune spots (the one in the river and the one in the secondary Radiant jungle), as well as partial vision over the shrine. Most importantly, this hill provides vision on the Roshan pit entrance.

The third ward hill has been moved further South and is in fact south of the T2 offlane tower, despite being north of it before. A ward here will keep track of the most left Radiant camp, which no other ward hill provides vision over. It will also provide vision over the rune spot, while also giving information about the treeline behind the T2 mid tower.

In the "primary" Radiant jungle, the ward hill to the left has remained largely the same. The trees around it have been moved back to allow easier access, which makes it a bit more difficult for Radiant to sneak a ward there if Dire heroes are present. The vision it provides is pretty much the same, though in addition to the two camps to the left, it now also provides vision over the relocated camp to the right. (The ward should be placed to the most right position on top of the hill to provide more vision, as seen in the picture)

The cliff towards the river has now received a new, dedicated ward hill. Placing a ward here will grant vision over the rune spot in the river, the new shrine and some partial vision in the radiant jungle. For a ward spot that provides vision over both runes (river and jungle), check out the ward spots section further below.

Dire

The Dire side yet again has one ward hill less. Both secondary and primary jungle only have two each, 3 of which are basically the ones that have existed previously. Looking into the secondary jungle, we see two very similar ones to the previous ones. A ward hill close to the T1 offlane tower and one behind the T2 offlane tower. The latter has been moved south by just a bit, whereas the former has moved north just a bit. Now, one ward on top of either hill will also provide vision on top of the other hill, something that wasn't possible before.

The southern hill also grants vision over the relocated Secret Shop, as well as the new shrine and neutral camp. The northern hill grants vision over the old neutral camp, but does not provide vision over the rune spot. So while 2 Radiant ward hills cover one rune spot in their secondary jungle, no ward hill in the secondary Dire jungle does so.

Moving into the primary jungle, we'll see the biggest change to the Dire side's ward hills. The ward hill to the West has been moved further south. It replaces the old cliff and it's path. A ward here will oversee both neutral camps to the North, while also providing vision over the rune in the river. Unlike its Radiant counter-part that also provides vision over the same rune, it does not grant good vision on the Roshan pit entrance, as it doesn't cover the Radiant steps at all. The other ward hill remains pretty much the same.

Terrain Changes

Both sides have received an additional ancient for their prime jungle and a medium camp for their secondary jungle. Roshan's pit has been moved to the top side of the river, between both Radian and Dire jungle.

The biggest terrain change outside of that has been the addition of several stairs and general elevation changes. More camps have been located on lower ground, making it more and more difficult to provide clear vision around a camp for safe farming.

Ward Spots

Both respective safe- and offlanes have had their ward placements changed quite drasitcally during the laning stage. With the terrain changes to the jungle, it may not be as obvious to find a good ward spot that'll keep track of both support rotations as well as pulls.

Both of these ward spots provide good vision over most of the jungle area right next to the lane and should keep the offlaner on alert for support rotations. Note that cutting the tree to the bottom right of the Radiant jungle ward will provide vision over the steps to the south of the ward.

There are other ways to ward both jungles and as always, it depends on the state of the game which wards will be useful and which won't be. But here are some other useful jungle and rune/river ward spots.

As for the Roshan pit and its entrance, any normal midlane river ward to the North will be helpful. There are some special ward spots (shown below) that provide optimal vision that have not been common so far.

Spawn Boxes

Every neutral camp has moved, some slightly, some have moved a lot. To keep track of how to stack or block them, here's a collection of all spawn boxes. Pulling both camps (small and hard) is possible for both sides still, though some may find it easier to do so on the Dire side. The offlane can pull the hard camp on either side still.