Games these days come with their fair share of patches for one simple reason -- to provide a better and more balanced gaming experience. Well, Dota 2 is an infinitely complicated game to master, although it is very simple in its execution and gameplay. This would be one of the hallmarks of a great game, accessible to just about everyone, but extremely tough to rise to the top in terms of mastery and skill. Valve is preparing a new patch to be released for Dota 2, where it will be known as Patch 7.00 with its patch notes already released.

Patch 7.00 will certainly come with its fair share of far-reaching changes, and it is set to challenge existing maestros of Dota 2 to relearn the game all over again. All right, that might be an exaggeration, but it will certainly be interesting to see how Dota 2 players adapt their gameplay and styles in order to accommodate the changes.

For instance, Roshan, the massive yet neutral creep which teams go up against one another in each match for goodies such as experience, gold, and of course, the special item that he drops after being defeated, will be making his way up the river. Taking a leaf out of the League of Legends and Heroes of the Storm playbook, heroes will now have a similar skill tree. Oh, how do you fancy the thought of a new backpack with more storage space for you to carry around more items? How about a new building type that is known as an Altar, where it will be located right close to your faction’s secret shop? And of course, what is a patch if no new characters are introduced? In Patch 7.00 for Dota 2, there will be a new hero that will be familiar to all who are into Eastern myths and legends, and that is none other than the Monkey King.

The legendary Monkey King is touted to be immortal and indestructible, and he has a myriad of powers such as his cudgel that can be as small as a pin or as large as he wants it to be, being able to leap 10,000 miles at one go, plucking his hair to create clones of himself, and a keen eyesight to tell the difference between a demon and a human -- among numerous others. Of course, in Dota 2, expect some of these to be tempered and he is definitely mortal, being a melee type with escape and disable abilities. The Monkey King’s ultimate would be Wukong’s Command, where “Monkey King blows a tuft of fur onto the battlefield, summoning a formation of monkey soldiers to join him in the fight.”

Of course, a new character is more than welcome, but there are also minor changes underneath the hood that you might not realize with the release of Patch 7.00. For instance, the game’s HUD (Heads Up Display) would obtain a redesign, with pre-game mechanics also experiencing some changes, in addition to the kind of items and maps. All in all, you would certainly see a shift in hero use to that of the Monkey King initially, and I believe that over the course of time as people discover the limits of his abilities and weaknesses, the favored hero of choice in Dota 2 battles will be established -- and whether the Monkey King will be there in the hierarchy or not remains to be seen. What we do know is, there will be another patch after Patch 7.00 -- mark our words!