Dota 2 Patch 7.36 Adds Facets and Innate Abilities

And boy is it another one of those “relearn Dota” patches that shows up every year. Though it doesn’t include too many drastic changes to general game mechanics and the map itself, Patch 7.36 adds two new mechanics to every hero: Facets and Innate Abilities. These mechanics, particularly Facets, are meant to diversify how heroes can play according to each player’s individual playstyle, and to mix things up between each Dota 2 game played.

Facets: Pick Your Flavor

Facets work kind of like Talents, where you can choose between at least two different effects for your hero. For example, Alchemist can choose between Seed Money, which gives him an additional 250 gold at the start of the game, or Mixologist, which improves both Berserk Potion and Unstable Concoction.

Unlike Talents, though, Facets must be chosen before the game begins, at the Strategy Time screen before heroes even spawn into the map. Players cannot change their chosen Facets thereafter. Each player’s choice will not be revealed until the game starts, however, so the opposing team will have to predict Facet choices if they wish to play around them.

Facets range from seemingly innocuous to quite possibly game-breaking. Whether or not they will impact games to the degree that Valve hopes they will is of course yet to be seen, but needless to say the next few weeks will be filled with absolute chaos — from the pro scene all the way down to public matchmaking.

Innate Abilities: Passives for Everyone

On the other hand, Innate Abilities are granted to every hero in the game without needing a choice made at any point. Some Innates are simple passives that don’t require skill points to level up, while some cause spells and natural passives to gain extra levels.

For example, Kunkka’s Tidebringer (W), now an Innate Ability, is free when Kunkka spawns, but can be skilled into up to Level 5. Meanwhile, Faceless Void has an Innate Ability that slows projectile speed near him. However, this Innate actually gains levels alongside Chronosphere (R), so it’s not something that you can just improve at will whenever you level up.

Innate Abilities have actually been in the game for years now, such as with Silencer’s Glaives of Wisdom. But it seems that Valve wants to lean into them even harder with Patch 7.36.

Whatever the case may be, Innate Abilities have the potential to cause some serious mayhem in Dota 2 going forward. Seeing how they impact pro matches will be especially exciting, and we can’t wait to see what the pros can cook up with their signature heroes and their new toys.

The full Patch 7.36 changelog can be found on the official Dota 2 website.