Dota 2 Officially Reborn on Source 2, Numerous Changes Introduced

Valve has officially released Dota 2 Reborn, which introduces a significant overhaul of the MOBA's interface, moves it to a new engine, and introduces Custom Games.

Dota 2 Reborn has been in the beta testing phase since June 2015, but the game's official Twitter account has confirmed Valve is "rolling out the Reborn update over the next couple of hours." Since matchmaking is now only available in this version of the game, upgrading to it is mandatory.

As previously explained, the new version of Dota 2 has a redesigned dashboard and the game is now running on Source 2, the latest version of the engine Half-Life 2, Counter-Strike: Source, and Team Fortress 2 run on.

"[Dota 2 Reborn] brings with it a new interface, new engine, and Custom Games," Valve explained previously. "Everything in the dashboard has been redesigned utilizing a new UI framework and the engine that powers the game has been fully replaced."

Some of the changes were detailed when the beta first launched and have been reproduced below.

• Find Your Hero: It's now easier to search and sort through heroes using filters. Apply a Carry or Support filter to see which heroes work well in those roles, then filter further by specific roles such as Nuker or Jungler. You can also increase the strength of a filter to see which heroes function especially well in a particular role.
• Personalise Your Hero: Hero pages now let you quickly browse and try on every set and item available for that hero. If you find something you like, use the purchase button to buy directly from the Dota 2 store or from the Steam Marketplace. There's also more information to help you determine if a hero is right for you, and a place to check out the community-written guides for that hero without needing to enter a match.
• Demo Your Hero: Each hero's page features a "Demo Hero" button, giving you quick access to a safe place to try out any hero's abilities and practice last hitting. The hero will also wear any items you have selected in their Loadout, giving you a chance to preview any cosmetic item in-game, including items you don't own.
• Dota TV Expanding: We're combining the best of DotaTV with the best of streaming. DotaTV, powered by Steam Broadcasting, will now provide detailed stats and graphs for you to browse while also supporting full tournament video production. These streams are capable of 1080p at 60 frames per second, while carrying an embedded data feed for stats and graphs, and are accessible from inside the Dota 2 client as well as on the web. Need to pause for a moment or just missed some action? You can pause and rewind anytime you want. You will also find third-party streams for that game directly inside the client.
• Games To Watch: The Watch section now presents you with a mix of live tournament games, those featuring high-skill players, and matches your friends are playing or spectating. The new live match previews will also give you more information to help you decide which game to watch, including a detailed rundown of the state of the game, gold and experience graphs, and individual player stats.
• Featured Tournaments: Heard of a big tournament in its final stages? You'll want to check out the Featured section, where you'll find all the information you need to jump right in and follow along, including the current bracket, upcoming games, participating teams, casters, and more.
• Never Miss A Moment: During a live match, you will be able to hit the "Watch Later" button to quickly bookmark it, letting you visit the Replays section to watch the game when you're ready. The Replays area will show you recently completed matches played by your friends, and the most popular replays rated by the community.
• Manage, Share, And Discuss Matches: You will be able to add descriptions to your favorite replays and share them with friends. All replays will also have their own comments section, making it easy to discuss the best plays and most heartbreaking throws in any match big or small.
• Guided Bot Matches: If you've got a friend who you'd like to introduce Dota to, but you balk at the teaching you'll need to pass on to them beforehand, then we've got you covered. Striking a careful balance between providing enough information to be interesting, and not so much as to be overwhelming, these tutorials should be fun and educational for any beginning player, and give them a taste of what it's like to play a full game of Dota.
• Mechanics: If you have friends who haven't played anything like Dota at all, and who find themselves struggling in the Guided Bot Matches, we've kept the ultra-simplified mechanics tutorials for them to fall back to. Here they'll be able to focus just on the raw control mechanics of Dota.

Dota 2 was first released in 2013. Check out our Dota 2 review here, where it scored a nine out of ten.