Dota 2 artwork for the new hero Dawnbreaker

[Update]: Dota 2's next hero will be Marci - the adorable, mute fighter from the Dota: Dragon's Blood animated series.

It has only been a little while since the last major Dota 2 update, and already a brand new one has gone live. However, this time around the focus is not on getting new players up to speed, but rather on giving veterans some fun new toys to play around with.

First and foremost, Update 7.29 has brought with it Dawnbreaker - a highly durable melee hero with a great deal of damage potential. Her first ability is a short-ranged series of hammer blows that ends with a stun, which pairs nicely with her passive that provides her with bonus damage and aoe healing after every three strikes.

Combine this with her third ability that sends out a hammer that leaves a deadly trail of fire in its wake, and you've got yourself a hero that is a nightmare to be around. So naturally, Dawnbreaker's ultimate is a global ability that first damages enemies and heals her allies, after which she flies directly to the target location and unleashes yet more damage alongside a stun.

As for how exactly all of this looks like in actual gameplay, as well as what the numbers behind each ability are, that you can find out over at the newly launched hero page.

Update 7.29 has also added a whole bunch of balance changes and bug fixes, along with some major map changes. As always, the list of tweaks is far too long to summarize, but expect to see changes to everything from cliff ward spots to the most minuscule of jungle paths. The same goes for the various items and recipes, most of which have undergone some minor rebalancing, though a few like the Necronomicon have received some more... drastic adjustments.

So if you're interested in all of the details, make sure to head on over to the official patch notes. Before you do, I'd advise brewing yourself a cup of coffee as once you enter you probably won't be leaving for quite a while. Enjoy!