[Update #2]: Dota 2's International 2023 update has added a cosmetics-free Battle Pass alongside a Profile rework.

[Update]: Dota 2's Patch 7.34c has arrived to fix some of the recent balance mishaps.

A little while back Valve said that they have big plans for Dota 2, and they certainly weren't kidding! Despite already releasing a couple of sizable patches, Valve has just launched what is likely the most important update of them all - a comprehensive rework of the report and player behavior system.

Commends and dislikes now allow you to slightly affect who will and won't appear in your future matches, the new report system collects a wide range of supporting data and is already looking far more accurate than before, and best of all, the punishments are sometimes almost instantaneous! There's a lot of details I'm leaving out here as trying to summarize everything would be needlessly confusing, but the important thing to note is that not only is Valve now finally taking toxicity and griefing seriously, but that the system is already having a massive positive impact despite only just launching!

In order to further emphasize this point, Valve has also announced that they've banned around 90,000 smurf accounts that have been active over the last few months. Additionally, they've found a reliable way to trace these smurf accounts back to their main accounts, so in the future they'll be extending the punishment to those as well. A good thing too, because as the blog post itself says, "Dota is a game best enjoyed when played on an even field."

The good news doesn't end there, however, as the final Summer update has also brought with it a rework of the Armory system. The new version is easier to parse and use, gives you an opportunity to browse both your items and those you don't own, as well as mix and match items regardless of whether you own them in order to fine-tune your style. The only downside to the new system is the simple fact that you can now very easily find out which fancy items are forever out of your reach because they are no longer acquirable!

And just to help tie everything together, the Summer update has also brought with it some nifty visual improvements. Expect to see better shadows and lighting, especially when it comes to heroes and terrain. It's quite pretty!

Since trying to explain these visual improvements through words alone is a bit of a pointless venture, I'll send you off to the official website to check out some examples and to learn more. Enjoy, and here's to hoping Dota 2's long-standing toxicity problem will soon be a thing of the past!