The new Dota 2: How to handle Dota 2’s jungle and play Primal Beast

Dota 2 patch 7.31 buffed tons of heroes and items, but jungle creeps enjoyed bigger gains than any hero. Here’s how to deal with them.

How to handle Dota 2’s new, more dangerous jungle in patch 7.31

Whether you’re a fragile support or a raging Primal Beast, the jungle is scarier than it ever has been. Every neutral camp has new tools to fight back against heroes. From new ancient camps to tons of new creep abilities, here’s everything new about the jungle in Dota 2 patch 7.31 and how it impacts different kinds of heroes.

The Ice Shamans from Aghanim’s Labyrinth are now officially in the main game mode, and guarding penguins is no longer a worry. In addition to a large attack range and high damage, Shamans spawn with two Frostbitten Golems that reduce cooldowns. This can apply to Thunderhides, which is doubly bad news since cooldown reduction can now stack again.

The ancient camp isn’t the only buffed jungle spot in 7.31. Several medium and large creeps gained new abilities which will drastically slow down farming patterns. The biggest offenders are the Wildwing and Dark Trolls. Now smaller birds can cast tornadoes on heroes when the Ripper dies, dealing heavy damage over time. Hill Trolls now cast Ensnare on attackers. Giant Wolves and Hellbears now apply attack damage and movement speed debuffs, which quickly stack up.

Overall, the Dota 2 jungle has now gotten much more difficult to farm in 7.31. Creeps are stronger on average and are more difficult to stack and clear. Carries reliant on the jungle should expect to clear it slower while supports should stick to lanes in the early game.

How to farm and abuse the jungle in Dota 2 7.31

The biggest disadvantages of the new jungle are with massive ancient stacks. Cooldown reduction from Frostbitten Golems means more Thunderhide buffs and Icefire Bombs. Armor debuffs from Stone Golems don’t help.

Soft supports should maybe hold off on stacking ancients until later in the game. Shaman or Golem stacks can quickly turn the ancient camp into a raid boss.

This applies to medium and large camps too. Wildwing Rippers, Giant Wolves, and Ogre Bruisers all gained abilities to mess with their attackers. On the bright side, several creeps including Mud Golems now have reduced magic resistance. Leshrac and Pugna will have an easier time, but physical farmers can still run into trouble.

Rustic Finery Enchantress

Some heroes greatly benefit from these buffs. Heroes that can steal creep abilities or take control of them have a lot of new toys to play with. Enchantress can abuse the Hellbears’ new Death Throes abilities to cripple entire teams, while Ensnares from Hill Trolls are a great way to mess with the enemy. Chen can now create massive Tornado storms and Doom can Devour Ice Shamans to gain the Icefire Bomb ability.

While bad news for carries, Dota 2 7.31’s jungle is an indirect buff for naturalists.

Here’s how to play and build Primal Beast, the new Dota 2 hero

Aghanim’s Labyrinth is gone from Dota 2, but the Primal Beast is here to stay.

After several teases, the limited-time game mode’s final boss has been added to Dota 2 as a playable hero. The Primal Beast will be sticking around and boasts a move set heavily inspired by the boss version of the character.

As an initiator and disabler with a mix of stuns and mobility tools, the hero will likely fit into an offlaner role. Here are the Primal Beast’s abilities:

Onslaught (Q)- The Primal Beast channels and then charges, repositioning enemies and allies alike while dealing damage to enemy units. The reposition only goes a short distance, working more like Mars’ God’s Rebuke and less like Magnus’ Skewer.
Trample (W)- The Primal Beast is disarmed but stomps the ground every 140 units of movement, dealing AOE damage around itself. While active, trees can be knocked down.
Uproar (E)- The Primal Beast collects stacks of Uproar with every 35 damage received, which provides passive attack damage. This can be activated to roar, which slows nearby enemies and provides the Primal Beast with extra bonus attack damage and armor.
Pulverize (R)- The Primal Beast grabs an enemy hero and smashes them into the ground repeatedly. The grabbed hero is disabled during this time and each smash deals AOE damage and a bash on all nearby enemy units.
So with all this in mind, how should the Primal Beast be built? And what role does the new hero currently fit into?

What position is the Primal Beast in Dota 2?

The Primal Beast is likely imagined by Valve as an offlaner or soft support hero in the vein of Sand King or Centaur Warrunner. The hero is bulky, has spells that offer increased mobility, and owns strong crowd-control options.

All of that makes the hero fit in comfortably at positions three and four. Its spells are strong enough to be impactful without too much farm, but odds are that a couple of completed items will make a big difference under the right circumstances.

What are the best items for the Primal Beast?

Players looking to lock in the Primal Beast would be well-served getting items such as Boots of Bearing, Black King Bar, Aghanim’s Shard, and Echo Sabre.

Though the recommended items are Phase Boots, Blink Dagger, and Armlet of Mordiggian, the Primal Beast suffers from the same mana struggles as Mars or Centaur Warrunner. Even at level 30, one volley of spells will eat through half of the Primal Beast’s mana pool and its regen is very limited.

The new Boots of Bearing, a new item that builds from Drum of Endurance and Tranquil Boots, is potentially a very strong choice on the Primal Beast. It offers extra strength and intelligence as well as a speed burst that can increase the damage of Trample.

Echo Sabre also gives the Primal Beast much-needed strength and intelligence alongside some extra mana regen and damage. The item also synergizes well with Uproar, letting it get in some serious damage after activating it.

Though it isn’t recommended, the Primal Beast also has a strong Aghanim’s Shard ability. Rock Throw is a targeted AOE spell that deals damage and stuns enemies. It can be thrown from a long distance away, but has a Snapfire ultimate-style buffer area that prevents the rock from being thrown too close to the Primal Beast.

The full Dota 2 7.31 patch notes and more details on the Primal Beast can be found on the official Dota 2 blog.

Can you jungle in Dota 2?

Yes. there are junglers in dota2. Enchantress, chen, enigma, dark seer, legion commander, naix, nature’s prophet, doom are a few of them.

Who does the most damage in Dota 2?

THE HIGHEST DAMAGE in DOTA 2 can be done by the Witch DOCTOR’s ultimate “Death Ward”. Witch Doctor summons a deadly ward to attack enemy heroes. It attacks every 0.22 seconds and lasts 8 seconds, which means it can attack 36 times. It can deal up to 4320 ( 5400 with Aghanim’s Scepter) damage to a single hero.

Is jungle still viable in Dota 2?

With buffs granted from Dragons or the Baron, the value of the jungle in LoL is indispensable even in an endgame push. As such, the Dota 2 jungle has also become a valuable resource for the later tiers of neutral drops.

Are there healers in Dota?

Healing allows units to stay alive longer on the battlefield and reduces the need to return to the fountain. Healing can be gained through abilities, hit point regeneration, and lifesteal.