Dota 2: The Jungle Creeps are Fighting Back

By Jason Nieva @jnievaplayerone Published 02/24/22 EST

For a long time, the neutral creeps in Dota 2 were there for the picking. They’re usually targeted by players for experience and gold, but Patch 7.31 hopes to change that.

This change is not without reason. It appears that the arrival of the Primal Beast has given the jungle creeps newfound ferocity and power. Unlike before, they’re no longer just accepting punishment. They’ve become deadly protectors not afraid to fight back against heroes. The jungle now has creeps with new active and passive abilities.

New Creeps

Basically, what Patch 7.31 did was improve the dynamics of the jungle creeps. Before we look into the changes, there are three new ones introduced. These three and their corresponding abilities are:

Ancient Ice Shaman
- Ability: Icefire Bomb:
  - Ice Shaman throws a bomb to an enemy unit or building dealing 50 damage per second for 8 seconds.
  - Deals only 25% damage to buildings.
  - Range: 700.
  - Mana cost: 100.
  - Cooldown: 30 seconds.
Ancient Frostbitten Golem
- Ability: Time Warp Aura.
  - Grants 10% Cooldown Reduction in a 1200 radius.
  - Note: All neutral creep auras have a radius of 800 when they aren't player-controlled.
Warpine Raider
- Ability: Seed Shot.
  - Throws a seed to a unit slowing for 100% for 1 second and dealing 100 damage.
  - Can bounce to nearby enemies up to 4 hits (3 bounces).
  - Range: 500.
  - Mana cost: 100.
  - Cooldown: 15 seconds.

New Abilities

Here’s a look at the new abilities of the jungle creeps:

New Passive Ability
- Kobold Soldier
  - Steal Weapon. Every third attack, Kobold Soldier will disarm its target for 3 seconds. Attack Counter does not increase while ability is on cooldown. Cooldown: 9s
- Kobold
  - Prospecting Aura. Allied heroes within a 1200 radius gain 20 gold per minute.
- Hill Troll Berserker
  - Break. Whenever Hill Troll Berserker attacks a unit, it applies break to it for 3 seconds. Cooldown: 10 seconds.
- Hill Troll Priest
  - Heal Amplification Aura. Grants 15% heal amplification to all allies within 1200 range.
- Hellbear Smasher
  - Death Throe: Power. When Hellbear Smasher dies, all allies within 700 range gain +50% base attack damage for 5 seconds.
- Hellbear
  - Death Throe: Rush. When Hellbear dies, all allies within 700 range gain +100 attack speed for 5 seconds.
- Skeleton Warrior
  - Rally. Skeleton's allies within 1200 range gain 3 bonus attack damage. This Aura stacks.
- Ancient Black Drake
  - Magic Amplification Aura. Increases spell damage received by enemy units within 1200 units by 5%.
- Ancient Rock Golem
  - Weakness Aura. Reduces the armor of enemy units within 1200 units by 2.
Active Ability
- Fell Spirit
  - Vex. Silences a unit for 3 seconds. Mana cost: 75. Range: 600. Cooldown 15 seconds.
- Harpy Scout
  - Take Off. Can be toggled to gain flying movement and lose 50% movement speed. Harpy Scout is disarmed while flying. Costs 2.5% max mana per second. Initial Mana cost: 20.
- Ogre Bruiser
  - Ogre Smash!. Ogre slowly charges a big attack for 2.8 seconds, stunning for 3 seconds and dealing 200 + 8% of target Current HP as damage to all units in a 200 radius in front of him. Cooldown: 12 seconds. No mana cost.
  - Now occasionally casts Ogre Smash in their camps. Multiple Ogres won't chain cast their stun.
- Giant Wolf
  - Intimidate. Reduces the total attack damage of all enemies within 300 radius by 50% for 4 seconds. Mana cost: 50. Cooldown: 16 seconds.
  - Now casts Intimidate on nearby enemies when on low health in his camp.
- Wildwing Ripper
  - Hurricane. Vector targeted. Target a unit and a direction. The unit will be pulled 400 units in that direction over 0.5 seconds. Range: 400. Mana cost: 100. Cooldown: 30 seconds.