New Dota 2 hero Hoodwink released with the massive update 7.28

Valve has been promising a new Dota 2 hero for quite some time, and now, the developer has finally released Hoodwink into the wild. Hoodwink was released as part of the massive 7.28 update called Mistwoods. There’s also a tonne of balance changes and a new item called Aghanim’s Shard.

Hoodwink abilities & lore

First off, Hoodwink is a ranged hero. It looks quite a lot like a racoon, and has a crossbow, because why not? The hero appears to have some great nuking potential, alongside escape mechanics.

Hoodwink’s lore reads:

“Always at hand when trouble’s afoot, Hoodwink lives to tangle with the threats that fill the haunted forest she has adopted as her home. Toting a massive crossbow while still able to scurry through the woodland with the greatest of ease, Hoodwink is nearly impossible to keep tabs on in battle. Lose track for even a moment and she’ll pop out behind you – your stunned carcass already dangling helplessly in one of her nets.”

Check out a description of each of Hoodwink’s abilities below.

Hoodwink abilities:

• Acorn Shot: Fires Hoodwink’s attack with an acorn at the target unit. The acorn bounces to nearby targets, slowing them and dealing bonus damage. If point targeted, a tree is created at the target position, and the acorn will bounce to nearby targets.
• Bushwack: Hoodwink tosses a net trap that stunts enemy heroes if they are near a tree in the area. Affected enemies take damage and are pulled towards the tree nearest to them, and have their vision reduced to 0 for the duration of the stun.
• Scurry: Hoodwink passively has a chance to evade physical attacks while near trees. When activated, Hoodwink gains bonus movement speed, phased collision, and tree-walking for a brief time.
• Sharpshooter (Ultimate): Hoodwink charges up and fires a deadly bolt from her crossbow, dealing heavy damage, slow and Break to an enemy hero. The damage and debuff duration scale up to max as you charge Sharpshooter, and the bolt is automatically fired after five seconds. Hoodwink is knocked backward for a distance of 350 from the force of the shot.

Hoodwink looks powerful and the ultimate really has some immense range. It also deals massive damage, so you know this hero is going to get spammed a lot.

Also in the Dota 2 7.28 update is a tonne of balance changes which you can check out on the official Dota 2 website via the Mistwoods page. These changes include the addition of a new item called Aghanim’s Shard. You can only purchase this item at 20 minutes or more into the game, and it costs 1,400 Gold.

Every hero has their own custom shard upgrade. This either permanently adds a new ability or improves one of the hero’s abilities. Lastly, the Aghanim’s Shard gets consumed immediately, which means you don’t need to free up any inventory space for it.

Header image via Valve.