Dota 2 Patch 7.38 Wandering Waters: A new map appears

It has been an extremely long wait for Dota 2 players to have something to be excited about. Patch 7.37 has served us for almost six months, with 7.37e being with us for three months. Lately, there has been an outcry from the game’s community for a new patch, especially since Crownfall has now ended.

Now, on Feb. 19, 2025, Valve has dropped Patch 7.38 — and with the gameplay update comes a new map, with a ton of new features and changes!

Dota 2 has remained one of the leading Multiplayer Online Battle Arena (MOBA) games for many years, and, as with any other game within this genre, it needs updates to remain fresh and exciting. Valve over the years has done a decent job of this, constantly reworking the map, adding in more areas, and increasing the overall quality too.

Now, with Patch 7.38 looming, Wandering Waters is where we will do battle. With Patch 7.38 we will see quite a few new features added to the map, including new pathways through the jungle, new creep camps, and Roshan returning to his rightful spot in the river.

Below is a list of new additions to the map.

Wandering Waters brings with it new waterways within the jungle regions of the map, and with that comes an interesting change. Players running with the current will gain a movement speed boost — while not incurring a movement speed penalty when running against the current.

With Patch 7.38, a new creep camp has appeared, and it evolves throughout the game. Starting as Pollywogs, the camp changes Boglets, before becoming Croakers as the game progresses. While we do not have a whole lot of information on this right now, the evolving creeps could be an interesting feature.

Wisdom Runes were a great addition to Dota 2, with support heroes always ready to travel and secure these for their team. However, in Patch 7.38, Wisdom Runes are no more but instead have become Shrines of Wisdom.

These work in the same way for gaining experience but now require the player to stand in the shrine to collect it. This comes with a major caveat: the shrine will not activate if an enemy is within the circle. This means there will be even more contests, especially when an annoying invisible hero is around.

Lotus Pools will find the same treatment, becoming an area where players must stand undisturbed by enemies to acquire the Healing Lotus.

Roshan has been relocating constantly over the years in Dota 2, and with Patch 7.38, he will be on the move once more. This time, Roshan returns to the river, with a lair on either side near the Power Rune spawn points. With that said, Roshan will now spawn in the southern region before roaming across the map to the northern point at times.

Tormentors brought a great point of contention to Dota 2, and in Patch 7.38, they too will see a major change. Instead of two Tormentors, with one being placed near each team’s base, we will now see only a single Tormentor spawning during the game.

There are two possible spots at which the Tormentor will spawn, depending on where Roshan has appeared and the time of day in the game. Alongside this, they come with a new ability that drops a significant healing area of effect upon destruction.

Posted to the DotaCinema YouTube channel, a new video has been revealed that showcases a new map in Dota 2. In this video, you can see all the aforementioned changes, with the areas for the new Wisdom Shrines, Lotus Pools, and Roshan Pits.

With the hype now reaching a fever pitch for Patch 7.38, we cannot wait to get out onto Wandering Waters and see all the changes. Valve has released the full patch notes for the gameplay update, which you can find here.

For all the latest Dota 2 updates and information, stay tuned to esports.gg.