Everyone agrees that Dota 2's tutorials suck, so much so that the community has funded and created its own tutorials. However, Valve has announced a major update of its own. The update coincides with the release of "Dragon's Blood," which will be animated tomorrow, and will no doubt bring a lot of new players into the game.

In a lengthy and detailed announcement describing the update, Valve confirms that the update, which it correctly describes as "comprehensive," will be delivered tomorrow. Acknowledging that traditional tutorials are not appropriate for a game like Dota, the update makes a number of changes, both large and small, to the experience for new players. Many of these remove layers of complexity from the game and otherwise offer advice on the fly.

Most important is the new player mode, where the pool of heroes is fixed. It is designed to help players understand the game without having to worry about being intimidated by encountering too many heroes and abilities at once. In order to keep the playing field level, solo queue new players will always be up against other solo new players when queuing in this mode. They will never run into a party or a veteran Dota player."

The wizard in the image above also features heavily in this update, taking on a clippy-like role for new players. Basically, if you try to do something blatantly reckless, the wizard will notice and pop up; in one example provided by Valve, if you try to fight a particularly difficult enemy 1vs1 or rock the map too long while low on health, the wizard will pop up.

Otherwise, new players will see a dramatically streamlined version of the store, with new craftable items rolling out based on what players have crafted in the past. This process can be opted out at any time, but will certainly help new players overcome the stifling number of choices. A new set of player goals would also encourage new players to tackle and learn different elements of the game "in a controlled scripted environment."

Other features include a dedicated chat channel for new players, updated and improved bots, an updated and "more flexible" coaching system, and a 3-month free trial of Dota Plus. Importantly, Valve is taking a zero-tolerance approach to smurfing starting today. Also, a community-driven tutorial created by SirActionSlacks will be incorporated into the new player goals feature.

Read the very long update article here.