Dota 2 is a very famous multiplayer online battle arena game. The game is developed and published by Valve. Dota 2 is the sequel of the former game Defense Of the Ancients (DOTA). The former game was community-mod for Warcraft III by Blizzard. The game was initially released in 2013, followed by multiple patches and gameplay changes throughout. Dota 2 runs on Engine 2 and is designed by IceFrog. The game is highly popular around the world and millions of players play it every day. There are multiple things that you should know about Dota 2. Let’s get into a little detail about the game.
About Dota 2
Dota 2 is the sequel of the former Warcraft III mod, Defense of the Ancients. The game contains matches with each match having five players in a team. Both of the teams try to defend their ancient and occupy the enemy’s, on the other side of the map. Each player in the game holds or controls independently a character or ‘hero’ in the game. Each hero comes with unique abilities and different styles of gameplay. During a match of Dota 2, players try to collect experience and items to make their heroes stronger and get into different player versus player fights. A large structure which is called ‘Ancient’ is located in the centre of the base, surrounded and protected by multiple fortifications. Each team tries to take down the opponent’s Ancient to win the game.
The game’s development started in 2009 when Valve hired a former Dota lead designer. The remodel of the former game, Dota 2, was released on multiple platforms, including macOS, Microsoft Windows, and Linux. Valve used the general digital distribution platform, Steam, to release Dota 2 in 2013.
Free to play model
Dota 2 is free-to-play with no in-game purchase new heroes. However, there are multiple in-game purchases available for players. Valve also released Dota Plus that helped the players in making their game better. Valve also releases a Battle Pass for the game through which players can receive multiple hero skins, voice lines, and much more. These Battle Pass purchases help Valve in making the biggest tournament of esports possible.
Dota 2 has the biggest esports scene in terms of tournaments. Each year, Valve arranges the biggest tournament of the year in the whole esports scene, The International or the World Cup of Dota 2. Every year, the prize pool of the tournament goes higher than the previous one. The biggest prize pool has now crossed the $40 million mark.
Dota 2 Heroes
Dota 2 has a large hero pool containing around 119 heroes. All the heroes are free-to-play. Almost every year, Valve releases a new hero in the game to make things new and ongoing. Recently, Valve introduced two new heroes, Void Spirit, and Snapfire.
Dota 2 has three different categories of heroes. Players can select a hero from Strength, Agility, and Intelligence. The Strength heroes are good for taking damage in the team fights and can stand long into the battles. The most successful Strength heroes in the game are Bristleback, Lycan, Legion Commander, Chaos Knight, and Elder Titan.
However, the Agility heroes are very good with their Attack Speed and Armor. These heroes are mostly targeted for the late-game, as they perform very well when they are highly farmed. The best Agility heroes are Anti Mage, Juggernaut, Medusa, Drow Ranger, and Morphling.
Similarly, the Intelligence heroes are better with their spellcasting abilities and have more mana region than any other in the game. These heroes are good for casting more spells during the fights and catching the enemy heroes more. The best Intelligence heroes are Zeus, Windranger, Ogre Magi, Shadow Shaman, and Lina.
These three roles are further separated into different classes. Some heroes are only good for carrying the game, while others only focus on supporting. Dota 2 also includes hero attributes in the game. Each hero has multiple attributes like Nuke, Pusher, Durable, Melee, Ranged, Carry, and Support. Players choose heroes according to the demand of each game. Multiple counter-picks work most of the time.
Dota 2 famous Tournaments
Valve arranges multiple tournaments for Dota 2 throughout the year. However, each year, the biggest tournament in esports history occurs in August, The International. All the professional teams in the game try and qualify for the TI every year. The teams make their place via Dota Pro-Circuit points. Winning each tournament of Dota 2 provides multiple DPC points to the teams. The most famous esports tournament organisers like ESL and We!Play, organise multiple tournaments for the game.
ESL arranges several events like ESL One Birmingham, ESL One North America, ESL One Germany, and many more. Similarly, We!Play also follows the same path. The company arranges multiple tournaments for Dota 2 like We!Play Pushka League, Mad Moon, and Bukovel Minor. Apart from these major tournament organisers, there is plenty of other series that take place during each month of the year.
There are multiple tier tournaments in Dota 2. With the new Dota 2 circuit, each organizer arranges various Dota 2 tournaments. The teams, according to their performance, gets Dota Pro Circuit points. Teams utilize these points for the direct invitation to The International. This year, multiple organizations including Valve had to cancel multiple tournaments due to the Coronavirus pandemic, but Dota 2 will surely return with more tournaments next year.