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7.39c Gameplay PatchJun 24, 2025 - Community AnnouncementsPatch 7.39c is out now and you can check out the patch notes here. In addition, over the last few days we've addressed the following issues: Allow items which are locked for combining to be delivered by the courierFixed Abaddon's Mist Coil not dealing self damage when cast on enemies with The Quickening facetFixed several bugs where changing styles in the armory didn't update your model's appearance in demo mode.Fixed a bug where changing styles while previewing an item in demo mode would not update the large preview in the armory.Added a new setting hero specific setting for Rubick to allow players to configure what quickcast mode should be used by stolen spells.Fixed Ghost Walk's duration being refreshed every time Aghanim's Scepter was dropped or picked up.Fixed Elder Titan being able to repeatedly get the same Damage and Debuff Immunity buffs by alt casting stomp without casting Astral SpiritFixed Lich's Level 25 "Frost Shield Provides +50 HP Regen" working on units with pip-based health (Undying Tombstone, Shadow Shaman Mass Serpent Wards, etc)Fixed Exorcism spirits not respecting the equipped cosmeticFixed a bug where items could not be dragged from a courier's inventory to the stash, but could instead only be put in the stash via the Return Items abilityFixed not showing an error message when requesting delivery and the courier is deadFixed courier preserving its orders through death and respawnFixed Queen of Pain's Sonic Wave dealing infinite damage and healing when cast on a unit with very high status resistanceFixed units forever being stuck at 1hp as a knock on effect of something doing infinite healingFixed "Owned By:" tag showing up on items used while in fog of war on dire side onlyFixed Undying level 20 talent not spawning Tombstone on deathFixed being able to activate a watcher when two allies decapture the same watcher7.39b Gameplay PatchMay 29, 2025 - Community AnnouncementsPatch 7.39b is out now and you can check out the patch notes here. In addition, over the last few days we've addressed the following issues: Fixed a number of miscellaneous client and server crashes Fixed various crashes related to the new Settings menu Fixed an issue with moving whole items in quickbuy Fixed the Quickcast Dropdown not showing if in Direct Cast Bindings and in the quickcast selection Fixed an issue where units other than the hero, Spirit Bear, or courier could purchase items in quickbuy Fixed an issue where courier could grab from stash when at the secret shop Fixed keys being bound to the Alt Modifier triggering other unintentional actions Fixed setting of Network Quality not applying Readded missing settings such as enabling the Query Panel, enabling Queued Orders on the HUD, and enabling ability videos within tooltips Introduced a new setting to disable per unit hotkeys while in custom games Fixed being unable to bind TP Scroll and Neutral Item with Direct Cast Binds Fixed an issue where the Transfer Items courier ability would grab from stash if the courier was in shop range Fixed courier not respecting queued orders after transfer Fixed crashing the game client when an item from your inventory is dragged into your current item Guide when it's set to edit mode Fixed Fullscreen Brightness slider being inverted Fixed the MMR Recalibration button not functioning Fixed an issue where heroes could sometimes be permanently stuck in a death transition state if death occured while affected by Vhoul Assassin's Envenomed Weapon debuff and other sources of negative health restoration Fixed the Settings keybinder blocking input if the Settings is closed while in the middle of binding a key. Fixed courier not grabbing stash when ordered to transfer items when leaving the fountain Renamed "Structures Require Hold/Stop to Cancel" to "Capturing Structures Require Hold/Stop to Cancel" "Capturing Structures Require Hold/Stop to Cancel" now only affect capturing Watchers and Outposts. Channel cancel behavior of Twin Gates and Underlord's Fiend's Gate has moved back to "Teleports Require Hold/Stop to Cancel" Now courier will continue to execute its last order when switching to Auto-Deliver mode Courier HUD panel now has distinct states for waiting at Secret Shop and for generic moving (vs. going to a shop or delivering to a hero). Fixed a ? showing up when the courier is moving without a hero destination. Fixed custom games crashing if a team had more than 7 players Fixed Show Team Items toggle state in the shop not persisting Fixed being unable to bind the following abilities Centaur Warrunner's Work Horse Disruptor's Electromagnetic Repulsion Dawnbreaker's Solar Guardian Timbersaw's Twisted Chakram Elder Titan's Move Astral Spirit Io's Spirits in and out abilities Pangolier's Roll Up Tinker's Keen Conveyance Keeper of the Light's Solar Bind/Recall Fixed Roshan's Roar not playing the fx/animation Fixed Helm of the Undying applying it's duration...The Dota 2 7.39 patch brings hero reworks and a serious quality-of-life upgradeMay 23, 2025 - PCGamesNThe Dota 2 Spring Forward update is here, as Valve's second-largest free Steam game gets a fresh look courtesy of a major gameplay overhaul, hero reworks, new cosmetics, and a large chunk of quality-of-life improvements. While long-time MOBA heads will immediately be drawn to all the balance changes in the Dota 2 7.39 patch notes, there's also some great news for people who've always wanted to try the game, but have been wary of its notorious complexity. Read the rest of the story... RELATED LINKS: New Dota 2 hero Kez brings two full skill sets to the Valve MOBA LoL, Legends of Runeterra, and Dota 2 voice actor Sam Mowry has died Dota 2 Crownfall is a new, ongoing story event packed with rewards Dota Springs ForwardMay 22, 2025 - Community Announcements{STEAM_CLAN_IMAGE}/3703047/6e53d7927d69d5f86dd05f8fd155c0956efd43aa.png If you ask people their favorite season, nobody picks Spring. Why? Because Spring is terrible. It's too warm to ski, too cold to swim, it rains a lot, and there aren't even any free-candy monster holidays like you get in the Fall. In fact, the only good thing about Spring is Dota's sometimes-annual Spring Update. So the good news is it's here, it's called Spring Forward 2025, and it's pretty great this year! The bad news: this marks the point of Spring where there's nothing left to look forward to. Hopefully you can just power-Dota your way through to Summer.Dota 2 Short Film Contest 2025May 21, 2025 - Community Announcements{STEAM_CLAN_IMAGE}/3703047/0b485168c3f95d26c69e3eb11a97af08fab39d03.png For the last ten years, we've had the pleasure of watching a veritable parade of talented Dota fans pour their hearts into crafting short film tributes to the community and the game we all love. A select number of those creations even made grand debuts on the main stage of The International, broadcast to viewers around the world. This year will be no different! In fact, we're happy to declare the Dota 2 Short Film Contest officially open for a new round of submissions. Filmmakers will have until 3:00pm PDT on August 17th, 2025 to submit their short film creations of 90 seconds or less to the Dota 2 Steam Workshop to be eligible for consideration. All Dota players are welcome to visit the Workshop to discuss, vote on their favorites, and help us select the best entries. The top ten finalists will be showcased as part of The International live broadcast. After reviewing the Workshop ratings and discussions, Valve will nominate the top entries to be featured in the Dota client for a final voting process by the community to determine the winners. The top three selections will score prizes of $25,000, $10,000, and $5,000, and each of the other top ten finalists will win $500. (If you happened to miss the winners from last year, or just want to enjoy them again, the top three entries from 2024 were At Any Cost by dmurio, Support by Nightfury Treann, and The Sphere Master by Mikhail Pakhomov.) Visit the Dota 2 Short Film Contest site for more information and guidelines on the submission process. And be sure to stop by the Workshop page regularly to help review the submissions you would like to see showcased at The International, coming to you live from Hamburg in September.The International 2025 - Direct Invites and The Road to TIMay 14, 2025 - Community Announcements{STEAM_CLAN_IMAGE}/3703047/91cae257028413dea2c48b7d3ee41ab85d44de76.png In the wake of all the changes still rippling through the Wandering Waters update, pro teams around the world have been hard at work, exploring fresh ways to outplay the competition. They've been battling in tournaments around the globe to put those theories to the test, all in pursuit of a single goal: to prove themselves worthy of facing off against the finest competitors in the world at The International. Direct Invites Amid all that action, some have already risen above the rest — and we’re excited to extend these eight teams direct invitations to Hamburg, Germany, to compete in The International 2025: Team Liquid Michael “miCKe” Vu Michał “Nisha” Jankowski Jonáš “SabeRLight” Volek Samuel “Boxi” Svahn Aydin “Insania” Sarkohi PARIVISION Alan “Satanic” Galliamov Volodymyr “None-” Minenko Dmitrii “DM” Dorokhin Edgar “9Class” Naltakian Andrey “Dukalis” Kuropatkin BB Team Ivan “Pure” Moskalenko Danil “gpk~” Skutin Matvei “MieRo`” Vasiunin Vitalie “Save-” Melnic Vladislav “Kataomi`” Semenov Team Tidebound Guo “shiro” Xuanang Cheng “NothingToSay” Jin Xiang Zhang “Bach” Ruida Lin “planet” Hao Zhang “y`” Yiping Gaimin Gladiators Alimzhan “watson” Islambekov Quinn “Quinn” Callahan Marcus “Ace” Christensen Erik “tOfu” Engel Arman “Malady” Orazbayev Team Spirit Illya “Yatoro” Muliarchuk Denis “Larl” Sigitov Magomed “Collapse” Khalilov Alexsander “rue” Filin Iaroslav “Miposhka” Naidenov Team Falcons Oliver “skiter” Lepko Stanislav “Malr1ne” Potorak Ammar “ATF” Al-Assaf Andreas “Cr1t-” Nielsen Wu “Sneyking” Jingjun Tundra Esports Remco “Crystallis” Arets Bozhidar “bzm” Bogdanov Neta “33” Shapira Martin “Saksa” Sazdov Matthew “Whitemon” Filemon The Road to TI The remainder of the tournament field will be filled by the eight teams able to run the gauntlet of the Regional Qualifiers, with specific slot breakdowns as follows: Eastern Europe + South America - June 4th - June 8th Eastern Europe (1 slot) Aurora Gaming Natus Vincere NAVI Junior One Move L1GA TEAM Virtus.pro (+4 teams from Open Qualifiers) South America (1 slot) HEROIC OG.LATAM Edge Team Den (+6 teams from Open Qualifiers) China + North America - June 9th - 12th North America (1 slot) Shopify Rebellion Wildcard (+6 teams from Open Qualifiers) China (1 slot) Xtreme Gaming Yakult Brothers (+6 teams from Open Qualifiers) Southeast Asia + Western Europe - June 13th - June 17th Western Europe (2 slots) Nigma Galaxy MOUZ OG AVULUS (+6 teams from Open Qualifiers) Southeast Asia (2 slots) TALON BOOM Esports Trailer Park Boys The MongolZ Ivory Execration (+4 teams from Open Qualifiers) A tidal wave of teams will battle for the final eight spots, meaning there’s a flood of Dota still to come. The Road to The International begins with Open Qualifiers running from May 31st–June 3rd worldwide (June 2nd–5th for China), with Regional Qualifiers to follow as detailed above. Only players in good standing with the Dota competitive community are ...Between the Lanes: Nest of ThornsMay 12, 2025 - Community Announcements{STEAM_CLAN_IMAGE}/3703047/a597e1b6e578dbaf54061d00ce734f703345c61b.png Welcome back to Between the Lanes, a blog feature where members of our development team walk through some of the challenges, bugfixes, and occasional happy accidents we encounter while working on a game as unique as Dota. During an event as massive as Crownfall, we got to try a lot of experiments — overworld maps, branching storylines, hero-themed tokens, minigames, comics, pixel art, and other ideas we’d been eager to explore for years. What gave us the confidence to take these risks — and something we take constant advantage of at Valve — is the freedom to iterate: to gather real player data, let it challenge our assumptions, and even change our minds. We often say we don’t fully understand what we’re building until we see players interact with it, so we try to get to that point as quickly as possible. That mindset also shapes when we make decisions — usually as late in development as possible, when we have the best (and sometimes only) data. At every step, we rely on actual player experiences to help us focus on what resonates, and steer away from what doesn't. In this edition of Between the Lanes, we'll walk through the development of something that came online relatively late in Crownfall — the Act IV boss battle between our heroes and Queen Imperia, Nest of Thorns. We're also using it as a case study to show how playtesting, and the data it generates, shape our decision-making. Getting to Imperia {STEAM_CLAN_IMAGE}/3703047/2fb6ebb175ae62ed8b49b78c27beabf998823a3e.png The first (and only) minigame in Act I was a modest fishing minigame that had Tidehunter testing your angling skills in the hopes of catching him breakfast. A lot of Act I was like this — small ideas we'd scattered throughout the map to see what players would engage with. The encouraging player data from Act I gave us the confidence to get more adventurous in Act II, and by Act III we were shipping Sleet Fighter, a fighting game brawler at Tusk's favorite dive bar; Dragon Chess, a match-three battle of wits against Winter Wyvern; and Zaug's Lair, a shoot 'em up pitting an evil dragon against Vengeful Spirit through Icewrack's twisting cave system. By the time we reached Act IV, we had a solid sense of what worked and what didn’t. What kind of data? Everything from the concrete — how many players replayed each minigame, and how often — to the more interpretive, like user-submitted feedback and discussions online. That clarity gave us the confidence to go all-in on a blow-the-doors-off finale: an epic boss battle against the evil Queen Imperia. Of course, deciding what kind of game the boss battle should be wasn't easy. We knew it needed to deliver the high-stakes spectacle players were expecting. But it also had to offer enough variety and replayability to stay fresh after multiple runs. And because this was a mini-game, designed to be played while queuing for a match, it needed to be intense but brief. It s...The International 2025 — Schedule & FormatApr 1, 2025 - Community Announcements{STEAM_CLAN_IMAGE}/3703047/6c52d654ed6cf25f7e3f548e729c93c86e414aa7.png The arenas might be different, the star players might change, and every year new teams will rise while others fall. But while many things change, one thing is constant: The International remains a chronicle of the same journey, following the best Dota team in the world as they conquer every obstacle, overcome every challenge, and carve their names into the Aegis. The original TI was a five-day event, hosted on the show floor of GamesCom in Cologne. Valve has been hosting The International for more than a decade since, and every year we've learned new things — everything from booth design to sponsorships to specific details of tournament design. Every year we try to capture the best parts of prior decisions while looking for opportunities to try some variations that might work even better. So, with tickets going on sale soon (details below), we wanted to walk you through this year's tournament format. {STEAM_CLAN_IMAGE}/3703047/7e72a4e737be03f6468f1d7b41eee975a435ee5c.png The Road to The International We set out this year to create a structure such that every single match had stakes, and that those stakes were clear to the teams and the viewers. We wanted to do this without losing the massive amount of foundational, tournament-meta-defining games that fans of the group stage enjoy every year. And at the same time, the new format needed to avoid issues we've seen in previous years, where individual round robin games didn't matter at all, or only mattered to teams that weren't in the match. This year, The Road to The International starts with a five-round Swiss bracket: Over the first three days, sixteen teams will play best-of-three matches against other teams with the same series record (a 2:0 team will face another 2:0 team, a 1:3 team will face another 1:3 team, etc.). A fourth series win will cause that team to automatically advance to The International; a fourth loss will cause that team to be eliminated. After five rounds of Swiss, the three teams with four wins will have secured their spot in The International and the three teams with four losses will have been eliminated. The ten remaining teams will face-off in a special elimination round (strongest against weakest) with the five winners advancing to the International and the five losers being eliminated. Swiss formats come with unique challenges, and we've taken special care to make sure fans can know in advance when their favorite teams are playing, and that no team with a winning record ever has to play two series in a row (including a last-game-of-the-night followed by a first-game-of-the-morning). The Road to The International runs from Thursday, September 4th through Sunday, September 7th, including both the Swiss rounds and the following elimination rounds. In total, the Road to The International will eliminate eight of the sixteen invited teams and the other eight will advance to the arena for The International...7.38c Gameplay PatchMar 27, 2025 - Community AnnouncementsPatch 7.38c is out now and you can check out the patch notes here. In addition, over the last few days we've addressed the following issues: Added missing patch note line from 7.38 patch notes "Roshan no longer drops Aghanim's Blessing" Fixed Tormentor spawning on top of the Player's Hero at 15 minutes when demoing a terrain Fixed -createhero sometimes creating a hero with no facet Fixed the Combat Log displaying non-visible enemy's channelling of Twin Gates Fixed it being possible for a hero to get their position or hero model angle stuck if Roshan's grab animation is interrupted Fixed Haste rune duration not correctly upgrading with the rune cycle Fixed being able to generate infinite teleport scrolls by buying then selling boots of travel Fixed various scenarios where players could learn if their enemy activated a smoke of deceit while in fog of war Fixed Alchemist Scepter granting buff visually always displaying as having given 1 scepter to enemies Fixed Bristleback's Quill Spray damage from Aghanim's Scepter counting as reflected damage Fixed being able to get negative networth on Dazzle by stashing a teleport scroll, buying a teleport scroll on your courier, having no teleport scroll on your hero, buying and selling boots of travel multiple times, giving the teleport scroll on your courier to dazzle, casting Nothl Projection, then using your courier to deliver your stashed teleport scrolls to Dazzle while the ultimate is active Fixed Clinkz's Tar Bomb not procing Magic Wand when set to autocast Fixed Doom's Devil's Bargain buyback being calculated incorrectly Fixed Hoodwink's Level 20 Talent Sharpshooter Provides Truesight have a blindspot along the path Fixed Kez's Echo Slash first hit being unable to trigger Shadowhawk's bonus when used from invisibility Fixed Kunkka's Level 25 Spell AoE talent not applying correctly to Tidebringer Fixed Lycan's Howl and Feral Impulse not applying correctly to Aghanim's Shard Wolves Fixed Magnus' Skewer not destroying trees if Magnus doesn't have an Aghanim's Shard Fixed Marci's Rebound being cancelled incorrectly when affected by Slark's Pounce and debuff immune Fixed Marci's Rebound vector targeting being inaccurate if the target location is too close to the Rebound target Fixed Medusa's Venomous Volley working on illusions with Split Shot active Fixed Gleipnir active triggering Nyx Assassin's Spiked Carapace stun Fixed Muerta's Level 15 Calling Regeneration Talent not lasting for the full duration when used in conjunction with the Dance of the Dead Facet Fixed Naga Siren's Deluge setting the maximum and minimum speed of an enemy to 240 Fixed Pangolier's Fortune Favors the Bold debuff being visible on enemies when the enemy doesn't have vision of Pangolier Fixed Puck's Phase Shift stopping the invulnerability but not the channeling when using certain items Fixed Puck's Puckish incorrectly considering all projectiles disjointed using invisibility as spell projectiles, restoring more mana and health than ...Dota 2 Update - 3/19/2025Mar 19, 2025 - Community AnnouncementsImmortal Draft Changes: Immortal Draft rules will now be used if any player is above 8500 MMR (roughly the top 0.5% of players). (Previously, the cutoff was 6500 MMR, roughly the top 1.5% of players.) Immortal Draft games do not show up in public match history. Replay access is restricted to game participants, and these games are not listed in Web APIs. Players who are above 8500 MMR (the top 0.5% of players) are now required to register an official name to queue for ranked. This name cannot be changed and will be displayed during the pre-game player draft phase of Immortal Draft games. Approximately half of players at this rank already have an official name registered. Players above 8500 MMR who are guaranteed to play an Immortal Draft game may not queue for ranked as a party. Unranked is unchanged. Changed the way MMR gain/loss works in Immortal Draft games to better take into consideration the possible outcomes based on player draft choices. In summary: If your MMR is 8500+, all of your ranked games will be Immortal Draft. All matches will be private. You're required have an official name registered. You cannot queue for ranked matches as a member of a party. Unranked is unchanged. If your MMR is 6500+, your ranked games will only be Immortal Draft if matched with a player above 8500 MMR. Otherwise you'll play using standard ranked match rules. Unranked is unchanged. 7.38b Gameplay PatchMar 4, 2025 - Community AnnouncementsPatch 7.38b is out now, along with a new Dota Plus season. You can check out the 7.38b patchnotes here. In addition, over the last few days we've addressed the following issues: Fixed Clinkz Burning Army skeletons being able to auto-cast Tar Bomb Fixed Templar Assassin Hidden Reach effects being visible to enemies Fixed Sven Level 10 Talent +10% Vanquisher Bonus Damage not working properly Fixed Ability Draft loading screen being stuck during draft phase when there are fewer than 10 players in the lobby. Drow Ranger Precision Aura from illusions no longer overrides her own bonus agility Fixed Ancient Apparition Ice Blast Shatter Threshold flickering when clicking on an enemy affected by ice blast Ability Draft: Doom: Devour: fixed player losing ability in first slot for the rest of the game after casting Devour Ability Draft: Doom: Devour: fixed permanently gaining passive aura from neutral creep Fixed Roshan Timer being broken when Templar Assassin Third Eye innate is active. Fixed Mark for Sell items not being collected by the courier if the courier did not start in the fountain when ordering it to deliver Fixed Mark for Sell items being returned to the hero if they were in the courier's inventory when delivering other items. Refined the alt-click chat messages on the Roshan Timer to match other alt-click messages. Refined alt-click chat messages on the Madstone indicator to better match other alt-click chat messages. Fixed Drow Ranger with the Sidestep Facet not triggering Silencer Last Word when Multishot finishes Fixed Viper Nosedive, which caused the caster model orientation to enter a bad state, allowing Rubick or any hero in Ability Draft to exploit this with certain abilities, causing them to remain permanently in the world. Fixed Jakiro Liquid Fire not working in Ability Draft Fixed Spell Lifesteal Amplification from Kaya (and it's combined items) not working As a lapsed 4,500 hour veteran of Dota 2, the big new Wandering Waters update has lured me back—but despite the changes, the game still feels stuck in its waysFeb 25, 2025 - PC GamerThere was a time when a slight tweak to a forest path would send my Dota 2 clan’s heads into a collective spin. Valve’s venerable MOBA used to be much more conservative with map changes, and big ones are still rare—but they happen, now. In 2023 the map got 40% bigger, and Roshan relocated to the edges of the map. As of last week’s Wandering Waters update, Dota 2 has more rivers, frogs and crafting than ever before, plus Roshan has returned from the suburbs... Read more.Dota 2 remembers water is very important, adds more, in latest map shakeupFeb 23, 2025 - PC GamerDota 2 has had a firecracker few years, consistently remaking the game and shaking things up when players least expect it with map and hero changes coming fast and furious. The developers have, frankly, slipped the leash. Valve's got no control of them anymore. They can't, as evinced by the latest update: 7.38, Wandering Waters... Read more.Dota 2 Update - 2/21/2025Feb 21, 2025 - Community AnnouncementsOver the last few days we've addressed the following issues: Fixed heroes in Ability Draft not having innate abilities Fixed Lotus Pool timers showing regular Dota game mode timings in Turbo Fixed minimap icons not showing for live spectators in player view Fixed some camps' spawnboxes being taller than Kunkka's Torrent height Fixed Tormentor spawning in undesirable locations while in Demo Mode Neutral Tooltip is better at guessing enchantment level Fixed Ironwood trees not providing extended healing duration when consumed with Tango Fixed Ninja Gear usage while smoked allowing you to re-apply Smoke of Deceit to your allies Fixed Phylactery not slowing enemies on proc Fixed Pirate's Hat causing the Death Cost tooltip to display a slightly incorrect amount Fixed Pyrrhic Cloak reflecting reflected damage Fixed Revenant's Brooch on Illusions dealing more damage than intended Fixed an issue where Scurry and Death Pact would have more than the max number of charges if the corresponding talent was taken after the ability was skilled Fixed various issues with Morphling's Morph Fixed various issues with Winter Wyvern's Winter's Curse Fixed Anti-Mage Magebane's Mirror not reducing mana when the caster doesn't have enough mana to spend Fixed Arc Warden's Flux with Aghanim's Scepter occasionally still silencing even if Flux was dispelled Fixed Crystal Maiden's Blueheart Floe not leveling up with Freezing Field Fixed Dazzle not getting Desolator charges when killing heroes while a Nothl Voyager Fixed Dazzle not getting Urn of Shadows charges when killing heroes while a Nothl Voyager Fixed Dazzle's Aghanim's Shard not providing Healing Amplification while in the Nothl Realm Fixed Dazzle's Nothl Projection not benefitting from Poison Touch talent upgrades in certain situations Fixed Dazzle's Nothl Projection granting more Town Portal Scrolls than desired in certain situations Fixed Dazzle's Nothl Projection putting Aeon Disk on cooldown Fixed Dazzle's Nothl Projection putting Refresher Orb going on cooldown Fixed Dazzle's Poison Touch debuff duration not increasing when used before casting ultimate (and in reverse) Fixed Dazzle's Soul being able to use Hand of Midas Fixed Dragon Knight's Corrosive Dragon's spells and Damage over Time effects getting blocked by Physical Block Fixed Dragon Knight's Wyrm's Wrath applying debuffs to teammates when denying Fixed Dragon Knight's Wyrm's Wrath with the Fire Dragon Facet unintentionally dealing damage to towers Fixed Dragon Knight's Wyrm's Wrath with the Fire Dragon Facet proccing twice per hit when in Elder Dragon Form Fixed Dragon Knight's Wyrm's Wrath with the Fire Dragon Facet AoE bonus not stacking with other sources of increased AoE Fixed Hoodwink's Level 20 Sharpshooter talent having blind spots in its vision path Fixed Invoker with Aghanim's Scepter gaining more levels of Quas, Wex, or Exort than intended Fixed Io's Tether not healing tethered targets from damage dealt with Aghanim's Shard Fixed Lion's Impale n...There's been a flood in the Wandering Waters update for Dota 2Feb 20, 2025 - GamingOnLinuxWhile Valve continue building up their next MOBA with Deadlock, their current Dota 2 is still as popular as ever and the Wandering Waters update for Dota 2 sounds pretty awesome. Read the full article here: https://www.gamingonlinux.com/2025/02/theres-been-a-flood-in-the-wandering-waters-update-for-dota-2/ Explore Wandering Waters in the 7.38 Gameplay UpdateFeb 18, 2025 - Community Announcements{STEAM_CLAN_IMAGE}/3703047/6627033e4c0db6f3f31b0757cacb2dfea0bb0067.png Much like the galactic water miners in the movie and possibly the book Dune Part 2, Dota has always been the only game in any genre that believes water is the most valuable resource in both the Dune-iverse and our universe, the universe. It's kind of crazy, then, that it's taken more than a decade for us to finally prove that bold claim by saying it out loud in print. And if that was all we did, it would be enough. But we didn't stop there. We've re-made the river that runs through the Dota map. Not only is it wider, its current can speed your movement. Conversely, the new river's new evolving, amphibious creeps can drastically slow your movement by killing you. And that's not all: How about a new resource! "Waterstone?" you say. In retrospect, that would have made sense. But it's actually called "Madstone" and you can use it to craft your own unique neutral items. Which is crazy, so the name actually fits pretty well. We've also made some other map updates, replaced wisdom runes with much cooler wisdom shrines, and made a bunch of quality of life changes. It's all too much to detail in one blog post, which means you'd be out of luck unless we made a page dedicated to describing all the stuff in great detail. Which we did.The Crownfall ArchiveFeb 6, 2025 - Community Announcements{STEAM_CLAN_LOC_IMAGE}/3703047/0d72c619a48c004131b924d244f1f38de311f6e4.png Well folks, you knew this was coming. We warned you it was coming. We even extended its coming. But now it's no longer coming, because it's here. No more last minute reprieves, no more entreaties from sad-eyed pets. We're doing it. Depending on when you read this, it's already done. Crownfall has been archived. One consistent and recurring bit of feedback we got from the community over the course of Crownfall was what a bummer it would be not to be able to play their favorite minigame now that the event was ending. (No one agrees on what the best minigame is, but everyone has a favorite.) We agree — waiting in a matchmaking queue goes a lot faster with a game of Dragon Chess — and so we're happy to announce the Crownfall Archive, a collection of all the minigames and comics from all four acts, accessible from the main menu to everyone, regardless of whether you unlocked it while the event was active. (We've also preserved your progress through each of the Act I-IV maps for posterity.) Additionally, if you're still sitting on any Crownfall rewards like candy or Crownfall Coins, you can continue to redeem them through the Archive. We've really enjoyed getting to tell a story taking place in the realms of Skywrath, Druud and Icewrack. But there are so many more realms to explore. And so it's time for us to put the Ghastly Eyrie behind us, at least for now, and point our compasses at some new guiding stars. We'll see you there.The Charms of the SnakeJan 29, 2025 - Community Announcements{STEAM_CLAN_IMAGE}/3703047/0fbfa0c9307a74e3b6e785421e71a13df72093f1.png Snakes, as any biologist will tell you, are fascinating creatures. They don't have skeletons. They don't have brains or organs. They just have one tube-like muscle that makes up their whole body, a mouth, two eyes, and a butt. That's it. An animal shouldn't be able to be alive with that few body parts, and yet somehow the snake surmounts all of those obstacles and manages it. It's at this point in the blog post that we should admit that the biologist we contacted about all this never actually returned our calls, so we had to guess at a few of the details in the previous paragraph. But honestly, we don't need a stupid snake expert to tell us that snakes look cool. They look cool on armor, on weapons, on bodies, even on hats. If you've got something that's cool already, and you put a bunch of snakes on it, it might actually explode, so watch out. As you may have guessed, we're proud to announce the all-new 'Charms of the Snake' treasure, stocked up with nine community-made item sets ready to slither around your favorite heroes and wrap them in some scaly styles, just in time for Lunar New Year to ring in the Year of the Snake. Each treasure opened will grant a serpentine set for Snapfire, Medusa, Shadow Shaman, Naga Siren, Razor, Earth Spirit, or Templar Assassin. You'll also have a chance to unlock a Rare Lich set or Very Rare Necrophos set. You can purchase 'Charms of the Snake' treasures directly for $2.49 to get in the spirit of the Lunar New Year and join the slinky fashion fun. The International 2025 Live Event Broadcast RFP and Broadcast License RequestsJan 28, 2025 - Community AnnouncementsThe International 2025 is coming to Germany in September. Companies interested in producing and distributing regional language broadcasts of The International are encouraged to apply now. Like in recent years, proposals for the Live Event Broadcast Production of The International in Russian, Chinese, and Spanish language broadcasts will be accepted. The RFP (Request For Proposal) documentation and instructions for submissions can be found here. For those seeking additional licenses and feeds, please fill out the form that pertains to the correct request: Production companies seeking a commercial license to produce a regional language broadcast of The International 2025 without additional access to the event can apply here. Streaming platforms interested in restreaming the official broadcast feeds to their platform can apply here. As a reminder, DOTA 2 fans can create strictly noncommercial casts from DOTATV following the DOTA 2 Community Stream Policy here and do not need to make an official request. Please reach out to [email protected] with any additional questions. Thanks in advance to everyone interested in working with us to bring The International 2025 to life. Dota 2 Workshop Spring 2025 Call-to-ArmsJan 24, 2025 - Community AnnouncementsAmidst all the TI announcements and Crownfall conclusions, you might not have noticed that the humble Dota 2 Workshop is busier than ever. With a community of talented artists contributing lots of new stuff that we shipped throughout the year, sales of community-generated Workshop content generated more revenue for contributors in 2024 than any year since 2015—and that community of talented artists could also include you! That's right: We're once again inviting all workshop contributors to spin up some new sets for any of your favorite heroes—including two newcomers who have been waiting eagerly in the wings to join the cosmetic fun. Artists can also include submissions for both Ringmaster and Kez, who are now enabled in the workshop. To be considered, we request that all submissions be on the Dota 2 Workshop by the end of day on April 6th, 2025 PDT. Please make sure to mark your work with the "Spring 2025" tag when tendering items to the Workshop to ensure they aren't overlooked. (As usual, please avoid concepts involving human skulls, blood, and gore.) Dota fans everywhere are of course encouraged to regularly visit the Workshop and vote through the Queue to ensure your voices are heard in the hunt for the treasures of tomorrow. Dota 2's The International 9 was the Game's Most Watched Event Ever with Over 1 Million Viewers on TwitchAug 26, 2019 - GitHypThe International 2019 made headlines earlier this month when it became the biggest prize pool ever for an esports tournament with $34 million on the line. And with so much at stake, early Sunday morning, Dota 2 set even more records with its first-ever back-to-back champions and its highest viewer count ever on Twitch. Last year’s champions, Europe’s OG, absolutely dominated this year’s event which went late into Saturday night and peaked with 1.1 million viewers early Sunday morning during their 3-1 Grand Final victory over Europe’s team Liquid. After last year’s TI8 Grand Finals saw a 100k decline in viewers, this year’s TI9 had an impressive comeback with a 51% increase in viewership on Twitch. But what was most impressive about this year’s record-breaking stream for Dota 2 was the timing of the live stream on Twitch. With most of Twitch’s regular viewer base still asleep in the United States when this year’s main event ended at 8AM ET/ 5AM PT, TI9 crushed Dota 2’s previous peak of 845k viewers that took place during more normal hours two years ago at TI7 in Seattle.Dota 2’s Player Base is the Highest it's Been in 2 YearsFeb 11, 2019 - GitHypOnce Steam’s most popular game (before PUBG took over), Dota 2’s player base has been on a steady decline since peaking with over a million concurrent players back in 2016. But a new user-created custom game mode and less competition from Blizzard have resulted in Steam's second most popular game making a comeback with Dota 2's player counts now the highest they’ve been in two years. Similar to Dota’s own origin story, a custom map created by Chinese developer, Drodo Games, called “Auto Chess” has captured the attention of Dota 2’s player base in a way that Valve once dreamed only Artifact could. In Auto Chess, players fight across an 8x8 field that mimics a chessboard using Dota’s own heroes for game pieces. Auto Chess' gameplay has been able to create its own little niche of MOBA players who want a greater focus on strategy and less emphasis on fast-paced APM. Dota 2’s in-game counter for Auto Chess has at times shown over 200k concurrent players, which helps explain Dota 2’s own 17% increase in players from January’s 491k average to an average of 573k over the past 30 days. And while Auto Chess can account for most of Dota 2’s new/returning players, another factor has been Blizzard’s announcement that they’ll be shifting focus away from Heroes of the Storm. Considered the third most popular MOBA in the world behind League of Legends and Dota 2, news of Blizzard moving developers to other projects and canceling HotS’ major esports events has made Dota’s community look even more appealing to HotS players looking to abandon ship. Auto Chess isn’t likely to become the next Dota or PUBG creating a new genre overnight, but with its popularity increasing among players, streamers, and catching on even more in China, Valve shouldn’t take any chances letting this developer get away – especially not with Artifact dropping outside of Steam’s top 100 most played games.Dota 2’s The International 2018 Finale was Down Over 100k Viewers Compared to Last Year on TwitchAug 27, 2018 - GitHypEven with a better first day, bigger prize pool, and an epic storybook ending, this year’s biggest Dota 2 event couldn’t manage to top last year's viewers on Twitch. The International 8’s grand finals brought in a peak of 730k concurrent viewers as Europe’s OG took China’s PSG.LGD all the way to the very last game of a best-of-five heart-pounding finale. But while OG’s Cinderella story had Dota 2’s analysts, commentators, and viewers all on the edge of their seats in what many consider TI’s greatest grand finals, it fell short of last year’s peak of 845k viewers. TI7’s far less exciting finale featuring EU’s Team Liquid taking home the victory over Newbee in just 3 quick games. And resulted in an impressive 44% increase in viewership compared to TI6 on Twitch which is still Dota 2’s most watched stream ever. Known for having the biggest single event prize pool in all of esports, The International once again set a new peak of $25 million this year with OG taking home $11 million for first place. However, the $23.9 million contributed by players just barely topped last year’s player contribution of $23.2 million. And surprisingly, it was Day 1 of TI8 that had 100k more viewers than last year’s event. But with player counts down 35% since Dota 2’s peak two years ago and other games like Fortnite taking over Twitch, we predicted that TI8 wouldn’t be able to top TI7’s finale. One thing we didn’t see coming, however, was Valve’s unexpected and accidental reveal of their own streaming service, Steam.tv, which contributed to the decline in viewers on Twitch. Their new site pulled away over 80k viewers from Twitch during TI8’s final matches – but even with the numbers combined, TI7’s viewership still fell short of last year's record-setting peak.Dota 2’s Viewer Base and Prize Pool is Bigger Than Ever at The International 2018Aug 21, 2018 - GitHypWith a peak of 1.3 million players back in March 2016, the decline of Dota 2’s player base and the rise of PUBG on Steam has led to many claiming that Valve’s popular MOBA is a "dead game." But even with the player base at half of what it once was, Dota 2 is far from dead when looking at the game’s stats and popularity as a competitive esport. Last year's biggest Dota 2 event, The International 7, saw its peak viewers on Twitch increase by 44% compared to TI6's grand finals going from a peak of 588k viewers to 845k viewers. This year, TI8 on Twitch is already off to a better start with a peak of 645k viewers on its first day. An increase of 100k viewers when compared to 2017’s first day peak of 546k viewers. Dota 2’s remaining player base have also proven their loyalty and demand for more in-game content by contributing $23 million towards the free-to-play game's Battle Pass system and increasing TI8’s total prize pool to $25 million – the largest it's ever been and an increase of over $200k compared to last year. The International 8’s grand finals are set for this Saturday, August 25th, and while it might not see another 44% increase in viewers, the event should be able to continue its growth and top last year’s peak concurrent viewers on Twitch.Dota 2 Hits New Viewer Peak with The International Up 44% Compared to Last Year on TwitchAug 15, 2017 - GitHypMore Dota 2 viewers than ever tuned in over the weekend to watch The International 7 on Twitch. And with good reason. The Valve-sponsored event for their multiplayer online battle arena game had its highest prize pool ever with a shocking $24 million on the line and the champs taking home over $10 million. Getting into the Twitch numbers, Dota 2 brought in a peak of 845k viewers as Team Liquid defeated Newbee in Saturday's Grand Final. This was an impressive 44% increase in viewers compared to last year when TI6 brought in 588k viewers at its peak. [caption id="attachment_284426" align="aligncenter" width="770"] Dota 2's Peak Viewer Counts on Twitch via GitHyp[/caption] The increase in popularity has also brought Dota 2 closer than ever to topping its biggest competition, League of Legends. Riot’s MOBA hit its own all-time peak of 988k viewers back in 2015, but compared to 2016, LoL’s viewership for its own World Championship event was actually down 5% last October on Twitch. TI7 also helped put Dota 2 over 1 billion total views on Twitch. An impressive number, however, LoL still more than doubles that with 2.1 billion as Twitch's most watched game. But in terms of big eSports competitions, both MOBAs still have a way to go before dethroning Counter-Strike: Global Offensive’s record-setting 1.1 million peak viewers that the Valve shooter brought in earlier this year.Steam's Most Played Games of 2016Jan 7, 2017 - GitHyp2016 was another great year for games, but it was also a year filled with the the rise and fall of many new games that over-promised and under-delivered. As a result, Steam's list of most played games in 2016 ended up looking almost the exact same as it did in 2015. Last year's top titles held their spots as newcomers who started off strong quickly lost their player bases by the end of the year. Looking at new releases on Steam in 2016 tracked hourly by GitHyp, the highly hyped and highly controversial, No Man's Sky, had the highest peak player count with 212k concurrent players in a single hour.
  1. Dota 2 / 1,286,617 peak players (#1 in 2015)
  2. Counter-Strike: Global Offensive / 845,806 peak players (#2 in 2015)
  3. No Man's Sky / 212,321 peak players (new)
  4. XCOM 2 / 132,834 peak players (new)
  5. Dark Souls III / 129,922 peak players (new)
Other newcomers such as XCOM 2 (132k players) and Dark Souls III (129k players) also had great launches, but only peaked at half of NMS' record-setting number to round out the top 5. While No Man's Sky, XCOM 2, Dark Souls III, and others such as Tom Clancy's The Division and Total War: Warhammer all had strong launches, none were able to hold their ground and each had huge drops in players that made headlines. Other previous heavy-hitters also made headlines due to under-performing launches such as Call of Duty which was down 76% from last year and Watch Dogs 2 which dropped 61% since the last entry in the series. When looking at the more stable average players per hour metric, 2016 ended the same as 2015 with the exception of Fallout 4 -- which didn't just fall out of the top 5, but also the top 10 at #12.
  1. Dota 2 / 636,607 avg. players per hour (#1 in 2015)
  2. Counter-Strike: Global Offensive / 360,600 avg. players per hour (#2 in 2015)
  3. Team Fortress 2 / 50,802 avg. players per hour (#4 in 2015)
  4. Grand Theft Auto V / 40,258 avg. players per hour (#5 in 2015)
  5. Sid Meier's Civilization V / 37,885 avg players per hour (#9 in 2015)
Dark Souls III dropped to #21 on Steam with an average of 14,186 players per hour. No Man's Sky dropped all the way down to #41 on Steam with an average of 8,393 players per hour. And XCOM 2 barely made the top 50 coming it at #44 with an average of 7,815 players per hour. When looking at the average players per hour, it was actually the free-to-play team-based shooter, Paladins, that ended as 2016's strongest new release ranking in at #15 on Steam with an average of 22,809 players per hour.

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