Dota 2's New Summer Battle Pass Adds Female Anti-Mage, Guilds, And More

Valve unveiled Dota 2's long-awaited summer battle pass today and it’s full of stuff to get even lapsed players like me excited about playing again.

The International Battle Pass is Valve’s main mechanism for funding the prize pool for its big annual Dota 2 tournament and building up excitement around it. While the event has been delayed indefinitely due to the ongoing pandemic, 25 per cent of all proceeds from the $10 (£8.20) battle pass (and any extra levels players buy for it) will still go toward it.

As always this isn’t just your standard level one to 100 battle pass. A lot of other prizes and new meta systems are coming to the game as well. Here’s a rough breakdown of some of the bigger additions:

• Guilds are returning to Dota 2, allowing players to join up in massive groups working collectively towards daily contracts and Guild Challenges to earn points and gold.
• A new limited-time mode based around navigating four-player mazes.
• Ticket-based Battle Gauntlets where you try to get three wins before suffering two losses in order to earn points and gold.
• A new set of Immortal Treasures with skins for Tinker, Medusa, and others Rank up rewards
• And a new tavern crawl, side-shop mini game, and tweaks to how things like betting and gifting battle passes works.

Then there are this year’s rank-up rewards:

• Level 160: Sanctums of the Divine terrain.
• Level 200: Living towers.
• Level 255: The Toy Butcher Pudge Persona.
• Level 305 The Disciple’s Path Anti-Mage Persona.
• Level 375: The One True King Wraith King Arcana.
• Level 445: The Eminence of Ristul Queen of Pain Arcana.
• Level 575: Compass of the Rising Gale Windranger Arcana.

There are also new chat wheel sounds, emoticons, taunts, sprays, ping cosmetics, and consumables and a bunch of other things. Like I said, it’s a lot. Probably even too much. And yet after almost a year away from the game I’m already feeling myself drawn back to it, even without a giant esports competition for it to all build toward later this summer.

Some players will probably be disappointed to see familiar fan-favourite heroes getting even more cool new looks while others go under-appreciated, but also not one of the new designs looks bad. Of course, only time will tell if they are worth the unusual combination of blood, sweat and money Dota 2's battle passes inevitably require.