We’re still more than three months out from Dota 2’s biggest esports competition, The International 2019, but that also means that there’s three months for the tournament’s prize pool to swell to even more ludicrous levels than ever before. That’s right, the Dota 2 International Battle Pass has returned. If you’re not familiar with the Battle Pass, it’s essentially the means by which Valve crowdfunds The International’s money pot. The developer throws in $1.6 million, and then 25% of all money raised by sales of the pass and its many, many tiers is added on top. In 2018, the community contributed nearly $24 million to the pool, helping the tournament champions to a first-place prize of $11,234,158. But what does the community get for all this, you may ask? This year, a new event – Wrath of the Mo’rokai – sends players deep into the ruins of a lost civilisation in an upcoming game mode which will see you restore power to two ancient beasts who’ll battle alongside you. That’s far from everything that’s on offer, however. As you level up your pass, you’ll gain access to the Coach’s Challenge, which puts you in the driving seat of a team with a lower matchmaking ratio than your own. There’ll also be new party finding tools and the ability to forever remove certain players from your matchmaking pool. Techies: Dota 2 Champions OG were recently defeated by a team of AI players As you level further, you’ll be able to double down on your ranked rewards, high-five fellow players and unlock a suite of new items. If you make it to Battle Pass level 1000, you’ll get a 1/5th scale replica of the Champion’s Aegis. Those who make it to level 2000 will get a Baby Roshan statue – which Valve suggests won’t be subject to the same problems as the memento’s last time out. The 2019 Battle Pass is the fastest-growing yet, taking the prize pool past the $5 million mark in around 11 hours. There’s a long way to go to top last years’ efforts, but given that The International doesn’t begin until August 20, there’s plenty of time to reach a new record high.<doc-sep>I’m playing Dota 2 again following the release of the game’s 2019 battle pass. There are new treasures to collect. Big tournaments are just around the corner. And I’ve spent another $10 on that battle pass. I can’t tell if this game is actually exciting again or if I just feel compelled to play because there’s a fresh batch of brass rings to grind for. Advertisement In my first match after coming back, I played as Zeus. He’s been a favorite hero of mine since the game’s beta, mostly because of how straightforward and instantly gratifying he can be. Zeus is a nuker, which is the genre’s parlance for someone with a few attacks that deal lots of damage. His ultimate, God’s Wrath, doesn’t even require you to be near your opponents; it automatically hits everyone on the map, no matter where they are, dealing a hefty amount of damage in the process. Whether you’re a newcomer to the game, an experienced verteran, or somewhere in between (like I am), killing some unsuspecting player with a move like God’s Wrath is incredibly satisfying. I keep coming back to Dota 2 because it’s a deep and complex competitive multiplayer game, but these simple pleasures are what really make it fun. This year, it’s less clear to me how the battle pass factors into that. I still want to collect all the goodies, and I don’t mind throwing some extra bucks Valve’s way after spending over 1,000 hours with its game, but the grind has become more of a time suck than ever. Also, some of the new ways that statistical analysis have begun creeping into the game have made it feel like a chore. The battle pass was once little more than a glorified guide to Dota 2’s annual world championship tournament, The International. In recent years, the battle pass has become much, much more. It allows players to bet special in-game currency on their matches, which can then be spent on increasing their battle pass level. It also opens up entire new modes. The pass itself can be leveled up, and as players hit certain tiers on the path to ranking up their battle pass, they can unlock things like new special sound effects, map skins, and character cosmetics. It’s sort of like a giant, communal scavenger hunt, and some of the proceeds from that go to help fund the prize pool for the tournament while the rest flow into Valve’s coffers. This year’s version has included some strange and unwelcome choices. You used to be able to earn extra levels by trading in Immortal Treasures, the loot boxes that gift you anywhere from one to several unique and intricate skins. Now you can only recycle the contents inside of the Immortal Treasures to get new unopened ones. And even to do that, you need to collect four or more. It’s always been hard to level up the battle pass beyond 100 just by playing, but now it’s that much harder. Advertisement Advertisement But a lot of the best rewards require you to do just that. Custom lane creeps that change the game’s main computer-controlled enemies into lizards require reaching level 182 in the battle pass. Axe Unleashed, a special skin completely changes the look of one of the game’s most iconic characters (and one of my personal favorites), requires reaching level 425. A custom visual overhaul of the game’s map that makes it into a series of ancient, jungle-engulfed ruins, requires reaching level 160. I could pay for additional levels at $10 per 25, but that feels like it would defeat the purpose of earning cool new Dota 2 stuff by doing cool stuff within the game. Then there are the ways that the battle pass is optimizing play in conjunction with the Dota Plus AI coaching service. The tool now shows you win rates in-game depending on which hero you pick at the start of the match and also depending on who else has already been chosen. A special meter in the top left corner lets you know exactly how much of the damage you’re taking is physical as opposed to magical, which can guide you in your decisions about gear to purchase during a match. There’s even a timer now to help automate the stacking of creep camps, one of Dota 2’s more esoteric skills that can help teams gain material advantages over one another by farming the enemies on their side of the map in the most effective way possible. All of that is very helpful. But it’s not available to anybody who didn’t bother to buy the battle pass, creating an uneven playing field that encourages everyone else to join the arms race. Advertisement Even if I chose to opt out of these tools, they’re now embedded in the rest of the Dota 2 landscape. It’s not quite a pay-to-win situation, and not quite pay-to-grind either, but for all of the delightful things attached to this year’s battle pass, so few of them feel geared toward helping refresh my relationship to a game whose fundamentals I already love.<doc-sep>
The Dota Pro Circuit is nearing its end, and now Valve has revealed the content-rich Battle Pass that players can purchase now in preparation for The International 2019. Dota 2’s TI9 Battle Pass doesn’t just come with the basic add-ons of special items and cosmetics, instead, it brings in a new game mode, features, consumables, challenges, and a slew of unique rewards that will run all the way through the event in August. The International 2019 Battle Pass has arrived — https://t.co/q8yEGaspy4 pic.twitter.com/tcTRozoZhl — DOTA 2 (@DOTA2) May 7, 2019 The pass brings with it a special game mode called Wrath of the Mo’rokai, where players try to feed special creatures until they awaken and join the battle against the opposing team’s ancients. The new mode, Jungle Expedition, also looks to be a very focused on providing a unique experience. If playing in those new modes isn’t exactly what you are looking for, players can also use the Coach’s Challenge mode to try and lead teams of lower ranked players to victory. This mode received a lot of bug fixes and quality of life changes, as well as a dedicated leaderboard for coaches to compete on. A new Party Finder has also been added, allowing players to add friends or players from random matches into a pool of preferred teammates. Once toggled on, players can join up in parties instantly if they are in someone’s pool. The above feature also now lets players do the opposite and avoid players they didn’t have a good experience with by marking them on the post-game screen. When matches are starting, players can now view an improved Versus Screen that will highlight a player on their team and show notable achievements from their Dota 2 career and prior matches. After a match, players can also vote for the MVP of their team, which can then also be displayed on a player’s Versus Screen profile. A handful of features are returning in the TI9 Battle Pass, including wagering, ranked roles, and in-game tipping to name a few. There are also dozens of new consumables, collectibles, taunts, banners, and more to collect through the challenges and other reward systems. Players can purchase the Battle Pass at several different levels, starting with the basic pass, which is $9.99. If players don’t want to play any of the special events or complete the challenges, they can purchase those levels from the start: 50 levels for $29.35 and 100 levels for $44.99—and still get all of the rewards. As usual, 25 percent of every purchase will be added directly into the prize pool for TI9, increasing the already massive $1.6 million pool even further. You can purchase your Battle Pass from the official Dota 2 website. Every event, challenge, reward, and mode included in the TI9 Battle Pass will be available through the TI9 which runs from Aug. 20 to 25.