After years of fans bashing the content delivered in the yearly tradition of Dota 2 Battle Pass, in 2023 the developer of the game has finally decided to stop making one, putting a possible end to the popular franchise dating back to 2013. The reason behind this decision was publicly announced by Valve as an effort to move away from the "single focal point around which all content delivery was designed" and towards a more encompassing model of content updates for all players.

No matter if you’re a veteran player who still remembers all the previous years’ battle passes, or a new player who doesn’t know what you’ve missed, let’s take the time to read the following article to reminisce about all the years that Dota 2 players spent trash-talking this monetization model of the video game industry which Dota itself pioneered.

What is Dota 2 Battle Pass?

Dota 2 Battle Pass is a purchasable item that players can buy in order to have access to tournament specials and event features, as well as a wide range of earnable cosmetic items, quests, fantasy leagues, game modes, and more. It is similar to past compendiums and contains numerous quests, achievements, and rewards for those who spend money to acquire it. The Battle Pass usually has a theme and a duration that matches the season of The International or another event. For example, the 2022 Battle Pass is themed around Nemestice, a cosmic event that brings meteor storms to the Dota 2 world.

The Battle Pass also contributes to the prize pool of The International, the biggest and most prestigious Dota 2 tournament. 25% of every Battle Pass purchase made before The International concludes goes directly to the prize pool. This is the monetization structure that Dota created back in 2013 and has since been adopted by many other developers in the video game industry. To date, Dota 2 still holds the record of the highest prize pool for any single esports tournament with over $40 million USD raised in The International 2021.

What perks come with purchasing the Battle Pass?

Some of the rewards for purchasing the Battle Pass are:

• Immortal Treasures: These are chests that contain exclusive cosmetic items for various heroes, some of which have custom effects and animations. There are usually three types of Immortal Treasures, each with different items and rarities. You can earn Immortal Treasures by leveling up your Battle Pass or by purchasing them directly.
• Arcana and Persona skins: These are special cosmetic items that transform the appearance, voice, animations, and effects of a hero. They are usually very rare and expensive, but the Battle Pass offers them as rewards for reaching certain levels. For example, the current Battle Pass offers a Dragon Knight Persona at level 275 and a Spectre Arcana at level 330.
• Cavern Crawl: This is a mini-game where you explore a map of rooms by winning games with specific heroes. Each room contains a reward, such as Battle Points, cosmetics, or consumables. You can also unlock special styles for some of the cosmetics by completing certain paths.
• Weekly Quests: These are challenges that you can complete by playing games with any hero, thereby gaining Battle Points that will level up your Battle Pass.
• Predictions and Fantasy: These are features that allow you to test your knowledge and prediction skills in Dota 2 matches, tournaments, or events. Basically, you will make outcome predictions and earn Battle Points if you are correct.
• Stickers and Chat Wheel: These are ways to communicate with your teammates and opponents in-game. You can use stickers to express your emotions or reactions or use chat wheel sounds to play voice lines from casters or pro players. Some of these sounds are exclusive to the Battle Pass and can only be used during the season.

Most items obtained from the Battle Pass are not tradeable but can be sent as gifts to someone else, as long as you’ve been friends with them in the game for more than 1 month. You can also recycle duplicate or unwanted items for Battle Points and other rewards.

When did the first Battle Pass take place?

The first official Battle Pass took place in 2016, when Valve renamed the compendium to Battle Pass and expanded it to include more features and events, such as quests, seasonal effects, and custom game modes. The first Battle Pass was the Winter 2016 Battle Pass, which was associated with the Shanghai Major tournament.

However, the first known instance of a paid battle pass came via Dota 2 back in 2013, when Valve released a purchasable Dota 2 Compendium for The International 3, the game’s pinnacle event for its esports scene. The Dota 2 Compendium was a digital book that allowed players to follow the tournament and support their favorite teams, as well as earn various rewards and features. It also contributed to the prize pool of The International, as 25% of every Compendium purchase went directly to the prize pool.

With Dota 2 Battle Pass 2023 off the map, what to expect now for Dota 2 players?

Now that Dota 2 Battle Pass 2023 release date is not imminent, and a future Battle Pass 2024 is dim, what do Dota 2 players have to expect for the remainder of this year? Keep an eye out for a The International-themed update in September 2023, which will include some new features and rewards for all players, not exclusively for those who pay for a pass like usual. The September update will not introduce any new cosmetic items, which will break the tradition of past Battle Pass iterations and might be a letdown to some. Most likely, what players can expect from this update are something along the lines of in-game stickers, player fantasy cards, or talent voice lines. Also, there will still be a crowdfunding aspect that contributes to the TI prize pool, but we don’t expect it to break any funding records.

Besides, there’s also the annual Dota 2 tournament - The International. It is the biggest and most prestigious event on the Dota Pro Circuit, where global top Dota 2 teams will compete for the massive prize pool that was traditionally partially crowdfunded through the Battle Pass system. Valve contributes $2 million USD of its own money as the starting pot for the prize pool every year. The Battle Pass usually contributes the majority to the prize pool of The International, but Valve has not revealed how they will handle the crowdfunding this year. Dota 2 The International 2023 will take place in Seattle, the United States from 14th-19th October 2023. The venue will be the Climate Pledge Arena. Fans can expect more details and announcements from Valve in the coming months.

Here is a list of the previous winners of The International, the annual Dota 2 world championship tournament:

• The International 2011: Natus Vincere (Ukraine)
• The International 2012: Invictus Gaming (China)
• The International 2013: Alliance (Sweden)
• The International 2014: Newbee (China)
• The International 2015: Evil Geniuses (USA)
• The International 2016: Wings Gaming (China)
• The International 2017: Team Liquid (Europe)
• The International 2018: OG (Europe)
• The International 2019: OG (Europe)
• The International 2020: Postponed due to the COVID-19 pandemic
• The International 2021: Team Spirit (Russia)
• The International 2022: Tundra Esports (Europe)

What is Dota 2 Compendium?

Dota 2 Compendium is a free tournament pass that features items made for The International, the biggest and most prestigious Dota 2 tournament. It contains a set of rewards that can be unlocked by leveling the compendium. In it, players can purchase Autograph Runes from casters, Player Cards, create a Fantasy Lineup, and make Tournament Predictions or Bracket Predictions.

The compendium was first introduced in 2013 as an interactive book that allowed players to follow the tournament and support their favorite teams. It was later renamed “Battle Pass” in 2016 and expanded to include more features and events. The current compendium is part of the Battle Pass 2021, which is themed around Nemestice, a cosmic event that brings meteor storms to the Dota 2 world. The compendium also contributes to the prize pool of The International, as 25% of every Battle Pass purchase before The International concludes goes directly to the prize pool.

So essentially, a Compendium is a specific type of Battle Pass that is associated with a specific tournament or event, such as The International or the Dota 2 Asia Championship. It allows players to follow the tournament and support their favorite teams, as well as earn various rewards and features. 

On the other hand, a Battle Pass is a more general term for a purchasable item that grants access to tournament and event features and a wide variety of earnable cosmetic items. It can include compendiums, but also other seasonal or thematic events, features, and rewards, such as Nemestice or Aghanim's Labyrinth. A Battle Pass usually has a theme and a duration that matches the season of the event.

Conclusion

Effectively, Valve said that over the years the Battle Pass had become the way that all significant Dota updates had been delivered, and they basically realized that this strategy was limiting themselves since most Dota players never buy a Battle Pass. We will have to wait and see what this monetization model is replaced with, and whether Valve has a plan to still make plenty of money from Dota without having to rely on the Battle Pass. A possible hypothesis is that the demolition of Battle Pass is a case of them not caring about making money from Dota as much, because at the end of the day, Steam is the single most important thing that matters to them.

Dota 2 is arguably one of the most popular strategic role-playing games, where two teams of five players compete to destroy the enemy's base. If you are a new player, read this Dota 2 beginner’s guide 2023 for the bare minimum knowledge you’d need to start playing the game.

What Dota 2 hero should you pick as a first-time player?

In Dota 2, each player controls a single hero with a unique set of skills and characteristics. Every hero is overpowered in their own way, along with their own weaknesses, which means no one is really overpowered, and that is how the creator keeps the game balanced. New players are recommended to select heroes from the Low Complexity pool in order to get the feel of the game, then you can slowly move your way up to more complex heroes. Before jumping right into the queue, you should try your heroes out in the demo mode.

Every hero in Dota 2 can technically take on any role in the game. When you are at the newbie stage, there are no specific line-up rules as well as no standard mid, AD, carry, or jungle role you need to remember. Just pick any one hero of your liking and start the game.

There’s a pre-game phase in Dota 2, in which 2 players from each team will select their heroes first, then the other 2 players from each team will take the turn picking theirs, then the final player from each team will take their pick. This phase allows the teams to build their overall draft and counter-pick the opponent. But of course as a newbie, just make a random pick and pray for your teammates. 

After the pre-game phase comes the strategy phase, which is when the teams decide how they want to lane, where they want to ambush, what starting items they want to choose, etc. If you don’t understand what’s going on yet, it’s totally fine to wait it out until the game is ready to load.

Before you begin, it’s probably useful to keep in mind that in Dota, you don't turn instantly when moving in the opposite direction because of a short delay called a 'turn rate'. Your game is not laggy so don’t fret.

How to win in the game of Dota 2?

In Dota 2, each team has a base with a main building called the Ancient, which must be protected at all costs. The first team to destroy the enemy's Ancient wins the game.

Now you’ve first entered the game, your hero will spawn in the area of your team’s Ancient. If you skipped the strategy phase where you’re supposed to plan your items, this is where you should open your Shop to choose your items. Click on Browse all guides where you’ll see plenty of guides made by top-gear players, select a guide for items, and follow it. 

Be sure to make use of all your item slots to buff your hero’s characteristics. You will be given 6 item slots, 3 backpack slots, 1 neutral item slot, and 1 TP scroll slot. 

Your teleport scroll allows you to teleport back to the base or any tower on the map. Item slots are for items that you buy and use. When you run out of slots, place them in your backpack and switch them out when you want to use them. Of course, there will be a cool-down when you switch your item back. Almost every item is usable, meaning that you have to press and activate the different effects that come with each item in order to see how the effect plays out with your hero. Item builds in Dota 2 are pretty complicated to explain, and since the equipment of items is a crucial part of any winning strategy in Dota 2, you should pay attention to the different effects of these items early on and hopefully improve your judgment with them while you play.

There are 2 Shops in the game: 1 in your base and 1 outside of the base, which is the secret shop. Veteran players would want to delve into strategies that prevent enemies from reaching the secret shop so they don’t get to buy items, but as a new player, you should ignore that for now. If you need an item there, you can walk or buy it with your Courier, which is a unit that delivers the items you need from the shops to you. Your Courier can be killed and will start flying when you reach level 4. As you level up, your Courier will gain your hero abilities as well. So remember to set a hotkey for your Courier.

Which lane should you choose as a new Dota 2 player?

The Dota 2 map is divided into three lanes: top, middle, and bottom. Each lane has a series of towers that defend the base from enemy creeps and heroes. Destroying towers grants gold and map control to the team. As you play the game, you’ll learn the different lane combinations with different heroes. Right now, you’re either a Core or a Support hero - there are 3 core rows, 2 support rows, and 0 jungle rows. Each Core goes to each of the 3 lanes. The top and bottom lanes will have a Support to follow a Core. 

First, you want to move out of your base and plant the Observer Ward, a watcher that gives a ground vision to your team for a period of time. You are given 2 Observer Wards from the start, they are free and will have a cool-down. Plant them wherever you want throughout the whole game, preferably on the cliffs, which are the terrain that you cannot get to unless you use a certain spell or special item. 

There are day vision and night vision in Dota 2, you see more during the day and less during the night. Certain heroes see less during the day and more during the night, while certain heroes have the effect of reducing your vision, etc. Every tree in Dota is a Fog of War: you’re not invisible, you’re just in their shadows. If the enemy has no ward and you hide behind a tree, the enemy won’t be able to see you. 

There are also high ground and low ground, which are rather easy to recognize on the map. It is always advisable to be on the high ground because you have more vision, and if the enemy wants to attack you from the low ground, there is a 25% chance to miss.

How do gold and experience work in Dota 2?

Heroes can be improved over the course of the game by gaining experience, levels, and items. Experience is earned by being near enemy creeps or heroes when they die. Levels increase the hero's stats and unlock or upgrade their abilities. Items provide various benefits and can be purchased with gold.

Gold is earned passively over time, by killing enemy creeps, heroes, or buildings, or by using certain abilities or items. Gold can be lost upon death unless the hero has a reliable gold source (such as killing an enemy hero).

There are two types of creeps in Dota 2: lane creeps and neutral creeps. The lane creeps spawn periodically from each base and march toward the enemy base, fighting any enemy units they encounter. Neutral creeps spawn in the jungle, an area between the lanes, and can be killed for gold and experience. Jungle creeps will drop items after 7 minutes. 

There’s an interesting detail of the game that creeps can be blocked in Dota, and in fact, you can kill your own creeps in order to control where you want your creeps to be positioned, or if you want to prevent your enemy from earning gold.

How do runes work in Dota 2?

There are also various objectives on the map that provide strategic advantages to the team that controls them. These include runes, which spawn every two minutes and grant temporary buffs; Roshan, a powerful neutral creep that drops an item that can revive a hero once; and Outposts, which grant vision and experience to the team that captures them.

Your first objective is going to be the Bounty Rune. Every 5 minutes since the beginning of the game, the Bounty Runes will spawn on four specific areas of the map. If any one hero of your team takes them, the whole team gains gold and it’s important to fight for it. 

Starting from the 6-minute mark, a Power Rune will spawn every 2 minutes on a random rune spot within the river. The Power Rune provides a special effect for the players who take them and is particularly important to the mid-lane hero as it helps them win the lane or gang other lanes. There are 6 types of Power Runes: Arcane Rune - reduces mana cost and cool-down, Invisibility Rune - gives the player invisibility effect for a period of time, Regeneration Rune - regens the player back to full health and mana, Illusion Rune - conjures 2 illusions of the hero which deal 35% damage, Haste Rune - gives the player max movement speed, and Double Damage Rune - which is self-explanatory.

A little bit more about invisibility: Invisibility is a huge part of the game, and there are spells, items, and runes that can make your hero invisible. An opponent can only see your invisible hero when they have True Sight, which they’ll have to buy with gold and activate the items’ effect.

In Dota 2, there are several types of Damage: physical, magical, pure, piercing, siege, spell, HP removal, and instant kill. Physical damage is inflicted with right-mouse clicks and can be mitigated by armor or evasion. Magic damage can be mitigated by magic resistance or spell immunity.

New players usually choose a Support role, but remember, Support heroes in Dota are not just harassment tools - they have to control Runes and Stack, pull creeps to prevent the enemy from getting gold and experience, control lotuses for HP/mana regeneration, bring utilities to Core hero, place vision all over the map, gank allies of your won lane, and much more. Start slow, and eventually, you’ll find the macro mechanics in Dota 2 really fascinating.

That has been the basic Dota 2 beginner’s guide 2023 minus any advanced strategy or hero combination. Now you should have everything you need to know to start playing Dota. Happy farming!

According to a recent report, the gaming community across the world has got a big shock as knowing that prison in Philippine suddenly held a DOTA competition for their inmates. This may be the first time there has been an eSports competition in prison.

For those unknown, it is the Bureau of Jail Management and Penology in Baguio City, Philippine. Accordingly, in the eSports competition, participants will compete with each other via DOTA 1 via the local area network (LAN). When it comes to DOTA 1, this MOBA game doesn’t require an Internet connection. It can also run smoothly on low-configuration computers.

The main purpose of this competition aims to help inmates improve their spiritual life, strength, as well as comfort so that they can continue receiving reform. The prison later posted some pics on social networks and managed to draw huge interest and surprise from the gaming community.

In addition, inmates in this prison from Philippine were reportedly aware of the importance of wearing a face mask during the competition. The COVID-19 pandemic has kept ongoing and there was no guarantee that these inmates didn’t get infected while making an effort to become a final winner.

Right after being posted on social networks, these photos have rapidly received lots of positive feedbacks from the gaming community and the netizens across the world.

Apart from allowing inmates to play eSports games, this prison also holds many other competitions to improve inmates’ wellbeing. They include paintings, special art projects, charcoal drawings, as well as singing competitions.

Also check out: Criticized For Showing Off Boobs On Live Stream, Sexy Streamer Writhed: It Was Just Because Men Love Watching Like That

Making progress

The South American Dota 2 scene has progressed a lot since regional qualifier tickets are handed out to the division to attend official Valve tournaments, However, they still need to grow a lot.

Sadly, although Valve tried to improve the SA region, its roster stability is still something that needs improving. Match-fixing, cheating attempts and all the dark sides of professional environment still prevail much. In a recent event, Chaos Esports Club decided to get out of the SA scene.

The sad truth

Despite no given announcement from the team about the reason behind their decision, many players from SA confirm that those who come from other countries were not warmly welcomed in SA. In fact, while many foreign players are likely to think that high-tier players from North America and Europe being enthusiastic about going to SA and attending competitions there would improve SA scene, the SA players have an opposite point of view.

Insider's words

Infamous Gaming's captain, Mariano “Papita” Caneda, is now facing the same problem as Chaos did several weeks ago. Four players from Europe play together on the team led by him. Being one of the most victorious Dota 2 team in SA, Infamous's roster had only played in SA until this year. In 2017, in the shuffle after TI7, Papita became a member of the team, and from that point, he's always willing to do anything to make his team succeed. He accepted to swap role, he did his best to play as a midlaner while leading the team just to maintain their full SA roster, and he even wanted to persuade an NA icon to help improve the team but seems like none of his attempts succeeded. At the moment, Infamous has, alongside Papita who comes from Argentina, one Slovakian, one German and two Danish players.

Their newest member was Dominik “Black^” Reitmeier. The team officially made that decision after finishing at top three together with Black^ at the WSOE #6: Serenity’s Destiny tournament in Vegas. How was it possible for Infamous to get to the point that there is only one SA player in their roster? Here is the explanation from Papita.

“These are the difficulties that I and other SA players and teams encounter.” – Mariano “Papita” Caneda

Laziness and emotional instability

Without mentioning some specific names, Papita argues that players from SA don't want to follow a training habit and seem not to realize that practicing daily is required if one wants to keep up with the fast-paced developing meta on the competitive scene. On the emotional aspects, he thinks that “a bad day, a defeat or a situation that might occur in one’s personal life” can easily make the players stop trying, or convince them that there is no hope for their team. That leads to the option of quitting for most players. “They play without any objective,” he also says.

Match-fixing

Needless to say, this old problem still seems to be the worst thing to happen in SA scene. Although many players have been prohibited from playing at Valve's competitions, there are possibly a large number of players who are willing to make money from match-fixing, says Papita.

Language barrier

“Many have been offered to join teams from other countries, but they haven’t been able to accept these offers because they don’t speak English.”

In addition, according to Papita, players from SA seems to be pleased just by being given a chance to attend a Major or a Minor and finishing with the last position at these competitions.

Disregarding teams that have non-SA players

"There are teams from South America who do not want to play with us, to scrim/ practice with us because they do not like our players,” says Papita. Worse than that, the teams that agree to have some practice games with Infamous are likely to share the strategies and the picks deployed by Infamous with other teams afterward.

Lastly, Papita reveals that Infamous will attend a boot camp in one week in Europe prior to Epicenter to spend some time practicing with European teams.

Infamous earned their slot at the latest Major, EPICENTER 2019 and qualified to perform in Moscow, Russia for an attempt to make a historical run that has the possibility to give them a slot at The International 2019 via Dota Pro Circuit system. EPICENTER will commence on June 22-30 featuring 16 teams battling for a piece of the $1,000,000 prize pool and 15,000 DPC points.

Right after the release of 7.22 Dota 2 update and before the EPICENTER major, we have the chance to see 12 top contenders in the world battling it out in the $300,000 ESL One Birmingham 2019 tournament. Here we have the chance to see big names like PSG.LGD, Team Liquid, Team Secret, Evil Geniuses adapting to the new patch, meta and gameplay.

The grand final of ESL One Birmingham 2019 saw Team Secret punching their way through lower bracket over PSG.LGD to compete against Evil Geniuses. The two teams faced each other many times recently in major tournaments, with Team Secret often ending up with more favorable results, especially with their high performance from every team member. However, after the “3rd place curse” was lifted, EG looked much stronger than ever before.

Going into the first game, both teams tried their best to outwit their opponent. Team Secret looked sharper with their players on good form, especially Yazied "YapzOr" Jaradat with his signature Rubick, preventing EG’s Tide and Enigma from casting their ultimates freely. EG resisted, trying to turn the table but it was Team Secret who outlasted their opponent to emerge victorious in the game one.

Unfazed, EG continued the series with dominance over their EU competitors, allowing no room for mistake as they tied out the series. Game 3 once again saw the decisive moment where YapzOr’s Enigma did a 3-man black hole to seal the fate for EG where their 2 cores don’t have buybacks.

Coming to game 4, EG overran Team Secret where the North Americans dominated the IO drafting, giving only 6 kills to their opponent.

The deciding game 5 kicked off as both teams looked set to hoist the trophy as well as the potential MVP prize featuring a Mercedes for the winner. The game went back and forth for over 40 minutes but Team Secret, with their better performance and consistency, came out victorious.

After the victory over 5 maps, Team Secret’s captain, Clement “Puppey” Ivanov was announced the tournament’s MVP. He was awarded a Mercedes from ESL.

With the tournament coming to an end, we should expect the StarLadder ImbaTV Dota 2 Minor followed by the EPICENTER Major, which are just over the horizon.

So just yesterday on the 18th of March, they have announced the new update for Dota Plus which will improve the gaming experience for the Dota pro circut (DPC.)

Predictions

This companion app with the name of  Dota Pro Circuit will give you the chance for Match Predictions and earn some Shards on the winner of the match.

Go and test out the power of gambling inside you by choosing beforehand the winner of DPC matches whenever you are. Wager on your call with your Shards to become the richest ever.

Fantasy

Using this app, now players can follow in real-time the DPC and join in Fantasy Challenge.

Just don't only sit there and watching the DPC, make your own champions team with the Fantasy Challenge. Gather up your team and fight against other players and the internet to earn the points.

Tournaments

To keep you updated on every event of Dota Pro Circuit we have the Tournament tab in this app. You could find every information you need up there from DPC standings, participating teams, match details (hero stats, net worth graph...), and event standings. Later in the tournament, they will also keep on updating about Playoff matchups and Group Stage.

New News Feed

On more feature of this companion app is the customizable News Feed.

Customize your Feed by tag in your favorite players and team - keep them feature on top of your Feed. With this News Feeds, the app will update you everything like upcoming matches, roster changes, match results ... in real-time. Click on the News and you could go in to explore further about achievements, player profiles, team history.

Match details

Never again miss any detail or even a minute with the DPC companion app. With all the details on the last series, you can follow live games and check to see what is happening even if you couldn't watch.

Go on and check out the app now. It has been released for both iOS and Android.

Although the official location for one of Dota 2's biggest events has yet to be determined, according to Esports Insider, Disneyland Paris amusement park will likely become a destination for gamers this summer.

The Major tournament this year will take place in May and June during the DPC season, according to Esports Insider reporting that the venue for the event may be the happiest place on the planet - Disneyland Paris.

The information was revealed when Esports Insider discovered a list of job vacancies for sales positions in common esports events, such as Dote 2 Major and the League of Legends European Championship. Disneyland has a high potential to become an event venue for Dota 2 Major this year because Disney XD is regularly broadcasting EVO and Overwatch League events in recent times.

Mars Media, currently organizing MDL 2019 in Macau on February 20, will be partnering to host the Dota 2 Major event this year.

We still do not know exactly what the event taking place in Paris will fall on May 2^nd to 12^th or at the end of June. Therefore, there will be one more place that will take place Dota 2 Major has not yet been announced. If this year's tournament is held in France's capital, this will be the first time a Dota Major will be held in France's capital and the biggest Major event has ever been held in here. All competing teams will definitely be excited about coming to this place.

Similar to other Major tournaments, the Major event in Paris also has prizes up to $1 million and 15,000 DPC points.

The upcoming StarLadder ImbaTV Dota 2 Minor event will take place from March 7^th to 10^th. This event will finalize the final positions for the DreamLeague Season 11 Stockholm Major.