It’s only been a few days since the Kiev Major, the last stop on the road to this year’s Dota 2 world championship tournament, but Valve has released the Battle Pass for the 2017 International. And it’s looking like the best-assembled digital guidebook we’ve seen in the last few years, bolstered by the news that Dota 2 is getting its very own multiplayer campaign.
Battle Passes, if you aren’t familiar, are in-game purchases made available a few months before each Valve-sponsored Dota 2 event. They began life as Compendiums, digital guidebooks for the International, but have evolved in recent years to become their own sort of in-game event. Each Battle Pass has its own content and rewards, most of which also appeal to players uninterested in the competitive scene. Battle Pass owners also get access to daily and weekly quests, along with the now-standard three quest trees that can be completed over the course of the season. Passes also feature content popularized by the Compendiums, including tournament predictions that help level up your book while earning new rewards in the process. It’s like Valve’s version of the Road to Wrestlemania. (But cheaper and with fewer speedos.)
And with Friday’s release of the International Battle Pass, we got our first glimpse at some of the rewards associated with this year’s Dota 2 world championship. The theme this year is “Under The Sea” and includes the introduction of several nautically-themed Immortal items. Tidehunter and Kunka players will be thrilled to hear the mortal enemies are teaming up for their very own announcer pack. And, as we mentioned up top, Dota 2 is getting a story-focused multiplayer campaign. The first half, “Act 1: The Sands Of Fate”, is slated to arrive later this month. The second act, “A Vault In The Deep”, will debut in July, weeks before the Dota 2 community flocks to Seattle for this year’s International.
Valve is also giving Dota 2 players two means of rapidly improving their MMR. The first, seasonal MMR, should be familiar to longtime players. Complete 10 new placement matches, and at least 30 more after receiving your seasonal MMR, and you’ll have the option of replacing your existing MMR rating when International season is over. Players can also choose to double their MMR wager once per week -- two per week at BP level 255 and three per week at 395 -- to try and expedite their climb up the competitive ladder. It might even help me with my slow climb out of MMR hell. But losing also means paying twice the standard penalty. So be careful.
The annual Arcana vote is back too, along with token wagering and Battle Cups, and players who finish at least three games per week will be placed into weekly, community-wide drawings for Relics that will last until next year’s International. For more information on the content and rewards associated with this year’s International Battle Pass, head over to the BP section of The International’s sub-site. Or head down to the comments and let us know which reward(s) from the TI7 Battle Pass you’re most excited about.
Dota 2 is currently available on Windows and OS X.
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