Two more heroes are joining the Dota 2 roster in 2017, Valve confirmed at The International, the annual world championship tournament for the company’s Defense of the Ancients sequel. We only have a name for one of the new champions, and little information about either, but both will enter the Dota 2 roster as part of the game’s next big update.
We’ve known for some time now that Valve wanted to increase the frequency of new characters joining the Dota 2 roster. And it would seem the company still has some work to do, since it’s been 12 months since the last additions to the game, but 2017 marked the second consecutive year in which two new Dota champions were confirmed at The International. Last year, Valve revealed Underlord, the final member of the old Dota roster to make the jump, and the game’s first new champion, Monkey King. This year, we met Sylph (or least most fans assume we did) and an unidentified armadillo with a penchant for fencing. Some theories suggest the latter is the first new Break hero added to Dota in more than a decade.
Valve didn’t actually release abilities, names or stats for either of the new roster members during TI7. The second character shown in the footage is believed to be Sylph, based on references found in the game’s code earlier this month. The only thing we know for certain is that both of the new heroes will join the Dota 2 roster as part of the Dueling Fates update. We don’t have a timeline for the patch; however, Valve tends to publish big updates within a few weeks of the International. So it’s possible we’ll see the Dota 2 roster expand before the end of the month.
For an early look at the next pair of heroes headed to the Dota 2 roster, take a few minutes to watch the teaser that aired during TI7. Then head down to the comments section and let us if you’re excited about the next two additions to the game.
Dota 2 is currently available on Windows and OS X.
Be sure to check back with Player.One and follow Scott on Twitter for more Dota 2 news in 2017 and however long Valve supports Dota 2 in the years ahead.
