Dota 2 News

Dota 2's Crownfall Act 3: The Frosts of Icewrack arrived last night, and along with a new overworld map, "collector's cache" items, and a new comic advancing the story, there's also a very unexpected surprise: A full-on fighting game...
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This is not a drill, nor a joke. Dota 2 now has a fighting game mode included as part of the recent Crownfall update. Included within the battle pass, it has five characters, dedicated move lists for each fighter, alternative skins, frame data, and more. It's a little cheap sure, and not quite a fully-fledged fighting game, but it's real. Fun too!

This inclusion - titled Sleet Fighter by the way - was a total surprise addition to the game, and has been recieved rather well! Sure, it's purely PvE at the moment, but as far as battle pass rewards go, it's way more interesting than new skins or currency. It's not the first time Dota 2 has included such a mini-mode either. Roughly four years ago battle pass owners were able to play a Dota Underlords-style hero battler.

In terms of other rewards, Dota 2 players get some treasures, candy snacks which can be exchanged for hero sets, couriers, wards and more. There are also Crownfall coins that provide handy discounts for those who collect enough of 'em. All in all, a fairly standard selection of battle pass prizes aside from, you know, the fully functional fighting game.

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June has come and, as it tends to do, now left us, probably forever. You'd be forgiven for forgetting all about crowns and them falling dramatically from the heads of fantasy birds and just enjoying your summer — slowing down, taking it easy, having a picnic at the beach or just napping for a while in a hammock. Well, we hope you enjoyed it, because July has come roaring into all of our lives, and with it, Crownfall Act III: The Frosts of Icewrack. In fact, the lazy, meandering intro to this blog post is probably all the lounging around your poor eyeballs are going to get. Even as this June-esque paragraph winds its way towards a rambling sun-dappled conclusion, Act III is ramping up, July-like, to be the most eventful act yet.

Act III comes with an entirely new overworld map, located in the frigid north. It has mysteries, no small number of monsters, quite a bit of snow, and one hell of a barroom brawl. (And, as always, some surprises you'll have to find on your own.) Act III also comes with the Crownfall Collector's Cache, featuring 16 of the highest-rated sets from the last community vote.

If you've been playing along through Crownfall as each act releases and want to jump right in to the new Act III content, you can start with Act III's intro comic, The Dragon, following Shen and her allies as they land in Icewrack, searching for Kestrel and his army. If you want a refresher on how we got here, you can also read the Act I intro comic, Ascension Day, and the Act II intro, The Battle of Hell's Basin.

If you're just joining in now, this is your reminder that all of the previous acts are still available, and will remain so through to the end of Crownfall. Speaking of which, given how much the event has grown since we initially imagined it (and how much its still growing), we've also decided to extend the event end date to October.

We're looking forward to the final battle with Queen Imperia. We'll see you there.

There are millions of Dota players around the world, and every day their adventures offer up experiences ranging from universal (a savvy swipe of an Aegis) to one-in-a-billion (a RAMPAGE by Chen) — including thrilling moments, silly moments, and everything in between. And since the only thing as fun as playing Dota is savoring those signature plays with friends, today we're excited to roll out Game Recording, a new built-in Steam feature that makes sharing those special Dota moments easier than ever before.

Game Recording lets you save your gameplay — either by recording in the background or manual hotkey activation — to replay at your convenience. Recordings in Dota 2 will include a timeline filled with game-defined markers, but you can also add your own markers at any point. Scrub through a recording while you're still playing to review things like confusing teamfights or a failed gank, or take your time after the game to find the most entertaining moments and memes-to-be that you want to share. You can easily clip the good stuff and discard the rest. Snipping and sharing your clips with friends is just a few clicks away.

Ready to get rolling? Simply opt into the Steam Beta Update in your Steam Interface Settings to join the fun. You'll be clipping and shipping highlights in no time. Need a bit more info on how it works? Head over to the Steam Game Recording webpage for more in-depth details. Then start sharing your clips through Steam or wherever you chat with your friends — we're excited to see what you make! And if you run into any issues or feel the feature is missing something, please share those thoughts as well. In the meantime, we'll keep working on improvements as the Beta moves towards full Steam release, and we'll also continue looking at ways to enhance how Dota specifically can make use of all the new features.