The number of playable heroes in Dota 2 is 119 right now, but it’s bound to hit 120 by the end of 2020. Valve announced the next hero for late November. Will they deliver on time?
It has been almost a year since the release of Void Spirit and Snapfire in Dota 2. The two heroes came out at the same time on November 26, 2019. Both are still quite popular even after numerous nerfs (Void Spirit). Last year there was also another hero released – Mars. This brought the number of new additions for 2019 to three. In 2020, we’re yet to see a new hero.
In the big update to Dota Plus, Valve also revealed that the latest hero to enter the Defense of the Ancients will come by the end of November.
We know the community tends to expect new heroes in the fall each year (usually released around November sometime). We are currently aiming for end of November for a new hero release, followed by more that are spread throughout next year with the next one in the first quarter next year.
Knowing Valve, the November hero might be delayed for Christmas.
Was the Next Hero Already Teased?
Some Dota 2 players with a keen eye probably noticed something in the trailer for Diretide 2020. We’re talking about the newspaper Snapfire’s holding and what’s on the back of it.
We can clearly see a silhouette that’s holding a crossbow and an eagle on the left? That could be just a filler, but we find it highly unlikely. Considering the trailer came a month before the supposed release of a new hero, it’s probably not a coincidence. If true, the new hero will probably be of the carry type (some sort of hunter) and most likely ranged. Who knows maybe the bird will be the new hero?
A couple of months back a data miner revealed 19 potential new heroes coming to Dota 2. The one teased at the back of the newspaper may fit one of those, namely “mouse”.
npc_dota_hero_mouse
- mouse_bola
- mouse_bolt_storm
- mouse_caltrops
- mouse_cancel_tunnel
- mouse_decoy
- mouse_detach_grappling_hook
- mouse_grappling_hook
- mouse_nitro_flask
- mouse_scamper
- mouse_takedown
- mouse_toxic_bolt
- mouse_tunnel
- mouse_whip
Then again, the abilities above remind us of another character within the Dota 2 world – Enno. The latter is one of the Underlords in the game of the same name which was Valve’s reimagining of Dota 2 Auto Chess. Enno is some sort of squirrely, rat thing, we’re really not sure but he uses poison and a grappling hook. He doesn't have a crossbow though. We might eventually see some characters from Underlords make their way into the popular MOBA.
Maybe There Will be Two New Heroes
If you check again the quote above by Valve, they never mention if it’s a single hero. Could it be another double like we saw with Snapfire and Void Spirit? It’ll certainly make up for the lack of new entries in the past 12 months.
There’s still a lot of speculation going on, but nothing is really certain. Our best guess is that the new hero will be the one teased in the Diretide trailer, but we could be wrong. What do you think? Share your thoughts on our Facebook page!
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