Valve has finally released the much anticipated annual update for Dota 2 ahead of The International 12, the annual celebration of community and support for its professional scene. This year, however, instead of the yearly battle pass, they chose to roll the Compendium for this season.
As previously stated, Valve opted to cancel the Battle Pass mainly because the earnings were not proportional to the resources invested in the upgrade, which was only celebrated for a limited period of time. Instead, they will concentrate on important in-game updates that they believe will have a greater influence on the game as a whole.
And after months of waiting, Valve finally released the TI12 Compendium yesterday, which featured quite a few rewards focused on the Dota 2 Championship. These include a set of stickers, fantasy roll tokens, TI-themed and special loading screens, special teleport effect, permanent chat-wheel lines, a TI12-themed HUD, and a replica of the Aegis of the Immortal.
To get these items, players have a choice between two purchasing options: the Standard Compendium ($7.49) and the Upgraded Compendium ($29.99), with further level bundles expected to be added in next few weeks. Additionally, the upgraded version will include 50 Compendium levels and 28 boosters.
To make the in-game activities more fun, two new challenges have been added with the recent update. The first is the ‘Featured Player Quest’, which will have players take on the role of specific heroes used by pro players and teams throughout the current competitive season.
The second is called ‘Fantasy Draft,’ which lets players pick their favorite core, mid, and support each weekend during TI12. To enter, players need to use their Compendium rewards and earned rerolls to boost their selected players, which can give an advantage when they or their team perform certain actions in their games.
Although there are seemingly a lot of things to grind for in the few weeks, the rewards are arguably underwhelming compared to what Battle Pass used to offer. And this new approach was quickly met with mostly negative responses from fans and professionals, who vented their disappointment to social media, pointing out that most wanted items such as immortal and persona are now gone.
In addition to the lack of these items, there is worry over the prize pool for this year’s tournament. With only a few weeks until TI begins and the lack of these crucial rewards, fans are expecting a smaller prize money as Valve is unlikely to amass additional funds in such a short period of time. If this occurs, it will be the first time that TI reduces the prize pool.
Fans, however, could be in for a surprise as Valve has stated that they are currently working on additional cosmetic items, including unannounced Arcanas and an upcoming huge patch, which are planned to be unveiled by the end of TI12. For the time being, they must make do with the Compendium and support for their favorite teams.
