Kez:

• Base Armor increased from 0 to 2
  
• Base move speed increased from 315 to 320
  
• Falcon Rush attack rate for Sai decreased from 1.3/1.2/1.1/1.0 to 1.2/1.1/1.0/0.9
  
• Fixed bug where Falcon Rush could target units out of range
  
• Fixed bug where Falcon Rush ignored the attack speed cap

Today's update is as big as it gets. Not only are we releasing the fourth and final act of our multi-part Crownfall epic, we're celebrating with the debut of Kez, an all-new playable hero!

If you helped out Vengeful Spirit in Crownfall Act III, you already trekked your way through the icy tundras of Icewrack, found the Skywrath exile Kez, and convinced him to return home with you. In Act IV, he plans to reband the Kazurai and help you rid Skywrath of Imperia once and for all. And when he's not helping you commit regicide, he'll be all too happy to lend his blades to a little freelance work carving up some Ancients.

With the innate ability to swap weapon styles between his Kazurai Katana and Shodo Sai (unlocking more powers than there are days in the week), this martial master's kit comes with tons of options. Check out Kez's landing page to learn more about everything he can bring to the fight.

Princess Shen was first in line for the throne of Skywrath when her father, King Tatrasiel, fell ill and died. But her younger sister Imperia betrayed her, cast her from the highest tower of the Nest and left her for dead. She was found by the Flightless goddess Scree'Auk, and given the powers of a Vengeful Spirit.

Today, the resurrected Shen returns to Skywrath to battle her sister for the fate of the throne. And she will not be alone. All the heroes who have helped her along the way, from Dragonus to Axe to Kez to Crystal Maiden and more, will battle their way through three separate paths up the spires of Skywrath to the Nest of Thorns, where Imperia awaits for a final battle.

Crownfall Act IV is the epic conclusion to a journey that's taken us from the humble markets of Midgate to the rolling red sands of Druud and the wastes of the frozen north, and finally to the Nest of Thorns, the courtroom of the queen herself, for an ultimate showdown. Act IV boasts a massive new overworld map with three distinct questing paths, sidequests, minigames, and finally, a chance to defeat Imperia and unlock new Skywrath Mage and Vengeful Spirit Arcana alternate styles. So get ready for plenty of royal treasury looting along the way to the palace.

We've also got new Act IV-specific Pathfinder rewards, including custom Crownfall Scree'Auk and Avilliva towers and new Immortals. We've even added bonus content for Pathfinder pack owners for each act. You can now visit the Snake Charmer in Shen's questline in Act IV to claim your limited edition Crownfall character stickers.

If you've been playing along through Crownfall as each act releases and want to jump right into the new Act IV content, don't forget to read the latest intro comic, "Crownfall", before you start. And if you wouldn't mind a quick refresher of what, precisely, the hell is going on, feel free to read up on Act I's intro, "Ascension Day", Act II's, "The Battle of Hell's Basin" and Act III's "The Dragon".

Lastly, if you're just joining us now for the closing act of Crownfall... welcome! All of the previous acts are still available, and will remain so until Crownfall comes to a close January 15th, 2025, so there's still plenty of time to get started and a ton of content waiting for you.

That goes for the rest of you, too. If you've been puttering with the previous acts but waiting for everything to be available first, wait no longer. The entirety of Crownfall is now yours for the exploring. Work through all the maps, unravel the entire story, play all the games and unlock all the arcana styles.

...And, of course, spend all your coins and candy. For those of you sitting on any Crownfall Coins (or those of you planning to earn more playing through Act IV), remember to use them before the event ends on January 15th.

Very soon, a flightless named Kestrel will return from his Icewrack exile. He will reform a Kazurai army from the ashes of the old. He will join his new friends, a band of Oglodi warriors, and the rightful queen to storm the palace of the usurper Imperia. And he will change the history of Skywrath forever.

This is not that story. Not yet. (That's for tomorrow.)

This is the story of a much younger Flightless, who was brave (and stupid) enough to try defying a queen on the first anniversary of her ascension. His name is Kez.

This is his story.

Patch 7.37d is out now. You can check out the patchnotes here.

Congratulations to Team Liquid, Grand Champions at The International 2024. Dropping only three games throughout their championship run, this relentless Liquid squad washed away a field of fearsome contenders to resoundingly earn their place as the finest Dota team in the world.

Team Liquid's journey to the Aegis started smoothly with a pair of 2-0 series wins over Aurora and beastcoast, but a 0-2 showing against defending champions Team Spirit reminded everyone that the path to immortality is filled with formidable foes.

Their next opponent would only prove that point further. With Liquid holding a 1-0 advantage and the Upper Bracket almost within reach, underdogs BB Team ran away with the second match of their seeding set, threatening Liquid with a much more difficult Lower Bracket path. Undaunted, Liquid leveraged early action in game three to build an avalanching lead and ultimately secure their place in the Upper Bracket to begin the next stage.

Once there, the eventual champions never looked back. Their heroes were almost unkillable in a dominating 2-0 win over Xtreme Gaming, with only a single death amongst them in game two. Carrying that momentum forward, they opened their series on the main stage against Cloud9 with another stomp. Game two turned into a closer back-and-forth fight, but Liquid rode an epic late game teamwipe to victory and a place in the Upper Bracket Final against a familiar opponent — and constant obstacle in their path — the dangerous Gaimin Gladiators.

Flipping precedent, Liquid withstood Gaimin's early aggression and took the series 2-0, marching convincingly into the Grand Final. After Gaimin battled their way back for a rematch, Team Liquid took the chance to demonstrate that the results of the first matchup were no fluke. They dispatched their old nemesis in decisive 3-0 fashion to secure the Aegis and a place in Dota 2 history.

As bearers of the ultimate symbol of victory, these names shall forever be inscribed upon the Aegis of Champions:

2024 - Team Liquid

• Michael "miCKe" Vu
  
• Michał "Nisha" Jankowski
  
• Neta "33" Shapira
  
• Samuel "Boxi" Svahn
  
• Aydin "Insania" Sarkohi

Looking Back

We would like to once again thank all of the players, talent, and everyone in the Dota community for helping bring this global celebration to life. If you missed any of the tournament, or just want to relive the incredible plays, head over to the Dota 2 YouTube channel, where you can find replays of the entire tournament. You can also find a trove of photos from the event over on the Dota 2 Instagram and Dota 2 flickr.

Celebrate the Champions

Special Champion edition sticker capsules are now available for purchase for Team Liquid. Each capsule contains one sticker featuring miCKe, Nisha, 33, Boxi, Insania, or Team Liquid. 50% of all sales will go directly to Team Liquid.

The International Compendium

If you've still got some challenges to complete and rewards to claim in The International 2024 Compendium, there's a bit more time before it all wraps up. You can still snag additional levels for your Compendium until Tuesday, October 15th, and other goodies like supporters packs, talent bundles, and champion stickers will be available a few weeks longer.

Upcoming Hero and Crownfall Act IV

Also, in case you missed the trailer during The International, we announced Dota's next hero. Leader of the flightless, sworn enemy of Queen Imperia, and general troublemaker Kez will be joining the roster of Dota heroes when Crownfall Act IV releases.

For five straight days, sixteen teams have slugged their way through the Playoffs, and eight teams have earned a coveted spot at the main event: Team Liquid, Cloud9, Tundra Esports and Gaimin Gladiators in the upper bracket, and BB Team, Team Falcons, Aurora Gaming and Xtreme Gaming in the lower bracket.

Congratulations to all eight teams as they vie to capture the Aegis at The International — only at Copenhagen's Royal Arena, starting on the luckiest day of the year, Friday, September 13th!

[h5]Schedule[/h5]
The International Pre-show starts at 9:30 AM CEST, with the Opening Ceremony starting at 10 AM CEST and the first match between BB Team and Team Falcons starting soon after. Click here for the full schedule.

[h5]Getting In[/h5]
Arena doors open at 8 AM CEST daily, two hours before every day's first match at 10 AM CEST, Friday through Sunday. Be ready to scan your Ticketmaster pass to gain entry (you can save it to your Android/Apple phone wallet for convenience). Make sure to get it scanned again anytime you leave, so you can use the same pass to re-enter.

[h5]Getting To The Royal Arena[/h5]
Here are directions to the Royal Arena. There are Metro stations and a train station just a few minutes walk from the arena. Visit https://rejseplanen.dk/ for timetables.

[h5]Crimson Witness Treasure Drops[/h5]
Inside the venue, there are two locations where you can show your ticket and pick up that day's commemorative badge, one near the ground floor entrance and another near the first floor main entrance. Each day has a unique badge, and you'll have to link that day's badge to be eligible for Crimson Witness treasures, which will be dropped randomly for attendees with bound badges at the first blood of every game. This year’s event-exclusive treasure includes updated Immortal items for Night Stalker, Meepo, Disruptor, Luna and Templar Assassin!

If you're one of the millions of Dota fans around the globe planning to watch The International online, check out the list below. From Twitch to YouTube to SteamTV, The International will be streamed on multiple platforms in multiple languages.

• English: Twitch, SteamTV, YouTube
  
• Spanish: Twitch, Facebook, SteamTV, YouTube
  
• Russian: Twitch, SteamTV, YouTube
  
• Chinese: Twitch, SteamTV, Bilibili

The Secret Shop has two separate storefronts this year, depending on what part of the globe you're buying from— We Are Nations offers both US deliveries and international deliveries, and Perfect World offers domestic China deliveries and international deliveries. The stores have different items, so be sure to check out both.

If you’d like to see how the top eight teams got to where they are in the standings, you can
catch up on Playoffs matches here!

The best Dota players in the world have arrived in Copenhagen and the games are about to begin. That's right: The Road to TI's Group Stage is officially underway for The International 2024.

There's a lot of fun stuff to cover before the event starts, and not a lot of time, so we're gonna stop introducing the information and start the informing. Let's get to it.

Group Stage is always glorious chaos. This year, almost fifty games will be played in the first two days alone, spread across three streams for each of the four official broadcast languages:

• English: Twitch: Stream A, Stream B, Stream C; SteamTV: Stream A, Stream B, Stream C; YouTube: All Streams
  
• Spanish: Twitch: Stream A, Stream B, Stream C; Facebook: All Streams; SteamTV: Stream A, Stream B, Stream C; YouTube: All Streams
  
• Russian: Twitch: Stream A, Stream B, Stream C, Multi-Stream; SteamTV: Stream A, Stream B, Stream C, Multi-Stream; YouTube: All Streams
  
• Chinese: Twitch: Stream A, Stream B, Stream C; SteamTV: Stream A, Stream B, Stream C; Bilibili: Stream A, Stream B, Stream C

After Group Stage wraps up, starting Friday, September 6th, both The Road to the International and The International itself will broadcast on one stream per official language:

• English: Twitch, SteamTV, YouTube
  
• Spanish: Twitch, FaceBook, SteamTV, YouTube
  
• Russian: Twitch, SteamTV, YouTube
  
• Chinese: Twitch, SteamTV, Bilibili

If you're looking for unofficial languages, we've got those, too. We've handed out more than a dozen broadcast licenses, ranging from Bulgarian to Vietnamese, so check in with your local Dota community to find the best way to watch online.

And as always, anyone is welcome to join in on the streaming fun. We only ask that you follow our community streaming guidelines.

The International Secret Shop is once again open for business. We've got everything from mouse pads to jerseys to a real-life Toy Pudge plush, and so much more. There are two separate storefronts — We Are Nations offers both US deliveries and international deliveries, and Perfect World offers domestic China deliveries and international deliveries.

Ground-floor tickets for The International have sold out, and even arena seats are mostly gone, but there are still a few left.

For attendees:

• Your Ticketmaster ticket can be used for re-entry. Just remember to scan out as you leave so you can re-enter later in the day if you’d like.
  
• Each day of the event, you'll get a new commemorative badge with a unique code that can be registered to your Steam account for potential Crimson Witness treasure drops. (The URL for registration is on the badge.)

That's it for now. Honestly, that was a lot of information, and we're not going to lie, there might even be more on the way. But for now, don't worry about it. Just sit back, relax, and reread this blog post until you can recite it phonetically. We'll be calling everyone personally to verify you've got it memorized. You got this! Talk soon.

Patch 7.37c is out now. You can check out the patchnotes here.

The International is a celebration of Dota and the global community of players and fans who support it, providing a chance for everyone to come together and see it played at the highest possible level by the best teams in the world.

While the heart of The International is the community — everyone who makes a short film or a cosplay outfit or a T-shirt design, everyone who yells from the audience (or their couch) to cheer on their favorite team or hero — the matches they gather to watch are its core: When play begins, the focus is on the game itself and the players battling for victory.

Over the years, we've built a number of features into Dota to help celebrate these teams and players; unfortunately during that time we've seen those features increasingly being used not to showcase team or player identity, but rather to host advertisements. This year, to remove distracting elements and allow full focus on the game and the people playing it, we aren't going to have advertisements and sponsorships in-game at The International, including in team banners, base logos, and tags in player names.

We're only a few short weeks away from opening the curtain on this year's tournament. Whether you're meeting up in Denmark, or watching online, we'll see you soon.

The International doesn't just draw near. Like a supernatural clockwork carnival barker out in a dark forest, it beckons. We're two weeks away from the first games of The International Group Stage, and if you're a fan of professional esports, it's time to get excited. Floor tickets for all three days are sold out, but some arena seats are still available. Whether you've already bought your tickets or you're holding out until the last possible minute, we look forward to seeing you at Copenhagen's Royal Arena in September.

As our annual lead-up to the big event, we've just released this year's International Compendium. We even called in a favor with our newest old friend, who graciously volunteered to walk everyone through it. For those of you new to The International, the Compendium is a collection of activities and rewards focused on the players, teams, and matches in this year's tournament. Out-predict, out-fantasy, and out-bingo your friends while you watch — all while earning TI-themed rewards ranging from a new HUD to brand-new heroic effigies and a flashy new versus screen to show them off on.

Lastly, as you may have noticed by our clever introductory allusions, or by looking at the image above, or by clicking any of the links in this post, or by launching Dota before reading this, today's update also includes our newest hero: Cogliostro Kettle, The Ringmaster, has arrived. He's here, he's free, and he's available to all players right now.

But why introduce him further, when he's happy (believe us, more than happy) to introduce himself? Read on for his tragic backstory.