The special summer event for The International 10 Battle Pass has finally launched.
A year after the wholly underwhelming limited-time game mode seen in the TI9 Battle Pass, Valve pulled out all the stops with new mini-game Aghanim’s Labyrinth. While Wrath of the Mo’Rokai was a standard Dota 2 game mode with a few extra bells and whistles, Aghanim’s Labyrinth is a new roguelike PVE experience.
Valve made a special trailer for the new game mode, which fans can also find on YouTube:
The game mode itself hearkens back to the Underhollow, the limited-time game mode from 2018. Like the Underhollow, Aghanim’s Labyrinth pits players against a random series of challenges and tasks them to survive. Separating Aghanim’s Labyrinth is the fact that this is a wholly cooperative experience involving teams of four players, rather than something more akin to a battle royale.
Unlike anything previously seen in Dota 2, Aghanim’s Labyrinth also introduces an actual progression system between games. Players can earn permanent power-ups and perks that carry forward to future games of Aghanim’s Labyrinth. With this in mind, there are four levels of difficulty in Aghanim’s Labyrinth that players can choose from.
For casual playthroughs, the game will have a roguelike style in the vein of games like Binding of Isaac, where various challenges are randomly introduced to create a unique experience in each game. There will also be a ranked ladder called Aghanim’s Trials that uses a premade dungeon to test players’ skills.
New game mode Aghanim’s Labyrinth not exclusive to TI10 Battle Pass
Another key difference between Aghanim’s Labyrinth and other past Dota 2 limited-time game modes attached to The International Battle Pass is the fact that players don’t actually need to purchase the TI10 Battle Pass in order to play. Dota 2 players that haven’t purchased the battle pass are still free to party up with their friends and enter the labyrinth.
There are exclusive rewards to be had for players that did purchase the TI10 Battle Pass, though. As with previous years, players can earn extra BP towards levels by playing the new mini-game. Players can earn a fixed amount per week, starting at 2,000 BP. Players can have the ceiling on BP earnings lifted by leveling up their battle pass.
Aghanim’s Labyrinth is available in Dota 2 right now, but expect servers to be struggling in the near future as players swamp the new game mode.
