Dota 2 Outlanders Update set to arrive after MDL Chengdu Major

Dota 2’s long-awaited Outlanders update is coming out soon, but don’t expect an exact date just yet.

The Dota 2 subreddit has been overwhelmed of late by fans of the game imploring Valve to discuss their plans for the Outlanders update. Valve has heard those pleas and offered a general timeframe for when the update will be released.

That is, it will come at some point after the MDL Chengdu Major.

“Our plan is similar to the previous years, where it is soon after the first Major is concluded,” Dota 2 developer Cameron_dev said on Reddit. “We tend [to] avoid broadcasting dates explicitly though because things can shift around and we wouldn’t want the expectation to be a specific day if a little bit more time was needed.”

While one might raise an eyebrow at the “similar to previous years” portion of that quote, this is still very welcome news for Dota 2 fans. The Outlanders update was teased during The International 2019 and is set to offer up a great deal of fresh content.

Considering Valve teased Mars at The International 2018 but took several months to add him to the game, the Outlanders update is arriving much sooner than some might have expected.

New Dota 2 heroes Snapfire, Void Spirit arrive after MDL Chengdu Major

It is unclear what smaller bells and whistles Valve might be working on for the Outlanders update, but the publisher already teased fans at The International 2019 with two new heroes.

The first hero to be revealed was Snapfire. The elderly woman shares lore with the “Keen” heroes, particularly Batrider and Timbersaw. The trailer for Snapfire showed her giving teammates cookies to offer some manner of buff, suggesting that she will be a support hero. But she was also shown firing a machine gun from atop a lava-spewing lizard, which could steer her in a different direction.

The following day, Void Spirit was unveiled with a unique trailer that used augmented reality. The hero is a counterpart to Ember Spirit, Earth Spirit, and Storm Spirit, but also has the appearance of Dark Seer. That makes his backstory something of a mystery, much like his abilities.

While the trailer for Snapfire gave all sorts of possibilities as to what her abilities will be, the Void Spirit reveal gave fans very little to work with.

Answers will ultimately come before long. The MDL Chengdu Major runs from November 16 to 24. The Outlanders Update will likely arrive around early December.