Dota Underlords Season 1 arrives with battle pass, balance tweaks

Dota Underlords Season 1 has arrived, with Valve celebrating the occasion with a launch party featuring prominent Dota 2 personalities including Henrik “AdmiralBulldog” Ahnberg, Jorien “Sheever” van der Heijden, and Jake “SirActionSlacks” Kanner.

Valve released an entertaining trailer to commemorate the game exiting its early access phase. The lore behind Dota Underlords was detailed, with the game revolving around a battle to decide the next ruler of White Spire. The video was well-received by Dota fans for its snappy comedy, with many comparing it to Valve’s “Meet the Team” videos for Team Fortress 2.

Season 1 isn’t just a trailer, though. New game modes and features were added to Dota Underlords that should appeal to old, new, and lapsed fans.

The new City Crawl campaign features in-game challenges, puzzles, and leaderboards. Completing quests will grant player rewards such as new outfits and poster art.

Valve also introduced the Dota Underlords Battle Pass. The rewards line offers new boards, map props, wanted poster art, and more.

Similar to titles such as Fortnite and Apex Legends, all players will have access to the battle pass, but many of its rewards will be hidden behind a paywall. The Season 1 Battle Pass carries a $4.99 price tag.

Dota Underlords Season 1 hero, item balance changes

The launch also came with some huge alliance changes. Scrappies and Inventories were removed and the new Summoner, Vigilant, and Void alliances were introduced. The Ace effect has also been removed from the game. The system will undergo reevaluation and may possibly return at a later date.

A new item category called “Hats” provides an additional Alliance to the equipped unit.

Item rounds now take place more frequently, occurring every four rounds instead of the old five rounds. 

Valve also implemented several changes in the rotation of heroes and items. Arc Warden, Magnus, Luna, and Windranger are some of the heroes that were rotated back into the game. Heroes rotated out of the game include Alchemist, Bounty Hunter, Clockwerk, and Enchantress, among others.

Numerous items were also added to the game such as the Crown of Antlers, Dragon Lance, Kaden’s Blade, Leg Breaker’s Fedora, Mantle of the Flayed Twins, and Ristul Circlet.

Meanwhile, Aeon Disk and Healing Wad were rotated out of the game.

The full patch notes, and more details on Dota Underlords Season 1, can be found on the official Dota Underlords website.