Dota 2 is a game that’s almost a decade old (two if you count the Defense of the Ancients days). It’s a game that’s hallmarked with new strategies constantly being made, heroes becoming incredibly powerful due to recent buffs, and items becoming borderline overpowered when paired with the right hero. All of this is confusing to any new player. So, how exactly are you gonna help them play and enjoy Dota 2? Valve came up with a solution to help out players in Dota Plus.
What is Dota Plus?
Dota Plus is a premium monthly subscription service for Dota 2 and was released by Valve on March 12, 2018. They stated that it’s made to help players get the most out of all the Dota 2 matches they will play.
They stated that DOTA Plus is the evolution of the Dota 2 Battle Pass subscription that they’ve been doing before. You see back then, there were two types of Battle Passes: one for all the Majors Valve is hosting and another for the biggest Dota 2 Tournament ever, The International. When Valve decided to introduce their Pro Circuit, this is where teams of Dota 2 Pro Players duke it out on various tournaments leading to The International. They also made the choice to do away with the old Major’s Battle Pass.
Instead, they introduced a newer type of service that won’t depend on a specified starting and ending date to allow them to add in new content over time. That product was Dota Plus.
Valve states that it’s a reimagined Major’s Battle Pass that’s gonna be an ongoing, uninterrupted subscription service anyone can avail. It’s a way for players to keep track of their performance in battle as well as get sound advice on how to improve in using the game’s heroes and mechanics. It’s great for players who are new to Dota 2 as it helps them improve at a decent pace on all of the intricate mechanics that the game is notoriously famous for. Older players shouldn’t feel left out, though. They CAN make use of the subscription service as well since it has some great rewards for completing various hallmarks, quests, and achievements.
How to Subscribe to Dota Plus?
Subscribing to Dota Plus is pretty easy and can be done either on the Dota 2 website or on the game itself. Here’s how to purchase the service on their website.
Using the Dota 2 Website
- Login to the Dota 2 website using your Steam account. Though the Dota 2 website is separate from the main Steam website, your Steam account is still a usable login. Hell, you can even register for a Steam account there!
- Go to their Online Store. The Dota 2 website has a store that sells various cosmetic items for player use. One of these items is a subscription to Dota Plus.
- Select Top Sellers. Dota Plus is one of the top-selling items in the shop due to how useful it is. Alongside it are Battle Pass levels, Treasures, Artificer’s Hammers, more treasures, and the current season’s Battle Pass.
- Select the Dota Plus 1 Month Subscription package from these and add it to your cart. Make sure you have your credit card ready to buy it.
Using the Game Client
You can only purchase a 1 Month Subscription on the Dota 2 website. However, there is another way to circumvent this, and it’s through the game client itself.
- Log in to Steam and then open Dota 2. You might want to take a few moments for the game to boot up as well.
- The moment you open Dota 2, the game will introduce you to the newest content. Close it, and then go to your profile. Select the gold plus icon at the header of your homepage. You usually find it beside the message icon. You can also go to the In-Game store and select Dota Plus there. Which you can find on the right of the store. Besides the skin discounts and Treasure Sales.
- Open the Dota Plus window and you’ll see a gold Subscribe Now button. Press it.
- You will then be sent to a list of Subscription Length from 1 month, 6 months, and 12 months. The 6- and 12-month subscriptions have discounts of 7% and 13%, respectively.
- After choosing your subscription length, another popup will occur with the pertinent details as well as confirmation that you’re buying the Subscription Service. Confirm the purchase and presto! You’re now subscribed to Dota Plus!
Note: A little word of warning here, there are two options for the 1 Month Subscription: the Auto-Renew and non-Auto Renew options. If you’re looking to only test out Dota Plus for one month, make sure you choose to not Auto Renew the subscription or else you’re gonna pay for a new 1 Month Subscription for your account automatically. This is quite an oversight for Valve (Or is it?).
How to Cancel Dota Plus Subscription?
As said on the above note, maybe you’re just testing out Dota Plus and you may not like it. If that’s the case, here’s how to cancel your Dota Plus Subscription.
- Open Dota 2 game Client.
- Open Dota Plus.
- Same as before, open the Dota 2 In-Game store to go to the Dota Plus window.
- Select Manage Subscription.
- After opening the window, you might notice that the Subscribe Now button has been replaced with a few things. First is selectable that will lead you to the Rewards Log. 2nd is the date of your subscription, and then the date on when your Subscription will expire (Or Renew. Depending on the option you chose). Select Manage Subscription.
- After you select Manage Subscription, another pop up will appear. This time showing the Subscription option you chose. Below is Cancel Subscription. The Dota 2 In-Game Browser will then open with Steam already loading. You will then be shown your profile and a list of your Current and Recurring Subscriptions. Find your Dota Plus Subscription there and choose Edit.
- After selecting Edit, you’ll see the details of the Subscription along with a checkbox that states that you want to cancel your current Dota Plus Subscription. Check that, and select the Apply button.
That’s it, you’re now unsubscribed!
What Are the Features of Dota Plus?
Hero Progression and Levelling
No, this isn’t going to make your Heroes stronger in the game. That’s just straight-up broken.
What Hero Progression and Levelling means in Dota Plus is the amount of time that you’ve gone through playing a said hero. Dota Plus tracks the various actions that you do when using said hero in the things that it excels in, from stacking creeps with Chen and Enchantress to stunning multiple enemies using Earthshaker’s Fissure. The service tracks them all and catalogs them through the use of various quests. These serve as milestones and give various rewards such as cosmetics, shards that you can use to buy other cosmetic items, and other goodies.
Some Hero-Specific Challenges are tailored to their strengths and mechanics. These challenges allow you to sharpen your skills on a hero’s core abilities and gameplay and give you a taste of their full potential. Each challenge has three tiers of difficulty, with each tier becoming progressively harder than the last. Completing these challenges promises EXP and rewards.
Hero Relics
Hero Relics serve as a way for players to keep track of various actions that they do with that hero. From catching an enemy player with Pudge’s Meat Hook to throwing Alchemist’s Unstable Concoction on multiple enemies, the Relics are a way for you to track them all. You can have 14 of these relics active each time you play. From Common Relics that track simple actions to Rare Relics like the Multi-Concoction Stuns.
Hero Chat Wheels
As an addition to the prodigious amounts of Chat Wheels that Valve added to Dota 2, they’ve decided to add in even more Hero Chat Wheels for all the heroes. Each Chat Wheel will have some of the responses already unlocked. More phrases and replies will be unlocked as you level up your Hero Progression with a certain hero.
Plus Rewards
You can also get other items on the Plus Rewards Shop. This is where you spend your hard-earned shards to get cool new Cosmetics and Hero Relics.
Plus Assistant
We’re now going to the main attraction of Dota Plus: the Plus Assistant.
The Plus Assistant is Dota 2’s version of Siri, only it advises on stuff like optimal item builds for a specific hero in a specific role; how to optimally farm for gold and EXP; what abilities to get in the middle of the match, and similar concerns.
All this is thanks to the collective knowledge of all Dota 2 players out there distilled into an easy-to-ask Assistant.
As for specifics to what it can do, here’s the good stuff:
- Item Suggestions
- Ability Suggestions
- Hero Suggestions
- Death Summary
- Lane Strategy
- Post-Game Analysis
- Global Rank Trends
- Real-Time Comparative Analytics
- Spectator Win Probability Graph
Perks
Well, you can’t expect players to get into Dota Plus without having incentives, right? There are a lot of things that you can get with a subscription to Dota Plus. We’ve already discussed Hero Skins and Chat Wheels, but there’s also the return of the Battle Cup, the Seasonal Terrains (Spring, Summer, Fall, and Winter Terrains for the Dota 2 Arena), and In-Game Tipping.
Pros and Cons of a DOTA Plus Subscription?
There are a lot of good things that you can get from Dota Plus and we’ve already discussed them all. From the achievements tracker, new hero cosmetic skins, to even the seasonal arena changes and cool chat wheel responses, it has a lot of goodies for people to get while improving their play in the game.
There’s also the Plus Assistant, which helps you improve through the use of data collected from all the Dota players in the world. You can use the info on Plus Assistant to help you improve and get better in slaying your enemies in the game.
Unfortunately, some might consider this as a crutch due to how much the Plus Assistant helps players in their games. From item builds to hero picks, the Assistant helps players in creating the ideal situation for their team to win. However, this means that you can’t forge your own path with the hero you’re using. You can’t choose the role your hero will do in the match, buy the items to complement said role, and experiment with the possible scenarios that might occur if you’re performing the role in question. Your creativity will be more than hampered if you excessively depend on the Plus Assistant.
Is It Worth It?
If you’re a new player who’s starting to dip their toes into the world of Dota 2, then Dota Plus is a great way to start. Even veterans can still find some joy and value in seeing how much you’ve come in playing your favorite heroes and getting cool rewards for doing so.
However, others don’t find it essential to enjoy the complex gameplay Dota 2 offers. They might even decide to go at the game with a fresh mindset and just grind their way to the top of the MMR ladder. So if you’re asking if Dota Plus is worth it, it’s really up to the user in question. Nothing more, nothing less.
If you’re looking to try out Dota 2 or other games, you might want to check our multiplayer online games article that lists the best multiplayer titles you can play today.
