Crownfall is here, but it's not what we expected.
Valve has finally released the Dota 2 Crownfall update and it’s not exactly what we expected, with a new meta game outside of the core Dota experience being the main focus of the patch.
Crownfall is the name of a new metagame within Dota, which you can play from the main menu of the game. Playing Dota matches will unlock tokens that you can use to advance through the map that is found on the main menu, with different points offering up different rewards, mini-games and story advancements.
You can earn rewards and cosmetics through Crownfall, and there appears to be a lot of fun mini-games to play, like the bass fishing we saw in the initial trailer, but it feels a little underwhelming compared to other in-game events we have had such as Aghanim's Labyrinth. At first glance, it seems to be a beefed-up version of the cavern crawl mechanic from old battle passes.
Crownfall will be a four-act event that will grow over the coming months. This patch is known as The Markets of Midgate and is obviously act one. Act two will be The Deserts Of Druud and will arrive in mid-May, with the final two acts arriving later in the year.
The other part of the Crownfall patch is the expected arcana sets for Skywarth Mage and Vengeful Spirit. The two sets are intertwined with each other, which is explained in the handy Crownfall comic that was released prior to the patch launching, and turn the characters into new versions of themselves shown in the comic. They are also the first arcanas in a while that can be purchased for real money with no battle pass levels required. They cost $34.99 each and they look great.
There are also some new sets and cosmetics for other heroes with some new treasures being released, and these also look great. After a while it no major new cosmetic items it feels good to get some fun options.
Of course, the big disappointment is that there is no actual gameplay patch for Dota in the Crownfall update, with no patch notes being released. That means the core of Dota will still be the same as it has been for weeks, with the last letter patch not doing all that much to freshen things up. There’s also no sign of Ringmaster, the promised new hero who was expected to launch with Crownfall. We can only hope that a big gameplay patch is coming with the mid-May update and that we will finally get to see what Ringmaster does in the coming weeks.
