Dawnbreaker is Dota 2's new hero as Dragon's Blood is ignored

New Dota 2-themed animated series DOTA: Dragon’s Blood was a success that introduced a number of new characters that would fit right at home in the game. So of course Valve took one of the popular new characters and added them to the game, right?

Wrong.

The Dawnbreaker update is here, and it’s named for the titular new hero. Dawnbreaker is a unique healer that helps her allies by hurting enemy heroes, and has a unique ultimate that makes her a global threat.

New Dota 2 hero Dawnbreak abilities revealed

New Dota 2 hero Dawnbreaker’s abilities are now clear for all to see. Dawnbreaker's Q is named Starbreaker. The spell sees her swing her hammer three times, dealing damage on the first two swings before slamming it down in front of her to stun enemies in an AOE on the third.

Her W is Celestial Hammer, a spell that works somewhat similar to Timbersaw’s ultimate. Dawnbreaker throws her hammer in a line, dealing damage to all enemies in its path. She can activate the spell again to recall her hammer, like Marvel’s Thor, but the hammer will leave a trail behind it that deals AOE damage.

Mapped to E is Luminosity. The spell works like a support version of Slardar’s Bash of the Deep, with every third strike dealing a critical hit that heals nearby allied units.

Finally, Dawnbreaker’s ultimate is Solar Guardian. Solar Guardian is a global spell that can be casted on an allied unit to create an AOE that heals allies and hurts enemies. After a short time, Dawnbreaker flies up from her location and crashes down in the center of the AOE to damage and stun any enemies within.

Nothing from DOTA: Dragon’s Blood in Dawnbreaker update

Valve put a modest amount of effort into promoting Netflix’s DOTA: Dragon’s Blood, but those efforts ended upon the show’s release. Despite the show’s various new characters and original portrayals of established characters, nothing from the show made it into the actual Dota 2 game.

To some degree, fans got overly optimistic when it came to Valve’s ability to execute on the new media. While the company certainly could have delivered on an updated model for DOTA: Dragon’s Blood protagonists Dragon Knight and Mirana, added new heroes based on those characters, or Dragon’s Blood-themed skins, doing nothing was a far more likely outcome.

Not only that, but even long-awaited additions to the game like the new Spectre Arcana were left out of the Dawnbreaker Update.

Despite this, Dawnbreaker was well-received by Dota 2 players thanks to her unique kit and appearance. The hero is available now and should add a lot to the game alongside the 7.29 balance update.