Here's what we know about when the Spectre arcana skin comes out

The International 10 Battle Pass is long gone at this point, but that doesn’t mean it’s over.

One of the biggest parts of the battle pass each year is the Arcana Vote event, which picks a hero to receive a new arcana skin. The TI10 Battle Pass saw Spectre come out on top, defeating Faceless Void in the finals to become the next hero to receive an arcana skin.

Unfortunately, despite being eight months removed from the end of the TI10 Battle Pass, the skin hasn’t actually come out yet. So when is it coming out? And what could it be?

When is the Spectre arcana skin coming out?

Valve has not given any direct information about when the Spectre arcana may come out, but there’s a lot of reason to believe it is coming out in the near future.

Alongside Valve’s announcement that there will not be a Dota 2 battle pass in 2021, the publisher stated that an event is set to come in “mid to late June.” There’s a very strong likelihood that the Spectre arcana will come out during this event.

Valve historically enjoys bundling content together to create larger events, which most often comes with the combination of new heroes and a major balance patch. The ideal situation would be something along the lines of the Nemesis Assassin event of 2014 that included the addition of Oracle to the game, the release of the Manifold Paradox arcana skin for Phantom Assassin, and a limited time event built around both.

It’s unclear what this event might be, but there would be no better way to add the Spectre arcana to Dota 2 than this. That said, if Valve is willing to shutter a guaranteed revenue generator in the TI Battle Pass in favor of a different event, it’s bound to be a lucrative one. The most likely landing spot is in June, but there’s a strong chance the skin is just tacked onto something else entirely.

What will the Spectre arcana be?

Dota 2’s arcana skins have been all over the place in terms of where they draw inspiration from. 

Some are references to previous designs for heroes, like Lina’s Fiery Soul of the Slayer being her original concept art and Wraith King’s being a throwback to the Skeleton King days. Most of them are built around characters gaining new powers, which is the case with the Juggernaut’s Bladeform Legacy, Queen of Pain’s Eminence of Ristul, Shadow Fiend’s Demon Eater, and more. Others are just made up, like the Ogre Mage Flockheart's Gamble skin.

In all likelihood, Spectre’s arcana will be tied to her lore. Spectre’s lore explicitly states that the hero in Dota 2 is not the “true form” of Spectre and that her “physical manifestation” is “stricken by a loss of self” with an identity that cracks while in combat. This is why her voice lines are strangely garbled and choppy.

The real Spectre “transcends sensory limitations,” which could take the character’s look into a completely different direction. The biggest thing that fans can look forward to is that the character will likely receive a new set of voice lines that, hopefully, will be a little easier to understand.