New Dota Plus update, guild rewards drop for 2020 Winter Season

Dota Plus’ seasonal rewards have reset for the winter season, but Valve gave longtime subscribers an extra bit of love this time around.

The list of changes to Dota Plus for this season are largely what one would expect, with a new treasure and an additional set of rewards. There is also a new batch of emoticons and chat wheel sprays alongside some recycled chat wheel sounds from The International 10 Battle Pass added as guild tier rewards. 

Though a lot of it was expected, Dota Plus subscribers got a pleasant surprise in the form of a new tier for heroes. Dota Plus subscribers can now level up their heroes to tier 30, at which point they achieve grandmaster status. The grandmaster rank comes with a special chat wheel voice line for the hero, as well as “flex” status. Additionally, hero challenge rewards for fully leveled heroes will give shards instead of XP.

Speaking of challenges, a new batch of seasonal quests has arrived that offers subscribers up to 115,200 shards. Alongside this are new guild rewards, highlighted by chat wheel sounds including “the next level play,” the Russian language call for the Million Dollar Echo Slam, and the Chinese language call begging teammates for help.

Dota Plus Winter 2020 rewards include unusual courier

The new Winter 2020 Seasonal Treasure is also available to offer exclusive new skins to Dota Plus subscribers. There are a variety of skins for heroes such as Templar Assassin, Earth Spirit, Ember Spirit, and Spirit Breaker. 

Though Dota 2 skins have generally been very good in recent years, this treasure is something of a mixed bag. Though there are eye-catching sets for Dragon Knight, Undying, and Necromancer, the skins for heroes such as Earth Spirit and Puck are unremarkable and blend in with the numerous other offerings available for the heroes.

The top prize for the Winter 2020 Seasonal Treasure is a very rare unusual Hermid. The crab-like courier comes equipped with random prismatic and kinetic gems that should make for a strong addition to any collection.

Is Dota Plus worth it?

Dota Plus is not a particularly strong investment for anyone outside the most dedicated Dota 2 players. Though the chat wheel sounds are fun, players that aren’t constantly grinding or committed to one single hero won’t build up enough of a collection to make effective use of them. While there are other interesting features including in-depth stats and an avoid player function, these aren’t worth paying a monthly fee for anyone but the hardest of hardcore Dota 2 players.