Dota Plus: A guide to Dota 2's weird and wonderful subscription based service

Dota Plus offers players of the game a way to empower their skills via various different methods, and we break down the service.

Introduced in 2018, Dota Plus is a subscription-based service that was added to the client by Valve. The service's main purpose is to enhance and excel the Dota 2 experience for players through various features, with a heavy emphasis on rewards. While there are many arguments against the Dota Plus system, most agree that it functions rather well in teaching new players the basics and keeping them interested.

With that said, we break down the different features within Dota Plus and how they can assist players of any skill level in conquering Dota 2.

Dota Plus: Every feature explained

Post-game analysis

Quite often, one of the best ways to improve at any game is to review your performance in previous matches. With Dota Plus, players will receive a post-game analysis. This includes comparisons to other players within the same bracket. Hero damage, movement, last hit effectiveness, and even warding are all covered in the report. This allows those with the service to ascertain their strengths and weaknesses, while also working to improve as they go.

The Plus Assistant

New players and veterans alike benefit from many of the Dota Plus features. The assistant tool gives users a chance to have prime skill builds highlighted, item suggestions, and hero counters from across the game. While this feature is of the biggest use to those learning the game, it can also help those who are maybe picking up a new role with new hero choices.

Upgrade your heroes

Since Dota Plus works via an incentive system, there are obviously numerous rewards. The basis of these comes through hero progression. Playing any hero allows users to earn experience, separately from their hero in-game, of course. Levelling up heroes in this manner unlocks progression levels to show off your proficiency. This also unlocks different hero chat wheel voice lines, depending on your mastery of the hero.

While levelling up, users will also earn “Shards”, which act as a currency system through the Dota Plus feature. Shards can be used to purchase a plethora of cosmetics, ranging from skins and relics to seasonal rewards. Shards are earned in many different ways, including as a sign-up bonus to Dota Plus and completing challenges within the game.

Relics

Relics are a fun feature introduced into Dota 2, akin to “StatTrak” weapons in the Counter-Strike series. With Relics, players can unlock ways to showcase and highlight different achievements with different heroes. This includes aspects such as Chaotic Offering kills with Warlock, kills while under a certain buff (such as Black King Bar), or simply just last hits in total.

While the feature is not going to help the average new player in any real way, it is a fun option to show off your skills.

The cost of Dota Plus

As a subscription service, many Dota 2 veterans are against the use of Dota Plus. Arguments have existed for many years as to whether the feature has a “pay-to-win” element, since it offers such a vast amount of information both before and after a game is played. On the other hand, new players can benefit quite a lot from the service, as the game itself has so many aspects to learn.

Players looking to pick up Dota Plus often do so merely for the cosmetic rewards at such a low cost. Although available on a monthly payment basis, Dota Plus also offers discounts for 6 and 12 months, with the breakdown as follows:

• Dota Plus monthly - $3.99
• Dota Plus 6-months - $22.99 (6% discount)
• Dota Plus 12-months - $41.99 (12% discount)

All prices listed are in United Stated Dollar (USD), with regional pricing available through the Dota 2 client for those outside the region.

To sum it all up, Dota Plus is a great assistant tool for those wanting to learn and progress in Dota 2. While offering a vast progression system, it also gives players in-depth data for moving forward in the game. More so, above that, with a plethora of rewards available through Shards, Dota Plus is a fairly inexpensive way to excel within a tough game, while remaining completely optional.