TI 6 Battle Pass explained

The Dota 2 Battle Pass for The International 6 was released in May. Following the Winter Battle Pass, which was the first of its kind, this edition builds upon many of the features of the Shanghai version.

There are two price options for the TI Battle Pass:

The International 2016 Battle Pass – standard bundle priced at $9.99. Players start from level one and receive a number of in-game items.

The International 2016 Battle Pass Level 50 – an enhanced bundle priced at $26.99. The fans will receive the items from the standard bundle alongside the items awarded from levels one to 50.

Twenty-five percent of each purchase will go to The International prize pool. Depending on the Battle Pass purchased, players will start from either level one or level 50. The source of leveling up is through earning battle points by winning games, completing quests, finishing community challenges, wagering and buying levels with real currency. The level cap is 2,500 and if achieved the leveling up restarts. Players get various rewards (hero items, loading screens, item effects, map terrains, couriers and taunts amongst others) in the different levels but a prize is not awarded with every level.

The battle pass is divided into four main sections:

 

1. Quests

Quests are in-game objectives that players can complete in order to gain battle points. There are three quest paths that require players to play three different playstyles – Path of the Warrior, Path of the Rogue and Path of the Spellbinder. Each quest has three levels of accomplishment – bronze, silver and gold, corresponding to three different difficulty levels. The better the level of accomplishment, the higher the number of experience points. Each path contains 15 quests and completion of the path will award the player with a hero set. A quest is only completed if the player wins the match. If he loses the match, even if the conditions of the completion of the quest are met, it will not be considered complete. Apart from this, players can also gain battle points by completing daily and weekly quests (which usually involve playing with a certain hero) or community quests which are valid for each Dota 2 player playing any multiplayer game at any given moment – e.g. to perform 10 million scans.

 

2. Achievements

Another way to earn battle points and level up, there are a total of 33 achievements and each one varies in terms of difficulty and achievability. The battle points rewards also vary from 50 to 20,000. Examples of achievements include “Complete 10 weekly challenges” or “Win 6000 battle points by wagering”.

 

3. Wagering

Wagering is done through the in-game currency of “tokens”. Each player receives a total of 1,000 tokens per week to wager. If they are lost, the only way to replenish them is to wait until the next week. If the player has any unspent tokens, all of them will be lost when the new week starts. Wagering can be done in each game up to 40 seconds after the heroes have been selected for both teams. The amount that can be wagered is 50, 100, 150 and 250 tokens per game and the player can decide to bet on their team for a win or not place a bet at all. Placing a bet against one’s team is not possible. If the player wins, the number of tokens received is double the initial amount and this doubled amount equates to the amount of battle points that the player receives as a reward. Winners also receive the total amount of tokens wagered by the losing team, divided evenly between the winning players. The players can also tip each of their teammates once the game is over with 50 tokens, which gives 50 battle points to the tipped player.

 

4. Compendium

This part of the Battle Pass has several sections and is mostly focused on The International. However, not all of it is accessible yet.

The first option which is not accessible is the prediction of the final amount of the TI 6 prize pool. It is expected that it will become accessible later this month. The current prize pool is $16,383,921 and keeps growing by the day.

The early birds who bought the Battle Pass prior to the end of The International qualifications cycle could also wager on the International 2016 Qualifiers matches. The options included placing bets on the winner, second place and the wild card spot bearer for each of the four regions (Europe, China, Southeast Asia and Americas). Each correct prediction awarded 500 battle points.

There are two more options that are not accessible yet – Fantasy Challenge and Player Cards. Player Cards have been part of the TI compendium for years and it is expected that the fans will again collect cards with the participants’ info in The International. Meanwhile, the Fantasy Challenge has not yet been revealed.

 

Conclusion

The Battle Pass improves upon the Winter edition and the $9.99 starter pack is excellent value for money. Features include loading screens, emoticon packs, a TI 6 music pack and three sets of newly added immortal treasures. The first 10 levels are relatively easy and each of them has a reward upon completion. The more the player progresses, the harder it becomes to level up.

Another nice addition to the pass are The Weekend Cups which, as the name suggests, are weekly tournaments where fans can team up with friends and face up to eight opposing teams in single elimination bracket matches. Winners are awarded with a bragging rights item, as well as battle points.

The quests are designed in such a way so as to diversify the players’ hero pool and encourage them to try heroes with whom they don’t play often, while the compendium is designed to engage players with The International event itself.

The downsides of the Battle Pass include the fact that it is packed with too much information which takes significant time to digest. The equipping of awards can sometimes be a bit difficult and could benefit from being simplified. Achieving the 2,500 level is a milestone which requires a lot dedication and playing time, while it is not quite clear when the Battle Pass will expire.