Right before the epic clash between Team Spirit and Gaimin Gladiators in The International 2023’s grand finals, Valve gave Dota 2 fans a Halloween-themed reveal for the game’s next hero—The Ringmaster.
The trailer itself starts with a haunting voice talking about luring in and capturing heroes to train and use them while haunting music plays. This is done while an Axe is tricked into using his weapon to try and complete a classic high striker carnival challenge, which then turns into a twisted device that sucks him inside.
Our first look at Ringmaster comes from a circus-style poster that displays a thin man with mechanical bits all over his body that make up the classic look of a performing tamer, though we don’t get to see him in action just yet.
“Out past the lanes, at the edge of the forest, there is a narrow path. You could swear it wasn’t there yesterday. You follow it into the smothering darkness… until there is a light. A small, glittering light dancing between the distant trees. You follow the light deeper into the forest. It’s getting colder now. You can see your breath. A branch snaps behind you. You look. Nothing. Then… Next year, no hero is safe… from the Ringmaster.”
According to the trailer, Ringmaster will drop at some point in 2024, which likely means we will get him alongside an update between February and May, which is typically the window for a Spring hero release.
This reveal also almost assuredly confirms Ringmaster is taking some inspiration from Heroes of Newerth’s Puppet Master, since the datamined files for the newest Dota hero use that moniker as its codename—and have been floating around since last year. The name Ringmaster was also datamined earlier this year after the Dota 2 summer update.
If the ties to Puppet Master are true, which is heavily hinted at through the trailer, Ringmaster will be able to move other heroes against their will and potentially control them to an extent.
This news is breaking, and this article will be updated with more information as it becomes available.
