One of Dota 2’s most popular heroes has dozens of completely unused Arcana voice lines

Waste or potential, it's a matter of perspective.

Windranger Arcana Cosmetic in Dota 2
Image via Valve

Designing a Dota 2 hero is hard work. In addition to creating a hero’s skill set, Valve also needs to ensure everything clicks in terms of lore. This calls for countless interactions with other heroes and items that come in the form of voice lines. It’s usual for a few to be left on the cutting room floor, but over 30 have been uncovered for Windranger.

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Dota 2 fan recently discovered that Windranger’s Arcana item had 31 unused voice lines. These responses were retired after Valve removed Tome of Knowledge from the game in Dota 2 New Frontiers 7.33.

The 31 voice lines feature some interesting lore bits. Windranger shares some insight about some of the most famous landmarks in Dota 2, like Icewrack, Isle of Jidi, and even Dark Reef. She even talks about secret tunnels located under Roshar’s lair, something that would make a lot of sense if the guardian of Aegis wasn’t teleporting around the map to get to his destinations.

Tome of Knowledge was replaced by Wisdom Runes, which put voice lines with the word Tome out of order. However, upon a closer look, most of Windranger’s out-of-service voice lines look like they could still be used in other parts of a Dota 2 match as there are some neutral responses there as well.

This isn’t the first time Valve scrapped voice lines from Dota 2. Back when the Courier was an item in the shop, all heroes had a response to purchasing one. Now that every match starts with five couriers, courier voice lines ceased to exist.

Author
Image of Gökhan Çakır
Gökhan Çakır
Staff Writer
Gökhan is a Staff Writer and Fortnite Lead at Dot Esports. Gökhan graduated as an industrial engineer in 2020 and has since been with Dot Esports. As a natural-born gamer, he honed his skills to a professional level in Dota 2. Upon giving up on the Aegis of Champions in 2019, Gökhan started his writing career, covering all things gaming, while his heart remains a lifetime defender of the Ancients.