New

Pregame

A New Approach to Battle:

Pick Phase and Strategy Phase

With a staggering number of possible heroes to choose from, and endless new combinations and strategies to discover, there's a lot to consider when preparing a squad to take down an Ancient. Now players have more tools to help find the right heroes and plan their early-game attack as a team, all while the game loads seamlessly in the background so it's ready when you are.

Pick Phase

The new selection screen matches the layout of the Heroes gallery, so you can use the common hero filters, type a name to quickly locate a specific hero, or just click Random to let the fates decide.

Familiar Filters

You'll find the same filters available as in the Heroes gallery to easily narrow down heroes by role, type, or specific areas of strength. Not sure what to look for? Try searching by Complexity Rating for a simple indication of the difficulty in executing a hero's ability mechanics.

Hero Highlight

Click on any hero to display their abilities, areas of strength, and a short description of their playstyle. Once you're satisfied with your choice, lock it in to move to the Strategy Phase.

Team Composition

Each team combination offers different strengths and weaknesses, and effective planning relies on knowing the capabilities of a group of heroes. Use the new Team Composition window to help gauge the cumulative strengths of your selected heroes, and plan accordingly.

Hero Suggestions

ALT-click a portrait to suggest that hero to your team. Teammates will see a chat notice, and the selected hero portrait will be highlighted for their consideration.

Strategy Phase  30 Seconds

Once you've locked in a hero, start planning your lanes and ward spots, purchase starting items, change your hero loadout, and more. After everyone has selected a hero, you'll have thirty seconds of guaranteed strategy time to make final preparations and item purchases while the game finishes loading in the background.

Enhanced Strategy Map

Draw up your battle plans with the updated strategy map. In addition to clicking your lane preference, use the new options to drag-and-drop enemy hero icons into predicted lanes and signal initial ward placement to your team.

Purchase Items

No more scrambling to purchase items and get into position for that pre-horn smoke gank. Now you can purchase your starting items before you even spawn in the fountain. So finish your shopping early and start moving around the map the moment the game loads.

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