Dota 2's New Hero Is Here, Meet The Ringmaster

In a move that both surprised and delighted Dota 2 fans, Valve has finally introduced the Ringmaster—the 125th hero to be added to the game. Ringmaster's arrival comes right ahead of The International 2024, taking place from Sep. 4-15 at the Royal Arena in Copenhagen and releases alongside the International Compendium 2024.

It also comes after literally months of anticipation following the hero's initial reveal at TI13 last year (you can watch the reveal video below). Ringmaster is voiced by John de Lancie, known for his role as Lord Ritterfau in DOTA: Dragon's Blood, and is a ranged Intelligence hero requiring a moderate level of skill.

Ringmaster's Abilities In Dota 2

Based on his ability kit, it would seem as though he is a somewhat versatile hero who can be played as either a Support, Nuker, or Disabler. Here's a breakdown of Ringmaster's ability kit in Dota 2:

• Tame the Beasts (Q): This is a channeled ability where Ringmaster cracks his whip, damaging and fearing enemies. Longer channeling increases damage and fear duration but reduces the effect radius, forcing enemies to flee in terror.
• Escape Act (W): This move allows the Ringmaster to hide himself or an ally in a box, granting phased movement, slow resistance, bonus magic resistance, and bonus speed. The boxed unit is untargetable, silenced, and disarmed until the effect ends.
• Impalement Arts (E): is a point-target ability where the Ringmaster throws a dagger, dealing impact damage, slowing the target, and causing them to bleed. The bleed inflicts damage based on maximum health for heroes and flat damage for creeps over time.
• Wheel of Wonder (R): This is a point-target ability where the Ringmaster rolls a wheel to a target location, knocking back enemies. Upon arrival, it deals damage over time and slows enemies. Heroes staring at the wheel for over 0.5 seconds are mesmerized and drawn towards it. The first mesmerized enemy triggers a timer for the wheel to explode; otherwise, it explodes after a few seconds.

But that's not all. With Ringmaster's Shard upgrade called Spotlight in Dota 2, he can shine a spotlight over an area, revealing invisible enemies, causing them to miss attacks, and damaging illusions, making it a powerful tool in skirmishes.

Ringmaster's Innate and Facet In Dota 2

At this time, Ringmaster does not yet have a Facet or Aghanim's Shard upgrade; however, we can expect Valve to add this at a later stage. As for his Innate, it's called "Dark Carnival Barker," and it gives the Ringmaster a random single-use Souvinirs whenever an enemy unit dies near him, allowing for strategic use in team fights or escapes:

• Funhouse Mirror: Creates an imperfect illusion of Ringmaster that lasts for 18 seconds. The illusion deals 28% damage and takes 300% damage.
• Strongman Tonic: Temporarily increases an allied hero's Strength attribute by 5 + 1.5 per Ringmaster's level for 8 seconds. The effect holds for 4 seconds and deteriorates over the duration.
• Whoopee Cushion: Propels Ringmaster forward by 400 units and leaves a 200-radius stink cloud behind for 3 seconds that slows enemies by 30%.

Overall, Ringmaster's design appears to draw huge inspiration from the concept of a puppet master, with abilities that manipulate and control. In fact, he is reminiscent of Heroes of Newerth's hero Puppet Master, which has sparked discussions on social media about potential playstyles and strategies.

As we prepare for The International 2024, Ringmaster's introduction not only refreshes the hero pool once again but also brings new tactical possibilities to the forefront. Valve's decision to introduce such a character at this juncture might just be the twist needed to shake up the competitive scene, making this year's TI one of the most unpredictable yet.

To learn more about Ringmaster, be sure to check out his brand-new comic!