Frostivus is Upon Us

It's been a busy year for Dota. We welcomed a new hero into our ranks (and a long-awaited one finally made his debut); we crowned another team of world champions at this year's TI in Copenhagen; we reworked every hero with new game-changing innates and facets; and we even managed to cram in a four-act multi-month narrative epic about talking birds.

And so, as the year winds to a close, we find ourselves filled once again to the absolute brim with the spirit of Frostivus. And that means a sackful of festive gifts for everyone for the duration of the Frostivus event, from now until January 15th.

The True Meaning of Frostivus Revealed (Hats)

“What kind of gifts?” one might festively wonder. Well, for starters: For the rest of the season, your hero will begin each game wearing a stylish Frostivus hat.

But don't think of it as a fashion statement. Think of it as a trophy case. Because you can also steal hats from enemy heroes and get them as gifts from your allies with the new Spirit of Frostivus ability. You can also get them the old fashioned way (murder/larceny), by stealing them off the skulls of heroes you've just killed, off the Tormentors, or if you really know what you're doing, even off Roshan's craggy dead head.

And every single hat you take, you can wear on top of all the others in a majestic, murderous hat-stack of glory. Plus since the post-game MVP screen now includes hat tallies, you'll have definitive proof of your hat superiority in the days to come.

A Frostivus Story

So now you've got a tower of Frostivus hats on your head. But can you truly enjoy them without knowing their exhaustive backstory? The answer, as we discovered, is yes. "They're just colored hats," you say. "Who cares where they came from?"

Well, six months ago would have been a great time to mention that, because we wrote a six hundred thousand word legendarium about it called The Hatmarillion. But everybody refused to read it, so we wrote a ten-page kid's book version of The Hatmarillion that takes about a minute to read, and everyone seemed to like that one better. Launch Dota and enjoy the story for yourself! (Frostivus trivia: You'll be able to read it THIRTY TIMES in the time it takes you to get through this blog post!)

Frostivus Forge

But wait! There's still more Frostivus spirit in the air! Unfortunately, it has been broken down into its chemical components and needs to be reconstituted into a seasonal compound. We've gathered up a pile of all the supplies you'll need to craft rewards in the new Frostivus Forge. The next step? The actual crafting part.

All you'll need to do is accomplish a variety of in-game hijinks like “snowball an enemy before you kill them”, “steal a hat”, or “high five an enemy” to earn unique supplies that feed your forge and craft new rewards. Each item requires a different recipe to craft, and you can unlock higher tiers by completing rewards in the lower tiers first. Seasonal Chat Wheels? Check. A new bell-shaped tormentor that you lets you play music? Obviously it has one of those. A drunken wizard riding a suspiciously-donkey-shaped reindeer courier? Why, it wouldn’t be a holiday without them!

Winter 2024 Heroes' Hoard

You know what else it wouldn’t be a holiday without? A box full of surprises! So we’re also unveiling the Winter 2024 Heroes’ Hoard, an all-new treasure