Frostivus might not have been that long ago, but Valve are already gearing up for the next Dota 2 event – the New Bloom Festival.
I’m not entirely sure what this is, mind you. I mean, there’s obviously a whole batch of new hats. The map will be getting another cosmetic redesign, adding in paper lanterns and blossoms and the like. There’s an “Eight Shades of Fortune”… thing… which seems like it’ll let you make “offerings” of items in your Armory, in exchange for random rewards. Etc.
The big thing, though, is “The Coming of the Year Beast,” and this is where I’m a bit less sure of how things work, in terms of whether this is a random thing that’ll happen as you play regular matches, or if this will be another custom game mode. Here’s some of the text from the Dota 2 blog:
“The comings and goings of the Year Beast are cyclical by nature. It is a mysterious creature, flighty and prone to long patrols of its strange, unknowable territory, dispersed across both space and time. For days it may disappear, perhaps tracking its predecessor across the veil of time, only to reappear refreshed and renewed, as if no time had passed at all. Those who hope to defend against the Year Beast must be both vigilant and patient, striking at those rare times when the creature chooses to reveal itself.”
Which may mean “This is the only time this year you’ll be able to fight it”, or it may mean “It’ll randomly turn up during New Bloom.” The former seems saner and more likely. I suspect it’ll be Diretide-esque, in terms of a custom game mode culminating in a battle with the Year Beast, or a custom mode where you fight the Beast after grabbing Ingots in regular games, but…
Either way, you’ll apparently be finding Flamesalt Ingots as you play, which can be fashioned into items specifically used for battling the Year Beast. You can also buy Fortune’s Favour – a temporary buff that will increase the rate you get Ingots and let you find Jade Tokens, which can be traded in for lockless treasure chests called Bloom Bounties. Player might sometimes find Crimson Parcels, too, which tend to contain a small amount of either Ingots or Jade Tokens. As the page for this is listed as “Day 1”, I’d guess we’ll get more details soonish.
So. Chances of a new hero? Pit Lord would fit with Legion Commander quite well (and the Year Beast looks a little bit like him), while Phoenix would fit with the event theme…
Chinese New Year takes place next Friday (31 January), so I’d imagine New Bloom will be kicking off a little while before then. GET EXCITED.
