Dota 2 has a fighting game now.
Act three of the Dota 2 Crownfall event has finally been released and has brought with it a Street Fighter style fighting game in the Dota client.
The long awaited third act of Crownfall was released overnight and brought with it the third part of the epic story that has been going on for months now. It features a brand new overworld map for you to explore, with all the usual cosmetics and story that comes with it. There’s also another comic furthering the story.
Act three also brings with it a brand new collector’s cache lootbox, featuring cosmetic items that received the most votes in the recent round of community voting. Some of the sets in there look incredible, and have forced Valve to add a new arcana slot to both Juggernaut and Pudge. These new slots will allow you to equip that hero’s arcana item alongside other sets, so if you get one of the rare drops from the cache you can still use the arcana with them.
But the coolest new addition within act three of Crownfall is a new Street Fighter style mini-game you can play in the Dota 2 client. You can choose from one of five heroes, including Marci, Bristleback, Tusk, Vengeful Spirit and Dawnbreaker. Once you have selected your fighter, you are matched up against other characters in a 2D style fighting game, that seems to be quite deep based on first impressions.
While this is just a cool mini-game that you can play in the client it seems to be surprisingly deep and I’m sure a lot of players will be calling for this to be spun out into its own game. Of course, League of Legends also has its own fighting game in the form of 2XKO, which is due to launch next year, so some believe this could be Valve taking a bit of a shot at LoL showing they can do anything Riot is trying to do.
Chances are this mini-game will disappear once Crownfall is over, but given the delays that some acts have suffered, the good news is that the entire Crownfall event will run until October. This likely means that the final act will also be delayed, likely to mid to late August, but you will have more time to complete the entire meta game.
Unsurprisingly this patch did not bring any gameplay balance changes to Dota, but with a small patch arriving just a few days ago that isn’t a big deal, as pro players are still fighting out the best heroes to use at the top level.