Dota 2 Ringmaster new hero abilities and ultimate
Valve didn’t pull any punches with the recent Dota 2 update. Not only did they release the Compendium for The International 2024, but the developers also finally introduced the new hero, Ringmaster! Here’s what you need to know about this crazy new hero.
Dota 2 Ringmaster gameplay details
The Ringmaster takes center stage with fear and mezmiring. That, in gameplay terms, translates to this new Dota 2 hero being a ranged Intelligence-focused character with a whole lot of powerful crowd control at its disposal, and I really can’t wait to see what havoc it unleashed in team fights, especially in public matches. Check out a bit of lore below to get the blood flowing:
“All the battlefield’s a stage, and Ringmaster is a gleeful director indeed. Controlling fights with a showman’s flare, Ringmaster tames enemies with his fearsome whip and endless knives, ushers allies away from danger with his cunning escape act, and always draws a crowd to unwillingly witness the wonders of his mesmerizing wheel.”
Now, let’s take a look at the Ringmaster’s abilities and ultimate, shard ability, and innate!
- Tame the Beasts (Q) – Ringmaster twirls his whip for up to 1 second then cracks it. Whipped enemies are damaged and flee in fear from Ringmaster. Channel time exponentially increases damage and extends the fear duration, but reduces the radius. (Channeled)
- Escape Act (W) – Ringmaster packs himself or an allied hero into a mobile, extradimensional box. Boxed units gain phased movement, slow resistance, bonus magic resistance, and bonus movement speed. They are also untargetable, muted, silenced, and disarmed. The box will pop open after the effect expires or it moves more than 500 units away.
- Impalement Arts (E) – Ringmaster throws one of his daggers to a precise point of his choosing. If he strikes an enemy, the dagger deals impact damage, briefly slows the unit hit, and causes them to bleed. The bleeding deals a percentage of the victim’s maximum health in damage every second to heroes and flat damage per second to creeps.
- Wheel of Wonder (R): Ringmaster rolls the Wheel of Wonder to the targeted location, knocking aside enemies along the way. After it reaches its target, enemies in range of the wheel take damage over time and are slowed by -50%. Enemy heroes who face the wheel for more than 0.5 seconds are mesmerized and drawn towards it. The first enemy to be mesmerized triggers a timer for the wheel to explode. If the timer is not triggered, it will automatically explode after 8 seconds.
Sounds fantastic, right? Well, that’s not all. The Ringmaster also has a Shard upgrade called Spotlight, which shines a light that sweeps over an era. It reveals invisible enemies and causes them to miss their attacks. Spotlight also helps dispel illusions, and its effects linger for 0.3 seconds after you’ve moved out of the light.
Lastly, the Ringmaster’s innate ability is Dark Carnival Barker, which grants one of the following souvenirs when an enemy dies close to this new hero:
- Funhouse Mirror: Creates 1 imperfect image of your hero that lasts 18 seconds. Your illusion deals 28% and takes 300% damage.
- Strongman Tonic: Temporarily increases an allied hero’s Strength by 5 plus 1.5 per Ringmaster’s level for 8 seconds. The effect holds for 4 seconds and then deteriorates over the duration.
- Whoopee Cushion: Propels your hero forward 400 units. Leaves a 200 radius stink cloud behind for 3 seconds that slows enemies by -30%.
See the Ringmaster in action and learn even more about this new Dota 2 hero’s role and lore on the official Ringmaster page.
Header image via Valve.
