Dota 2 players will be weeping this week, whether for joy at winning flashy red digital gear, or despair at what’s left of their available Steam wallet funds. The annual The International 6 compendium has been released a bit earlier than usual this year in the form of the 2016 The International 6 Battle Pass. Based off the success and strong community response to the Shanghai Major’s Battle Pass, Valve has combined the best of both worlds by releasing a bigger, even better Battle Pass that combines both the upcoming Manila Majors and the TI6 championship tournament later this year.
Dota 2 players will be able to enjoy The TI6 2016 Battle Pass from now until the end of August, which still may not be enough time to ace the quests, complete challenges, and otherwise level up the compendium as high as many players will probably wish. Players familiar with the Shanghai Battle Pass will be familiar with the new one, though the rewards and mini games have been kicked up a few notches. Instead of a level 60 cap, Compendiums will also have a max level of 2500, with a hyper-flashy unusual courier, vials to recolor or even remove the map-spanning river (visible to all players), scores of 100-200 limited run item sets, new taunts, and dozens more of digital Dota 2 goodness up for grabs. And if digital flair isn’t enough, TI5 players that attain a level of 1000 will receive a 1/5 scale cast metal replica of the TI6 Aegis.
Valve’s nefarious genius at crowdfunding its Dota 2 tournaments is showing. The previous TI5 tournament prize pool reached a record setting $18.4 million, and the annual tradition of breaking the previous year’s The International prize pool record seemed to be a chancy thing this time around. Well, that is no longer the case, with over three months to go and the Manila Major to lead up to the main event the current TI6 prize pool is already past the $4 million mark, or $1 million more than it was previously for TI5 by the first twenty-four hours of its debut.
For the uninitiated, the 2016 TI6 Battle Pass maintains the same pricing formula as years past, with 25% of all proceeds feeding into the TI6 prize pool. A Level 1 Battle Pass (which includes both the Manila and TI6 compendiums) starts at $10, with a Level 50 Battle Pass being offered at $26.99. Battle pass levels can also be bought in 5, 11, and 24 increments for $2.50, $5, and $10 each, though safe bet that it will never ever be enough.
The sheer amount of goodies is already mind numbing and too long to get into, though the Ash Weather effect in particular was nice. There are also other perks such as the new seasonal TI6 ranked matchmaking for Battle Pass owners to queue in with its own separate MMR ranking. Either way, if you are a Dota 2 fan, be sure to check it out!