View source for Dota 2

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{{Dota2|4}} is the official follow-up to the {{wiki|Warcraft III: The Frozen Throne}} custom mod ''[[Defense of the Ancients]]'' ('''DotA''', retroactively called '''Dota 1''', originally released in 2003). Developed and published by Valve alongside IceFrog, the original developer of the first game, it is an "Action RTS" where players control a Hero unit and engage enemy players using their Heroes' unique abilities. Valve is collaborating with one of the primary contributors of the original ''DotA'' series.

While ''Dota 2'' was originally developed and runs in {{Source|4}} engine in 2013, using the {{dota2branch|4}} which formerly succeeds {{csgobranch|3.1}}, it was later ported to {{Source2|4}} in 2015 as part of '''Dota 2 Reborn''' update. This also makes {{Dota2|3.1}} the first {{source2|4}} game (though the first game to be completely made in {{source2|1}}, and not ported from previous engine was {{Artifact|4}}, or {{Thelab|4|nt=1|linkto=rr}}<!-- not sure if The Lab - Robot Repair counts or not as it was a minigame and because the rest uses Unity -->).

==Bugs/Limitations==
{{warning|no longer supports OpenGL and DirectX 9 since 2021!}}
{{Note|the game shows ''unable to start the game'' warning as of June 15, 2023 without Vulkan even with [[-safe_mode]] and without [[-vulkan]]...|offset=1}}
{{Note|the game shows black screen after the trailer as of June 15, 2023 without Vulkan with older Proton...|offset=1}}
{{Clarify|despite this, the DLC "OpenGL support for Windows" still exist. Valve was planning to remove the DLC for all users but it's still remain existing on Steam as of 2023.|offset=1}}

Use [https://github.com/ValveSoftware/Dota2-Gameplay/issues?q=is%3Aopen+is%3Aissue GitHub] to report gameplay bugs in order to prevent duplicate or outdated bug reports at the wiki. Use [https://github.com/ValveSoftware/Dota-2/issues?q=is%3Aopen+is%3Aissue GitHub] to report client bugs specific to {{Linux|4}} and {{Mac|4}}.

==About The Game==
;The most-played game on Steam.
:Every day, millions of players worldwide enter battle as one of over a hundred Dota heroes. And no matter if it's their 10th hour of play or 1,000th, there's always something new to discover. With regular updates that ensure a constant evolution of gameplay, features, and heroes, Dota 2 has truly taken on a life of its own.

;One Battlefield. Infinite Possibilities.
:When it comes to diversity of heroes, abilities, and powerful items, ''Dota'' boasts an endless array—no two games are the same. Any hero can fill multiple roles, and there's an abundance of items to help meet the needs of each game. Dota doesn't provide limitations on how to play, it empowers you to express your own style.

;All heroes are free.
:Competitive balance is ''Dota'''s crown jewel, and to ensure everyone is playing on an even field, the core content of the game—like the vast pool of heroes—is available to all players. Fans can collect cosmetics for heroes and fun add-ons for the world they inhabit, but everything you need to play is already included before you join your first match.

;Bring your friends and party up.
:Dota is deep, and constantly evolving, but it's never too late to join.
:Learn the ropes playing co-op vs. bots. Sharpen your skills in the hero demo mode. Jump into the behavior- and skill-based matchmaking system that ensures you'll be matched with the right players each game.

==Features==
=== Pre-Reborn ===
These are the features first introduced when {{dota2|4}} launched in 2013, running on {{Src|4}} engine.
; Cloth simulation
: Real-time cloth simulation (i.e. soft-body physics) will be introduced to Source.
; Global lighting
: The world is lit and shadowed dynamically with {{Ent|env_global_light}} (in addition to pre-compiled light).
; Steamworks integration
: Building upon community-driven features from ''Team Fortress 2,'' players will be able to share strategy guides and coach newer players through Steamworks.
; MultiBlend Textures
: 4-way texture blending, upgrading/replacing [[WorldVertexTransition]]
; Screen-space [[Anti-aliasing]]
: Anti-aliasing for use with deferred shading. The option to enable MSAA anti-aliasing (outside of console commands) has been removed as these does not work correctly with deferred shading.
; Screen Space Ambient Occlusion
: [[SSAO]] post-process shader
; Published demo file format
: [[Dota 2 Demo Format]] contains a link and instructions for parsing the ''Dota 2'' demo files
; Custom Addon Support
: See the [[Dota 2 Workshop Tools|Dota 2 Workshop Tools]] for more details.
=== Post-Reborn/Updates ===
{{Seealso|The {{source2|4}} [[Source 2#Features|features]] section}}
These are the features introduced since {{Dota2|4}} Reborn update in 2015, which ported the game to {{Src2|4}} engine.
; [[Panorama]] UI
: Replaced the previous Scaleform UI.
; 64-bit support
: Access more than 2-4GB of RAM, better performance.
; [[DirectX|DirectX 11]] (D3D11) and [[Vulkan]] support
: New graphics API, allowing for better graphics, performance.
; [[Physically Based Rendering]] support.
; [[Volumetric lighting]] support.
{{Todo|List some features added since Dota 2 post-Reborn/Source 2 update.}}

==See also==
* [[Dota 2 Workshop Tools]]
* [[Dota 2 Addon Portal]] - Documentation for the old Source 1 engine release.

==External links==
* [https://www.dota2.com/home Website]
* [https://www.dota2.com/patches Gameplay Updates on dota2.com]
* [https://www.pcgamingwiki.com/wiki/Dota_2 Dota 2 on PCGamingWiki]
* [https://liquipedia.net/dota2/Main_Page Dota 2 on Liquipedia]
* [https://www.youtube.com/@dota2 Dota 2 on YouTube]