Let's welcome Ring Master: what we know about the 125 hero in Dota 2, release date, possible abilities

One of the traditional elements of The International has been the announcement of a new character in Dota 2. And The International 2023 was no exception. Valve unveiled the trailer of the 125th hero in their MOBA discipline during the final game day of the Dota 2 World Championship in Seattle. It was Ring Master.

At the moment not much information is known about the upcoming addition to the roster in Dota 2. But we can draw some conclusions from the history of the addition of previous heroes, the trailer and the source of inspiration for Ring Master, as well as speculate about the potential role of Ring Master on the fields of Defence of the Ancients 2.

Ring Master release date in Dota 2

At the end of the announcement trailer Valve stated that Ring Master should be expected in Dota 2 next year, 2024. But let's try to analyse what time frame the new character might be released in, based on previous releases.

Hero release schedule in Dota 2 in recent years:

• Muerta - 6th of March 2023
• Primal Beast - 23rd February 2022
• Marci - 28th October 2021
• Dawnbreaker - 9th April 2021

As you can see from the release dates of the previous four mounts, Ring Master's likely release date is between February and April next year. And given Valve's sluggishness, the release of the new hero may stretch to the end of the second quarter of 2024.

The source of inspiration for Ring Master

Fans of old-school MOBA games immediately noticed where Valve drew inspiration for Ring Master. The game in question was Heroes of Newerth, developed by S2 Games and Frostburn Studios, which had already closed in the middle of last year. There was an extremely similar character called Puppet Master.

He had some rather unique abilities that would bring variety to Dota 2. Puppeteer's Hold allowed you to bind an enemy hero at a certain point and pull him to the centre if he left the range of the ability. It's a cross between Dark Seer's Vacuum and Puck's Dream Coil.

Puppet Show makes the enemy attack his allies for 2-3.5 seconds. This ability is similar to Winter's Curse from Winter Wyvern. With the right level of skill, it allows you to easily kill puppets and wreak havoc in the enemy's ranks when trying to create a profitable fight.

Whiplash gives guaranteed critical damage and splash for every fourth attack from the hero. This ability potentially gives a new hero in Dota 2 the ability to become a mid laner or carry in certain situations.

An ultimatum ability called Voodoo Puppet creates a puppet that is linked to an enemy hero. When damage is dealt to the puppet, damage is also dealt to the enemy. This is an extremely useful ability to quickly kill enemy heroes with low HP and low mobility.

Ring Master's role in Dota 2

From the above abilities, it follows that in the current realities Ring Master is probably ѕtupet excellent ѕuрроrt of the fourth position. As he can have a number of unique abilities that help in battles and will be able to turn the tide in the fiercest of fights.

Some skilful players will try to make Ring Master carry or mid laner, but in the current melee he looks better in a support position. Everything will depend on how Valve will balance the character's parameters, his strength, dexterity and The International Intellect, as well as how much his abilities and their features will coincide with those seen in Heroes of Newerth.

Conclusion

In front of us is potentially one of the most unique characters in Dota 2 in recent memory. If Ring Master gets all of the core abilities of his predecessor from Heroes of Newerth, we'll have a colourful foursome that can cause a lot of trouble for the opposing team.