Dota 2’s The International Compendium 2015 out now

It’s that time of year again: Dota 2‘s latest Compendium for The International is on sale within the game, with a load of rewards and stretch goals.

I’m not kidding. Loads of rewards. Loads of stretch goals. Go get a cup of tea, then come back and read.

Alright, so you can buy the Compendium itself for either £6.69, or you can get a “head start” by purchasing a level 50 Compendium for £17.99. As with last year, your Compendium will level up every time you earn 100 points, and getting more levels means you get more rewards.

There are plenty of custom effects – teleport effects, fountain healing effects, Blink effects, Dagon effects Bottle effects – which are fairly self-explanatory. It looks like there are 25 Immortal items to earn, split between three Treasures. There’s a Fire Wyvern courier style, an Almond the Frondillo pet that’ll follow around Axe, Bristleback, Centaur Warrunner, Earthshaker, Juggernaut, Legion Commander, Riki, Slark, or Sven, with an additional style available for the little chap at level 125. There are Effigy Reforger packs that’ll presumably let you reforge those effigies you got last year, plus an additional style for Axe’s Immortal item. And if you hit level 175, you’ll get a cosmetic pair of bracers for Enigma, complete with a new Black Hole effect.

Then there are the Manual of Fearsome Moves and the Portfolio of Heroes Envisioned. The former is a treasure offering taunts for heroes, which can be used while moving, and which offer new sound effects. The latter is a treasure containing loading screens showing off concept art.

Buying the Compendium will also let you earn Compendium Coins that can be spent on more items, with an item costing 100 and a set costing 1000. Also, you’ll be eligible for item drops when spectating The International matches – even if you’re not watching the games live. No, I have no idea how that’s going to work either.

And yes, it looks like there are gameplay challenges that’ll earn you more coins.

You can see a big long shot of all the level rewards below, and then we’ll talk stretch goals.

The stretch goals are where things get a little bit stickier, because the majority of those level rewards actually appear to be tied into the stretch goals, which implies that Valve firmly believe that these stretch goals are going to be hit. I mean, I don’t think they’re wrong. It just feels a little… disingenuous, maybe, to lock stuff away like that..

The first stretch goal, which has already been hit, is for a Coin Charm that offers “a new way to earn more items”, with players earning more if their Compendium level is higher. That’s at $1,600,000.

Let’s just list ’em, shall we?

• $2,000,000 – Cursor Pack
• $2,500,000 – All Star Vote
• $3,000,000 – Immortal Treasure I
• $3,500,000 – Arcana Vote
• $4,000,000 – Compendium Effigies
• $4,500,000 – Portfolio of Heroes Envisioned (loading screens of concept art)
• $5,000,000 – Emoticons
• $5,500,000 – The International HUD Skin
• $6,000,000 – Manual of Fearsome Moves (taunt treasure)
• $6,500,000 – The Watcher Below Ward
• $7,000,000 – Immortal Treasure II
• $8,000,000 – Dota 2 short film contest
• $9,000,000 – Wyvern Hatchling courier
• $10,000,000 – Immortal Treasure III
• $11,000,000 – Desert Terrain
• $12,000,000 – Music Pack
• $13,000,000 – Bristleback Announcer Pack
• $14,000,000 – New weather effects
• $15,000,000 – Axe Immortal item, plus long-form Axe comic

Most of those are pretty self-explanatory, but a few deserve some more discussion. The short film contest, for instance, has the community select the best short films through the Steam Workshop, with the eventual winners chosen by Valve and showcased at the International. Said winners will also be given a cool $20,000 each. I like the idea of the Desert Terrain, too; having a Terrain item that lets you change the look of the map seems really rather neat.

I’m less keen on some of the other things being locked away behind stretch goals. For instance, at Compendium level 25, you earn the Fire Wyvern style for your courier! Except that courier is only unlocked at the $9,000,000 stretch goal. I’m pretty damn certain that the stretch goal will be hit, but it’s still an eyebrow raiser.

I think that’s about everything. You can pick up the courier in Dota 2 itself, or on the Dota 2 Store here. Money earned from sales goes directly into the International’s prize pool, which is sitting on $1,917,155 at the time of writing.

I’ll keep you updated as goals are hit and thingies are unlocked.