The DOTA 2 community witnessed the release of the Nemestice Battle Pass a couple of hours ago. Honestly, we were waiting for this for a while now.
We finally got a chance to see the Spectre Arcana after months of waiting. But that's just about it. The Nemestice Battle Pass in DOTA 2 looks like a comedy of errors. And I'm not surprised, AT ALL!
What's wrong with the Nemestice Battle Pass
I'll break it down into points so that it doesn't sound like an unorganized rant!
#1 - Lack of continuity
I know most of us don't really approve of Fortnite, but Valve could draw inspiration from their battle pass. Whoever purchases the battle pass in Fortnite, doesn't need to spend money behind future battle passes anymore.
There are tiers where you have currency with which you can buy the battle pass in the next season itself. Yes you do need to grind to a certain level to make up for the amount, but then again, at least you have that option.
Valve, on the other hand, introduced the idea of the battle pass. It was released in 2013 under the name of Compendium and was later renamed as the battle pass. It's a surprise that other games took the idea and evolved with it but Valve is still continuing with the Compendium-esque idea.
Talking about the battle pass, have you heard what HALO Infinite is doing? If you get a battle pass, you actually get to keep it and progress at your own pace even after the season ends. That's how battle passes are evolving these days. I'm not saying Valve needs to do the same with DOTA, or maybe I am. But then again, there's always a scope for improvement!
#2 Lack of a free track
Now most games that have a battle pass have a free track with it. Although the Fortnite battle pass has also changed track this season, other games like Destiny 2 and Call of Duty continue to have a free track with their battle passes. Destiny 2 even hands out the seasonal weapon at a certain level in the battle pass itself.
Everyone loves some free cosmetics, and not everyone has the ability to purchase the battle pass either. So having a free track in the battle pass would be highly appreciated.
#3 Leveling up without rewards
If you've viewed the Nemestice Battle Pass in DOTA 2 closely, you'll realize that as you go higher in the battle pass, you'll be leveling up without any rewards. In the later stages, you'll have to cross 4-5 levels before getting a reward.
What's the point of charging so much for a battle pass when we've got to deal with so many levels without rewards. I mean, there's a reason we skipped most of the filler episodes in Naruto. And the last thing I wanted was Valve treating DOTA 2 battle pass levels like Naruto fillers.
Oh, just by the way, Naruto fillers still had some development!
#4 Maxing it out without money
No, that's not possible. Remember how you couldn't get to the Wind Ranger set without spending money last season? Yeah, the Nemestice Battle Pass feels the same. There is no chance that you'll be able to reach all 500 levels by just purchasing the basic battle pass.
And if you didn't already know, there's another battle pass that is coming up towards the end of this year. It'll probably be released after The International ends this year.
#5 Spectre Arcana - Valve's cash cow
We have been waiting for the Spectre Arcana for a long while now. Voting for the same concluded back in August, 2020 and the skin has seen light after almost a year.
For context, Flockheart's Gamble won the vote in August 2019, and the Arcana was released in December that very year. Similarly, The Magus Cipher won the vote in August 2018 and the skin came to the store in December 2018.
This delay with the Spectre Arcana made the skin highly desirable. But, Valve had the wisest of ideas to make it a battle pass only item. Remember, you could purchase the other Arcanas from the DOTA 2 store. But for the Spectre Arcana, you'll have to buy the battle pass and then make your way to level 330 to get hold of the skin.
If this isn't a sign of Valve being greedy, then I don't know what else is. Honestly, we don't really need the battle pass to play DOTA 2. But have you seen how good the skins and everything else looks?
That being said, many of us are going to buy the battle pass anyway. But it does help to take note of everything that's going wrong with DOTA 2 (other than the gameplay; that's one thing that Valve gets right everytime!)