2020 truly is a weird year. Diretide is back! And this time we didn't even have to spam Volvo's page. The Dota 2 community has clamored to bring back Diretide during the Halloween season for many years. It always fell on deaf ears. However, finally, when everyone had just given up on it, Valve has brought back the beloved custom game.
Many are wondering, what is ‘Diretide’ and how do you even play this weird game mode? While Valve have a handy guide, it really doesn’t feel comprehensive enough. Don’t worry, we got your back. Here’s a quick tutorial on how to play Diretide optimally.
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Diretide 101 - A Tutorial To Dota 2’s Newest Custom Game Mode
Diretide is a five-round custom game mode that is easy to play, but hard to master. The objective of the game is to collect Greevil Taffy(candy) and store it. In the middle, Roshan will begin hunting you or your teammates. You will have to pacify Roshan by feeding him the Greevil Taffy you collected. The game will be won by the team that collects the most Greevil Taffy.
The Map and The Five Rounds:
The first thing that you will notice after you pick your heroes and load into the game is the beautiful Borderlands aesthetic that the Diretide map possesses. The map has two lanes: Top lane and Bottom lane where you battle against enemy heroes and creeps to collect Greevil Taffy.
There are also scarecrows at the top and the bottom of the map. Killing a scarecrow gives you either taffys or neutral items. Scarecrows spawn at fixed intervals. A notification stating “Scarecrow stashes are refreshed” will be displayed when they spawn.
There are a total of five rounds with each round lasting for 6 minutes each. The team with the higher taffy count at the end of each round wins it. The first team to win three rounds wins the game.
Dealing with Roshan:
An invulnerable Roshan also roams the map, ravenous and bloodthirsty he will appear behind heroes. Unless you give him a Greevil Taffy, he will kill your team and curse you which will put a debuff on the entire team. So make sure to always have candy on yourself to feed Roshan.
How to Obtain Greevil Taffy?
Greevil Taffy can be obtained by killing creeps, killing a Greevil Taffy well near the enemy base, killing a scarecrow, or by killing a hero. Killing a hero transfers whatever candy the enemy hero has to the hero that gets the kill.
Once sufficient Greevil Taffy is collected, it should be taken back to the stash at the base.
Why You Should Play Diretide 2020
All players who play the game will be rewarded with Diretide points. For every 100 Diretide points players will receive one of 75 unique rewards which include:
- New Diretide Treasure: Prized Trunk Of The Diretide
- New Couriers
- New Ward
- Seasonal Pumpkin Head Cosmetic for All Heroes
- Mega Kills Announcer Packs
- Chatlines
- Seasonal High Five
- Seasonal Sprays and Emoticons
- Other Exclusive Sets
- The 2020 Diretide
All these rewards are fully tradable and marketable, making it a worthy time investment for many a Dota 2 player.
The Diretide 2020 update is already live on the Dota 2 client completely reworking it to match the Halloween theme. The seasonal event will last till December 22 which gives players ample time to play, learn, and grind their way to grab all the Diretide cosmetics that Valve has released.
Heck even if you don’t have enough time, you can always trade or visit the steam community market to grab your favorite Diretide cosmetic.
