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Valve's recent announcement for the beginning of the Dota Pro Circuit (DPC) 2021-22 in the next few days is not the only thing fans need to look forward to. As discovered by data miners, the update has also brought changes to Dota 2 files, which include details of a new Drow Ranger Arcana, and a potential second season of the popular custom game, Aghanim's Labyrinth. Moreover, the files list a new character called 'Primal Beast' whose name appears along with other existing heroes, possibly denoting a new hero.
Drow Ranger Arcana, a new event, and a hero might be coming in Dota 2
The Dota_DM Telegram group mentioned the various unreleased aspects found in the Dota 2 files after the recent update for the DPC 2021-22.
An HUD and Arcana Progress for Drow Ranger's Arcana are mentioned which raises the possibility of it being in the workings.
26CDOTA_Hud_DrowRangerArcana
dota_drow_ranger_arcana_disable_display
dota_drow_ranger_arcana_progress_delay
dota_drow_ranger_arcana_progress_linger_duration
The Arcanas which are already available in the game have dedicated HUDs and Arcana Progress (for heroes like Windranger, Queen of Pain, and more). This means that the Drow Ranger Arcana if released, will likely have a progression system that will provide new alterations after reaching certain levels.
Additionally, mentions of "AghsFort" and notably "boss" in the game files further add to the speculation of a new season of Aghanim's Labyrinth. Dota 2 files made similar mentions a couple of months ago. This indicates that this new game event has been in the works for a while. According to these mentions in the game files, this possible new event resembles the format of Aghanim's Labyrinth because, in it, the players also had to defeat the scaling Dota 2 ‘bosses’ one by one to win.
For Aghanim's Labyrinth, there was a limited set of heroes that players could choose from. Sand King, which was not in the hero pool for this event the last time, has been added as per the files. Additionally, a new boss, primal_beast_boss, has been mentioned in the game files.
In addition to being a boss in this potential custom game event, the files indicate that Primal Beast could also be a new Dota 2 hero. There is a section in the files that describes the abilities of various Dota 2 heroes, and Primal Beast appears in alphabetical order between Phoenix and Pudge.
particles/units/heroes/hero_primal_beast/primal_beast_tantrum_active.vpcf
particles/units/heroes/hero_primal_beast/primal_beast_tantrum_overhead.vpcf
The DPC update also mentioned that Valve is working on a new Battle Pass and a "special conundrum" that should arrive in the next few weeks. “In the meantime, we're also putting the finishing touches on the next Battle Pass, which is due out in the next few weeks. We've got a special conundrum cooking and we can't wait to share it,” Valve wrote on its blog.
