The 125th Dota 2 hero is approaching your pubs. Get ready for Ringmaster’s wickedly entertaining presence.
Roll out the red carpet! The Dota 2 community is excited and ready to welcome the arrival of the mischievous Ringmaster, Dota 2's upcoming new hero. Valve first introduced Ringmaster during the culmination of The International 2023, teasing its arrival in 2024. With the highly-anticipated Crownfall update coming, many are also expecting Ringmaster's release. Here's everything we know about Ringmaster, including its release date, abilities, and voice actor.
UPDATE: Valve has yet to unleash Ringmaster following Crownfall's release, nor share updates regarding its release date. Many speculate that the hero will arrive in the next chapter of Crownfall, Act II, which may come in another week or more.
When is the release date for Ringmaster?
Ringmaster is scheduled to release in "early 2024". Ringmaster is likely set to release alongside the massive Crownfall update which will release in "mid April".
As we are sitting right in the middle of April, Ringmaster may come anytime soon! Valve typically releases Dota 2 patches on Tuesday or Thursday Seattle time, so make sure to keep your eyes peeled on these days.
What are Ringmaster's abilities?
There are many speculations when it comes to Ringmaster's abilities and concept. The hero has a distinct similarity to Heroes of Newerth's hero, Puppet Master. Aside from the name that aligns, both hero has the "jester" look and a wickedly mischievous concept.
HoN's Puppet Master has abilities that can tie an enemy hero to a puppet's string and restrain their movement. The Ringmaster trailer showed an image of Axe tied with a rope. The trailer also showed how Ringmaster is able to trick or deceive the enemy unit and control them to do what he wants, a similar concept to Puppet Master's mind-control ability "Puppet Show".
A lot of hidden hero voicelines also reflect this mind-control ability of Ringmaster. A voiceline from Mars says "Get out of my head!" and "No one controls a god while I'm around!" The Windranger Arcana also has a voiceline that says "The string of my bow draws only at my command." It is pretty apparent that the next Dota 2 hero will be another version of Puppet Master.
Who is the voice actor of Ringmaster in Dota 2?
The voice actor that plays Ringmaster is John de Lancie. He is an American actor who is also the voice of Lord Ritterfau in the first season of DOTA: Dragon's Blood. He already has experiences voice acting for characters in other video games such as the Assassin's Creed franchise and Call of Duty. However, this will be the first time John de Lancie voice a Dota 2 hero.
If you want to read a deep dive into Puppet Master's abilities and lore, you can visit our article below!
While we await the new hero and the Crownfall update to arrive in Dota 2, make sure to keep yourself updated on esports.gg.