Could one of these Artifact characters be Dota 2’s newest hero?

The newest Dota 2 hero is finally arriving later this month, with Valve setting the update’s release some time in mid-December, after it was originally planned for end November.

While the publisher has yet to share many details on this new character, they did reveal that it would be a female hero, commenting that her release was delayed since “she needs a bit more time to cosy up for the winter”.

Admittedly, a hero’s gender doesn’t reveal much about their identity, but it does narrow down where we can find possible candidates.

The next Dota 2 hero could very well be an already established character from a game in the extended Dota universe, specifically from Artifact.

For those unaware, Artifact is a digital card game set in the Dota universe released by Valve in November 2018. It wouldn’t be surprising if you haven’t heard much about it, though, as it unfortunately ended up being a massive flop after some initial hype.

While Valve has recently begun trying to revive Artifact, they may be better served porting assets that have languished in it over to Dota 2, where they could be useful as, say, the basis for a new hero.

Sure, there’s a good chance that the new hero isn’t from Artifact, but speculation is fun and also a good way to kill time while waiting for her release.

Assuming the new hero does come from Artifact, then there are a number of female characters from the game that could very well be coming to Dota 2. Here are some of the more likely ones:

Sorla Khan

Sorla Khan is an integral character to Artifact’s story. She is the Khan of the Red Mist Army, a barbaric horde that has been rampaging all over the world of Dota that is made up of the Oglodi, a race of brutish, red-skinned humanoids. Other members of the Oglodi race you might be familiar with are Dota 2 heroes Warlock and Axe.

Speaking of Axe, he and Sorla share a bit of history in the lore. During his time as a member of the Red Mist Army, Axe ascended the ranks of the army by murdering his superiors. By the time Axe was able to claim the title of Khan, the Red Mist Army consisted of only himself. Some time later, the Red Mist Army was revived by Sorla and she was named its new Khan.

Sorla is played as a tower demolisher in Artifact, with abilities and signature cards that allowed her to take down towers with ease.

Should she be ported over to Dota, then she could fill the same role as heroes like Nature’s Prophet or Pugna. Though her method of pushing towers, be it through summons, like Nature’s Prophet, or abilities that damage towers, like Pugna, remain to be seen.

Sorla has been referenced in voice lines for a number of Dota 2 heroes, including Dark Willow, Pangolier, Juggernaut, and Pudge, which means that there may be plans for her to appear in the game at some point. Perhaps as the new hero coming later this month.

Kanna and Prellex

Next up are Kanna and Prellex, the respective priestesses of the opposing sides of the War of the Ancients, the central conflict that is played out in every match of Dota 2.

Prellex is the Priestess of the Radiant while Kanna is the Priestess of the Dire. If they seem familiar, then that’s because they hail from the same race that comprises the army of the Radiant, which is another way to say that they’re Radiant Creeps. An interesting lore titbit about the two is that Kanna is the daughter of Prellex, with the former abandoning her mother’s cause for unknown reasons to join her enemies.

Both Kanna and Prellex have similar playstyles in Artifact, with both characters having abilities to summon creeps to come to their aid. There are already a fair number of Dota 2 heroes that have summoning abilities, like the aforementioned Nature’s Prophet, Beastmaster, and Lone Druid, among others. However, there aren’t any that directly summon lane creeps, which could make Kanna and Prellex’s abilities an interesting take on summoner heroes.

In addition, since both characters are very similar other than the fact that they are on opposing sides of the War of the Ancients, Valve can make it so that both characters are tied into just one hero but either one appears depending on which side it is picked. In other words, if you pick this hero while on the Radiant then she’ll appear as Prellex while doing so on the Dire will make her appear as Kanna.

Much like Sorla Khan, both characters have been referenced in voice lines for Dota 2 heroes, namely Phantom Lancer and Juggernaut, meaning they could also be due for an appearance in the game soon.

Mazzie

Lastly, there’s Mazzie, a well-known inventor that belongs to the race of Keen. The Keen is the most represented race in Dota 2’s hero roster, as it includes Clockwerk, Tinker, Sniper, Alchemist, Gyrocopter, Techies, Timbersaw, and Snapfire.

As can be surmised from the characteristics of those heroes, the Keen are a varied race of small humanoids known for their penchant with science, machinery, engineering, and other similar pursuits.

They are like the Dota universe’s equivalent of dwarves, gnomes, and goblins all mashed together into one group. This can be seen with how some Keen, like Sniper and Gyrocopter, have pale skin, while others, like Timbersaw, Snapfire, and Mazzie, have purple-tinged skin.

In Artifact, Mazzie is a tanky hero that pilots a mechanical suit of armour, similar to Timbersaw. While that apparent overlap may count Mazzie out as a possible candidate for the upcoming hero, there are signs that seem to point out it might actually be her.

Voice lines for Snapfire, one of the game’s two most recently released heroes, as well as Queen of Pain and Wraith King for their Arcanas that came with the TI10 Battle Pass, reference an ‘inventor’ type of hero.

The aforementioned lines are unused but still within the game files and can be viewed in the Dota 2 Wiki’s responses page for Snapfire as well as the Queen of Pain and Wraith King Arcanas.

When Queen of Pain kills this particular hero, she mockingly asks if he/she can invent his/her way out of being killed.

Snapfire gives some advice on improving “designs” when they meet as allies in another line, another reference to an inventor hero.

Wraith King talks about “parts” and “tools” in multiple lines, again referencing a hero with a knack for inventing gadgets.

While these lines may seem vague, the fact that there’s a fair number across the most-recently released heroes and Arcanas referencing the same hero archetype points towards it being an imminent addition to Dota 2.

Mazzie matches the profile of an inventor hero, especially when considering the fact that she’s a member of the race that specialises in it according to the game’s lore.

Of course, there’s a good chance that the new hero may not be Sorla, Kanna, Prellex, or Mazzie, as stated above. But again, there’s nothing wrong with a bit of speculation to await the new hero finally being released, right?

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