TL;DR
- Diretide revolves around collecting candy from Greevils and depositing it in enemy wells while defending your own
- Mount selection is situational: Penguin for farming, Snowball for defense, Ogre Seal/Frosted Toad for offense
- Leshrac, Pudge, and Storm Spirit dominate the meta due to their constant fighting capabilities
- Strategic Roshan redirection can turn losing games into victories
- Team coordination and mount swapping are crucial for high-level play
Games and Esports Articles Dota 2
November 4th, 2022 marked the exciting release of Diretide alongside Battle Pass Part 2, bringing back this beloved seasonal event with significant gameplay innovations. Mastering Diretide requires understanding its unique mechanics that differ substantially from standard Dota 2 matches.
This 5v5 game mode preserves all standard heroes, items, and abilities but eliminates traditional lanes and creep waves entirely. The battlefield centers around a dormant Roshan positioned in the middle, surrounded by constantly spawning Greevils that drop valuable candy. Your primary objective involves gathering this candy and strategically depositing it into opposing team’s wells while protecting your own bases.
Each team begins with four strategically placed wells: two positioned on the outer perimeter and two closer to your base. A critical strategic element involves the dependency between inner and outer wells—you cannot access inner wells until their corresponding outer wells have been neutralized by enemy actions.
Every well features a protective guardian that actively interferes with candy deposition attempts. The candy dropping process initially proceeds slowly but accelerates dramatically when you deposit multiple candies consecutively, rewarding aggressive offensive plays.
The game’s pivotal moment occurs when Roshan awakens and begins hunting Greevils. Once satiated, he targets the well containing the most candy and proceeds to destroy it. During his approach, teams retain the opportunity to deposit candy in enemy wells, potentially redirecting Roshan’s destructive attention toward opponents. Victory conditions are straightforward: the first team to lose all four wells through Roshan’s destruction loses the match, with no alternative defeat conditions available.
Beyond candy collection, Greevils provide valuable drops including neutral items, gold pouches, and mana restoration consumables. Additional neutral creeps scattered across the map also yield item drops, creating multiple resource acquisition pathways.
The mount system introduces a revolutionary mobility mechanic to Diretide, offering four distinct options with specialized capabilities and limitations. Understanding when to utilize each mount dramatically impacts your effectiveness throughout different game phases.
You have access to four specialized mounts:
- Penguin: Exceptional speed and maneuverability make this ideal for rapid farming, though any incoming damage will immediately dismount you
- Ogre Seal: Propels forward over cliffs and through wooded areas with impressive momentum but lacks turning capability during movement
- Snowball: Delivers stunning impact upon collision and summoning, though it suffers from sluggish acceleration and difficult turning
- Frosted Toad: Capable of hopping over obstacles and terrain, but cannot simultaneously hop and change direction
Optimal mount selection depends entirely on your current objectives and game situation. The Penguin excels during neutral and Greevil farming phases due to its speed and agility. Snowball proves invaluable for well defense scenarios where its stun capability can disrupt enemy candy carriers. Both Ogre Seal and Frosted Toad serve specialized offensive roles, enabling deep incursions into enemy territory for well assaults.
Advanced Mount Strategy: High-level players frequently switch mounts multiple times per game based on evolving circumstances. Consider carrying a Teleportation Scroll to quickly return to base for mount changes when strategic needs shift. The Snowball’s area stun can create unexpected teamfight advantages beyond mere defensive applications.
Diretide’s relentless combat environment favors heroes who either scale effectively during extended engagements, operate independently of significant cooldown restrictions, or possess abilities that enable battlefield dominance through sustained pressure.
Leshrac: Currently stands as the most dominant force in Diretide meta. His established strength in current Dota 2 gameplay translates exceptionally well to this mode, where he delivers massive area damage, sustains through healing, and efficiently farms both Greevils and enemy heroes simultaneously. His ban rate remains exceptionally high due to this overwhelming effectiveness.
Pudge: Another meta-relevant hero who thrives without mana or cooldown dependencies. His Meat Hook provides both offensive elimination potential and defensive salvation for teammates, while his Aghanim’s Shard upgrade enhances his ultimate’s utility significantly.
Storm Spirit: The capability to rapidly traverse the map and directly assault enemy wells makes this hero extraordinarily valuable. His cooldown-independent playstyle perfectly suits Diretide’s constant action.
Undying: Perpetual combat situations maximize his effectiveness, with Aghanim’s Scepter representing an essential item acquisition for maximum impact.
Additional Power Picks:
Bristleback: Functions independently of cooldown limitations, discharges substantial area damage, and maintains exceptional survivability through his passive damage reduction.
Slark: The expansive map layout provides abundant opportunities for health regeneration, while his passive Essence Shift accumulates substantial agility bonuses during continuous fighting.
Tinker: Instant teleportation to allied heroes combined with massive damage output creates tremendous value in Diretide’s dynamic environment.
Spirit Breaker: Excellent for punishing enemy incursions into your well territories through global presence and disruption.
Bloodseeker: Gains significant movement speed advantages from any combat encounters, while his silence ability proves easy to land against distracted opponents.
Io: Demonstrates exceptional synergy with virtually all aforementioned top-tier heroes, amplifying their effectiveness through tether-based support.
Hero Synergy Combinations: Pairing Io with Leshrac creates nearly unstoppable pushing power, while Storm Spirit combined with Undying can overwhelm enemy defenses through coordinated assaults. For comprehensive hero strategies, check our Class Guide for detailed ability breakdowns.
Action Checklist
- Master mount swapping: Start with Penguin for farming, switch to Snowball for defense, use Ogre Seal for offensive pushes
- Practice Roshan redirection timing – deposit candy in enemy wells as he approaches your wells
- Learn hero power spikes: Identify when your chosen hero reaches critical effectiveness points
- Coordinate well defense assignments with teammates to prevent simultaneous multiple well losses
- Study candy deposition acceleration mechanics – practice consecutive deposits for speed bonuses
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