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Since 2017, Valve has been treating Dota 2 players with exclusive Arcanas as a special reward in their annual Battle Pass.
Arcanas are the highest quality cosmetics in Dota 2. Players can vote for the hero they want an Arcana for in the annual battle pass, but after 2016's vote created a bunch of controversies, Valve began giving out free exclusive Arcanas to battle pass owners.
What are exclusive Arcanas in Dota 2?
In 2016, the two heroes that reached the voting final were Juggernaut and IO. IO was memed by the Dota 2 community to the grand final and when Valve announced that Juggernaut had won the voting by a margin of 4% of all votes, the community instantly started making accusations of Valve rigging the vote.
Valve stayed quiet about said accusations but surprised the community with the new IO Arcana in 2017's battle pass. This was the first exclusive Arcana given out by Valve. Since then we have had 5 Arcanas. For some reason, the 2018 battle pass had none of them. The 2019 battle pass has one and the 2020 battle pass has 3 Arcanas.
Battle pass exclusive Arcanas are some of the best Arcanas in Dota 2. This article compares every Arcana to see which is the best and which is the least good since none of them are objectively bad.
Note: This list solely reflects the author's opinions.
Related: Dota 2 fan gets Spectre tattoo as Valve delays the long-awaited Arcana
5. The Eminence of Ristul (Queen of Pain)
The Eminence of Ristul is Queen of Pain's Arcana released in the 2020 battle pass at level 445. The Arcana was released as a whole bundle with an additional weapon, crown, and shoulder item alongside the Arcana back item.
Valve stuck to their red and blue theme as the Arcana's default style was red and the unlockable alternate style was blue. The blue style was not particularly well-received as most of the community said that the style just looks like Vengeful Spirit, another Dota 2 hero. The alternate style can be unlocked by hitting 1000 heroes with QOP's Sonic Wave ultimate ability.
The Arcana comes with custom animations for Shadow Strike, Blink, and QOP's Ultimate, Sonic Wave, alongside several custom movement and ambient effects.
The difficulty in unlocking the alternate style isn't that hard either. But once the list progresses further, this one just doesn't hold up with the others.
4. The One True King (Wraith King)
The One True King is Wraith King's Arcana released in 2020's battle pass at level 375. Its name is a reference to Wraith King's Dota 1 version, Skeleton King. This arcana was also released as a whole bundle.
The default style doesn't really have a primary color and is a mix of golden, white, red, and black. The alternate unlockable style has a dark red theme. This is an amazing-looking style that makes Wraith King look like a horror movie villain.
The Arcana comes with custom effects for Wraith Fire Blast and Reincarnation. For some reason, Force Staff also has an effect. Wraith King also gets a few ambient, movement, and channeling animations. He also got a unique high-five animation.
This isn't the best Dota 2 Arcana by any means but has a nostalgic value to it that will appeal to older players.
3. Benevolent Companion (IO)
Probably the hardest hero to create cosmetics for in Dota 2, IO's arcana was Valve acknowledging the fans for their efforts a year earlier. It was released in 2017's battle pass at level 245. The Arcana is just one single item allotted to the 'head' slot which means nothing since IO is just a ball of light.
IO's Arcana is a masterpiece amongst Dota 2 cosmetics. Backed into a corner by the community, Valve absolutely nailed this arcana. Some people will recognize the arcana as a reference to the 'Weighted Companion Cube' from another of Valve's game series, Portal.
The Arcana has custom animations for every single skill IO has. Tether, Spirits, and Overcharge got new animations while IO's ultimate Relocate got one of the best animations in Dota 2.
IO's ultimate teleports IO and a tethered ally to any place on the map and brings them back after 12 seconds. The location where IO is approaching and will return to is marked on the map. The markings were changed to the iconic blue and orange portals from Portal. Even the sound accompanying Relocate was changed to the iconic Portal gun sounds.
IO's arcana is among the best cosmetics in Dota 2 and implies that Dota 2, Portal, and Half-Life all exist in the same Valve universe.
2. Planetfall (Earthshaker)
The Planetfall arcana was the only Arcana in the 2019 battle pass at level 365. It is a single item allotted to the head slot.
Valve again went with their red-blue color theme. The default style of the Arcana is blue while the unlockable alternate style is red. Both styles are amazing and fit the hero perfectly.
Earthshaker gets special effects and animation for Enchant Totem and its Aghanim's Sceptre upgrade, Aftershock, and Echo Slam. The Combo counter even shows how many stuns you landed in a row. The Arcana also comes with special effects for Force Staff and Blink Dagger.
The alternate style also changes the effect for Blink Dagger since it is one of Earthshaker's most important items. The alternate style can be unlocked by getting 500 kills/assists with Echo Slam.
Planetfall is one of Dota 2's best arcanas and probably has just a couple of arcana that are better.
1. Compass of the Rising Gale (Windranger)
The Windranger Arcana was released in 2020's battle pass at level 575. This is the highest level for a prestige item in Dota 2 history. The community complained about the high level it was at, but once it got released, it was so worth it.
Compass of the Rising Gale was also part of the full bundle as was every arcana released in the 2020 Dota 2 battle pass. The arcana effects are bound to the head slot. The bundle also contained items for her back, quiver, shoulder, and weapon.
She gets special animations for all of her abilities. In addition to those, she gets special effects for Javelin, Monkey King Bar, Eul's Sceptre, Windwaker, and Force Staff.
Valve massively improved their color style. The default style is mostly blue and white with touches of red while the alternate style is a beautiful shade of gold and red. The alternate style gets unlocked by dealing 2,500,000 damage with Focus Fire to enemy heroes.
Probably the hardest alternate style to unlock, but it is absolutely worth it. Both styles of this arcana are absolutely gorgeous. It is one of the best cosmetics in Dota 2 and probably the best arcana in Dota 2 as well.
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