There are two ways to change a hero in Dota 2. If you mean your pick in a match, you can swap heroes with a teammate during the strategy phase, and in your own lobby you can redo the pick with a console command. If you want to change how a hero looks in the menu, you replace the video file with its animation in the game folder. Both options are covered below, along with how to remove the animation from the main screen.
The focus here is less on the draft itself and more on visual tweaks: the same main menu background gets old after a few years, and some variety helps.
How to Change the Hero in the Dota 2 Lobby
Say you are testing a hero in your own lobby, but you get tired of it, or the team lacks a support, carry or offlaner. The Ember Spirit you picked turns out not to fit the draft.
In this case, open the console (the default key is "\" next to or above Enter; see how to enable the console in Dota 2) and enter the command:
dota_sf_hud_force_captainsmode 1
As soon as you've made the choice — change the value to 0 in the console:
dota_sf_hud_force_captainsmode 0
This command belongs to older interface settings and may not work in every mode or client version. In a regular matchmaking game, the reliable way to change heroes is to agree on a swap with a teammate during the strategy phase.
How to Change Hero Video in Dota 2
If you are tired of the same hero animations on the pick screen, you can replace them with your own. The game engine allows it, and the process is simple.
Let's look at the example of Lifestealer, although the algorithm is the same for each character. You’ll need any short video in WEBM format without sound and access to the game files.
The video can be found on YouTube or thematic platforms.
Now go to the following path:
C:\SteamLibrary\steamapps\common\dota 2\beta\game\dota\panorama\videos\heroes
The file name for Lifestealer is:
npc_dota_hero_life_stealer.webm
Before making changes, we strongly recommend saving the original file.
Now rename the downloaded file to the original name and save it to this folder.
As a result, we have a new animation with the old hero.
P.S. This trick does not work in-game, only on the main screen and during hero draft.
With one move, you change:
icon;
video presentation;
avatar;
animation;
portrait.
You can change videos as often as you like; changes apply immediately and no client restart is required. Keep in mind that a game update or verifying file integrity in Steam may restore the original videos.
Removing Animations from the Main Page
Not everyone knows that the video greeting on the main screen can not only be replaced, but also removed entirely.
The animated background also loads the graphics card, so on low-end PCs turning it off can add a few frames in the menu. More ways to gain frames are in our guide on how to boost FPS in Dota 2.
Open the console and enter the following command:
map_enable_background_maps 0
As a result, the background will disappear completely and be replaced with black.
This option is worth trying on low-end PCs. Almost any interface element in Dota can be customized, and more useful settings are in our list of Dota 2 console commands. If you are choosing whom to switch to, see the overview of all Dota 2 heroes.
