All Dota 2 heroes add up to 127 characters as of 2025, with Largo the most recent addition. The 2010 alpha launched with just 22 heroes; the rest arrived gradually during the beta, after the July 2013 release and after the move to Source 2. Below is the timeline of who joined the game and when.
One article cannot cover every hero in depth: Invoker alone deserves a separate piece because of his abilities, and Legion Commander and Tinker are not as simple as they look. If you only need the number, see our article on how many heroes there are in Dota; here we follow how the roster grew.
How events developed
To understand the chronology, first let's look at how many heroes Dota 2 had at the start, in November 2010, when the first public Alpha started. We think there is no need to tell you that initially DotA was just one of the many mods for Warcraft 3, but at one point Gabe Newell from Valve realized the value of this asset and lured modders under his wing.
Moreover, the foundation for development already existed, even the heroes were ready. All that remained was to rebalance them for the new format, improve their appearance and introduce them into the second part of the game.
The following guys from three factions stood in the vanguard:
Strength: Axe, Earthshaker, Pudge, Sand King, Sven, Tidehunter.
Agility: Anti-Mage, Drow Ranger, Mirana, Morphling, Razor.
Intelligence: Crystal Maiden, Dazzle, Lich, Lina, Lion, Necrophos, Puck, Shadow Shaman, Storm Spirit, Vengeful Spirit, Witch Doctor.
Total — 22 heroes. Not enough, but it was enough to start a new project. Testers tried out new mechanics, edited the map, added or removed obstacles along the way, and shaped the forest and balance in general. Some veterans probably still remember how different the Dota of that time was from today.
Active Beta period
When the Beta Test hit, which happened in January 2011, the overall growth expanded significantly with characters from different factions. At this point, MOBA had already begun to take on the shape that remains virtually unchanged to this day. Apart from balance changes from patch to patch, of course.
At this stage, the pool of characters was replenished with the following comrades:
January 2011: Slardar;
February 2011: Enigma, Faceless Void, Tiny, Viper;
April 2011: Venomancer, Clockwerk, Nature's Prophet, Dark Seer, Sniper;
May 2011: Pugna, Beastmaster, Enchantress, Leshrac, Shadow Fiend;
June 2011: Tinker, Weaver, Night Stalker, Ancient Apparition, Spectre, Doom;
July 2011: Chen;
September 2011: Juggernaut;
October 2011: Bloodseeker, Kunkka, Riki, Queen of Pain, Wraith King, Broodmother, Huskar, Jakiro, Batrider;
November 2011: Omniknight, Dragon Knight, Warlock, Alchemist;
December 2011: Lifestealer, Death Prophet, Ursa, Bounty Hunter;
January 2012: Silencer, Spirit Breaker, Invoker, Clinkz;
February 2012: Outworld Destroyer;
March 2012: Bane, Shadow Demon, Lycan, Lone Druid;
April 2012: Brewmaster;
May 2012: Phantom Lancer, Treant Protector, Ogre Magi;
June 2012: Gyrocopter, Chaos Knight, Phantom Assassin, Rubick, Luna, Io;
July 2012: Undying, Disruptor, Templar Assassin, Naga Siren, Nyx Assassin, Keeper of the Light, Visage;
September 2012: Meepo;
October 2012: Magnus, Centaur Warrunner;
November 2012: Slark;
December 2012: Timbersaw;
January 2013: Medusa, Troll Warlord;
February 2013: Tusk;
March 2013: Bristleback;
April 2013: Skywrath Mage;
May 2013: Elder Titan.
Total — 77 new faces.
In total, how many heroes were there in the game Dota 2 at the time of release? That's right, 98. But 121 is still missing something. So let's talk about the later stages of MOBA.
Official release and situation today
Dota 2 fully announced itself on July 9, 2013. Yes, there were problems at the learning stage, but no one is perfect. Nevertheless, the game went "gold", and at the same time presented gamers with several more interesting characters:
July 2013: Abaddon;
November 2013: Ember Spirit and Earth Spirit;
December 2013: Legion Commander;
January 2014: Phoenix and Terrorblade;
September 2014: Techies;
November 2014: Oracle;
February 2015: Winter Wyvern.
Whichever hero you play, your MMR depends mostly on game knowledge and your position in the team, not on the character itself.
Moving to a new engine
In 2015, Valve announced a large-scale transfer of all developments from the proprietary Source engine to Source 2, which automatically improved graphics, gameplay, ease of creating custom mods for the Steam Workshop and a number of other aspects of interest to developers and ordinary gamers.
The project was named "Reborn" and kept evolving from there. As part of it, the roster was replenished with 11 more characters between December 2015 and April 2021, namely:
Arc Warden;
Underlord;
Monkey King;
Dark Willow;
Pangolier;
Grimstroke;
Mars;
Snapfire;
Void Spirit;
Hoodwink;
Dawnbreaker.
By spring 2021, when this article was first published (patch 7.29), Dota had 121 heroes. The roster has kept growing since then:
2021: Marci;
2022: Primal Beast;
2023: Muerta;
2024: Kez and Ringmaster;
2025: Largo.
That makes 127 heroes. In 2023, patch 7.33 also added a fourth attribute, Universal, to the classic three, and some heroes were moved into it, so the old Strength, Agility and Intelligence split is no longer complete.
Newcomers usually start with simple characters: our picks for first matches are in the guide to easy Dota 2 heroes, and the strongest picks right now are covered in the article on the best heroes.
Cosmetics for your favorite heroes are available in the Dota 2 item catalog on LIS-SKINS.
