The International 5 is upon us, and already we’re at USD 5,780,697 as at the time of writing. This year, we have stretch goals extending all the way to USD 15,000,000, which tells us that Valve has come really far for Dota 2 to expect at least 56 million to be spent on their virtual merchandise, the Compendium.

This year’s International will recur once again at the Key Arena in Seattle, home of the international since Ti 4 on August 3 – 8. This is the first time the same location will be used for the tournament, signalling a more stable tournament locale  for Valve’s own future tournament league, which will be revealed soon enough (probably at Ti 5’s opening day).

What does this year’s Compendium promise? 3 different immortal chests, unlocked at the 3, 7 and 10 million dollar stretch goal tiers. Valve has tripled the chest variety this year, ensuring everyone will need to spend much, much more for their ultra rare items. A Chinese comic has captured the essence of it, buying 1,000 levels does not necessitate an ultra rare for you. (Credit: Reddit user Zaethus)

With eyes on the larger prize, expect more than just the usual fare of show matches. I predict special, participant activities to make attending The International a truly rewarding experience to keep people coming back each year.

Beyond merchandising, Valve might introduce audience-voted maps or even new game maps into competitive play. League of Legends has alternative maps, but the lack of balancing or attention to alternative maps has made them a casual option rather than a competitive difference.

Gold is the color of the year (last year’s was purple for invisibility – where did my ti4 finals go?) and it is fitting: much, much more loot up for grabs in the stretch goals. As of the time of writing, emoticon packs, HUD and loading screens are on the horizon.

This year’s compendium allows you to redeem coins gained by completing challenges in 5v5 all pick. These challenges range from destroying towers within a time frame to getting a total creep score. Having 4 other compendium-owners in your game nets you a limited number of extra coins and levels, and you can exchange coins for untradable items: 100 for a single item, and 1000 for a set. Personally, I think going for 10 single items is much more worth it than waiting for a set, but remember that they are untradable: any excess items have to be deleted or gifted away.

Currently, there isn’t any way to gain levels other than from predictions. All rewards are retroactive, so I suggest you hold out from buying the compendium until it’s around End-May when they have implemented more features. There’s really no rush to “buy in”, and it’s only worth to purchase the base compendium if you do not intend to buy any levels. The coin challenges do reset every 5 days and predictions need to be made for free compendium points, so if you’re looking to gather untradeable cosmetics, that’s the only reason you should buy the compendium now so you have more time.

If you have disposable income and are going to buy more points, get the level 50 one, it’s a great head start. It’s currently 14 dollars for 24 levels and with reward tiers staggered at every 5 levels, it’s a basic trick to get you to drop 70 bucks to get a round number. The compendium rewards “maxes out” at level 250, but the cap is 10,000 for additional immortal treasures. Most people spend around 60 dollars to get enough levels for a few chests since as with all “The International” cosmetics, they will only appreciate in value.

The immortals are high-quality, and so is every reward so far. In spite of Valve’s promises, there has been no news on Source 2 yet – “first half” of 2015 is rapidly drawing to a close. The compendium makes for a good gift – but there is the drawback of only being able to gift it 7 days after purchase. If you intend to gift a compendium, buy it now.

You can follow me on twitter @TheFreakofnatur and email me at [email protected]. Until next time!

Chen Yiji
The Gaming Ground
Twitter: @TheFreakofnatur

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Tags: Compendium Feature, Defense of the Ancients, DOTA 2, The International 5, Valve