PC console

Dark Moon

Posted on by Manh Vinh
dota 2 dark moon
29
Sep

This article is about the Dota 2 event. For other uses of “moon“, see Moon (Disambiguation).

Dark Moon was an event that ran from January 26 to February 6, 2017. Players defended Selemene’s temple from waves of invaders, and earned special event points that could be traded for rewards.

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Gamemode[]

The minimap

  • A team of 5 players defend against an onslaught of hordes for 15 rounds. Different enemies spawn each round with the spawns becoming harder every round.

Gameplay[]

  • 5 players defend the Temple at the very north against waves of enemies that spawn from four lanes, which are scattered in all other directions.
  • Almost each round has small units which come in masses and a few big units with special abilities.
  • Two of the rounds are bonus rounds meant to gain an economic advantage, while additional 2 are boss rounds.
  • Experience is gained by killing units (globally shared) and can be gained while dead.
  • Gold is gained by picking up gold bags which enemies can drop upon getting killed. Each round has its gold cap. The bags can be picked up by walking over them.
  • Enemies may also randomly drop instant health or mana restoring potions, which can be picked up by walking over them as well.
  • Between each rounds, players have 30 seconds time to regroup and buy items before the next round starts.
  • The game ends prematurely if the Ancient is destroyed, or if all five players die before round 15.

Buildings[]

  • For the details about the buildings, see here.
  • The Temple is located towards the north of the map. It is part of the objective and must be kept alive.
  • Eight towers defend the Temple, four external ones and four internal ones.
  • Towers that survive until the end of a round earn the team extra gold.
  • Three shrines are found on the map, each with a 180 second cooldown.
  • All towers and shrines respawn at the end of each round.
  • Two shops are located on the map. One in the middle, and one near the top, next to the Temple.

Reviving[]

  • On death, a tombstone is left where the player died. Living teammates can right click on the tombstone to revive the player. This takes a channel time of six seconds.
    • The more players that channel on the same tombstone, the quicker it will go.
  • Buyback can be used, but it has a cooldown.
  • All players are revived with full health and mana at the end of each round.

Available heroes[]

  • Only a few heroes can be picked for this event.
  • Some heroes have altered abilities made specifically for this event.
  • Click on a hero’s icon to view its stats, modified/unique abilities and mechanics for this event.
Strength

Dark Moon/Axe

Dark Moon/Bristleback

Dark Moon/Legion Commander

Dark Moon/Phoenix

Dark Moon/Tiny

Dark Moon/Treant Protector

Dark Moon/Tusk

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Dark Moon/Underlord
Agility

Dark Moon/Ember Spirit

Dark Moon/Gyrocopter

Dark Moon/Juggernaut

Dark Moon/Medusa

Dark Moon/Phantom Assassin

Dark Moon/Sniper

Dark Moon/Shadow Fiend

Dark Moon/Venomancer
Intelligence

Dark Moon/Dark Seer

Dark Moon/Disruptor

Dark Moon/Leshrac

Dark Moon/Nature’s Prophet

Dark Moon/Storm Spirit

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Dark Moon/Techies

Dark Moon/Winter Wyvern

Dark Moon/Witch Doctor

Dark Moon/Zeus

Rounds[]

  • There is a 30 second intermission in between every round.
  • For the details of the units and their abilities, see here.
ROUND 1

A Way With Worgs
  • Worg
  • Alpha Worg
  • 270 Worgs and 36 Alpha Worgs
  • 40 gold bags, 25 gold per bag, 1000 gold total
  • 3 experience per enemy, 918 experience total
  • All worgs have Critical Strike.
  • The Alpha Worg also has Packleader’s Aura an attack damage boosting aura.
ROUND 2

Don’t Count Your Chickens
  • Tamed Wildwing
  • Acolyte of Dezun
  • 130 Tamed Wildwings and 36 Acolytes of Dezun
  • 40 gold bags, 27 gold per bag, 1080 gold total
  • 6 experience per enemy, 996 experience total
  • The Acolytes of Dezun have Shadow Wave, which heals his allies and damages enemies around the healed allies. Has a long cast time.
  • Shadow Wave is only used when an Acolyte has less than 50% health and when 2 enemies are within range.
  • They also cast it on the hurt Wildwings, but only if the previous mentioned conditions are met.
ROUND 3

Nyx Nyx Nyx
  • Hellbear
  • Zealot Scarab
  • 144 Hellbears and 18 Zealot Scarabs
  • 40 gold bags, 30 gold per bag, 1200 gold total
  • 9 experience per enemy, 1458 experience total
  • Zealot Scarabs have Impale, a linear AoE stun and nuke, with a slow traveling projectile.
  • The Zealots only cast this when at least 2 enemies are within its range. They always launch it towards the closest enemy.
ROUND 4

It’s Morphlin’ Time
  • Lesser Elemental
  • Greater Elemental
  • 147 Lesser Elementals and 28 Greater Elementals
  • 40 gold bags, 32 gold per bag, 1280 gold total
  • 10 experience per enemy, 1750 experience total
  • Greater Elementals have Waveform, a linear AoE nuke pseudo-blink.
  • The Elementals only cast this when at least 2 enemies are within its range. They always launch it towards the closest enemy.
ROUND 5

Party Fowl
  • Rooster
  • 1 Rooster
  • 100 gold bags, 20 gold per bag, 2000 gold total
  • 0 experience
  • The Rooster runs randomly around the map at high movement speed and ignores most movement-impairing effects, including stuns.
  • Some disables may still affect it (see tips).
  • The Rooster cannot attack and cannot die. Dealing damage to it causes it to drop gold bags worth 20 gold.
  • The Rooster teleports away 60 seconds after spawning.
ROUND 6

From My Black Grimoire
  • Enthralled Golem
  • Demon Charmer
  • 84 Enthralled Golems and 28 Demon Charmers
  • 40 gold bags, 35 gold per bag, 1400 gold total
  • 16 experience per enemy, 1792 experience total
  • Enthralled Golems are weak units on their own, but get heavily boosted by the Demon Charmers.
  • Demon Charmers have Shadow Word, which they selfishly only cast on themselves when hurt.
  • Demon Charmers also have Upheaval, which they cast on single enemies’ locations.
  • Finally, Demon Charmers have a Health Aura, which affects the Enthralled Golems only. Multiple instances do not stack.
  • The aura increases nearby golems’ health eightfold and doubles their attack damage and model size.
ROUND 7

We’re Falling Apart Without You
  • Berserk Zombie
  • Enraged Devourer
  • 252 Berserk Zombies and 21 Enraged Devourers
  • 40 gold bags, 37 gold per bag, 1480 gold total
  • 8 experience per enemy, 2184 experience total
  • Berserk Zombie Torsor neither drop gold bags, nor grant experience
  • Berserk Zombies need to be killed twice, as they come back as Torsos when killed once.
  • As Berserk Zombie Torsos, they have higher attack damage and movement speed, and very high magic resistance, but much less health.
  • The Enraged Devourers have Rage, which they cast when near an enemy.
  • The Enraged Devourers also have Feast, which passively heals them on each attack and causes them to deal more damage, both based on the target’s health.
ROUND 8

A Rising Tide Lifts All Boats
  • Recruit
  • Captain
  • Fleet Admiral
  • Krill-eater
  • Shark-eater
  • Whale-eater
  • 48 Recruits, 48 Krill-eaters, 12 Captains, 12 Shark-eaters, 3 Fleet Admirals and 3 Whale-eaters
  • 40 gold bags, 40 gold per bag, 1600 gold total
  • 18 experience per enemy, 2268 experience total
  • Recruits have no abilities. Captains have Torrent.
  • Fleet Admirals have Torrent, X Marks the Spot and Ghostship.
  • Torrent is cast when an enemy is nearby, onto the enemy. They do not try to hit as many enemies as possible with it.
  • Ghostship is cast when 2 enemies are close together so that it would hit both when not moving away.
  • The visual indicators of Torrent and Ghostship are visible to everyone.
  • Since none of the units are actual heroes, the Ghostship does not apply the Rum on any one of them.
  • X Marks the Spot is always cast on a nearby enemy. They do not manually return enemies, so they do not combo it with their other spells.
  • Krill-eaters have no abilities. Shark-eaters have Gush.
  • Whale-eaters have Gush, Kraken Shell and Ravage.
  • The Gush works like the default Aghanim’s Scepter upgraded Gush, with an added knockback.
  • Gush is cast when an enemy is nearby, onto the enemy. They do not try to hit as many enemies as possible with it.
  • Ravage is cast when at least 3 enemies are within its range.
ROUND 9

Numerous Launches Detected
  • I’m a Creep
  • Chaotic Hurler
  • Trapper
  • 70 I’m a Creeps, 70 Trappers, 14 Chaotic Hurlers
  • 40 gold bags, 42 gold per bag, 1680 gold total
  • 16 experience per enemy, 2464 experience total
  • Summoned Creeps and Trappers neither drop gold bags, nor grant experience
  • Chaotic Hurlers have a Ground- Attack ability, launching a projectile onto enemy locations, dealing heavy damage and knocking them back.
  • They do not reugularly attack heroes. Their attacks have a very high down time, and they only use it to hit buildings.
  • Choatic Hurlers can Disembark additional Creeps and Trappers.
  • Trappers have Earthbind, which they use to root enemies in place
ROUND 10

Flock-a-doodle-doo
  • Baby Roshan
  • 60 Baby Roshans
  • 6000 gold bags, 7 gold per bag, 42000 gold total
  • 0 experience
  • Despite their names, they are actually small chickens, and not baby Roshans.
  • The chickens run randomly around the map at high movement speed and ignore most movement-impairing effects, including stuns.
  • Some disables may still affect them (see tips).
  • The chickens cannot attack and cannot die. Dealing damage to it causes it to drop gold bags worth 7 gold.
  • The chickens die 60 seconds after spawning.
ROUND 11

On The Hunt
  • Soulstealer
  • Hunter
  • The Abyss
  • 240 Soulstealers, 20 Hunters and 6 The Abysses
  • 40 gold bags, 45 gold per bag, 1800 gold total
  • 9 experience per enemy, 2394 experience total
  • Hunters have Blinding Gloom, a cone-shaped AoE nuke which slows enemies and heavily impairs their vision. The projectile travels slowly.
  • Hunters also have Hunter in the Night, moving and attacking faster. Since it’s permanent night, this ability is always active for them.
  • The Abyss has Black Hole.
  • Black Hole is only used when at least 2 enemies are within its range.
ROUND 12

Attack Of The Cat Ladies
  • Tiny Moon Rider
  • Nightsilver Prowler
  • 108 Tiny Moon Riders and 26 Nighsilver Prowlers
  • 40 gold bags, 46 gold per bag, 1840 gold total
  • 20 experience per enemy, 2680 experience total
  • Tiny Moon Riders have Moon Glaives, which makes their attacks bounce between enemies.
  • Nightsilver Prowlers have global vision, revealing the entire map for them, making it impossible to juke them.
  • The Prowlers also have Sacred Arrow, which they launch towards enemies whenever ready.
ROUND 13

Albert Was A Chemist
  • Al, the chemist
  • 6 Al, the Chemists
  • 6 gold bags, 47 gold per bag, 282 gold total
  • 467 experience per enemy, 2802 experience total
  • The Chemists have Acid Spray, Unstable Concoction, and Chemical Rage.
  • Acid Spray is cast onto single enemies. The chemist does not try to hit as many enemies as possible.
  • Always casts Unstable Concoction when ready, and attempts to launch it about 1-2 seconds before blowing up.
  • Launches the concoction early when it thinks it has to (e.g. intended target runs away).
  • Casts Chemical Rage when missing a chunk of health.
  • Always uses Shiva’s Guard and Phase Boots.
ROUND 14

It’s A Techies Convention
  • Bomber
  • Hurtler
  • 104 Bombers and 48 Hurtlers
  • 40 gold bags, 50 gold per bag, 2000 gold total
  • 20 experience per enemy, 3040 experience total
  • Land Mines neither drop gold bags, nor grant any experience
  • Bombers have Land Mines, a high damage mine which detonates after being placed with a short delay.
  • Only cast it close to enemies. They do not attempt to hit as many enemies as possible with it.
  • Hurtlers have Blast Off, a high damage AoE nuke pseudo-blink which also hurts the caster.
  • Blast Off is cast when an enemy is nearby, onto the enemy. They do not try to hit as many enemies as possible with it.
ROUND 15

Who Threatens Our Concentration?
  • Scholar of Koryx
  • Mind of Tornarus
  • Agent of Gallaron
  • The Dark Magus
  • 1 Scholar of Koryx, 1 Mind of Tornarus and 1 Agent of Gallaron
  • 3 gold bags, 666 gold per bag, 1998 gold total
  • 1067 experience per enemy, 3201 experience total
  • The summoned Dark Magus neither drops gold bags, nor grants any experience
  • Scholar of Koryx casts the following spells: Tornado, Ice Wall, Cold Snap and Deafening Blast.
    • Items owned: Linken’s Sphere, Blink Dagger, Power Treads (never switches attributes), Octarine Core, Aghanim’s Scepter, Scythe of Vyse.
  • Mind of Tornarus casts the following spells: EMP, Tornado and Alacrity.
    • Items owned: Linken’s Sphere, Blink Dagger, Phase Boots, Octarine Core, Aghanim’s Scepter, Force Staff.
  • Agent of Gallaron casts the following spells: Sun Strike, Ice Wall, Chaos Meteor and Forge Spirit.
    • Items owned: Linken’s Sphere, Blink Dagger, Boots of Travel (never teleports), Octarine Core, Aghanim’s Scepter, Eul’s Scepter of Divinity.
  • The Dark Magus does not spawn like other enemies. Instead, it gets summoned once Koryx, Gallaron and Tornarus die.
    • The Dark Magus is summoned right in the middle of the map and does not make any action unless engaged by a player. Thus, the players have the time to make preparation to defeat The Dark Magus.
    • The Dark Magus casts all of the previously named spells cast by Koryx, Tornarus and Gallaron.
    • Additional, he has a very powerful passive ability, Ghost Walk, which wreaks havoc on the map, applying Cold Feet on enemies, spawning Tornadoes, summoning Chaos Meteors and sending Sun Strikes onto his enemies.
    • The ability also has auras which slow, blind and damage enemies based on the current phase.
    • Periodically summons Forged Spirits around himself passively. This is independent from the Forge Spirit ability.
    • Items owned: Linken’s Sphere, Blink Dagger, Scythe of Vyse, Octarine Core, Aghanim’s Scepter, Eul’s Scepter of Divinity.
  • Each Invoker drops a Gold Bag worth 666 gold each.

Items[]

Dark Moon uses the default Dota 2 items, with a few tweaks. A couple of items are completely disabled, while a very few received modifications. Three new items are added as drop-only items.

Disabled items[]

The following items cannot be bought in Dark Moon.

Modified items[]

These items have been modified.

Item drops[]

There are 4 different items that can be dropped by enemies, from which 3 are new. Dropped items last for 15 seconds on the ground before they despawn.

The most common drop are gold bags. Picking up a gold bag grants the entire team based on which round it is. A gold bag is automatically picked up when getting within 100 range of it. However, while spell immune, they have to be picked up manually by right-clicking on them.

Enemies also occasinoally drop health potions and mana potions. They have a [ Info Needed ]% drop chance. Health potion instantly restore a portion of the hero’s maximum health and mana potion instantly restore a portion of the hero’s maximum mana upon getting picked up. Just like gold bags, health and mana potions are automatically picked up when getting within 100 range of them. However, while spell immune, they have to be picked up manually by right-clicking on them.

Enemies may also drop Town Portal Scrolls, with a [ Info Needed ]% drop chance. Unlike the other 3 drops, the scrolls can only be picked up by directly right-clicking them. They also land in the inventory, instead of being instantly activated.

Tips[]

Heroes[]

Click on the hero names to view their Dark Moon ability and hero stats details.

Underlord
Sniper
  • Assassinate is useful in taking out big enemies from a distance. It also have the ability to scatter its damage to the enemies behind targeted enemy.
Dark Seer
Disruptor
Medusa
Phantom Assassin
Winter Wyvern
Gyrocopter
  • None of Gyro’s abilities have been modified for this mode making him a very weak pick.
Techies
Zeus
Phoenix
Ember Spirit
Tiny
Tusk
  • Walrus WALLOP! can be useful in Round 6 against Demon Charmers and Enthralled Golems, as it spreads the golems around, potentially putting them out of the Demon Charmer’s health aura range.
Treant Protector
Axe
Legion Commander
Bristleback
  • Information needed.
Venomancer
Shadow Fiend
Juggernaut
Storm Spirit
  • Storm Spirit has a lot of magical damage burst with Static Remnant which allows him to clear early waves quite fast. The biggest advantage Static Remnant has is that it can be cast on the run, Storm Spirit neither needs to turn, nor to stop to cast it
  • Overload grants Storm Spirit a second area damage spell, which also heavily slows enemies for a short while. On top of that, Overload’s effects are applied to Static Remnant, hitting all enemies hit by the Remnant’s damage, meaning the remnant effectively deals more damage and slows enemies.
  • Electric Vortex is a very strong AoE disable which ignores enemy disable immunity. This means it can stop and pull Roosters and Chickens.
  • Since Electric Vortex pulls enemies towards the center, it can serve as a poor man’s Black Hole, creating combos with allied spells. Especially on the 10th round, it can pull and disable multiple chickens.
  • Ball Lightning is the best mobility spell available in Dark Moon. It allows Storm Spirit to quickly travel the map, while also dealing area damage around him. With the right items, he can roll over enemies and instantly kill smaller mobs while also damaging the bigger ones. Due to its lack of cooldown, he can avoid damage quite easily even when standing between enemy masses.
  • Storm Spirit’s items should include high intelligence items, like Scythe of Vyse, Bloodthorn and Octarine Core. Scythe grants an additional disable which is always useful, while Octarine Core allows Storm Spirit to cast Electric Vortex more often, on top of healing him from the damage his spells deal.
  • Bloodthorn is great on Storm Spirit for the same reason why it is great on him in default Dota. On top of this, Bloodthorn is extremely powerful in Dark Moon, making it the best item pick-up for Storm Spirit.
Nature’s Prophet
Leshrac
Witch Doctor
  • Paralyzing Cask has a low cooldown, so it can be spammed quite a bit. It aloso has a long stun duration against the smaller enemies, making it a decent gap creator for Witch Doctor, allowing him to resurrect allies more safely.
  • Voodoo Restoration is a potent heal, which can be kept active permanently with the right items.
  • Maledict can potentially deal insane amounts of damage, especially against bigger targets. Since its damage scales exponentially and is based on how much damage the target took, it can quickly kill big enemies like Whale-eaters.
  • Against the Dark Magus, Maledict has to be timed right. The best time to use it is immediately as the fight begins, and always directly after his tornado/sunstrike meteor spams end. If timed wrongly, Maledict may lose ticks due to the invulnerability the Dark Magus gets while spamming tornadoes/sun strikes and meteors.
  • Death Ward has very high dps and is able to attack multiple targets. Positioning is very important to cast this, since it is a channeled ability. Combined with Maledict, Witch Doctor can quickly kill big single targets even on his own.
  • Since Witch Doctor soley relies on his spells, he needs mana regeneration. Octarine Core is very strong on him, as it allows him to keep Voodoo Restoration active during whole rounds, and allows him to cast his other spells more often. Maledict and Death Ward have an above average cooldown time, so that Octarine Core has a greater effect.
  • In order to be able to safely channel Death Ward, a Glimmer Cape may be required.

Items[]

Others[]

Points[]

The reward wheel

  • Points are acquired by playing.
  • Daily bonuses are given for the first game played each day. Every daily bonus gives players 35,000 points plus 6 times the points they earned in the game.
    • Daily bonuses are only given if players pass beyond Round 5.
Round 1 48 48
Round 2 60 108
Round 3 72 180
Round 4 88 268
Round 5 0 268
Round 6 100 368
Round 7 118 486
Round 8 136 622
Round 9 158 780
Round 10 0 780
Round 11 180 960
Round 12 208 1168
Round 13 236 1404
Round 14 262 1666
Round 15 3000 4666

Rewards[]

  • A special Dark Moon Emoticon is awarded to players who beat all rounds of the event.
  • 35,000 points can be spent to spin the reward wheel once.
  • A random cosmetic item is rewarded from the wheel.
  • For a full list of possible rewards, see the Dark Moon drop list.
  • The Dark Moon Baby Roshan is unique to this event, and can be obtained from the wheel at a very low chance.

Recycling[]

  • Treasures can be recycled in the Armory for 20,000 Dark Moon points.
  • Items received from opened chests cannot be recycled.

Trophies[]

Three Trophies are available for the Dark Moon Event

Lore[]

For millennia, the warriors of the Nightsilver Woods have stood vigilant against vile forces intent on the advent of a Dark Moon, earning both title and divine charge in sacred defense of the Goddess Selemene. But now, as the night of the new moon falls, Selemene’s chosen lie helpless behind her temple walls, victims of an arcane slumber that has left the temple grounds undefended.

With Selemene’s influence at its weakest, and twisted shades of the familiar creeping across her domain, the Moon Goddess beckons five new protectors to stand in the stead of her champions against the corruption of the Dark Moon Horde. Will you be one to answer the hallowed call?

The Dark Moon is a cataclysmic event of unknown consequences. This apocalyptic events appears to inspire two factions. The first is the Dark Moon Order, a group of warriors sworn to the service and protection of Selemene, of which Luna is a member. The second is the Dark Moon Horde, who seek to attack Selemene and bring about the Dark Moon. In the conflict between these two factions, outside champions are sometimes recruited to defend against the Dark Moon Horde. The latest battle took place at the steps of the Temple of Mene, after the order’s defenders were lulled to sleep by some unknown arcane power.

Trivia[]

  • This event is categorized as New Bloom 2017 in the game files.
  • The title for Round 4 is a play on “It’s Morphin’ Time”, a phrase uttered by the main characters on the Might Morphin Power Rangers franchise.
  • The title for Round 9, “Numerous Launches Detected”, is possibly a play on “Nuclear Launch Detected”, a phrase spoken whenever a Ghost unit launches a nuclear strike in Blizzard Entertainment’s Starcraft series.
  • The title for Round 14, “It’s a Techies Convention” is a play on the Star Trek fandom, where the fans are commonly known as ‘Trekkies’, who are known to hold conventions dedicated to the series.
  • Axe, Legion Commander, Juggernaut, Shadow Fiend, Venomancer, Storm Spirit and Witch Doctor, who were added to the Dark Moon hero pool on the January 31, 2017 Patch, appeared in the same form in Frostivus 2013/Heroes with the same modified spells. All other heroes in this event were not present in Frostivus 2013.

External links[]

  • Blog announcement

References[]

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Scores: 4.3 (13 votes)

Manh Vinh