Valve is still working on polishing the last bits of Dota 2 before a full release, including the completion of the tutorial for the game. But we haven't got all the heroes yet, either. A total of sixteen heroes from the original game, at the time of writing, are unreleased.
They range from the stompy Tauren Chieftain to the mechanical Goblin Shredder, and are in various different states of development. Here are the three that are closest to release.
Goblin Shredder
Rizzrak the Goblin Shredder is a nasty combination of a tank and a ganker. He's a tiny little goblin in a huge suit of armour, equipped with everything necessary to cut down trees. Wait, did I say cut down trees? I meant rip your flesh apart.
As such, his skills are generally about causing as much damage as possible across a wide area. His Whirling Death tears apart anything organic standing nearby. His Timber chain lets him latch on to a tree and pull himself towards it. His reactive armour gives him better regen and armour when attacked, and his ultimate - Chakram - fires a spinning saw blade at an area, disintegrating anything inside in a mess of wood and blood.
Troll Warlord
Some heroes are ranged, and some are melee, but Jah'rakal the Troll Warlord is both. His basic power, Beserker Rage, lets him swap between hurling his axes at distant enemies or using them at close quarters. Close up, he gains bonus damage, HP, and movement and attack speed.
He rewards players who like to stick on one target, too. His Fervor passive increases his attack speed with each continuous blow on the same target, and his bash skill gives him a chance to stun. Whirling Axes changes depending on whether he's in ranged or melee mode, and his ultimate, Battle Trance, is a global 10-second power to gives all allied heroes a hefty bonus to attack speed.
Medusa
As you might imagine, Medusa the Gorgon is an archer with the ability to turn enemy units to stone. Sort of. Her ultimate, Stone Gaze, means that any enemy with line of sight of her will lose any status buffs and have their movement and attack speed reduced to zero for five seconds. Nasty in a team fight, though you can still use abilities while affected.
Elsewhere, her Mana Shield ability is a toggle that uses mana to absorb incoming damage, and her Mystic Snake steals mana by jumping from target to target. She's a neat pusher too, with Split Shot - an ability that splits her arrows into multiple shots, targeting five enemies at once.
Others
More heroes waiting for their time to shine include Tuskarr (who rolls allies in a snowball towards an enemy unit and launches victims into their air with a Walrus Punch), Tauren Chieftain (whose ancestral spirit mirrors his movements), Goblin Techies (who deploy invisible traps and can commit suicide dealing massive area damage), Bristleback (who, disgustingly, can cover an enemy in snot) and the Legion Commander (who can call in an enemy hero for a duel, disabling abilities and forcing them to only attack each other).
Who do you want to see Valve add next? Tell us in the comments below.
