LinuxGameNetwork
Now that there's been some time to dig into this years battle pass, let's see what's good and what's not.
Most of what's available so far is stuff that has been seen before in previous battle pass iterations. For example the Jungle Expedition is essentially the same as the cave from last year. Win games with certain heroes to get further into the jungle and hopefully reach a unique skin at the end. There's also quite a few battle points to earn while exploring the jungle so it's well worth it.
All the usuals are making a return: trivia, wagering, ranked roles, daily and weekly quests, and the battle point grind. Besides voice lines being locked away behind battle levels there's also a couple really unique skins. There's a bare knuckle Axe skin; yes that's right, Axe without an axe. But the young Invoker skin is there real winner in my opinion.
By far the coolest new feature of the battle pass is the coaching. Essentially, you can queue up as a coach and be placed in a random team of players that are at least 500 MMR (solo queue skill rating) below you. The idea is that you have to try and help your team achieve victory by calling plays, suggesting builds, and just being helpful in general.
My experience with coaches, as a player, has been a bit hit or miss. Sometimes they're really trying to help you win and other times they're nothing more than a spectator. But when the coach is engaged it makes for a really fun experience. Being able to get advice on items and having somebody call plays for the team is a welcome change from the usual solo queue shenanigans.
In terms of the The International 2019 prize pool, this year is off to a quick start. So far it is the fastest growing prize pool of any TI according the unofficial prize tracker. Currently it's sitting at just over $11 million compared to $8.6 million in 2018. It will be interesting to see how the prize pool grows as things get closer to TI in August.
That's pretty much it for now, Valve usually releases more content as the battle pass progresses so we'll have to wait and see what else is coming.
Did I forget anything? Leave a comment.
Check out the official info page for the battle pass here.
