Diretide 2020

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Diretide 2020 was a Halloween event that ran from October 29, 2020 to December 22, 2020. It featured a special game mode where two teams must collect the most taffy while avoiding the wrath of Roshan. Players could earn many unique event cosmetics by playing matches and earning Diretide Points.

Game Mode[]

Two teams compete to collect the most taffy by the end of each round. Win three rounds to win the match.
If both teams have the same amount of taffies at the end of a round, the round enters overtime for 30 seconds.
Three shops are found on the map, other than the one in each team's spawn area.
Creep kills grant the XP and gold to the entire team. Dead players continue to gain XP, but not gold.

Taffy[]

Taffy is dropped by creeps and Scarecrow Stashes, and picked up by heroes.
Last hitting a creep or destroying a Scarecrow Stash will automatically launch the taffy towards the killing hero.
A hero can pick up taffy by being within ?? range and clicking on it, or by walking over it.
Killing an enemy hero causes them to drop all their taffy.
Taffy Bags can be found by killing a hero with five or more taffies. They contain 5 taffies.
Taffy can be transferred between allied heroes and given to Roshan without channeling.
Taffy must be channeled into the Home Bucket to count towards a team's score. The channeling can be interrupted.
Every stack of taffy reduces the holder's maximum health by 2%, with a floor of 10% (up to 90% maximum health reduced).

Buildings[]

Building	Description
Home Bucket	Stores the team's taffy, and starts with 40 taffies at the beginning of every round. Becomes vulnerable when one of the team's Taffy Wells is destroyed. If attacked, the Home Bucket drops taffy until it is empty, with ?? taffies dropping after ?? damage is done. Summoned units only deal 25% damage to the Home Bucket. Protected by a Taffy Guardian. Has 1200 radius true sight.
Taffy Well	If destroyed, drops 10 taffies from the Home Bucket. Respawns at the beginning of every round. Protected by a Taffy Guardian. Has 1200 radius true sight.

NPCs[]

NPC	Description
Roshan	2 minutes into each round, Roshan will begin hunting and target a random player to attack. Roshan will have a number of candies displayed above him (and on the top bar). The targeted player's team must feed him this amount. The number of candies required is relative to the candy totals, so the leading team will have a higher requirement. If fed enough candy, Roshan will stop chasing to eat it. He will then get up and chose a player on the other team to hunt. If Roshan kills the target player before he is fed enough candy, the player's team receives Roshan's Curse. Roshan's Curse causes damage over time, but cannot kill players. Roshan cannot be attacked or killed. Runes spawn in Roshan's pit at the 2, 3, 4, and 5 minute marks. Roshan knocks back and damages any player in its path.
Taffy Guardian	Home Buckets and Taffy Wells are protected by one Taffy Guardian each. The Home Bucket Guardians are much stronger than Taffy Well Guardians. Regenerates health when not in combat. This is temporarily disabled if they take damage. Attacks apply movement speed and attack speed slow. Has a fear attack. Summoned units only deal 50% damage to the Home Bucket Guardian. Can be killed, and do not respawn until the end of each round.
Scarecrow Stash	Spawns at the 1, 3 and 5 minute marks on the top and bottom of the map. Drops 10 taffies and random neutral items when killed. The level of neutral items dropped correspond to the current round number. Example: Destroying a Scarecrow Stash during round 4 will drop a level 4 neutral item. Has 1000 radius true sight that reveals heroes on both teams.

Rounds[]

A total of 5 rounds are available. Each round lasts 6 minutes, and comes with unique lane creeps.
Each team can use Glyph of Fortification once per round.
Each player can buyback once per round.
Sentry Wards are restocked at the end of each round, and every 60 seconds during a round.
Ability cooldowns are refreshed at the end of each round.

Round	Notes
Skele-tons of Fun	Dark Troll Summoners will continuously summon skeletons. Information needed. Information needed.
Floppin' Zombies	Ogre seals can jump into the air and crash back down, dealing damage and stunning players. They can also explode after jumping to deal high damage and apply a movement speed slow. Zombies seals can shoot chunks of goo to slow players. Information needed. Information needed.
Monsters From The Deep	Spawns 1-3 Hulks per lane. Hulks have a damage aura similar to Rot. Information needed. Information needed.
Spooky Ghosts	Large ghosts will, after a delay, create an area on the ground that damages and slows enemies. Information needed.
Splodin' Spiders	Volatile Arachnids explode when killed, dealing ?? damage and causing ?? knockback, as well as creating ?? small spiders. Information needed. Information needed.

Strategy[]

Only candy in your home bucket counts as score, so it is important to deposit it before the round ends. Use Town Portal Scroll to hurry home as the countdown begins.
Sometimes it is better to starve Roshan, especially if he demands a large amount of candy or the round is about to end and the scores are close. The curse doesn't affect your score, only your ability to fight over the taffy.
Roshan can be used as a tool, since his stomping will damage and knock back all players. Consider luring him through enemies if you are targeted.
Passing your candy to a lane partner can be beneficial as they can transport it back to your home bucket while you remain in lane to fight and collect more candy. This is also handy after a fight in which your team steals a lot of candy as you can press the advantage without risking your gains.
Heroes with high AoE abilities are efficient at clearing all rounds except for round 3.
Heroes with permanent buffs like Pudge, Lion, Slark, Legion Commander and Silencer can build up a lot of stats throughout the game.
Earthshaker can use Echo Slam to great effect due to the large amount of lane creeps present, especially during the spider round.
Nature's Prophet's Teleportation is a great way to efficiently transport taffy around the map.
Storm Spirit's Ball Lightning can transport taffy back to base almost immediately.
Shadow Shaman's Mass Serpent Ward is good for attacking buildings during the last seconds of each round, causing the other team to drop their taffy.
Windranger's Focus Fire is great for attacking the enemy's Home Bucket. Use Black King Bar to prevent being disabled while teleporting out.
Underlord's Dark Rift can help to deliver teammate back to base safely after attacking the enemy's Home Bucket.
Zeus's Thundergod's Wrath very good matches with Roshan's curse.
Clinkz's Death Pact can make him literally strong, eating by some greater creep.

Diretide Points[]

Earn Diretide Points by playing the event game mode or normal matchmaking.
Bonus points can be earned by completing in-game feats such as killing the first tower, Roshan, Scarecrow Stash, etc.

Outcome	Points
Playtime	1 point every 2 minutes
First win of the day	15 Points
Feats (Normal modes)	Points
Win	4 Points 2 Points (Turbo)
First blood	2 Points
First tower kill	3 Points
First Roshan kill	2 Points
Feats (Event mode)	Points
Win	2 Points
First blood	2 Points
First Taffy Well kill	1 Points
First Scarecrow Stash kill	1 Points
First candy steal	2 Points

Rewards[]

For every 100 Diretide Points earned, players are given a random award from the following list.
During this season, the Diretide Bucket at main menu will change visual according to total candy collected from 500 (techies mine), 1000 (green broodmother), 2000 (purple broodmother) and 5000 (Roshan`s head).

A random equipment or treasure

An MMR double down wagering token

One of the following sprays:

One of the following chat wheel sounds:

▶️ Black Cat
▶️ Ghost
▶️ Nightmare
▶️ Scream
▶️ Stabby

▶️▶️▶️▶️ Laugh
▶️ Candy From A Baby
▶️ Moon Drives You
▶️ One by One
▶️ Celebrate

▶️ Something Dire
▶️ Woods Begin
▶️ Reap Your Harvest

One of the following emoticons:

One of the following treasures:

Prized Trunk of the Diretide

Hallowed Chest of the Diretide

Seasonal Shimmer: Diretide Bundle I

Seasonal Shimmer: Diretide Bundle II

One of the following cosmetic items:

Diretide 2020 Cursor Pack

Diretide Shader Effect

Pumpkin Head

Ghostly Courier Effect

Diretide Kill Streak Effect

Diretide Death Effect

Lore[]

In the Woods... It Awakens.

The slivers of the Mad Moon hang low in the night sky. From spring comes summer, from summer comes fall; the shift of the seasons march onward, droned out by the unceasing clash of Radiant and Dire. Long forgotten are the brief moments in which we stopped to turn our attention towards the woods. Where is the season of Diretide? We howled at the woods, begging it to bring forth its candy-mad beast. But nothing came. And we moved on.

But now the trees shake. The taffy in our bowls jostles as the ground shakes under foot. Could it be?

Brace yourself for a special Dota 2 event. Roshan stomps from his cave, lumbering down the river, hungry for candy and blood. Round after round of an an all-new frenetic, five-on-five game-mode awaits. Lo, the season returns. It’s Diretide.