Dota 2 Update: Fixing Dark Carnival

With the debut of a new event, Dota 2 also introduced a selection of bugs that needed fixing. If you've experienced any issues with Dark Carnival, take a look at what was fixed to see if your problem has been resolved.

In addition to the Dark Carnival fixes, Dota 2 also introduced several general gameplay changes, along with fixes for items and hero interactions. Here's a summary of the latest changelog.

Dark Carnival: Scrap Tickets

The first change for Dark Carnival is the introduction of Scrap Tickets earned by playing Regular and Turbo matches. You can trade 6 Scrap for a Hero Ticket of your choice.

Regular matches reward 2 Scrap, while Turbo matches reward 1 Scrap. The best part is that Scrap is awarded regardless of whether you win or lose, giving you one less thing to worry about during a losing streak.

Seeing Stones in Co-op Bot Matches

If online multiplayer isn't your thing, you can now also earn the event's Seeing Stones by playing Co-op Bot Matches on Hard and Unfair difficulties.

These special items allow you to receive a fortune. The more fortunes you collect, the more rewards you unlock in the Oracle's Story. You can also unlock items by obtaining all 11 Tarot Arcanas through repeated fortune draws.

Candyworks and Hero Filter

Candyworks now indicates whether you already own an item being offered as a reward. This is useful if you want to obtain an untradable version so you can sell your old one, or simply prioritize items you don't own yet.

The Dark Carnival hero filter also received a small but meaningful improvement. It now displays a tooltip showing the ticket requirement for the next reward on heroes selected by the filter, making it easier to track your progress and know what you still need.

Miscellaneous Fixes

The update also includes several miscellaneous fixes related to the event:

• Fixed the Ticket Trader not working after being unlocked for some players
• Fixed Ability Draft and cooperative bot matches not granting Tickets
• Fixed Candy Shop Rerolls granted from the Fortune Teller being capped by the weekly maximum
• Fixed Pick the Lock area gameplay changing with FPS
• Fixed Automaton Personas having the wrong hero chat wheel lines

Important General Fixes

In addition to the Dark Carnival improvements, Valve also made an important change to the Ranked Role Queue system.

Players no longer need to select both high-demand roles to avoid spending a Role Queue Game. Instead, selecting at least one high-demand role is now enough to preserve a Role Queue Game token.

Closing Thoughts

Despite this not being a lettered or a big patch update, these fixes to the Dark Carnival and to the expected workings of the Ranked Role Queue are great news in terms of Quality of Life for Dota 2 players, especially now that the server population should increase due to the event and The International.

If you want to stay informed about the latest news on important game updates, tournament coverage and much more, remember to check the news section on the Strafe website!

READ MORE: The International 2026: Regional Qualifier Results

Featured Image Source: Dota 2