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Dota Underlords: Everything you need to know

Valve has released Dota Underlords, a strategy game based on the popular Auto Chess mod. Here's what you need to know.
By
June 28, 2019

If you haven’t been playing the Dota 2 Auto Chess mod all year, you’ve probably been playing it all week thanks to the release of Valve’s official version: Dota Underlords. The fantasy strategy title rolled out on June 20 and immediately got its claws into numerous gamers — quickly reaching over a million downloads.

If you’re yet to check it out, you can find out everything you need to know about Dota Underlords in the coverage below. Stay tuned in the future for tips and tricks, strategies, updates, and other Dota Underlords content here at Android Authority.

Latest updates

Dota Underlords on the HONOR View 20 showing the splash image.

Dota Underlords is still on version 1.0, though it has received some patches since release. We’ll keep an eye out for new Dota Underlords builds, but for now you can read the balance changelog here.

What is Dota Underlords?

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Dota Underlords, or just Underlords, is a turn-based tactical strategy game developed by Valve — the developer and publisher behind Half-Life, the Dota franchise, and the owner of PC gaming’s most popular digital storefront, Steam. Underlords is based on a fan mod of Dota 2 which rose in popularity earlier this year called Auto Chess.

It’s currently in open beta on Android, iOS, and PC.

Dota Underlords on the HONOR View 20 showing a match.

Release date and platform

The Dota Underlords open beta was released on June 20 for Android, iOS, and PC.

When will it leave beta?

An official Dota Underlords release date hasn’t been announced yet, but it may coincide with the launch of its first season in a “few months.”

What do you do in Dota Underlords?

Dota Underlords is part of a popular new genre called autobattlers. In it, eight players battle against each other in 1v1 rounds until only one player remains. Players buy various “heroes” at the start of each round before placing them on a 9×9 grid. These heroes then fight against the opponent’s heroes on the grid until one team wins. The losing player takes damage based on the size of their loss (the number and strength of the opposing heroes remaining on the board) before the next round starts.

Related: 10 best MOBAs for Android!

Play continues in this manner until the end of the game but, of course, there are numerous factors that affect the power of your heroes and their chances of beating the opponent. If that sounds complicated don’t worry, there is a lot of information to take in when you first pick it up; learning what every hero and their alliance (or race) does and how it affects your chances of winning takes time, but you’ll get there!

Dota Underlords on the HONOR View 20 showing the character select screen.

Dota Underlords vs Auto Chess: What’s the difference?

For starters, Underlords is far easier to understand than the original Auto Chess mod. Valve has done a great job of clearing up the interface to make the visible information more accessible, and this version also comes with a tutorial.

We wrote an Auto Chess beginners guide which will help you get started as most of the concepts are the same for Auto Chess and Underlords. The gameplay is near identical but the names of the alliances differ.

Will it have seasons?

Yes. Underlords is expected to have its first season in the next few months which will introduce different heroes, alliances, and items.

Is it free-to-play?

Dota Underlords is free-to-play with no in-app purchases. However, Valve is sure to monetize in the future as it has with its other free-to-play games such as Dota 2 and Team Fortress 2.

The game will have seasons, so a purchasable season pass will probably go on sale. It may also receive some kind of in-app purchase options in the form of skins or items.

Is there a reddit?

Yes! Join the growing community here.

What’s next for Dota Underlords?

Dota Underlords for Android on the HONOR View 20 showing the defeat screen.

Valve will continue to improve the game for the foreseeable future with balance improvements as well as new features. You can follow the official Twitter account @DotaUnderlords, to keep up to date with the latest happenings. Here’s what the team said it has in development right now:

Based on your feedback, these are the features we are working on right now and shipping soon:
– Full Scoreboard
– Social features: Scrolling through the map, hearing other player’s fights and full chat.
– Hero VO.
– Balance: Dragon Alliance, Dragon Units and Items (Boots)
— Dota Underlords (@DotaUnderlords) June 21, 2019


Well, what do you think of Dota Underlords for Android? Let us know in the comments.