A Walkthrough for “Dark Carnival” in Dota 2: Farming Tickets, Mini-Games, and Available Rewards

A month and a half before The International 2026, Dota 2 launched “The Dark Carnival”—a story-driven event with rewards. What it is, how to complete it, and what you get in return—read on to find out.

The Dark Carnival has been running in Dota 2 since June 25. The story centers on Legion Commander and Hoodwink. They’ve been captured by the Ringmaster and are trapped inside a circus train, where heroes are being turned into automatons. The player’s task is to help them escape.

At this time, there is no official information on how long the event will last. The cut-off date in the code is November 30, but dataminers believe this is a placeholder. However, we do know when the next chapters will be released:

The event consists of an interactive map; to progress through it, you must present tickets—which are earned in regular matches. Just like during “The Fallen Crown,” each hero has received a set of three cards, which may include duplicates. The number of cards you receive depends on the game mode and the outcome:

The fastest way is to play against bots. When purchasing multiple Meteor Hammers, players win on average in 10–15 minutes, and the result is guaranteed, unlike with other options. The only drawback is that a random ticket drops, but in this case, the pool includes characters with three identical cards. A more detailed breakdown for different modes is provided at the end of this post.

The Oracle becomes available starting at Event Level 2. It uses Clairvoyance Stones as a resource, which can be obtained by playing your first game of the day and progressing through the story. You can also purchase additional stones in the store; the “Dark Carnival” reward pack contains three of them.

The stones are exchanged for prophecies: they grant various bonuses, and if you draw the same card three times in a row, it becomes available for use in your profile.

By ordering a certain number of predictions, you can receive the following rewards:

This is a timed mini-game where the player must hit the marked zones: yellow ones award 1,000 points, while blue ones extend the time limit. The longer the game goes on, the harder it becomes to hit the targets. For the first few days, you could use the FPS limit to make the challenge easier, but the developers have since fixed that issue.

The reward depends on the number of points earned:

Here, players must control a platform to bounce a ball that destroys objects. Once you’ve destroyed everything, you’ll move on to the next stage—there are six in total.

Five new automaton characters have been added to Dota 2, and, judging by code findings, there may be more to come. Currently available are Axe, Legion Commander, Oracle, Morphling, and Bristleback. They can only be purchased in the shop for 1,145 ₽ each, and discounts may apply.

Completing the event rewards you with at least three of these chests (plus three additional ones in secret rooms that can be unlocked for a fee), and the Oracle will also give you one in exchange for 30 prophecies. Additionally, you can purchase more from the store for 191 ₽ each (1,835 ₽ for 11).

It becomes available at Level 5. Candies drop between story checkpoints, and you can also purchase them in the store—the reward pack contains 30 bags and 10 exchanges. They can be exchanged for random rewards, which may include free sets, couriers, and much more.

It costs 615 ₽ and contains 30 bags of candy, 10 in-game store redemptions, and 3 Clairvoyance Stones.

For 1,145 ₽, this set unlocks access to locked sections of the train cars, which contain additional rewards. It also includes a music pack and creep skins.

This combined set is sold for 6,870 ₽ and includes five automaton characters and the Secret Rooms Set.

Collect 10 of these to redeem a 615 ₽ discount at the event store. You’ll receive 15 coins for completing the event, and owners of the “Secret Rooms Set” can collect an additional 15.

These include loading screens, graffiti, emojis, chat wheel phrases, and display items. You can obtain them as you progress through the story and from the Oracle.

These include balloons, pies, and fireworks. They are given out by the Oracle and are used during games to interact with the environment and opponents.

At this time, there’s no information on how many stages there will be in the upcoming carriages, so we can only estimate based on what’s currently available. The first two have 35 stages, not counting the secret room, and each stage requires 1 to 3 tickets (let’s say 70). Based on the statistics, we can derive the following average match durations: 12 minutes against bots, 25 minutes in Turbo mode, and 39 minutes in regular matches. For the latter two scenarios, we’ll assume a 50% chance of victory. Based on this data, we arrive at the following calculation:

In reality, it should be faster, since players can earn additional tickets in mini-games and from the Oracle.

Photo — Valve.