In June 2019, two new auto battlers were released: Dota Underlords and TFT. While Riot Games’ title has since established itself well, Underlords struggled with many issues at the beginning of 2020.
How is Dota Underlords doing? In December, Dota Underlords had an average of 11,846 players, according to Steamcharts. This auto battler has been losing a double-digit percentage of its players every month since its release. Overall, the average player count has dropped by more than 80% compared to the release month.
Of the 202,254 players at peak in June 2019, only 20,177 remained in December, which is less than 10%.
Dota Underlords is still within the top 50 of the Steamcharts. However, the auto battler was only released on this platform and cannot attract players from other sources, unlike some titles that rank even above Underlords.
In September 2019, both Underlords and TFT struggled with problems. According to the developers, TFT has managed to recover and has even more players now. Underlords, however, continued the downward trend.
Prison Mechanics and Other Confusing Ideas
What is failing in Dota Underlords? In the first few months, a stagnant meta developed in Dota Underlords. This is poison for games that rely heavily on tactics and variability. The competitor TFT has frequently made balance changes for this reason and even exchanged nearly all champions in November.
Additionally, new mechanics were repeatedly introduced that frustrated more players than they excited.
What were those mechanics? With the “Big Update” in October 2019, a prison mechanic was introduced. This locked away champions for 24 hours, but only in a way that all alliances were still completed.
This led to experienced players continuing to build their alliances while inexperienced players were confused and overwhelmed. Additionally, there was a strong imbalance in bans, with some champions being banned 20% of the time while others were only banned 5% of the time.
The Underlords, introduced with the same patch, also created a lot of confusion among newcomers. They have talents, skills, and require a new resource: hype.
Dota Underlords Now in a Good State?
Where does Underlords stand at the beginning of 2020? On reddit, the user Ratiug_ reports that Underlords is now in a good state. He cites the following reasons:
- The prison mechanic has been completely removed
- The system of the Underlords has been simplified
- The items have received a major overhaul
- The duo-ranked system is a highlight compared to other auto battlers
If you haven’t looked at Dota Underlords for a while or the changes have put you off, it might be worth taking a look at the auto battler again. You can find the latest patch notes for Underlords on the Valve’s page.
What are your experiences with Dota Underlords? Is it worth checking out the auto battler in 2020?
