MOBAs are not story driven experiences. They have some lore which the big developers attempt to shoehorn into the experience now and again to keep it relevant, but ultimately those games are about the core back and forth of PVP combat. However, that won't always be the case, as Valve is going to add a cooperative campaign with a story to DotA 2.
The campaign will see you and up to three friends "undertake a cooperative adventure into the blackest depths of Dark Reef." You'll need to make your way through a landscape full of monsters, traps and other "lethal terrors," using your chosen characters' abilities to combat all of the threats you face.
Every time you play you'll earn experience which can earn you a number of unique rewards, because that's what the whole International build up is all about.
You'll need to own a 2017 Battle Pass to gain access, but if you're a big DotA 2 player then you were likely going to throw a few dollars Valve's way for that anyway. Otherwise you'd miss out on all the exciting perks that being a part of the International funding process earns you.
That means you'll have to throw down at least $10, though you can spend up to $37 to unlock a level 75 Battle pass right off of the bat. There are also paid for levels you can snap up at a few dollars a piece, or earn them the old fashioned way, by playing the game.
As Kotaku points out though, this is the first story-driven experience Valve has produced since Portal 2, so it might be worth it, considering the developer seems to have fully stepped away from this sort of narrative gameplay in recent years.
