The leader of the Kazurai is finally here, as the new Dota 2 hero Kez makes his way into the game alongside the much-awaited Crownfall Act IV. Kez was first revealed at TI13 back in September, through a cinematic trailer that Valve played at the world championship event.

New Dota 2 Hero Kez Lands Alongside Crownfall Act IV

Kez is the 126th hero in Dota 2, coming off the heels of Ringmaster’s arrival in August this year. He is a member of the Kazurai, which is presumably a subcategory or close ally of the Skywrath — the same race that Shendelzare the Vengeful Spirit and Dragonus the Skywrath Mage are from. As the new leader of the Kazurai, his role in the Crownfall story is to assist Shendelzare in her rebellion against Imperia, the current queen of the Skywrath.

Ambidextrous Avian

His full name is Kestrel, which makes Kez his nickname. Kez’s design as a hero is quite unique, as he sports eight distinct abilities — though he only has access to one set of four spells at once. In order to use one or the other, he has to switch between his katana and his sai via Switch Discipline (D), making him the first hero that uses equipment switching as a core mechanic.

Kez Abilities

Echo Slash/Falcon Rush

Kez’ kit is all about dealing damage and being mobile.

Echo Slash (Q) in his katana mode causes him to dash forward slightly while slashing in a line in front of him, with enemy heroes taking bonus damage in the process.

Falcon Rush (Q) in sai mode causes him to rush at a target, slashing at them with “echoing secondary attacks” that are less affected by his attack speed.

Grappling Claw/Talon Toss

His Grappling Claw (W) in katana mode allows him to hook onto a target enemy unit or tree. If it hits the former, the unit is slowed by 100 percent until Kez arrives at their position. Kez also attacks the hero once upon arrival for 100 percent lifesteal and some bonus damage.

The sai mode counterpart, Talon Toss (W), is somewhat the opposite, as Kez throws one of his daggers at a target unit to deal damage and apply a silence in a small area around them.

Kez Dota 2
Credit: Valve

Kazurai Katana/Shodo Sai

His third ability, on the other hand, is a passive skill on both sides of the coin. First up is Kazurai Katana (E) in katana mode, which applies a stacking damage over time debuff on any enemy with Kez’ regular attacks. This debuff takes a percentage of Kez’ attack damage for its calculations. In addition, any enemy unit affected by Kazurai Katana will suffer from reduced health regeneration.

On the flip side, Kez has Shodo Sai (E), which marks enemies with a debuff that slows them and grants Kez’ next attack or ability True Strike, on that unit. If the affected unit is a hero, that next attack will also stun them for half a second. Additionally, Shodo Sai gives Kez the ability to disarm himself and lock the direction that he’s facing in for two seconds, automatically parrying attacks and attack effects from the targeted direction.

Should he successfully parry an attack from an enemy hero this way, Kez stuns that hero for one second, deals a critical strike to them, and marks them with the Shodo Sai debuff.

For those that played Heroes of Newerth back when it was still around, this is pretty much the same thing as Nomad’s Edge Counter (R), but watered down as it’s not an ultimate ability. Nice to see Valve taking inspiration from old games in the MOBA space.

Raptor Dance/Raven’s Veil

Finally, we have his two ults: Raptor Dance (R) and Raven’s Veil (R). Raptor Dance locks Kez into a channeling state for one second, after which he spins around and slashes in a circular area around himself. Any enemy units hit by his sword this way receive damage based on their maximum health, and heal Kez for a percentage of the total damage dealt to all targets. Kez also receives a strong dispel afterwards.

Raven’s Veil, on the other hand, sees Kez using a smoke bomb to cloak himself and cause a smoke cloud to radiate from his position gradually. This smoke cloud reduces enemy heroes’ vision temporarily, while also applying the Shodo Sai mark onto them with the bonuses from the parry included. He gains bonus movement speed while invisible, which lasts until he attacks or uses another ability.

It’s important to note that all of his abilities share cooldowns with their respective counterparts, so players will have to pick and choose their spots accordingly in order to have the right ability up at the right time. Switch Discipline itself also has a cooldown, which means that Kez can’t just pull his other weapon out as he pleases. Its cooldown does shave off 0.2 seconds per hero level gained, though, so eventually Kez will be able to switch his weapon every two seconds at best. And with Aghanim’s Scepter, each weapon ability used refreshes the cooldown of Switch Discipline.

The official Dota 2 website lists him primarily as a carry, though we’re sure that intrepid pub players will try him as a mid laner as well. Because he’s so new, we’re still unsure of what his true role will be, but we’ll find out over the next few days as the community gets to grips with his kit and design.

The Final Chapter: Crownfall Act IV

Amazingly (at least, given Valve’s penchant for marching to the beat of their own drum), Kez’ arrival also marks the unlocking of Crownfall Act IV. This serves as the ultimate act of the ongoing story event, following Act III where Shendelzare found Kez and convinced him to return from his exile in Icewrack to fight the Skywrath’s oppressors.

Act IV, titled The Spires of Skywrath, introduces the final batch of Crownfall content, as well as new collectibles and rewards for players to get their hands on. According to Valve, the update brings a “massive new overworld map” with new sidequests and minigames. Once players depose Imperia and overthrow the regime, they can unlock alternate styles for Skywrath Mage and for Vengeful Spirit’s Arcana. In addition, players can also enjoy alternate tower skins by going through the Pathfinder quests in Act IV.

Crownfall Act IV will remain active in the Dota 2 client until January 15th, 2025. Players will have only until then to complete the content and receive their rewards, so make sure not to delay Imperia’s downfall too much or you’ll miss out entirely.