
Aim every blow
WASD moves your hero, the mouse aims. Every arrow, spear thrust and trap is a skill shot you can land or dodge.
A Dota 2 custom arena brawler in early development.
Follow the forge, meet the heroes, pick the next one.
Arena brawler · Dota 2 custom game
In development
No creeps, no farm: two teams, one arena.
Battle Brawlers is a fast team fight built inside Dota 2's Workshop Tools and inspired by Battlerite. Every hero is a Dota hero reborn with a kit made for skill shots, dodges and outplays: short rounds, a closing ring and orbs worth fighting over.

WASD moves your hero, the mouse aims. Every arrow, spear thrust and trap is a skill shot you can land or dodge.

Each round runs on a two-and-a-half-minute clock. When it runs low, the Sudden Death ring closes in until one team falls.

Health and Energy orbs sit around the arena, and the Middle Orb rewards the whole team that breaks it. Big bursts lower your Health Cap for the round, so every combo counts.
Hunter of the Cold Night
Rinya hunts where frost meets shadow. She never stands still: one charged arrow freezes her prey, a trap holds the next, and when the fight turns she vanishes into her Frostveil or returns as a crimson shade with nothing on cooldown. Her name joins rin, biting cold, and ya, night.
“Where the frost settles, the hunter is already gone.”
Skills · Hover a skill to read it
ABILITY: Skillshot
AFFECTS: Enemies
Fire an arrow toward the cursor. It stops on the first enemy it hits, dealing damage and granting Energy. Hold the button to keep firing.
DAMAGE: 16
ENERGY PER HIT: 8%
RANGE: 1200
ARROW SPEED: 2700
CAST TIME: 0.3s
Walls and Frostbite Trap ice blocks stop the arrow; dashing (invulnerable) enemies are passed through. Cannot fire while stunned, silenced or disarmed. Firing reveals Rinya from Frostveil.
A quiver that never thaws.
ABILITY: Skillshot, Charge
AFFECTS: Enemies
Charge in place, then fire a piercing arrow toward the cursor that damages every enemy it passes. The first enemy hit is Frozen and knocked back; enemies behind it are slowed. The recoil slides Rinya backward.
DAMAGE: 28
FREEZE (FIRST ENEMY): 2s
KNOCKBACK: 200
SLOW (OTHERS): 70% for 2s
RECOIL: 300
RANGE: 1800
ARROW SPEED: 5000
CAST TIME: 1.2s
A stun or silence during the charge cancels the shot (1s cooldown). Walls and Frostbite Trap ice blocks stop the arrow. Grants no Energy. Firing reveals Rinya from Frostveil.
One breath, one arrow, one frozen heart.
ABILITY: Dash, Skillshot
AFFECTS: Enemies
Dash in the held WASD direction (toward the cursor if no key is held) and fire a piercing arrow toward the cursor. Rinya is invulnerable during the dash. Each enemy can be hit once.
DASH DISTANCE: 450
DASH TIME: 0.3s
DAMAGE: 10
ENERGY PER ENEMY HERO: 6%
RANGE: 1200
ARROW SPEED: 2800
CAST TIME: 0.2s
Cannot be used while stunned, silenced or rooted. Walls and Frostbite Trap ice blocks stop the arrow. Cancels Frost Piercer's recoil slide. Dashing reveals Rinya from Frostveil.
Frost and shadow conceal a single decisive shot.
ABILITY: Point Target, Swap
AFFECTS: Enemies
Cast Rinya's black shadow toward the cursor. For 4s it stands there and fires a copy of every Black Arrow (M1) toward the cursor, dealing 50% of its damage, and of every Frost Piercer (M2) with 50% of its damage, freeze, knockback and slow. Use the skill again to swap places with the shadow.
SHADOW DURATION: 4s
SHADOW M1 DAMAGE: 50% of M1
SHADOW M2: 50% of M2's damage, freeze, knockback and slow
CAST RANGE: 700
The shadow can be cast past walls but never lands inside or right next to one. It cannot be hit or destroyed; it fades when its time runs out, and the full cooldown starts then. Its arrows grant no Energy. Swapping is blocked while rooted and reveals Rinya from Frostveil.
Two shadows, one aim.
ABILITY: Point Target
AFFECTS: Enemies
Throw a frost trap at the cursor. A cursor beyond the range throws it at max range; walls stop it short. Once armed, the closest enemy to step on it is encased in ice: unable to act but immune to all damage, and the ice block stops every arrow. A frost zone is left behind that slows enemies inside it.
CAST RANGE: 500
ARMING TIME: 0.8s
TRAP DURATION: 8s
TRIGGER RADIUS: 90
ENCASE DURATION: 2.5s
FROST ZONE: 250 radius for 3s
ZONE SLOW: 35%
ENERGY ON ENEMY HERO: 6%
CAST TIME: 0.2s
MAX TRAPS AT ONCE: 4
At most 4 traps can be on the ground at once; Frostbite Trap is unavailable until one springs or expires. Dashing (invulnerable) enemies do not spring it. Placed during Frostveil, the trap stays invisible to enemies.
What steps into the frost waits for the thaw.
ABILITY: No Target
AFFECTS: Self
Instantly removes every crowd control (stun, silence, root, freeze, including Frostbite Trap ice) and slows, and works even while stunned, silenced or frozen. After 0.1s Rinya vanishes: invisible, faster, and able to walk through units but not walls.
INVISIBILITY: 1.5s
MOVE SPEED BONUS: 100%
CAST TIME: 0.1s
Firing M1 or M2 or dashing with Space reveals Rinya and ends the speed bonus; E does not.
Where the frost settles, the hunter is already gone.
ABILITY: No Target
AFFECTS: Self
Rinya takes on the crimson form of her Arcana. For 4s every other skill is ready again right after use. Skills that cost Energy still need enough Energy. Enemies within 700 range are Feared: they run away from Rinya and cannot use skills for 0.5s.
DURATION: 4s
ENERGY COST: 100%
FEAR RADIUS: 700
FEAR DURATION: 0.5s
Includes the M1 basic attack, which then fires as fast as its draw time allows. Frostbite Trap is still limited to its maximum traps on the ground.
Every wound returned, every arrow answered.
The God of War
Mars holds the front line in two stances. The Spear strikes hard and pins enemies down; the Shield turns him into a wall that guards his team, shoves threats away and charges into the fray. He is the arena's first tank, built to make every fight happen on his terms.
“Spear for the war, shield for the ones behind him.”
Skills · Hover a skill to read it
ABILITY: Melee, Chain of 3
AFFECTS: Enemies
Strike toward the cursor with the spear. Press again (or hold the button) to chain three blows: a stab, a close stab and a sweep from your right side to your front. One press makes only the first blow. Each blow hits every enemy in its area; the sweep slows them.
DAMAGE: 11 / 10 / 12
REACH: 360 / 360 / 380
SWEEP SLOW: 25% for 1s
ENERGY PER BLOW THAT HITS A HERO: 5%
CAST TIME: 0.25 / 0.2 / 0.3s
The next blow comes only when you press again within 0.8s after M1 is ready; otherwise the chain starts over. Spear blows never knock back. Switching stance starts the chain over. Dashing (invulnerable) enemies are not hit.
The god of war never asks twice.
ABILITY: Hold to charge, Projectile
AFFECTS: Enemies
Spear Stance. Hold to hop forward toward the cursor and gather yourself while a line shows where the spear goes; release to throw it straight ahead. The longer you hold, the farther and harder it flies. The first enemy hero it hits is carried along; a wall on the way pins and stuns them. Other enemies are knocked aside.
RANGE: 450 to 1100
DAMAGE: 8 to 24
FULL CHARGE: 1.5 s
PINNED TO A WALL: stunned 1 s
ENERGY PER HERO HIT: 6%
You cannot steer while you hop, only aim. Released in the air, you land first, then throw. At a full charge you throw by yourself.
War reaches farther than an arm.
ABILITY: Charge, Line
AFFECTS: Enemies
Spear Stance. Charge straight toward the cursor and stab straight ahead, sliding into the thrust. The charge stops as soon as an enemy is within the spear's reach, at a wall or at its end: every enemy on the spear's line takes damage and is slowed.
CHARGE: up to 1000
STAB: 16 damage, reach 300
SLOW: 30% for 1s
ENERGY IF IT HITS A HERO: 6%
The charge goes straight: stepping aside dodges it. A stun or a root stops it; rooted, you stab where you stand. With nobody in reach it is a dash that ends in a stab.
The spear arrives before the man.
ABILITY: No Target
AFFECTS: Self
Switch between Spear Stance and Shield Stance at once, even while moving. Spear Stance: normal movement and the spear skills. Shield Stance: Mars always faces the cursor and steps in any direction, moves at 56.5% speed, blocks with the shield what comes from the front (140 degrees): 70% less damage from projectiles and 40% less from everything else; from the sides and behind a hit lands in full. Uses the shield skills. M1, M2, Space and E change with the stance; R and F stay.
SHIELD STANCE MOVE SPEED: 56.5%
SHIELD STANCE DAMAGE REDUCTION (FRONT 140 DEGREES): 70% projectiles / 40% other
SHIELD STANCE TURN RATE: 300 degrees per second
Every match and round starts in Spear Stance. Each skill keeps its own cooldown. Not while stunned, silenced or casting another skill; an M1 blow being cast is cancelled.
Spear for the war, shield for the ones behind him.
ABILITY: Instant, Self
AFFECTS: Mars
Your body turns to bronze: for a few seconds no new crowd control lands on you (stun, root, silence, freeze, fear, slow, knockback, pull). You still take damage. Usable while moving.
DURATION: 3 seconds
ENERGY: 25%
It removes nothing: stunned, silenced, frozen or feared, you cannot use it; rooted or slowed you can, and those stay until they end.
Bronze does not bend.
Pick a hero, lock in your vote. The most wanted hero gets the next kit.
Who should be the third Brawler?
One vote per account. You can change it until the poll closes.

Candidate · Persona
Phantom Assassin
A glaive in the dark: blink in, strike once, vanish before the answer comes.
Have your own hero in mind? Post a hero idea →
We plan in rounds, like a match. Each round ends with something you can play or see.

Done
An arena, WASD controls and the first Brawler.

Done
A real match: rounds, orbs and a hero select.

Done
Mars joins as the first tank, with two stances.
In progress
The Alpha is out: real matches with real players.
Up next
A new hero, chosen by your vote.
Later
Battle Brawlers out of Alpha.
Battle Brawlers is an independent passion project made by a solo dev. Support pays for the development time that turns a Dota hero into a Brawler. The more support I get, the more time I can give to this project.
Thank you for keeping the forge burning.
The Blender control rigs we animate our heroes with. Each rig drives the game skeleton without changing it and comes with an animator's guide in English and Vietnamese. Downloads are on our Gumroad.
Blender control rig
Animate Mars for Dota 2: a full control rig on top of the game skeleton, which it never changes, so every move stays game-ready.
Blender control rig
The same rig standard on Phantom Assassin's Persona, ready for new animations.
All hero models, textures and some animations belong to Dota 2 and Valve Corporation. Non-commercial fan project.