Dota 2 Dark Carnival: A Guide to the Midnight Run and Candyworks
July 13th, 2026
A new Dark Carnival story in Dota 2
Dota 2 Dark Carnival is a free, ongoing story event built around a spider-legged convoy of dangerous robots, secrets, and collectible rewards. The event gives players a themed progression path alongside ordinary Dota matches, with new cosmetics and story moments to uncover.
The event also brings a large reward collection to the game, including twenty new hero sets and five Automaton hero personas. Whether you are playing for the story, the cosmetics, or a reason to queue with different heroes, Dark Carnival turns match progress into a trip through Ringmaster's strange travelling show.
All Aboard the Midnight Run
The Midnight Run begins with Hoodwink and Legion Commander waking as prisoners on a circus train headed toward an unknown destination. Their captor is hardly subtle: the giant Ringmaster-shaped face at the front of the train points to the Ringmaster and his dark bargains.
The story asks players to guide their favorite heroes, together with Tinker, toward the front of the train. Along the way, the heroes uncover its mysteries, confront their captors, disrupt the Ringmaster's plans, and fight for a way out.
How Dark Carnival works
Playing Dota matches during Dark Carnival awards themed tickets. Different heroes grant different ticket types, so your games contribute to the event while you play the normal modes and roles you enjoy.
Those tickets can be redeemed to open a path through the Ringmaster's convoy. Each step reveals more of the story and unlocks additional rewards, making the event route the central place where match progress, narrative, and collection goals meet.
Rewards on the convoy
Dark Carnival rewards include a treasure with fifteen carnival-themed item sets, four themed sets for Phantom Assassin, Crystal Maiden, Invoker, and Magnus hidden across the train, and discount coins for the Dark Carnival store. Ten Discount Coins can be redeemed for a discount on an eligible store item, with the exact amount varying by region and currency.
The returning Candyworks is another major reward destination. Valve describes it as a way to transform spare, cavity-causing confectionaries into new hero sets, wards, couriers, and more. That makes it useful to have a clear idea of the rewards you want before you begin spending or rerolling your available candy.
Plan your Candyworks exchanges
Our Carnival Candyworks Calculator is an independent planning tool for checking candy combinations, recipes, and possible exchange paths. It is not an official Valve tool, but it can help you organize your Candyworks choices before you commit them in Dota 2.