Is there a way to use an upgraded animation for a hero without buying it?

Question

I saw Drow Ranger's upgraded animation, which I really liked.

Can I get the animation in ways like gifting or earning by playing or something rather than buying it?

Answer 1

If you are talking about Dota 2 skins :

you can buy the skins in the steam store, as well you can collect them by simply playing. You can be lucky to get an item after a game, the longer the game the better the chance for an item. If you level up your Dota Account (not hero) you get 1 item for sure.

Since there are many many heroes and many sets for many heroes, the chance is small that you get exactly the set you want to have.

So in order to get it without directly buying it you can do the following :

• trade you item with friends or on websites for dota trade, please google

Some other ingame Items are changing the animation as well for example just shooting a frost arrow instead of a normal arrow, or having a mask

The best way to find out, make a screenshot of that character showing his items and his skin :)

Answer 2

... And by "upgraded animation", you mean items of Legendary, Ancient, Immortal or Arcana rarities?

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1. So, what are they?
These items are very rare items, rarer than the "common" Mythical item. These items usually have one or more of the following:

• Modifications to the Hero's base model
• Particle Effects (in the form of an attached Kinetic Gem)
• Modified Animations (walking, taunts etc.)
• Changes to some/all icons (ie. Hero Abilities, Shop items etc.)
• Modified Hero Voice Responces

2. So, how do I get them?

1. Through Events
   Every now or then, Valve will host special events such as the International (DoTA 2 eSports competition). Usually requiring a purchase of something to "support" the event, you are given rewards back (like the International 2014 Compendium). This method usually only yields Ancient or Immortal items.
2. Through Trading
   You can trade for these items but they come at a very hefty price... Usually in DoTA 2 treasure keys.
   These keys are $2.49 USD each, or if you're lucky - You can trade for them for between 6-10 items of Rare quality, or Trade Steam gifts for them. Just be careful not to be scammed., or if you're more advanced: Sell your items (ie. Steam Trading Cards) on the Steam Community Market, and then buy keys off there.
   Websites for trading include: DoTA Trade, DoTA 2 Lounge or the DoTA 2 Trading Subreddit, just to name a few... And the community market can be found here.
   
3. Drops
   Just a note: This is probably not the best way of obtaining items as it will take close to "forever" to get one.
   At the end of every match, everyone has a chance of obtaining an item through the drop system (longer matches mean more chance). But be wary of your DoTA 2 PLAYER level, as it places a restriction on the maximum quality for the item you're eligible to receive.
   However, receiving these types of items usually will take hundreds, if not; thousands of drops before you are lucky enough to receive a item of Legendary, Ancient, Immortal or Arcana quality. Remember, your level does not dictate what type of item you receive; they only dictate the maximum quality you're able to receive. (So if you would have gotten a Mythical item, but you're only Level 1; that Mythical item would become a Common item out of the common items pool).
   Through what I just said, it would take thousands of drop before receiving an item of such quality, but from then; you may not receive the particular item you're looking for. (That's where trading comes in)

3. Great! Anything else? Just two things:

1. Kinetic Gems
   If an item comes with a particle effect, ensure that it has the CORRECT Kinetic Gem socketed/attached to it. Without that Kinetic Gem, the item will not display any particle effect.
   
2. Trading
   This may help you:
   Trade 2 Common items into a Uncommon item then 2 Uncommon items for a Rare Item (or 4 Commons/1 Uncommon + 2 Common for a rare.)
   Repeat the above until you have about 8-10 Rare items and then trade them for a Treasure key.
   From there, you can make more keys or open a treasure chest (it's not worth; it's better to trade for the contents that others have obtained and have found 'useless') or make more keys and you can maybe trade for something of high quality (Mythical or higher).
   
3. Don't bother!
   If you have done the math, presuming the average number of drops before getting a single Legendary, Ancient, Immortal or Arcana item is 1,000; that would mean 1,500-3,000 hours of actively playing - Presuming a game is about 30-60mins long and the average number of 30min games per drop is 3.

Answer 3

As you may already know, these animations are given by having a "kinetic gem" attached to an item.

As mentioned by other people you can buy these on the community market, but you can also trade for them. I'd suggest trying a site like www.dota2lounge.com which facilitates trades. You may be able to find or suggest a trade where you give somebody some items you already have and don't want in exchange for the gem you'd like. It's then a case of creating a slot in an item for that hero using an artificer's chisel, and binding the gem to that

Answer 4

In addition to RayofCommand's answer you can activate every buyable cosmetic without buying it. Since this only works client-side (on your end) it will only work for yourself and no one else will see it.

To do this you need to get the cosmetic files first. The first method would be to download those files from the internet (google this please, i have no recommended site out of the top of my head). The second method would be extracting those from the vpk files of DotA2. This however requires some knowledge in handling of vpk files (extra software,etc).

If you got your cosmetics you need to put those files into your DotA2 folder (steamapps/common/dota 2 beta/dota) and add -override_vpk to your DotA2 launch options. To do this go to your steam library, rightclick dota2 -> properties -> set launch options.

You can even add custom skins/sounds/animations. Sometimes those temporary break the game (for instance a soundmod removed abbadon from the hero pick screen), so be careful. To remove the mod, just remove the launch option again.