How to Taunt in Dota 2

Taunting in Dota 2 refers to an action intended to provoke your opponents. Let’s say you lost a team fight because of a misplay. If you taunt, your hero will perform a mocking action and…well, laugh in the faces of your enemies. In Dota 2 you can use taunt via a specific emote and in this guide, we’ll show you how to do that.

Taunts are considered unsportsmanlike behavior in Dota 2. However, there are no bans on its usage and if anything, a taunt might spark an argument at most. In fact, a player’s reactions and mental fortitude in the face of taunts form a key part of competitive gameplay.

In professional Dota 2 circles, taunts can take this test to a whole new level. Dota 2 team OG won The International (TI) twice in a row while gaining a reputation for constantly taunting their opponents during that run of matches – to the point where many teams began muting them out of frustration.

How to Use the Taunt in Dota 2?

In Dota 2, the taunt feature allows you to activate a special emote on your chosen character with the press of a button. The exact action differs based on the chosen character. Some examples include actions such as the hero dancing, taking a bow, or even twirling around and blowing a kiss.

Over the years, players have found creative ways to use other in-game features to taunt their opponents. Tipping enemies when they make mistakes is a popular and rather frustrating one. Most commonly, typing out a short message on the game chat is a method of taunting without using the in-game feature.

The game has classified these taunt actions into ready-made cosmetic items that are specific to each individual hero. 

To use taunt in Dota 2:

1. If you already own a taunt, go to your hero’s cosmetic item load out, and equip the taunt into the taunt slot. If you equip your hero in the middle of a game, you cannot use it until the next game.
2. Open the settings and head into the hotkeys section.
3. Open Advanced Hotkeys and select the preferred activation button for the taunt (“T” by default)
4. Press the taunt key when in-game.

You’re all set to use a taunt after these steps and move on to use it how you want. Since there are no direct benefits to using them in a game, there are no real rules around usage. The only real limit is that you can use a taunt only once every eight seconds. 

How Do You Get a Taunt?

The taunt is a cosmetic item in Dota 2. The most common method to acquire one would be to head into the in-game store or Steam Community Market. In the store, you can either purchase a taunt or trade with a friend who owns one.

Some of the more desirable taunts are not as easy to obtain. They are either added as special rewards during in-game events, or generally part of a bigger rewards bundle. Such taunts are often non-tradable (non-tradable items can’t be sold either) and hence locked to the specific account in which they were acquired. 

Do Dota 2 Taunts Increase the Value of Steam Account?

There are many factors that decide the value of a Steam account used to play Dota 2. And that includes the cosmetic items owned by the account, including Dota 2’s taunts. Much like other online games, the value of cosmetics is decided by their exclusivity, and items that are account-locked tend to have a higher value because they can’t be simply traded.

Most players either sell off the taunts they own or gift them before giving up their accounts for good. If a taunt is left behind on the account though, it will increase the account’s value. The non-tradable taunts are valued subjectively. Buy in the eyes of a bespoke collector, an account with such taunts would certainly be valued higher.