If you have being living under a rock for the past year or so, you would not know that the DotA concept has been taken by a  number of game companies, had the wc3 elements and restrictions removed then revamped into a whole new game.  So far the only one of these that was sold to the general public is Demigod which sadly enough was a bit of a flop in my opinion.

Do not fret, there are more on the way which look quite promising, I am (naturally) talking about League of Legends. While browsing this site in recent times you will probably have noticed the same two ads flashing at you relentlessly. On the topic of LoL, I can’t say much more than this: yes there is beta, and I am participating.

Riot staff (the makers of League of Legends, including the maker of DotA Allstars – ‘Guinsoo’) have taken a very open approach to the development of the game throwing the doors wide and asking the question: What would you like to see in this game? Thus far this has being highly successful and LoL has gained popularity (definitely helped by the witty internet meem abbreviation.)

It is no surprise, perhaps that the secret S2Games project ‘Heroes of Newerth’ was announced, not only that, but you can get a beta key if you are willing to try. This covers the 2 new games that are cited as being DotA-like (and thus largely denied a wiki page on the topic of MOBA genre) and now it is time to try and draw comparisons without breaking the NDA I signed… or ticked the box really, but it is still a legally binding document.

A quick comparison or two…

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The versions 6.56 up to 6.60 have been phenomenal where change is concerned. By now you should have understood the significance of these changes, so I need not elaborate. What needs to be reconsidered in light of the changes, however, are item builds hitherto considered “cookie cutter” on certain heroes.

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Luna Moonfang

From 6.49 onwards, the only item build which was seriously considered by both pubs and leagues was the Butterfly + Satanic build. This was especially so after it was found that in 6.49, Luna could tank 5 heroes while killing about 3 (maybe even all 5) at the same time. This was due to the nature of Satanic giving lifeleech off the 2nd-to-5th bounceys at that time. Even though this was changed in 6.52 so that the extra bounceys did not count for lifesteal, it still remained popular despite the reality that begun to sank in.

This terribly expensive item build was a burden that made Luna hard to play especially in later versions which demanded cheap ownage. With the 6.60 changes, it is even more important to evaluate if Butterfly + Satanic is ever a practical item build on the Moon Rider. Can Luna just sit still and farm more than 10 000 gold just to own when devastation is all around her? Why is Satanic still on her when she doesn’t get that special lifesteal anymore? If lifesteal is needed, then a simple Mask of Death or even just Mask of Madness (yes read that right) should do. Unless Luna has achieved her peak and is able to farm the crucial 3300 fast, Butterfly is also a suspect.

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It’s official. Team Flow, Philippine representative to the Asian Cyber Games 2006 and 2007, is the 2009 Philippine representative. Team Flow is composed of Arby Ng, Marvin Tan, Jojo Uy, Bryan Ang, and Vinzyre Villeguez. The famed Team Flow has been a force to reckon with since they burst out into the DotA scene more than four years ago.

In 2006, they won the local qualifiers against veterans 129. Flow represented the Philippines in the Asian Cyber Games in Singapore but lost to the eventual champions. In 2007, Flow decimated Ninja in the local qualifiers and represented the Philippines once again. That year, Flow gave the Philippines it’s first ACG medal as the team finished 3rd place.

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6.60 and most of the succeeding versions that reflect 6.60 will bring with it some implications that will affect pub and leagues quite differently.

For pub, the greatest implication is a heavy tilt towards heroes of DPS potential. Remakes of Razor, Troll Warlord and Sniper, the most popular pub heroes; buffs on several others like  Spiritbreaker, Phantom Assassin, Ursa Warrior and Windrunner; and important item remakes (Manta Style, Diffusal Blade, Aghanim) that have indirectly buffed heroes like Naga Siren, Phantom Lancer, Riki, Nightstalker and Chaos Knight, this version’s DPS assassins pack a heavy punch to annihilate all that defy them. Furthermore with the presence of Quelling Blade, most of the above heroes may scale their peak much faster. Sheer and brutal devastation has never been easier.

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While I’m thinking of a new post about Dota 6.60 proper, here’s a little bit about the title you just read.

I have a general style of writing for blogs. When I was still writing stuff in my own Dota blog, I made it a point not to be so detailed and rigid about the content.. In the DS blog, The Batrider and MeduScandal posts are two good examples of general writing. While reading the comments I saw that some readers preferred that I do some sort of mini-guide in the DS blog. It is certainly in my power to do so, and I can do it (the Tauren Chieftain post was one), but I don’t do it often, and I don’t like to do it.

Why?

It’s because I regard the act of doing guides in the blog as defeating the purpose of the Strategy Panel and the forum. I’m not here to usurp the position of strategy owners, nor am I here to dictate to you what sort of strategy and item build you should follow. If I want to make a strategy I go to the Strategy Panel, and I’m more than confident my guide will get approved. Ok maybe that’s a bit too much of a presumption, but in the future more guides will be made, more discussions, more brainstorming. In time to come Dota fanatics, pub and league, will be able to decide for themselves what works for them, even after I’ve long moved on and longer contribute here.

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This just in. Dota Allstars 6.60b was released today. Several bugs and exploits corrected.

Get it here.

6.60b Changelog:
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* Some minor performance optimizations
* Fixed a fatal error possible when 2 users with blademail active fight each other
* Fixed a desync bug when using -tips while other map languages are in the game
* Fixed Force Staff so it doesn’t push you into an impassable terrain
* Fixed some bugs with RS and other modes like RD
* Fixed a group memory bug
* Fixed camera from moving when you pick a hero in RD
* Fixed pink player from not being able to pick the furthest hero in -CD
* Fixed a bug that sometimes caused Echo Stomp to not get dispelled upon damage
* Fixed some issues with Treant Protector’s Eyes In The Forest
* Fixed a multiple quelling abuse
* Added a note in the tooltip about Kunkka not being able to use Quelling Blade
* Fixed a minor visual cooldown glitch with the MKB toggle
* Temporarily disabled -terrain snow. It was causing annoying visual side effects for all terrain modes when exploring terrain that had previously destroyed trees. I’ll restore this functionality as soon as I can.
* Fixed some typos

This is just a quick bugfix patch to fix exploits being abused. More changes and balance tweaks will come soon in the next patch.

“As a result of some differences, I am no longer affiliated with the dota-allstars.com website. I want to take this opportunity to wish everyone over there the best of luck in the future.” - icefrog Thu, 05/14/2009 - 22:13

The controversial question spawned from this situation now is - what will the future of dota be?

Of course, right now it seems that the frozen amphibian is going to continue with the map. However, what would happen if he, for some reason did not continue the map, perhaps, he has too many issues with the players and other websites. What then?

Would we continue playing the old maps? Or would someone step up to the helm and take charge of the dota project like what happened with guinsoo and euls?

Well enough of speculation for now, whatever the future holds,  let it stay in the future.

There have been rumours spreading that Icefrog and Pendragon had an argument about the League of Legends and of DotA becoming P2P(Pay to play) since Pendragon did not think they were getting enough for the amount of effort put in to developing the map.

Part of Icefrog’s statement : “As a result of some differences”       casts a certain shadow of doubt as to how and why he actually left the website.  What actually happened is known only to the two.

According to Pendragon, there is no bad blood between them and this is simply a parting of the ways, so to speak. He also asserted that there is a possibility of him working with the frog on a project together, once more,  in the future. On what, is yet to be seen.

Aftermath:

Icefrog created playdota.com which he is using now as the ‘official’ site. According to the frog, he does not even take ad revenue.

Pendragon personally stated he plans on updating and continuing to upgrade dota-allstars even though it has become a fansite, as opposed to some speculation regarding him turning it into a LoL site or stepping stone to boost LoL popularity.

The creation of the new website has divded the dota allstars community to a certain level. Many have emigrated to playdota while there are also many who decided to stay at dota-allstars. com.

One thing is for sure, something did happen between the two and they have both decided to remain extremely vague and discreet, only letting out the tiniest of details.

~Amp

Medusa is one of the heroes who received a slight tweak in skill set while retaining the old theme, and very possibly done under the peer pressure of making her sound more relevant to her namesake. If you have studied the history of Dota (if ever there was such a subject :P), Medusa is one hero who has always courted controversy throughout her career. The new Medusa is no exception. Maybe that’s the way of nagas to popularize their sexiness.

Why do I say that Medusa is controversial both old and new? The old Medusa often had the trouble of choosing between the skill set of Chain Lightning and Mana Shield in early game. While most players preferred Chain Lightning, most leaguers opted for Mana Shield. Both have valid reasons and that is why the argument about Medusa (henceforth called the Medusa Scandal) in most Dota forums including DS never ends. If not for the existence of the Bliderberg Club moderators, Medusa scandal threads would have turned into a fascist rant long ago.

The  Medusa Scandal also extends to whether Medusa should amass hitpoint, or damage, or both. Most male (presumably), hot-blooded players who don’t like to be seen as sissies would tell you they absolutely want damage. A minority suggests absolute tankage ie. HP for their own reasons. Some male (or female) players who stand their own ground (but are not soft) would tell you it’s good to take both, thus risking a blast from the extreme left or right for their centric views.

Now, after Medusa has been remade with the Mystic Snake skill that steals mana and deals damage in the same fashion as Furion the Prophet’s Wrath of Nature it seems the Medusa Scandal has not abated. Obviously the frog has been trying to simmer the Medusa Scandal with this remake. This seems to be the case until you notice that he’s remade Purge as well (oh), renaming it Stone Gaze and giving it a very very high cooldown to compensate for the AoE effect, it seems. In one side the frog appears to try to solve the Medusa Scandal, only to reignite it in another side. Thus the Scandal never ends (for now) and I believe threads have already risen in the forum as a reaction to the Medusa Scandal.

Morale of the story - Nagas should never be allowed a roleplay, especially age-old, nearly worn-out Nagas that constantly seek attention like the Gorgon. Scandals are fun, especially one called the Medusa Scandal. Bilderbergers watch in from above, relishing all the fun and fascist name-calling in the threads before stepping in to hammerwack undesirable targets.

Real morale of the story - the frog should seriously decide what sort of role Medusa is supposed to play in Dota. If she’s supposed to tank then tank only. If damage then damage only. If AoE then AoE only. Unadulterated. Don’t mix in all the stuff and create the biggest scandal that’s ever discussed in the hero taverns - the Medusa Scandal. Why even Queen of Pain with all her stories of seducing stupid men pales in comparison.

The Batrider along with Tauren Chieftain are the official new additions to 6.60. It’s interesting to note that at the time of this writing neither Dota-Allstars not Dota Portal has yet updated their databases to reflect the two additions. While the DS database is in a haywire itself (OMG look at the new taverns), I’m happy to say we have at least two newer things to be happy about.

I’m sure by now most of you will have played a game or two involving the Batrider. What I’m not sure about, is how do players especially leaguers react to the new hero’s skills. Like TC, I have mixed feelings about Jin’zakk.

From the looks of it, Jin’zakk has been designed to be heavily aligned with fire, even more so than Lina the Slayer. The hero has some AoE, an interesting hovering flight skill and yet another skill that can actually displace a single target. The implication for Dota is that Jin’zakk has reinforced a certain style of playing that involves forced movement, and that kind of style fits in well with some oldies, among them Admiral, Keeper of the Light, Bloodseeker, Vengeful Spirit and Butcher.

Perhaps, that is the frog’s true intention for introducing Batrider. It is part of the masterplan, along with some items like Force Staff,  to make this kind of play popular, especially in leagues. Some hero unleashes a fury that punishes an enemy for movement, then some other hero forcibly executes the punishment by forcing it to move. If you understand what I say then you get the picture.

What’s even more intriguing is that Flaming Lasso is an ultimate, thus it can override magical immunity - meaning even Black King Bar cannot ever counter the forced displacement. Is it any coincidence that Nether Swap and Dismember, ultimates of the Vengeful Spirit and Butcher respectively, are ultimates too? You see the link now? Who cares about Omniknight’s Repel or Naix’a Rage? Just bring them over as sacrificial offerings!

How successful is this masterplan, however, depends very much on the reciprocity of the leaguers. Are they prepared to abandon the Blink-Stun strategy for this one? Will they be willing to sacrifice Area-of-Effect damage for pin-point target assassination? These are serious questions both the frog and the leaguers must sit down and debate before reforms such as this can be taken seriously. Until then we shall just amuse ourselves with the Batriders’ antics.

Haha, sounds good to me mon’!

I’ll touch bases with the Batrider later. Meanwhile, I want to focus some attention on an “old” hero Razor. The frog has totally revamped him it’s not even remotely similar to the old Razor anymore. I’d call it a new hero. To say that the frog only added 2 new heroes is quite misleading; if anything Razor is the 3rd new hero.

But being given a new lease of life, dare we say that Razor has the punch or not? It’s up to us to find out.

Old Razor aka Lightning Revenant was one of the most favoured heroes in pub games, being the de facto ‘noob’-friendly hero. If anyone new to Dota were to start learning the intricacies of the game, usually the hero he would be pointed to is Razor (or Dwarven Sniper). However, his less-than-impressive skills did not manage to last him beyond 6.48b leagues.

6.59 razor

To prop up Razor’s popularity with leaguers once again, the frog changed him in the 6.60 map. To compensate for Razor’s more mana-intensive skills, he buffed the intelligence gain to 2.2. Note that the storyline does not quite fit the new Razor (lol) - you’ll see why in a jiffy.

6.60 razor

The first spell Plasma Field in essence works similarly to Shiva’s Guard’s Arctic Blast  - a circle of electric blobs emit out of Razor and return back to him again. The -tips command seem to suggest that this skill be maxed first. I would agree too, because AoE damage is always best leveled ASAP.

The second absorbs damage from a single enemy hero, but for the absorption to continue Razor must maintain a minimum proximity of sorts . Once again, I agree with the tooltips in -tips that this skill is best accompanied with Unstable Current to achieve the theoretical best effect.

Unstable Current retains half of the corresponding 6.59 skill - the movespeed. The other part which is new makes Razor a less favorable target for target spells, or so it’s supposed to be.

The ultimate is what I’d like very much. Basically a storm cloud is conjured above Razor which attacks the least healthy target (creep or hero) in the vicinity. The cloud cannot be stopped unless Razor himself dies, so the first time I came across the skill I was quite wowed by it.

Like Static Link this spell works best with Unstable Current too, and is most devastating when a lot of AoE damage is pumped into the area. The storm cloud then seeks the hero (hopefully) with least HP and smashes balls zaps it repeatedly to oblivion. This is when Plasma Field comes into play, as it should be able to remove some enemy creeps from the battle and make good targets even easier to kill. The intended combo that is to be used on 6.60 Razor would be:

Plasma Field (from a range) -> Eye of the Storm (within melee distance) -> Static Link (maintaining the required distance)

Having being critical of the frog for some time, I’d like to say a moderately big thank you for making a hero even better than before. Personally I feel that this remake of Razor will cause even more beginners to like him, especially those who have started to understand his skill synergy a bit.

As for leagues, it remains to be seen - Razor’s old weaknesses - lack of disable and not that much AoE - is still inherent, and Razor may or may not be so favoured depending on the current league trend. As a personal note, despite my constantly relating stuff to leaguers I do not believe that the trends they set may be correct all the time.

According to the tips provided by -tips, the best item approach for Razor is to mass both HP and damage, which I once again agree. As for skill, the approach would be max Plasma Field first, then Unstable Current, then Static Link, while leveling Eye of the Storm whenever possible. That storm cloud is a killer I tell you.

Best allies would be those who enhance Razor’s skill capabilities the most. I would say Dark Seer, Ogre Magi and Omniknight would be the most helpful, followed generally by most stun and slow heroes.

But the list is not exhaustive. Perhaps you can contribute your own ideas about the new Razor as well, in the comment section.