DotaStrategy.com    .   Blog

Archive for the 'DotA Allstars' Category

Item Remakes: Part One

Friday, October 23rd, 2009

As many of you have probably noticed, Icefrog has remade a few important items in these past few versions. These include the boots, Mjollnir, HoT, Diffusal/Manta, and many others. This post will be part of a multi-post series on item remakes.

The focus of this post will be focused on the controversial Heart of Tarrasque.

Before: HoT

35 STR

300 HP

11 HP regen per second (stackable)

Remake #1 : HoT

11 HP regen per second –> 1% HP per second (non-stackable)

Remake #2: HoT

1% HP regen per second –> 2% HP regen per second (non-stackable)

Hero based damage disables regen for 10 seconds.

Buffed Remake #2: HoT

+35 STR –> +40 STR

Disable time from 10 –>8 (Now includes roshan as “Hero based damage”)

 

As you can see, these new remakes of HoT lend the game a new style of play. The change of the constant stackable regen to a standardized 1% regen was a popular change, since almost everybody saw the balance that came with that. However, then next change caused much more friction. Many of you complained, whined, and rolled in the dust when the new “Disable Regen” mechanism was introduced in 6.63. Some even sent an email to the frog, which he responded to.

Q: Why did you remove the combat regeneration from Heart of Tarrasque? (from Florian)

A: It was a very specific choice to completely remove combat regeneration from it rather than just reduce it. While it was a nerf, that wasn’t the primary goal. The problem with trying to measure the value of regeneration on Heart is that it makes your success in a fight depend at least partially on how long the fight lasts. The core issue is more about what it promotes rather than it allowing you to survive. It encourages the wrong things and doesn’t reward players who make better moment to moment decisions as much as it could. It removes some depth from the game and makes it a little less interesting over all. If the item needs a certain amount of tanking power, it is much more direct to add more hit point bonus to the item instead of doing it via a method that obscures the ability to measure the balance of the item.

This is more about the design philosophy the item should have, rather than its actual numbers or power, since I consider those as solvable problems if you have the right design to start with. In general, I prefer to lean towards creating a situation of long term solvability to issues. Some things might be knowingly imperfect but done in a manner that increases measurability to allow it to settle in a better place in the long run.

And no, the question isn’t asked by our famous flodian. It’s “floRian” apparently. I’ve bolded some of the “meat” in this statement.

  • While it was a nerf, that wasn’t the primary goal. That statement itself is debatable. I think icefrog was biased a little bit by all the emails people hav been sending him. As alluded to in the second part of the statement, the frog didn’t have a nerf in mind when he tried to remake HoT. One of the key things to remember is that the regen was DOUBLED. If you were a morphling that had eliminated all of your base strength into agility, with this item you would still regenerate at >20 HP/second.
  • It encourages the wrong things and doesn’t reward players who make better moment to moment decisions. Referring to the old HoT. One of the key reasons in my opinion on why Icefrog changed HoT. Oftentimes after a Heart is aquired, common sense is lost, and players would just charge into battle with little or no thinking, feeling that (rightfully so) the Heart’s massive regen would make up for whatever life was lost due to poor judgement. Now, the attention once again turns to a more calculated approach, one that benefits noobs less and helps more intelligent players more. 
  • “It removes some depth from the game and makes it a little less interesting over all. ” Again, referring to the old HoT. Who needs to think when you’re roofy, have living armor on, have 3K hp, regen 30 per second, and are at level 12? Yes, I achieve that frequently. For most heroes that get this item, again, the mindlessness that comes after feeling the security that comes from such a major tankage boost desensitizes you to things an otherwise good player would notice, like map awareness, and most of all, encourages 1v1 battles. Once again, this item points to more teamwork, something that everybody that has played pubs would like to see more of >.>
  • design philosophy the item should have, rather than its actual numbers or power. Wise words from a wise man. The numbers can easily be tinkered with and balanced, but this new design is what will really make a difference. We can compare the amount of HP regenerated with this heart compared to the old heart in all sorts of different circumstances, and declare it a buff or a nerf or whatever, but what ultimately matters is what type of gameplay tactics this change affects. Surely, you can see what the frog is aiming at here. In a way, the frog is using this to support the DPSgeddon that caspy’s been talking about for a long time now. Heroes(even tanks) are getting weaker HP wise, and games have more ganks/kills, more action, and feel more interesting. Late game, the heart buff allows pure DPS to shine, rather than allowing uber tank heroes with a disable or two to shut down carries as is frequently the case.
  • knowingly imperfect but done in a manner that increases measurability to allow it to settle in a better place in the long run. This phrase sounds really technical, but it’s similar to the last key point. I think this actually points to a nerf on HoT in the future. Icefrog is smart, he knows how these changes will be recieved, and massively increased the regen (and recently buffed the item even more) to try and compensate for the huge percieved “nerf”. Once people get used to the new style of playing, and seeint how powerful HoT really is, that’s when the nerfs will come.

Gameplay with the new Heart

Places where heart can be considered a “buff”

  • Tower pushing. Towers do almost nothing when you have 2% of max HP regenerating.
  • Neutral creeping. Similar to towers, allows farming of gold fairly quickly when you can regenerate that rapidly.
  • Creep stacking. Any hero with a HoT can effectively clear a stacked Ancient camp. Again, quick $$$.
  • Whenever heavy regeneration is needed out of battle (i.e. after a huge team clash). After getting this item, fountain trips for health are completely unnecessary, as by the time you get there, you will be mostly renerated anyways. After a large clash where you lose a decent amount of HP you have two options. Neutral creep if you lost the clash, and then pop back out with almost full HP 45 seconds later. If you won, go ahead and keep pushing, since by the time enemy heroes respawn, your HP will be at a healthy level again.
  • Radiance users :P
  • Roshing

Again, you can see how this benefites the late game carries, whether they weild this item or come up against it. STR carries especially, like Slardar, Nai’x, Huskar, Skeleton King, etc will ikely see more use since often they get lifesteal which is meant for direct combat regeneration.

 

Places where heart can be considered a “nerf”

  • Long periods of frequent direct combat.
  • Fleeing heroes
  • Juking
  • Mega-Tanks

Again, once these gameplay changes are analyzed, it become obvious that this DPS heroes are mostly benefited.

Now recently, Icefrog buffed the heart even more, increasing the strength by 5 and decreasing the regen disable time. At the same time though, Icefrog recognized the crucial mistake he made in not giving Roshan the ability to disable it. Darn, now that would’ve been something haha.

Ok, I’ve been at this long enough. Now get out there and enjoy how DotA has taken a turn for the better with this change. Oh, and pick a DPS hero ;)

Dota 6.64 - Tangible signs of a DPSgeddon

Wednesday, October 21st, 2009

Previously, you read here that:

The next versions of Dota will be so DPS heavy, it will be a case of picking just one or even two DPS heroes and witness an Armageddon taking place.

This Armageddon, which we have since come to know as DPSgeddon, and fittingly so, are seeing very tangible signs of a prophecy being fulfilled, in the very version of 6.64.

(more…)

Dota in the future - DPSgeddon?

Saturday, October 10th, 2009

First.

In case you didn’t know, I got massive support for the RAL post, even warranting a separate coverage in Playdota. For that, thanks a lot to the people who read it and made it more viral. Your support goes a long way towards maintaining the supremacy of DS in the Dota blogosphere :D

2nd.

I believe that more people are going to blog here, so you will not be just hearing from me. In fact, you’ll be hearing from them quite soon, so support them as you did royalty. Of course, first preferences to royalty. :P

3rd.

In the RAL post I made a brief mention of the term DPSgeddon and made some brief allusions. Here, I will explain what I had alluded to.

(more…)

Dota Allstars 6.64 Map Download Updates

Wednesday, October 7th, 2009

IceFrog has begun working on the Dota 6.64 map update about two weeks ago, and in a recent statement he said that the 6.64 update will focus on balance improvements. In an older article dated September 23rd, he mentioned a bug with Phase Boots:

However, we found out that there is a technical issue with Phase Boots. They seem to prevent procs like crits, bashes, etc while phased. It was never as apparent before because it was not coupled with attack speed. This makes the Phase Boots a bit anti-synergetic.

A workaround was underway and he is playing around with different versions of Phase Boots and Power Treads:

Phase Boots:
Boots of Speed (500)
2x Blades of Attack (1000)
Recipe (none)
Total: 1500

+70 Movement Speed
+26 Damage
Phase (Active)

Power Treads:
Boots of Speed (500)
Boots of Elvenskin or Belt of Giant Strength or Robe of the Magi (450)
Gloves of Haste (500)
Recipe (none)
Total: 1450

+60 MS
+10 Any Attribute
+30 IAS

While he notes:

While there may be workarounds for that bug, most would probably come at the cost of some functionality. So while still keeping with the primary no armor concept, I am exploring a new buildup for Phase Boots and Power Treads. Keep in mind that numbers are still at an early stage and this change is by no means final, but I’d like to share one version of what we are experimenting with.

While Dota 6.64 will contain mostly fixes, IceFrog hinted new remakes and heroes in version 6.65.

6.63b - The Really Atrocious Lineup

Monday, October 5th, 2009

I note with an amount of sadness that some of the followers of my old blog were disappointed that I was no longer writing there. Rest assured that I myself must suffer the greatest pain of not being able to write with a full amount of freedom, and that I am highly grateful to Drew and the rest of the staff that at least I can still have a lease of blogging life even though I no longer write on my own.

On that old blog, I issued a challenge 4 versions ago - 6.59 - that Dota-ers should prove to the frog that certain buffed heroes back then would really make it into the league. And I myself predicted that one such hero would be highly used (and banned) by leaguers - even though, I can tell you, I have no s**t amount of league experience at all. My crystal ball of looking into the future is my own gut instinct, and common sense.

(more…)

Dota 6.63b - my thoughts & possible implications

Thursday, September 24th, 2009

It’s a joy to write this post as I take some time to reflect on the new version. In fact, the new version gives me a lot of encouragement to write this very post.

(more…)

DotA Allstars 6.63b

Sunday, September 20th, 2009

Get it here.

Changelog:

* Fixed an exploit possible with Puck
* Armlet recipe now changed to include Quarterstaff instead of Blades of Attack (bonuses and total price unaffected)
* Fixed Wrath of Nature from targeting couriers
* Fixed a bug with Spirit Bear’s entangle and overgrowth
* Fixed Heart icon on the endgame scoreboard
* Undid a couple of the fun names recently added
* Fixed a rare abuse that could cause other users performance to drop

DotA Allstars 6.63

Wednesday, September 16th, 2009

DotA 6.63 is out!

Download it here.

Changelog:

HEROES

Anti-Mage
- Mana Void AoE increased from 275 to 325
- Strength changed from 16 +1.5 to 20 +1.2

Axe
- Battle Hunger duration reduced from 10/15/20/25 to 10/13/16/19 and increased damage to keep the same total damage output

Bane Elemental
- Fiend’s Grip manacost increased from 100/175/250 to 200/300/400

Batrider
- Reduced base damage from 64-70 to 48-52
- Sticky Napalm fixed from doing a higher constant slow instead of stacking and starting lower
- Sticky Napalm manacost increased from 15 to 20

Blood Seeker
- Base armor reduced by 2 points

Bone Fletcher
- Strafe changed from 50/60/70/80 AS for 10 seconds to 90 AS for 4/6/8/10 seconds

Bounty Hunter
- Imported a custom model for him that has his selection box fixed

Bristleback
- Warpath’s attack speed increase changed to bonus damage (10/20/30 base with 4/8/12 bonus per stack)

Broodmother
- Insatiable Hunger lifesteal increased from 40/55/70% to 40/60/80%
- Insatiable Hunger duration increased from 12 to 14 seconds

Centaur Warchief
-Double Edge manacost removed
-Double Edge can no longer cause a suicide
(more…)

DotA Leavers Video in HQ Part 1

Sunday, September 13th, 2009

by the talented barrierbreak

LULS! Parts 2 and 3 soon!

I wanna marry meet this guy… seriously. :P

DotaStrategy is in Tweetown!

Thursday, September 3rd, 2009

As part of our efforts to be more hands-on with you people, we have an official Twitter page at:

http://twitter.com/dota_strategy

So what does Twitter do that will make DS more hands-on? Well, unlike Facebook and blogs (including this one), Twitter allows people to post short, simple, but relevant messages fast and in real-time. Meaning I could be at some DotA scrim and I wanna ask questions but I hate having to wait for a long while waiting for a reply to my thread (which is usually the case for many people)

Or I got something real interesting about Dota but that’s not long enough for a blog post or announcement, or I’m just plain lazy to post it. :P

Did I also mention that I prefer keeping it short and sweet?

Or maybe one of the mods are attending some big Dota event and they want to post updates real quick.

This is where Tweetown steps in, by

  1. being free of charge
  2. simpler to use than Facebook
  3. faster in updates than anything short of IRC
  4. keeping it short and sweet at 140 characters
  5. addictively fun

I highly encourage you to register for an account at Twitter’s official website and follow us to get real-time updates, hints, and your Dota questions answered asap. Since some of our staff aren’t very good with twitting, that implies I’ll be there most of the time. So I hope you guys keep it real at

http://twitter.com/dota_strategy

*Driving to Tweetown now*