DotaStrategy.com    .   Blog

Archive for the 'Items' 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”)

(more…)

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…)

6.61 Released.

Tuesday, July 7th, 2009

Download it HERE

6.61 Changelog:
===============

###############
## Heroes & Items ##
###############

* Batrider: Lowered Strength gain from 2.5 to 2.0
* Bloodskeer: Bloodbath no longer regenerates from images
* Bone Fletcher: Improved Searing Arrows damage from 10/20/30/40 to 20/30/40/50
* Bone Fletcher: Rebalanced Strafe from 20/40/60/80 IAS with 30 seconds cooldown to 50/60/70/80 IAS with 60/50/40/30 seconds cooldown
* Centaur: Reduced Double Edge cooldown (25->12 seconds)
* Faceless Void: Improved base Strength (17->23)
* Furion: Lowered Sprout cooldown from 11 seconds to 11/10/9/8 seconds and manacost from 115/140/165/205 to 100/120/140/160
* Magnataur: Reverse Polarity now pulls units slightly infront of you instead of all around you
* Medusa: Lowered Stone Gaze cooldown (70->35 seconds)
* Medusa: Minor improvements to Mystic Snake speed , cast range and cooldown
* Medusa: Improved Mystic Snake’s damage from 60/100/140/180 to 80/120/160/200
* Meepo: Rescaled Geostrike from 4/8/12/16 to 5/10/15/20 damage per second
* Nerubian Weaver: Reworked Watchers [details below]
* Nerubian Weaver: Lowered Shukuchi cooldown from 13/11/9/7 to 12/10/8/6 seconds
* Night Stalker: Improved Intelligence growth from 1.25 to 1.6
* Ogre Magi: Reduced Multicast from 30%2x/45%2x+22.5%3x/60%2x+30%3x+15%4x ->25%2x/40%2x+20%3x/50%2x+25%3x+12.5%4x
* Pandaren Brewmaster: Increased Drunken Brawler critical from 1.8x to 2.0x
* Razor: Lowered Intelligence gain from 2.2 to 1.8
* Rooftrellen: Casting Nature’s Guise on an allied unit (or other spells) will no longer take you out if you have it on you
* Silencer: Transferred Glaive of Wisdom’s secondary effect of +1/-1 Intelligence from hero kills to Last Word. If an enemy hero dies under the Last Word effect, that hero will lose 1 intelligence and you will gain 1 intelligence.
* Silencer: Increased Last Word AoE from 700 to 900
* Rebalanced Curse of the Silent from 10/20/30/40 HP and 5/10/15/20 mana per second for 10 seconds to 50 HP and 25 mana for 2/4/6/8 seconds.
* Sniper: Increased Take Aim range from 55/110/165/220 to 65/130/195/260
* Spectre: Decreased Spectral Dagger cooldown from 25 to 16 seconds
* Tauren Chieftain: Lowered base damage by 10
* Tauren Chieftain: Lowered Strength gain from 2.7 to 2.3
* Tauren Chieftain: Decreased Natural Order percentages to 20/40/60/80%
* Vengeful Spirit: Improved base Agility (22->27)
* Viper: Nethertoxin now only works on enemy units
* Witch Doctor: Increased base Intelligence from 19 to 24 (base damage adjust to remain the same though)
* Aghanim’s Scepter (Queen of Pain): Restored original cooldown improvement
* Aghanim’s Scepter (Shadow Shaman): Undid part of the nerf on Mass Serpent Wards. It now gives +3 (up 1 from 6.60, down 1 from 6.59d)
* Buriza-Do Kyanon: Improved the critical value from 2.2x to 2.4x
* Helm of Dominator: Converted creeps now gain the Resistant Skin ability, making spells duration on them the same as heroes or Spirit Bear.
* Quelling Blade: Minor reduction to bonus damage (36->32)

########
## Bugs ##
########

* Fixed natural regeneration on rax
* Fixed an area where you could get stuck using TP scroll on the minimap.
* Fixed -ns mode
* Fixed a chance for duplicate heroes in -CD

* Batrider: Fixed Radiance from triggering Sticky Napalm
* Medusa: Fixed Splitshot triggering Essense Aura
* Razor: Fixed an error in the damage calculation method for Plasma Field that caused it to be slightly off sometimes
* Rooftrellen: Slightly increased Eyes in the Forest cast range (+25) to fix some order issue bugs
* Rooftrellen: Fixed Living Armor not regenerating structures properly
* Tauren Chieftan: Fixed bug with Natural Order sometimes instantly killing Forged Spirit summoned units

* Aghanim’s: Fixed minor incorrect sell value on some versions of the item
* Khadgar’s Pipe of Insight: No longer places the buff on units that already have it
* Bottle: Usage no longer removes Curse of the Silent.
* Linken Sphere: Fixed to properly block Mana Void and Nasal Goo
* Poor Man’s Shield: Fixed bug with -swap
* Quelling Blade: Fixed bug with -swap
* Quelling Blade: Fixed triggering Curse of the Silent
* Rune: Fixed Regeneration sometimes not being removed when you are full if you use bottle at the same time
* Rune: Fixed Double Damage visual effect to properly show when the user is using low graphics mode

####################
## Gameplay & Cosmetics ##
####################

* Removed the int/agi/str distribution in -CD. It is now like RD in its hero distribution.
* Bottle: Now autorefills at fountain if it isn’t fully used (2975)
* Reduced FPS drops when using Shiva’s Guard and Plasma Field with some custom import files (PGRu-Unexpect3D)
* Sound Effects: Removed the “Allied hero has fallen” (heavily requested for removal due to annoyances)

* Invoker: Added a new Icon for Sun Strike (5312)
* Juggernaut: You no longer lose control while using Omnislash. You can use items like Dagger while Omnislashing (4938)
* Slardar: Added a new icon for his Bash (3587)
* Tidehunter: Added a new Anchor Smash visual effect (4393)
* Gem of Truesight: Changed hotkey from T to I to help against some common misbuys
* Increased the transparency a little more for the Circle Of Powers that aren’t yours.
* Fixed -SP moving your camera away from taverns
* Fixed various minor inconcistences between sentinel and scourge units/buildings
* Fixed some very minor inconsistencies with acquire ranges on some heroes
* Observer Board colors now alternate between white and grey to make it a little more readable

Old Watcher’s:
==============
Cooldown: 30/20/10/5 seconds
Movement Speed: 522
HP: 1
Bounty: 10-13
Vision: 1400/1400
Invisible

Urna Swarm:
============
Summons scarabs from corpses. The Scarab can burrow and become invisible.
While it is unburrowed, it is visible to the enemy and has an Infestation
ability. Has collision when unburrowed.
Magic Immune.

Cooldown: 14/11/8/5
Movement Speed: 450
HP: 200
Armor: 6
Bounty: 26-38
Burrowed Vision: 400/400
Normal Vision: 1400/1400

Infestation: Can suicide to Silence enemy units 275 aoe around it for 3 seconds and deal 20 damage per second (non-stacking).

Enjoy.

Multiplayer Online Battle Arenas (MOBAs) + 6.61 leaks

Monday, June 29th, 2009


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…

(more…)

Dota 6.60 - Reconsidering Item Builds

Monday, June 29th, 2009

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.

________________________________________________________

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.

(more…)

Ch¡LL vs Ding Lao and other Match Games’ Line-ups

Wednesday, August 29th, 2007

Ch¡LL vs DING LAO + JIMBERS’
Ding Lao challenged his team Ch¡LL to a match game. With Ding were some of the best players from Jimbers’ Cafe here in Davao City: Totzkie de Castro, Wex Corrales, Batusai Bajado, and Zandro Sabaldan. Ding led these guys against Ch¡LL’s full force: Yuki Perez, Burnz Flores, Top Lopez, Cocoy Villaroman, and BhoyMax Julakit. They played two games in the all pick mode (-ap).

(The line-ups are listed in the order they were picked.)
Game 1:
Sentinel - Ch¡LL
Nevermore - Yuki - bottom right
Warlock - BhoyMax - top left
Skeleton King - Burnz - top left
Rexxar - Top - bottom right
Mirana Nightshade - Cocoy - middle

Scourge (first pick) - Ding + Jimbers’
Akasha - Wex - bottom right
Viper - Zandro - middle
Bristleback - Batusai - top left
Lich - Totzkie - top left
Nerubian Assassin - Ding - bottom right

First Blood: Batusai (Bristleback) pawned Burnz’s (Skeleton King) in the top left lane, after 2 minutes of playing.
(more…)

All About Wards

Tuesday, August 7th, 2007

One of the things I learned from watching tournaments and match games here in Davao City is the importance of smart warding. One of the reasons NoMets became the Davao Cyber Expo champions is because of their excellent warding. Their Lich only had two staples in his inventory: a Boots of Speed and a Town Portal. He used the rest of his gold for buying both Sentry Wards and Observer Wards.

(more…)

My DoTA All-Stars 1 vs 1 Tournament Experience

Sunday, July 29th, 2007

As most of you probably know already, I joined the DoTA All-Stars 1 vs 1 Tournament over at BoyzTrek Jacinto (Davao City) yesterday afternoon. Needless to say, I lost. I will not give reasons and excuses for my loss… because reasons are for losers. Quote me on that please. I think, however, that my participation was not a lost cause because I learned a lot. For one, I learned that I need to practice more. Secondly, I learned that a lot of guys talk the talk, but don’t walk the walk. Many gamers vowed and even promised they would join, that they would beat the unbeatable… but only 12 of us actually came and played. Here’s the list of Spartans who bravely gambled their PhP100 and their pride for glory and honor:
Jay “yajQt” Arabia of Team NoMets - BoyzTrek
Rioren Padama of Team NoMets - BoyzTrek
Chian “Boy Huskar” Coronel of Blinque Tech - Blinque / BoyzTrek
Jeztah Ching of Team NoMets - BoyzTrek
Jericho “Liz7″ Oñate - Sequel Juan Luna
RJ Jose of Team PuSsy - Sequel Juan Luna
Yuki “Anak ng Tondo” Perez of Team NoMets - BoyzTrek
` m A j aka “ang batang napataob sa anak ng Tondo” of General Santos City
Franco aka Cocoy of DC Clan - BoyzTrek
toRn
Paul aka Brother of Paxel of Darth Gamers
Jansen aka NajFreak aka StarCraft Boy of Darth Gamers

(more…)

Dota Allstars Version with Orchid Malevolence and Ares Soul

Thursday, September 14th, 2006

Yeah, this is it guys.

It’s the leaked map everyone is looking for. It has both Orchid Malevolence and Ares Soul, sold at the New Items store where the Vanguard is.

Download the map here, and give us your thoughts on these items!

Hat tip to member noobster.

Experimental Stuff while Playing DoTA

Tuesday, August 15th, 2006

These are fun stuff I do when I get bored playing DOTA. I experiment on items that can or may suit a specific hero. I laugh at it or never thought that it can be possible.

King Leoric - Have you ever thought of a free and reuseable Aegis of the Immortal without even buying the item? Try using a Refresher Orb on him and voila.. you get an Aegis that’s reuseable.

Zeus - While trying 6.35b, I remember Zeus’ Static Field was nerfed to 1000 AOE. We all know that with this spell, he can kill heroes more effectively. Buy the Maelstrom and Hyperstone. These are items you probably won’t waste your gold on with Zeus, but given the time and perseverance (I mean real perseverance not Void Stone + Ring of Health), and what do you know, you get free chain lightning that activates static field every time!