Item Remakes: Part One
Friday, October 23rd, 2009As 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
- 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 
