A Sneak Peek To Valve DotA 2: Good Bye HoN And LoL ? - Parantar

It was also October a year ago when Ice Frog, the father of DotA announced his partnership with Valve to execute the making of DotA 2. Defense of the Ancients or DotA’s continues popularity had become inevitable, DotA-like games was even published by different game developers such as Heroes of Newerth (HoN) and League of Legends (LoL) both this DotA-like games even hosts its own respective tournaments with a decent prices.

DotA was founded and developed by several people, not just the mysterious Ice Frog but there are quite few people behind it and one of them is Steve “Guinsoo” Feak who is now working for Riot Games-League of Legends as a designer.

Valve is know for publishing renowned FPS Games or First Person Shooting Games like Counter Strike, Half-Life, Left For Dead and Left For Dead 2, a question may bother your minds if they can really handle a game like DotA if they have been focusing on shooting games, i believe the answer is “Yes, then can”, as i said earlier in the topic, Ice Frog is leading the developer team for DotA 2.

DotA 2 Changes

Same game-play, Heroes and Items from DotA will all be included in DotA 2, the major change will be graphic-related things, this will also release them from the limited war3 engine to its own new Valve DotA 2 Engine which will give them unlimited opportunities to develop the game further and unbound to limitations, a graphic effect called Cloth Effects will also be added and a whole new better lighting effect.

Coach System – this is a feature to expect from DotA 2, the mechanics of this feature allows a player to see its desired pupil’s screen and activates a private chat for both of them, this will allow the other player to teach his desired player. The released date of DotA is said to be early to mid 2011.

We can expect a huge changes in 2011 E-Sports, World Cyber Games with Starcraft 2 and DotA 2 will surely shake the cyber gaming scene.

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Savage: The Battle for Newerth

In a primal and violent time eons from now nomad humans roam the earth inflicting cruelty to the beasts and creatures of the world. The human race is wasteful selfish and fights amongst itself while those closest to nature the beast race learn from human failings evolving and growing stronger with the passing of time. A daily struggle ensues man against beast for the very basic natural resources that nurture life.

Price: $34.99

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3 Reasons Why Heroes of Newerth is a Better Game Than World of Warcraft

Ever thought about what if you really could quit World of Warcraft and start playing Heroes of Newerth (HoN) instead? That identical thought has occurred to many people. Some went ahead and did it. Some never did their homework to get more info and for that reason didn't know enough to generate a serious start.

Well, decelerate here. Let's explore that a touch. For you to consider, here's three reasons for you to switch over from World of Warcraft to Heroes of Newerth.

First off, in its favor, allow me to explain that Heroes of Newerth has no subscription fees so you only have to pay a one time payment of 30$ to play the game on official servers. Whereas World of Warcraft requires a large money investment having to pay 10$ a month every month. Sure, I do know your objection that Heroes of Newerth is not an MMO. What you say holds true, I agree, but still that is a good thing as it means you do not have to dedicate your life to improving your gear to be able to keep up and compete with the best players in PVP.

Secondly, you really should consider that Heroes of Newerth is a much more competitively balanced game with the game being built from the ground up to support multi-player PVP. If PVP is the only reason that you play World of Warcraft then you should definitely consider switching to Heroes of Newerth. And, likewise, there are constantly new tournaments being set up for Heroes of Newerth with prize funds raising up to $40,000 to earn solely by playing games online Plus, even better, if you enjoy attending LAN Events to play games face to face then there are many available with DreamHack, Multiplay and other big event holders picking up Heroes of Newerth as one of their games.

Third lastly, you will get more or the same enjoyment with less time invested. And that will imply that you can spend less time grinding and improving your gear and more time actually playing fun PVP encounters with other players and friends in team based combat. In addition, on top of that, in addition, you save money by not having to pay a large World of Warcraft subscription fee.

Whenever you look at the reasons and evaluate them, I expect that you'll have to admit that a compelling case can be made for thinking of how you can have more fun playing Heroes of Newerth, instead of World of Warcraft.

Now, after all that, what do you say? Aren't those benefits tempting? Maybe you really should make the switch over like thousands of other players have!

Uncover the best way to learn tips on how to enjoy playing HoN by visiting my Heroes of Newerth site at http://buyheroesofnewerth.com.

Patch 1.0.13 released, Kraken unleashed - SK Gaming

The highlight of the version is a Kraken rework, an attempt to make him viable in competitive play. Several items and heroes received the inevitable and much needed nerf hammer treatment, including Blood Chalice, Savage Mace, Balphagore, Engineer, Doctor Repulsor and Devourer - all of whom were considered overpowered by the competitive community.

The patch is surely going to spawn some new strategies and trends that we all look forward to!

"
Version 1.0.13

General

- Darkwood Vale is now a 4v4 map
- Kill streaks of 15 or more now play the "IMMORTAL!" announcer sound / message
- Taunt effect is now more intense and shiny for the first few seconds
- Heroes will now fully turn toward their final goal even when pathing into deeply blocked areas
- Max possible charges are now ~16,000 (Fixes several issues)
- Change default lag threshold to 1000 ms from 500 ms
- Clients no longer precache the voice responses of enemy heroes
- Muting a player will /ignore that player, and unmuting will /unignore.
- Fixed the white icons when someone randoms. The random now happens before the load, not after
- Updated visual effects for some neutrals' skills
- A teammate right clicking on a shop with the courier will open their own shop window now
- Added watery grass to show where fog is blocked yet you can run through
- Added global announcer sounds anytime Kongor is slain
- New effects for Minotaur, Catman, and Vagabond Leader
- Update Frostburn tooltip to show max of 3 charges, instead of 5
- Updated effects and sounds for several items like Blood Chalice, Puzzlebox, and Striders
- Updated sounds to several heroes

- Fixed some loading bar funkiness
- Fixed game hosts not being able to assign players from Hellbourne to Legion side when right clicking their portrait. Credit to Bangerz for this fix
- Fixed the quick stats

- K:D ratio now displays two digits after the decimal (for example K:D will be "1.58" instead of "1.6")
- Fixed client not handling valid clan name tags that are 4 chars long
- Fix for a few of the public game filters (mode, num players, map name, server type) to correctly save their settings. Credit to Bangerz for this fix
- Fixes for Full Game, Advanced Game Option, and Advanced Game Mode Filters
- Fixed a potential crash on the chat server that occured when a user was not able to be resolved during a clan invite
- Cleaned up some of the error messages to properly represent the error occuring
- Fixed "Show Advanced Game Options" box on Create Game menu to properly display if no advanced game options are selected

Mod Integration
- Added UI_CMD's GetFPS() and GetPing()
- Hon now natively supports the "Mod Options" mod framework
- HoN now natively supports the "Movable Frames" mod framework
* Movable Frames now supports spectator mode
* Cleanly integrated Movable Frames with Mod Options, so that the user can customize his movable frames the same way he would customize any other mod
- The Replay Stats Button mod is now built in (Credit to BASH)
* Adds a button to the Local Replays list to view the match stats
- The Enhanced Buff Icons mod is now built in
- The Improved Spectator UI mod is now built in

Neutrals

Skeleton Boss
- Now a ranged unit. Damage re-adjusted
- His castable root now ministuns on impact

Neutral Ogre
- Fixed the ice shield so it doesn't apply when a melee hero casts at someone who has it on

Items

Blood Chalice
- Mana returned from 150 to 100
- Now stops all regeneration effects (Bottle/Health Potion) when used

Hellflower
- Added visual trail to silence state for some anti-juke fun.

Savage Mace
- The proc can no longer propagate to illusions

Striders
- Will no longer go on cooldown just from looking at someone, you now have to attack
- Runes of the Blight can now be used and not put the item into cooldown
- Fixed a bug causing them not to reset cooldown when they are picked up or transferred

Sword of the High
- Cost lowered from 3800 to 3400

Tablet of Command
- Added to the "nohelp" list, so you can no longer push allies who do not allow you to
- Now applies a ministun on use to the target if it is an enemy
- The target is no longer silenced or perplexed, and can turn while being pushed

Void Talisman
- Fixed so you cannot activate while magic immune (Can't waste it anymore)

Heroes

Fixed the following playing through fog:
* Magmus' Steam Bath
* Wildsoul's Bear Teleport
* Forsaken's Volley
* Blacksmith's Flaming Hammer
* Chronos' Timeleap

Balphagore
- Decreased str gain from 3.1 to 2.7
- Hell on Newerth
* Damage:
* (Lvl 1) 200/300/400 to 175/250/325
* (Lvl 2/3) 350,450,550 to 300/375/450
* Effects:
* (Lvl 2/3) Hell Snare from 6 seconds to 4 seconds
* (Lvl 3) Volatile Minions damage from 150/225/300 to 125/200/275
* When ultimate is in cooldown you no longer gain charges when enemies cast spells near you, instead you decrease the cooldown of your ultimate by 1 second per spell cast

Blood Hunter
- Clarified Blood Sense's tooltip to show that the aura increases by 1500 range per level
- Feast now leaves a lingering debuff for 1.5s when attacking a hero
* If they die in this time, Blood Hunter still gets healed.

Chipper
- Removed the 0.1s cooldown when a new charge is available for Rocket Barrage

Chronos
- Curse of Ages no longer works on buildings

Devourer
- Striders will now be 'turned off' while Decay is activated
- No longer gains strength from killing himself.
- His own illusions should no longer steal strength from him when someone dies nearby
- Lower strength gain to 1 per kill
- Decay's range increase from his ult rebalanced from 50 per charge/level to 30/40/50 per charge/level

Doctor Repulsor
- Starting int from 27 to 25
- Level 1 armor lowered from 5.1 to 4.1
- Magnetic Contraption still happens instantly, just a 400ms backswing. Can animation cancel the backswing like normal
- Attackspeed slow from Electric Frenzy is now -50 instead of 50%
- Tree destruction radius on Ludicrous Speed reduced from 100 to 75
- Can no longer use Ludicrous Speed while immobilized

Engineer
- Strength gain lowered from 2.3 to 2
- Turret duration from 6s to 5s
* Can only be hit a max of 5 times now (down from 8)
- Fixed a bug with Energy Field that caused units to get owned if they went invulnerable while inside

Flint Beastwood
- Money Shot's will now auto-cancel if the target is greater than 1800/2300/2800 units away from you while you're still channeling
- Crosshair on target should be visible to allies only

Forsaken Archer
- Will no longer spawn skeletons after she dies from a midair arrow

Gauntlet
- Enfeeble no longer has charges set to 0 when attacking creeps, only when hitting heroes
- Enfeeble duration incresed from 3s to 4s
- Now steals 1% of anything hit's total damage per charge and gives that damage to gauntlet for the duration of the slow/steal
- Max charges from 50 to 35
- Fixed his glove getting snagged on buildings when he threw it
- The glove throws no longer disable each other

Glacius
- Tundra Blast slow from 5s static to 3/3.5/4/4.5s

Kraken
- Reworked
- Ability 1: Torrent
* Kraken conjures a surge of seawater, drowning an enemy. Deals damage, slows, and reduces armor
* Deals 110/160/210/260 Magic damage and applies Torrent to the target for 3 seconds
* Torrent: 30% Movement Slow, -2/-3/-4/-5 Armor
- Ability 2: Tsunami Charge
* Kraken charges with great strength and speed, dragging the first enemy he encounters to sure doom. If Kraken collides with a tree, cliff, or structure, he will stop. If he is dragging someone at that time, they will get stunned.
* Charges 800 units in the targeted direction. Deals 60/90/120/150 Magic damage in a 200 AoE to all enemy units he charges past. On collision with an enemy hero, that hero is picked up and carried along with Kraken. When he hits a cliff, building, or tree he stops charging. If he is carrying an enemy hero, that hero is stunned for 1/1.33/1.66/2 seconds and takes an additional 50/100/150/200 Physical damage.
- Ability 3: Splash
* Kraken releases a devastating slam that splits the seven seas, passively dealing additional splash damage on occasion.
* Deals 30/50/70/90 bonus Magical damage to targets in a 325 radius and an additional 30/50/70/90 Magical damage to targets in a 200 radius. Attacking will reduce cooldown by 1 second.
- Ability 4: Release the Kraken!
* Every seafarer's nightmare is manifest as this hulk of watery flesh! Summons a Whirlpool that damages and pulls in enemies. If they reach the center, they are damaged and stunned by its lashing tentacles.
* After a delay of 1 second a 300 radius whirlpool spawns, dealing 40/50/70 Magic damage per second, slowing by 50%, and pulling units towards the center with a force of 100/125/150. Any enemies who reach the center are dealt 200/300/400 Magic damage and are stunned for 1.5/1.75/2 seconds. Lasts 3/4/5 seconds.

Magmus
- Steam Bath now disjoints on use
- Fixed a bug causing you to not always go to exactly where you click when using Lava Surge

Panda
- Removed the 0.1s cooldown when a new charge is available for Flurry

Rampage
- Updated tooltips to show he gains slow resistance and reveals the target while charging
- Reveal time after Charge is over lowered from 4s to 2s
- Horned Strike damage increased by 20 across all levels
- Damage from ult +5% at all levels
- When Horned Strike procs, 15% movespeed for 1.5s
- Charge slow resistance added instead of treewalking
- Fixed a bug with the ult that caused the target to get endless unitwalking

Sand Wraith
- Deserted range check for people being alone lowered from 400 to 300

Slither
- Removed the 0.1s cooldown when a new charge is available for Toxin Wards

Scout
- A 500ms cooldown now starts when using Vanish to avoid double activating it

Succubus
- Anyone who breaks Mesmerize and is slept themselves now are immune to damage for the first 1s

Torturer
- Base strength from 16 to 18

Tundra
- Fixed infinite buff bug with Cold Shoulder
- The "push-away" from Avalanche now correctly goes the full distance every time and will not push people who were behind Tundra

Vindicator
- Vindicator illusions can no longer steal intelligence
- Global Silence is now dispellable

Voodoo Jester
- Fixed the bug causing Acid Cocktail to occasionally split into two
- Sped up Acid Cocktail from 750 to 800 initial and 450 to 600 for the bounce
- Fixed his tooltips to clarify that his casks do no damage to heroes

Witch Slayer
- Can now only cast Power Drain on units with mana"

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The HoNicle: Evolution - SK Gaming (blog)

Mario "Kolapz" Mader takes a look at the current state of competitive Heroes of Newerth, it's evolution and the dominant strategy - the trilanes. Although the history of competitive Heroes of Newerth is by no means a long one, over its course we have seen different styles of play dominate for a certain period of time. From turtling in the beta stages, to pushing around the release of the game. From heavy gank oriented after release to the bastard child we have now that is a weird mix of getting your hard carry farmed in the trilane while the rest of the team ganks as much as they can - which I will focus on in this article.

Every patch brings something new to the table, but mostly in the form of individual heroes becoming competitively viable, or on the other hand, going completely off the radar. The constant factor was, however, the evolution. The evolution of the "metagame" as teams brainstorm for counters and solutions against the currently predominant style of play. An often seen complaint from spectators and fans alike is that watching competitive Heroes of Newerth gets boring after a while of seeing the same heroes picked and same playstyle being used. This complaint is often accompanied by a challenge towards the teams to "man up" and start picking different heroes and using different strategies. It is a statement I only partly agree with. It is only natural for teams to pick the heroes and strategies they have the most success with, as risk might bring them a short term "+1 internetz" from the crowd and maybe, just maybe, an upset victory because of the surprise pick - but probably not much success against the other top teams in a long-term. It is only natural for them to use the winning strategy as much as they can, up until the point when a counter for that strategy enters the scene.

Even though the trilane strategy has been the dominating playstyle for a few months now, I do not agree that it is a boring one. People seem to have missed the evolution that has happened within it since it's introduction. Ranged carries like Soulstealer, Forsaken Archer, Arachna and Corrupted Disciple that have been predominantly used (also because of the Geometer's Bane+Frostwulf Skull combination) have been pushed out of the middle lane and constantly countered by ganking mid-lane heroes like Thunderbringer, Witch Slayer, Tundra and Doctor Repulsor. The inability to reliably use those heroes opened the space for melee carries like Dark Lady, Pandamonium and Maliken to be used as a replacement or reliable supplement. In order for the to be reliable, however, they needed to have a free farming time in their lane. In order for them to get a free farming time, the trilane strategy was pulled out of the magicians hat and that playstyle has been dominant ever since. I did not overlook the fact that Soulstealer and Forsaken Archer are still used frequently, unlike Arachna and Corrupted Disciple. My point still stands, as when they're in the middle lane, more often then not they will get crushed by one of the ganking mid-lane heroes I mentioned. What differentiates them from the other two, however, is their ability to quickly make up for the lost farm with their in-built farming skills - Demon Hands and Skeletons (Split-shot as well, but to a lesser degree since it's usually not very beneficial until very late game).

Back to the evolution within the trilane strategy. Since it's inception we've seen a couple heroes being introduced seemingly out of thin air. The previous top support picks like Demented Shaman and Plague Rider have been replaced by other heroes that fit better into trilanes. Andromeda is the highlight of this change as she instantly switched from useless category to overpowered, despite her not receiving any changes at all. Although not used at first at all in trilanes, Voodoo Jester has since then grown into a top-tier pick due to his steroid healing skill, the Mojo. Valkyrie and Bubbles have become top-tier picks because of their escape mechanisms (amongst other things) which are very needed when laned against the opposing trilane.

New heroes being used is not the end of it, though. Teams have started to actively seek to evolutionize the playstyle once again in an attempt to counter this predominant trilane strategy. We've already seen them experiment with a staggering amount of possibilities, a fact that not many viewers seem to acknowledge. While at first teams just laned their own trilane on the other side of the map and hoped that it will farm more efficiently and that their solo will not give away kills, shortly after they just removed the latter risk and conceded to the opposing trilane and sent their solo hero to jungle/roam/gank. Recently we have seen the solo being replaced by a more efficient jungling hero, Tempest, who is now starting to see a bit more play again. Another thing people tried is to actively counter the opposing trilane with a more aggressive one that doesn't include a carry and who's sole purpose is to fight them head on and hopefully win with their superior killing potential. European teams re-introduced the level 1 Kongor killing strategy that gives them an instant advantage over the opposing trilane.

The next step to countering trilanes? I will make a bold prediction now (not so bold since it was already suggested by people close to the competitive scene but never really put into effect) and suggest that laning 1-2-2 with a hardcarry+babysitter in the middle lane and an aggressive double-stun combination in the long lane will be the next step. The opponents trilane will have to break up and send a hero to the mid-lane, unless they're fine with losing two lanes.

Let's say that team A is the one that wants to run a standard current trilane strategy, while team B is the one that wants to counter it.

Team A (hellbourne):
carry+support+support = top lane
mid laner
hero with escape mechanism = bottom lane

Team B (legion):
hero with escape mechanism = top lane
carry+support = mid lane
stun+stun = bottom lane

This team composition would inevitably force the trilaning team to send a support hero from the top lane to the middle lane, thus resulting in the following scenario:

Team A (hellbourne):
carry+support = top lane
mid laner+support = mid lane
hero with escape mechanism = bottom lane

Team B (legion):
hero with escape mechanism = top lane
carry+support = mid lane
stun+stun = bottom lane

Ofcourse, the possibilites of lane swaps in the situation is basically limitless and this is just one example of what could be the next step. The result is, however, the same - the end of trilanes. The evolution of the metagame and the dominant playstyle is both constant and inevitable as teams search for the winning one. A strategy can only be the dominant one for as long as it is not countered and I predict the next one will come sooner than most people expect. The crying of viewers demanding change (since they do not realize the change is already constantly happening) will then be over, at least until the newest winning strategy becomes boring again.

The evolution, however, can not be stopped.

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IMG Offers Heroes Of Newerth Trial Keys - Inside Mac Games

IMG Offers Heroes Of Newerth Trial Keys
6:00 AM | Cord Kruse | 5 comments

UPDATE: All trial keys have been handed out!

Inside Mac Games and S2 Games have teamed up to offer 50 trial keys for the company's latest game, Heroes of Newerth. The keys give a player the chance to experience ten free games.

More information about the trial keys:
You can register keys at http://www.heroesofnewerth.com/trialplay.php
One trial key is for 10 free games (the keys have no time restrictions so they won't expire over any length of time).
The trial key is 100% free and no credit card information will be requested.
The only limitation to the trial keys is that players will only be allowed to play in no stats recorded games.Heroes of Newerth allows two teams of up to five players to take on the roles of heroes and work with AI controlled armies to destroy an enemy team's base. HoN features upgradeable skills, powerful items to purchase, VOIP controls, Clan Support, and dozens of playable Hero characters from which to choose.

To learn more about Heroes of Newerth follow the links below.

S2Games (add to watch list)
Heroes Of Newerth (add to watch list)
HoN Heroes Database

Recent Mac Games News

Wednesday, September 22, 2010
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Search for other Mac games news stories or browse our Mac Games News Archive.

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Evil Geniuses acquire Loaded - SK Gaming

Evil Geniuses announces acquisition of Loaded, along with a part of it's staff and the Heroes of Newerth Team. One of the leading gaming organizations, Evil Geniuses has announced the acquisition of a fellow American professional gaming team, Loaded.

Effective immediately, Loaded's leading Heroes of Newerth team and a part of it's staff will be tagged up with Evil Geniuses and this is certainly big news not only for the Heroes of Newerth competitive scene, but for e-Sports in general.

It is, however, uncertain what will happen with Loaded's Counter Strike, Call of Duty: Modern Warfare, Quake Live and World of Warcraft teams as well as the majority of the staff. Recent reports indicate that they have been released of sponsorship.

"LOS ANGELES, CALIFORNIA – Sept. 23, 2010. –

Today, Evil Geniuses (Team EG), one of the world’s leading professional gaming brands, has announced its acquisition of fellow North American professional gaming team Loaded, LLC.

Effective immediately, Evil Geniuses welcomes Loaded’s Executive Director, Brandon Freytag, as well as its world-leading Heroes of Newerth division and associated managerial staff. Freytag will join EG’s highest level of management in continuing to grow and promoting the company’s brand globally. Additionally, in the coming days EG will announce new partnerships with former Loaded sponsors for Q4 of 2010 and Q1 of 2011.

“EG has been at the forefront of gaming for over a decade and are considered the elite of pro gaming,” Brandon Freytag commented. “Along with our HoN team and staff, we are excited to be a part of such a proven gaming organization as EG. Joining up with them will only serve to create an even bigger and more exciting brand.”

“Brandon Freytag has done an impressive job of growing Loaded into one of the top North American eSports teams, and he’s done so at a truly remarkable pace,” stated Alex Garfield, Executive Director of Evil Geniuses. “He deserves much credit for his achievements with the Loaded brand, and we’re incredibly excited to welcome him, his players, and his staff to their new home at Evil Geniuses.”"

Source - Evil Geniuses

Source - Loaded

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