Neutral Creeps - Dota 2 News From Around The World

Icefrog has finally let this DotA baby out!
Watch out for the Dirge and STORM panda remakes.
DotA version 6.58 here it comes!

Read the long Dota changelog ladies and gentlemen.

###########
## Highlight ##
###########

* Remade Storm Spirit (see details below)
* Remade Dirge (see details below)
* Rewrote many different parts of the core game code to improve the usual performance drop that happens later in the game
* Added a new experimental command -switch to switch player slots with other players or leavers (requires player agreement, see details below)

#########
## Items ##
#########

* Blademail: Remade (see details below)
* Cranium Basher: Remade (see details below)
* Heart: Changed the regen mechanism, it now gives 1% non-stacking passive HP regen
* Javelin: Cost increased from 1400 to 1500 gold and damage from 16 to 21
* Demon Edge: Cost reduced from 2600 to 2400 gold
* Buriza: Recipe cost increased from 1000 to 1200 gold
* Monkey King Bar: Improved damage from 75 to 80 and chance from 30->35%
* Rapier: Now requires Demon Edge and Sacred Relic only and provides 200 damage instead of 250
* Eul's Scepter of Divinity: Recipe cost reduced from 800 to 600 gold
* Mask of Madness: Amplified damage is now applied at the end instead of within the duration
* Mask of Madness: Cooldown reduction from 30 to 25 seconds
* Diffusal Blade: Lowered the Agility bonus from 25 to 22
* Diffusal Blade: The purge now lasts the same on non-hero units like Spirit Bear as it does on heroes (15->4 seconds)
* Sentry Wards: True sight range increased by 100
* Illusion Rune: Now creates 2 images instead of 1, images deal a little less damage

##########
## Heroes ##
##########

* Storm Spirit: Remade (see details below)
* Dirge: Remade (see details below)
* Venomancer: Reworked Shadow Strike (see details below)
* Vengeful Spirit: Reworked Terror (see details below)
* Bane: Changed how Fiend's Grip works a little (see details below)
* Silencer: Curse of the Silent is now an AOE effect
* Necrolyte: Now has Heartstopper instead of Diffusion Aura
* Windrunner: Removed attack count limit on Focus Fire
* Rooftrellen: Living Armor is now castable on structures
* Bone Fletcher: Death Pact can now be used on any non-hero unit, not just allied units.
* Spirit Breaker: Charge of Darkness' buff indicator on the enemy is now visible to the enemy only when you are 2500 units or closer
* Spirit Breaker: Has magic immunity when he reaches maximum speed in Charge of Darkness
* Spirit Breaker: Empowering Haste bonus damage is now implemented as +damage visible on your interface
* Furion: Sprout can now be directly cast on yourself
* Morphling: Morph now gives him a passive +2/4/6/8 Agility and Strength bonus when leveling it up
* Pudge: Flesh Heap bonus strength gained from heroes is improved from 0.3/0.6/0.9/1.2 to 0.9/1.2/1.5/1.8
* Axe: Counter Helix cooldown now scales from 0.6 seconds to 0.7/0.65/0.60/0.55 (245761)
* Lucifer: Lvl? Death bonus damage is now reduced by magic resistance only rather than both magic resistance and armor
* Lucifer: Reduced Doom's cooldown by 20 seconds
* Lucifer: Devour' cast range increased a little from 150 to 300
* Bloodseeker: Improved base strength from 18 to 23
* Bloodseeker: Reduced Rupture's cooldown from 100 to 70 seconds
* Sven: Improved God's Strength's cooldown from 120 to 80 seconds
* Enchantress: Improved base damage by 10
* Drow Ranger: Improved Marksmanship by 3 Agility each level
* Viper: Viper Strike's cooldown reduced from 80 to 80/50/30 seconds
* Rhasta: Increased cast range on Mass Serpent Ward
* Templar Assassin: Improved turn rate
* Huskar: Life Break now properly slows magic immune units
* Enigma: Reduced Eidolons' bounty
* Enigma: Reduced manacost on Midnight Pulse from 135/150/165/180 to 95/110/125/140
* Lone Druid: Improved Spirit Bear's Entangle from 16 to 20% and cooldown from 6 to 5 seconds
* Ursa: Enrage bonus damage is now implemented as +damage visible on your interface
* Pugna: Reduced Scepter upgraded Life Drain cooldown dramatically
* Venomancer: Improved Plague Ward cast range and vision radius
* venomancer: Poison Sting damage type is now lethal
* Bane: Fiend's Grip now wakes a unit up from Nightmare
* Bane: Removed the life degen and enemy suicide mechanism from Enfeeble
* Witch Doctor: Voodoo Restoration no longer triggers Essence Aura
* Stealth Assassin: Removed ministun and tree destruction on smokescreen
* Stealth Assassin: Backstab damage type is now Physical
* Proudmoore: Reduced Captain CoCo's Rum movement bonus (30%->10%)
* Proudmoore: Ghost Ship cooldown increased from 100/80/60 to a constant 100
* Spectre: Haunt now ends whenever you use Reality
* Keeper of the Light: Rescaled Mana Leak cast range (1200->550/700/850/1000)
* Naix: Increased Open Wounds manacost from 70/80/90/100 to a constant 110 mana
* Visage: Rebalanced Raise Revenants (5/6/7 Max to 4/5/6 Max, Sight radius reduced by 50%, 29/39/49 damage to 40/46/52)
* Meepo: Earthbind no longer works on magic immune units
* Meepo: Rebalanced Poof (40/80/120/160 -> 60/80/100/120)

##################
## Modes & Commands ##
##################

* Changed -vr (-VoteRandom) to make your hero pools include 1 of each Intelligence/Agility/Strength/Melee/Range
* Added a new mode -mo(-MeleeOnly)
* Added a new mode -ro(-RangeOnly)
* Changed -mr(-moderandom) it now picks between RD/SD/VR/ARAI
* Added a new command -mines to count the mines placed (250362)
* Added a new global command -mc to show multicast rate of any Ogre Magi on the map (194526)
* Adjusted -ha (hookaccuracy) to count only enemy hooks

#####################
## Gameplay & Performance ##
#####################

* Rewrote camera system so it no longer moves the camera when you respawn if you are in the middle of controlling another unit
* Rewrote many different parts of the core game code to improve the usual performance drop that happens later in the game
* Dramatically improved performance during Epicenter
* Disabled some item manipulation code that is specific to warcraft 1.20e from running on 1.21 and above (this is mechanism that affected droppability of items as soon as you used them until you issue a new command)
* Hero selection is now automatically restored when you revive from Aegis
* Dramatically improved performance during Echoslam
* Rewrote Macropyre for some improved performance
* Rewrote Morphling's Waveform. It no longer causes you to lose control
* Minor Scorched Earth effect optimization
* Rewrote Shadow Word, fixing some minor performance issues and fixing the buff icon to be more responsive to the current state of the effect
* Rupture buff icon timing now more accurately represents the status

#############
## Replay Data ##
#############

* Added lots of new replay data features for game parsers (see details below)
* Endgame replay data actions now automatically done a few seconds after 3 players leave
* Fixed some bugs with replay data when host leaves the game

###############
## Cosmetic & Misc ##
###############

* Added a new visual effect for Chronosphere (PGRU-Unexpected)
* Added a new visual effect for Sentinel Fortify and Scourge Fortify (PGRU-Unexpected)
* Couriers now spawn 175 units infront of the hero rather than ontop of the hero
* Glyph no longer refreshes in -wtf mode
* Randomized the second -test warning message time to prevent some abuses
* Techies plays a special fun kill sound when he kills someone with Remote Mines and when he does suicide command near the destination point
* Added a new icon for Venomancer's Shadow Strike (236027)
* Added a new Alchemist win animation (234249)
* Added a new projectile for Lion's attack (Infrisios)
* Added a sound to Tidehunter's attack
* Added compressed Invoker Skin (241826)
* Added a visual effect for Devour
* Added a new visual effect for Lucent Beam/Eclipse (PGRU-Unexpected)
* Added a new visual effect for Test of Faith when cast on allies (PGRU-Unexpected)
* Added a visual effect for the LVL? Death bonus damage
* Swapped Penitence and Purification icons (255729)
* Added an optimized version of the effect used by Macropyre (PGRU-Unexpected)
* Added color coding to the different modes of Ring of Basilius
* Changed LVL? Death icon (150665)
* Changed Panda's Thunder Clap icon (160613)
* Dark Ritual and Death Pact now show the amount they restored with text overhead (258956)
* Techies' name now includes the third goblin (77704)
* Improved Roshan's Turn Rate
* Changed Faerie Dragon's hotkey because of a recent conflict
* Changed Undying's hero hotkey to fix an issue with accidentally leveling up attribute bonus level 1

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

* Fixed some unintended sideeffects to sharing control in SD
* Fixed a bug with mode entering and -cm
* Fixed a bug that allowed you to deny an ally being healed by Shadow Word
* Fixed a bug with avalanche hitting a Tossed allied hero
* Fixed a minor bug with dummy units interaction with items
* Fixed a minor coding bug with Toss
* Fixed a very minor bug with Backstab angle calculation
* Put a practical limit to prevent mass -roll spams
* Temporarily disabled the click disassemble on Perseverance because of some problems. You can still use Courier or Circle of Power to disassemble it
* Fixed a minor minimap glitch at taverns area for Scourge Players
* Fixed a visual bug when swapping heroes with Kunkka
* Fixed an area where you could get stuck while using TP Scroll
* Fixed incorrect Gem of Truesight AOE in recent versions
* Fixed -omsc
* Fixed Phase Boots dispelling Curse of the Silent
* Fixed Proudmoore's name/class
* Fixed Razor's Tavern Hotkey
* Fixed Shadow Wave not bouncing the correct number of times
* Fixed some bugs possible when using couriers
* Fixed some minor bugs that could cause units to retain control after the game was over
* Fixed some minor bugs with Illuminate caster units
* Fixed some small inconsistencies between Towers
* Fixed the slow duration on Torrent lasting a little longer than intended
* Fixed Wall of Replica not working on Magic Immune units
* Fixed a few other minor bugs

New French and German translations are nearing completion. Other languages are in the works as well.



#############
## Extra Details ##
#############

Old Blade Mail
==============
Blades of Attack (500)
Chainmail (550)
Recipe (500)
Total: 1550

+15 Damage
+5 Armor
Passive: 20% melee attack damage (calculated before reductions) returned as magical damage

New Blade Mail
===============
Broadsword (1200)
Chainmail (550)
Robe of the Magi (450)
Total: 2200

+22 Damage
+5 Armor
+10 Intelligence
Active: 100% all damage (calculated after reductions) returned as magical damage
Duration: 4 seconds
Cooldown: 15
Manacost 25
Has visual effect to show when it is active

Extra Note: Since people regularly misunderstand how this works, the damage returned is reduced twice, first when you get the damage and then again when you deal it back. For example, a 300 damage nuke gets reduced by 25% because of hero resistance, then it gets dealt back as magical damage, being reduced by another 25% (or whatever magical resistance the enemy has).


Old Basher:
===========
Mithril Hammer (1610)
Gauntlets of Strength (150)
Recipe (1460)
Total: 3220

+30 Damage
+3 Strength
15% Bash (10% ranged) for 1.1 seconds
Cooldown: 0
Stacks Diminishingly

New Basher:
===========
Javelin (1500)
Gauntlets of Strength (150)
Recipe (1450)
Total: 3100

+30 Damage
+3 Strength
25% Bash (10% ranged) for 1.1 seconds
Cooldown: 2 seconds
Does not stack with itself or other bash passives



Old Fiend's Grip
=================
100/175/250 Manacost
40/60/80 Mana and HP cost per second
Lasts 5 seconds

120 Cooldown
100/155/215 DPS

New Fiend's Grip
=================
200/300/400 Manacost
No HP or MP cost per second
Lasts 5 seconds

120 Cooldown
100/155/215 DPS

Transfers 5% of enemies max MP per second to you



Old Shadow Strike:
==================
Decay Damage 10/20/40/50
Initial Damage: 50/70/70/100
Movement Modifier: 50%
Decay Power: 3
Interval: 3
Duration 15

Cast Range: 400
Cooldown: 22
Manacost 90/105/120/135

Venomous Gale:
===============
Releases a Venomous Gale which poisons enemy units it comes in contact with. Units that are hit by it get a slow/dps like his previous shadow strike

AoE: 125
Cast Range/Distance: 800
Cooldown: 22
Manacost 90/105/120/135



Old Terror:
===========
Reduces damage and armor of units in an area around you.

AoE: 700
Cooldown: 15
Duration: 20

Damage Reduction: 5/10/15/20%
Armor Reduction: 2/3/4/5

Wave of Terror:
=============
Releases a wave of terror moving forward that reduces enemy units armor and damage. You have vision over the wave as it moves forward.

Wave Distance: 1400
AoE: 350
Cooldown: 15
Duration: 20

Damage Reduction: 5/10/15/20%
Armor Reduction: 2/3/4/5



Dirge:
=======
Attack Range: 100
Strength: 25 + 2.1
Agility: 10 + 0.8
Intelligence: 27 + 2.8
Movement Speed 310

Cast Point 0.45
Hero Class: Strength


Decay
-------
Dirge saps away the strength of enemy heroes and retains it for a period of time.

Steals 4 Strength from each hero for 21/24/27/30 seconds
Deals 30/60/90/120 Magical Damage

Manacost 70/90/110/130
Cooldown 11/9/7/5
Cast Range 625
AOE: 300

Note: Often missed, note the cooldown


Soul Rip
---------
Redirects the flow of living energy through a target friend or foe, damaging them or healing them depending on how many units are near it. 25 for each unit.
This does not hurt zombies below since they are magic immune.
This can target your tombstone.

Unit Cap: 5/10/15/20
Cooldown: 25/20/15/10
Manacost: 50/75/100/125


Tombstone
----------
Unholy powers summon a cursed tombstone. Zombies will frequently spawn near each enemy unit and attack them. Zombies have a passive that additively slow their target by 7%. Zombies cannot be controlled.

Spawn area: 400/600/800/1000
Frequency: 3
Slow Duration: 2.5 seconds

Zombie Stats:
HP: 30
Armor: 0
Armor Type: Unarmored
Magic Resistance: Immune
Damage: 37-45
Attack Type: Pierce
Attack Speed: 1.6
Movement Speed: 375
Bounty: 5-7

Deathlust: If the target the zombie is attacking is below 100/200/300/400 hit points, it gains 50% movement and attack speed bonus.

Tombstone Duration: 15/20/25/30
Tombstone HP: 150/300/450/600
Tombstone Armor: 10
Tombstone Armor Type: Medium
Tombstone Other Stats: Magic Immune, No regen.
Tombstone Bounty: 70/90/110/130

Cooldown: 60
Cast Range: 250

Manacost: 120/130/140/150



Flesh Golem
------------
Dirge's hatred for all living beings allows him to transform into a monster. While he's transformed he carries a plague that affects nearby enemy units. Strength of the plague depends on how close the enemy is. Amplifies damage enemy units receive and reduces their movement speed (7%). When a plagued unit dies, its essence is transferred back to the Undying.

Cooldown: 90
Duration: 30
Manacost: 100

Plague Aura Damage Amplification: (old plague was 20/25/30%)
at max distance (700): 5/10/15%
at closest distance (150): 20/25/30%
In between is just an even spread between the numbers

Units that die under plague release their energy to you. Creeps heal you for 3% and Heroes for 12% of your Max HP.





Storm Spirit:
==============
Attack Range: 500
Strength: 17 + 1.5
Agility: 22 + 1.8
Intelligence: 23 + 2.6
Movement Speed 295


Static Remnant
-----------------
Raijin creates a remnant of himself containing his essence. The Static Remnant will release its stored energy whenever an enemy units comes near it. Lasts up to 12 seconds.

Damage: 140/180/220/260
Trigger AOE: 210
Damage AOE: 260
Cooldown: 4
Manacost: 70/80/90/100

Takes 1 second to create after cast. This is not channeling, just time delayed.


Electric Vortex
-----------------
Storm focuses his energy to rip open a vortex drawing an enemy to it. This process slows the Storm Spirit down for a brief period.

Pulls 100/150/200/250 units over 1/1.5/2/2.5 seconds.
Your movement is reduced by 50% for 3 seconds.

Cast Range: 300
Manacost: 100
Cooldown: 20


Overload
---------
Storm Spirit becomes overloaded with electrical energy whenever he casts a spell. The charge is released on his next attack as an electrical burst, dealing damage and slowing nearby units.

Slow: 50% as 80% ms Lasts 0.6 seconds (Same stats as old overload)
Bonus damage: 30/45/60/75
AOE: 275


Ball Lightning
---------------
Storm Spirit becomes enveloped with energy, losing his physical form, and travels until he depletes his mana or chooses to stop. While in this form, he deals damage to nearby units based on how far his electrical form has traversed. Damage, speed and area of effect improves per level.

Stops traveling whenever you run out of mana. Deals damage in a small area around you based on distance traveled.

Damage: 8/12/16 per 100 units traveled
Manacost: (15 + 7% of total manabase) + mana based on distance traveled (10+1% per 100 units)
Cast Range: Global
Cooldown: 0

Travel speed and damage AoE improves per level.
You can cast spells like Static Remnant during your roll if you are quick enough.
Specific interactions with spells/projectiles follow the same rules as Waveform does.




Replay Data Specs:
==================
- "Ban",playerid,heroid: is sent for each time a hero is banned in cm/xl
- "id" packets are sent after the mode phase (supports -sp)
- "GameStart",1: synced to time 0 ingame (creep spawn time)
- "9" packets are now sent each time a hero is picked



Switch:
========
If someone wants to switch player slots with an enemy player or leaver, he
types -switch . If he types -switch without the slot it lists the possible numbers that can be used. After a player uses this command, no one else can attempt a switch for 60 seconds, to prevent confusion. All players are then presented with a command to enter to accept, something like "-switch accept" or "-ok". If 100% of all player agree , then you take the slot of the player you swapped with and both heroes swap positions. Players have until the 60 seconds are over to accept the offer.





I hope everyone enjoys this update. Please give me feedback. Have Fun!

-- IceFrog