Jul 14, 2019

Dota Underlords adds free prototype battle pass with cosmetics

Dota Underlords

Valve is taking an interesting approach with Dota Underlords battle pass. In the lead up to Underlords' Season 1 Battle Pass, Valve is giving away a free prototype battle pass to everyone playing the beta.

Valve is treating its "Proto Pass" like a test, but its cosmetic rewards are very real. Through a mix of daily and weekly challenges, players unlock new game boards, win streak and respawn effects, banners, victory fireworks, and more.

"Like many aspects of the beta, the Proto Pass is a learning experience for the Underlords team—so please keep the feedback coming so that we can adjust plans for our Season 1 Battle Pass accordingly," the announcement posts reads.

Since Underlords is free, its first real battle pass will set the tone for how the game will balance its money-making versus keeping players happy. After the event that was Artifact, I bet Valve is treading cautiously this time around.

Additionally, Dota Underlords' Friday update cleaned up parts of the UI, improved matchmaking, and made a bunch of balancing changes. Check out the full patch notes to see more.

If you're diving into the burgeoning autobattler genre, check out our big comparison of Dota Underlords, Teamfight Tactics, and Auto Chess to find out which you should try.

Jul 13, 2019

Dota Underlords gets a prototype battle pass

Dota Underlords

Dota Underlords now has a prototype battle pass.

Valve's take on the burgeoning auto chess genre is giving the Proto Pass, as it's called, out to beta testers for free. The idea is Valve gets feedback on how it works so it can make the Dota Underlords Season 1 Battle Pass as good as it can be.

"Like many aspects of the beta, the Proto Pass is a learning experience for the Underlords team," Valve said in a post on the Underlords website, "so please keep the feedback coming so that we can adjust plans for our Season 1 Battle Pass accordingly."

Jul 12, 2019

Proto Pass the Popcorn

Dota Underlords - Finol

PROTO PASS:

The Proto Battle Pass is now available and ready for testing. All current and future beta testers get access to this pass for free.

Visit the Proto Pass page to learn more.

GENERAL:

Scoreboard UI improved.
Post game now shows items and alliances.
Post game now includes scoreboard overview.
General UI improvements and bug fixes for different aspect ratios and devices.
Expanding on last week's change: Combat continues until all projectiles have completed their travel, up to a max of 5 seconds.
Fixed Neutrals not displaying stats correctly in the unit stats panel in combat.
Fixed heroes stunned with short duration spells (like Clockwerk's Battery Assault) resetting their attack timers and thus attacking faster than allowed.
Increased accuracy of the matchmaking system at high skill levels.

ALLIANCES:

Apply alliance effects to summons.
Make alliance indicators properly dynamic in the UI (Fall From Grace now shows properly on humans, etc.).
Warlock alliance no longer triggers on item activate, just spell activate.

HEROES:

Fixed Venomancer wards having -50% magic resist instead of 50% magic resist.
Fixed Disruptor, Alchemist spells not continuing their effects after their death.
Gyrocopter no longer targets units in the air when casting Call Down.

Medusa:
- Split Shot:
  - Changed extra shots from 3 to 2.
  - Will ignore nearby targets that happen to be outside Medusa's attack range.
Axe:
- Berserker's Call:
  - Since you can't cast spells while taunted, and since we are using the Silence effect, getting taunted now officially silences.

ITEMS:

Fixed Big-Time Contract sometimes not applying.
Aegis has changed: it now only activates on damage that would otherwise be fatal. It no longer preserves streaks.
Fixed Divine Rapier being removed at the start of combat. Losing a Divine Rapier now no longer removes a potential item slot.
Tooth and Claw now has proper duration.
Fix Silver Lining crash.
Fix missing name for Eidolons.
Fix Wicked Intent amplifying regen instead of dampening it.
Fix crazy numbers on healing display when Wicked Intent is in play.
Units blinking using Blink Dagger will clear their active target and reacquire once the blink is done. Fixes units chasing their original enemy.
Coordinated Assault auras don't stack. NOTE: More than one copy will still increase the bonus.
Fall From Grace: item description changed to make clearer that the item turns Human into Heartless, it does not add Heartless as an additional alliance.

MOBILE ONLY:

Hide from your big boss: Steam invisible mode is now supported.
More performance improvements on both iOS and Android platforms.

Jul 11, 2019

Dota Underlords heroes Dota Underlords cheat sheet of best heroes

Dota Underlords - contact@rockpapershotgun.com (Ollie Toms)

The current roster of Dota Underlords heroes is, much like Dota itself, sublimely complex. Do you pick heroes based on their potential alliances, or their high DPS, or their excellent abilities? How should you alter your build based on the heroes you do pick? At what stage of a match does a hero excel or fall off? All these questions are answered below in our Dota Underlords heroes guide – and we’ve also included a handy Dota Underlords cheat sheet which contains essential info on every single hero, all viewable on a single screen.

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Jul 9, 2019

Wot I Think: Dota Underlords

Dota Underlords - contact@rockpapershotgun.com (Matt Cox)

I look at my enemy, and I despair. Their army bristles with max-level units, scary abilities, synergies between both. Losing one more fight will knock either of us out of the game. It’s do or die. I plunge all my funds into last-ditch recruitment, refreshing the available roster of heroes time and time again in the hopes of stumbling across one – just one, please, just one – of the heroes I need. My pleading works. The final unit clicks into my freshly-oiled machine with three seconds left on the clock, and I hold my breath as our armies square up one last time.

That’s Dota Underlords at its best. It’s a shame you often need to put up with it at its worst.

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Jul 4, 2019

Hot Dogs, Updates, and Fireworks

Dota Underlords - Finol

GENERAL:

Added Scoreboard. Defaults to TAB on the PC.
Added Leaderboards. Welcome, Lords of White Spire.
Further lighting tweaks to the board to brighten it up.
Update Notes can now be found from inside the game.
Season Info: Heroes’ Ability info now shows damage type
New Kill Streak FX.
Unit VO is now spatialized (Audio will closely match where the unit is located).
Enabled additional sounds in unit combat.
Yo, Reddit: Versus, Round Over and Round Start screens will close on any non-UI click or ESC keypress.
Yo, Reddit: Versus, Round Over and Round Start screens won't appear if the user is dragging units or items.
Many UI improvements have been done.
Added description of how the Hero Pool works to the Season Info UI.
Hero stat changes from basic items is now shown during combat as well during preparing.
Fixed Terrorblade Rank 2 and Rank 3 not updating his model after casting Metamorphosis.

MOBILE:

Added Battery Status.
Fixed play/pause buttons disappearing.
Added Tap to Move option: For those who like to tap to place instead of dragging on the board.
Added Battery Saver mode.
Can now query a hero's ability from the shop.
More performance improvements.

GAMEPLAY:

Fixed Demon Hunters not doing their jobs and leaving enemy demons with their buff on.
Fixed Techies planting their bomb in the wrong location.
Fixed all known AI Pathing issues.
Level 9: Tier 2 odds 30% -> 25%, Tier 3 odds 25% -> 30%
Level 11: Tier 1 odds 10% -> 13%, Tier 2 odds 15% -> 20%, Tier 3 odds 30% -> 25%, Tier 5 odds 15% -> 12%
Round will continue for another second once the last unit dies, giving the other team a chance for a last minute kill to force a draw.

Reworked Streaks:

Lose streak gold:

Win streaks gold:
Win streaks reset at 8 wins.

Item Changes:

Added Force Staff: Tier 3 Support Item - Push an enemy unit 6 cells in a random direction. (10s cooldown)
Added Scythe of Vyse: Tier 4 Support Item - When the equipped hero takes damage, transform the offending unit into a pig for 4s. (15s cooldown)
Added Big-Time Contract: Tier 2 Support Item - Equipped unit is Blood-bound in addition to its other types.
Silver Lining: Now reads "Get 1 charge when you win a fight. When you lose a fight, if charges remain, get 1 gold and lose 1 charge."
Shaman Pluck: Chance increased from 5% to 17%.
Blink Dagger:
- Now generates 50 mana when activated.
- Cooldown reduced from 60s to 15s.
Tooth and Claw: Fixed not stacking correctly.
Coordinated Assault: It should be truly coordinated since it actually works now.

Hero Changes:

Medusa:
- Split Shot:
  - Now applies item effects on secondary shots.
Lycan:
- Summon Wolves:
  - Fixed not applying health buff correctly.
Venomancer:
- Health increased from [500, 1000, 2000] to [550, 1100, 2200]
- Summon Plague Ward:
  - Summon Count increased from 1 Ward to [1, 2, 4] Wards.
  - Ward is always Rank 1.
  - Cast Point reduced from 0.5s to 0.13s.
  - Cooldown increased from 5 to [5, 6, 7].
  - Wards have 50% magic resistance.
Disruptor:
- Alliances changed from Brawny Shaman to Brawny Shaman Warlock.
- Static Storm:
  - Also blinds the targets inside the cloud for a 25% miss chance.
Mr. Warlock:
- Shadow Word:
  - Cast Point reduced from 0.5s to 0.4s.
  - Cooldown reduced from 20s to 6s.
  - Damage from [ 100, 150, 200 ] to [ 50, 100, 150 ].
  - Heal from [ 75, 150, 200 ] to [ 50, 125, 175 ].
  - Duration from 6 seconds to 3 seconds.

Alliance Changes:

Warlock:
- Now reads: Whenever a Warlock casts a spell, they form a link with the Ally who has the lowest health for 3 seconds. When either linked hero deals damage, both units are healed [50, 100, 150]% of the damage dealt.
Shaman:
- Now requires 3 Shamans (up from 2).
- Now reads: Enemies affected by Hexes, Silences or Stuns will generate -200% mana when attacked.

Jul 4, 2019

Dota Underlords seems great, but only for those versed in Dota

Dota 2 - contact@rockpapershotgun.com (Matt Cox)

I fell pretty deep down the Dota 2 hole. I d say the game served as another life for a teenager that didn t really have one, but that would undersell what Dota 2 was for me. I played hours of it, every single evening, for several years in a row. That phase had as much to do with the friends I chatted with than the wizards I clicked on, but at the moment that s besides the point.

The point is that I m currently falling for Dota Underlords, but only because I know the game it’s based on like the back of my RSI-riddled hand.

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Jul 3, 2019

Dota Underlords is getting a 'Proto-Battle Pass' next week

Dota Underlords

Dota Underlords, Valve's Dota-themed autobattler, is due an update this week, with "experimental features" that the team's keen to test on its Early Access guinea pigs. There are some tweaks and reworks coming, too, along with the first version of the battle pass.

We'll have to wait to find out what's in this beta battle pass, and you can give Valve feedback on what you'd like to see when the proper battle pass appears with the first season. Expect it to change a bit before launch, then. It due out next week.

This week's update, due on Thursday, will also tweak Shaman and Warlock units, introduce three mystery items and the equally mysterious experimental features. No patch notes yet, but here's some of what's coming:

Warlock Alliance rework.
Warlock Units tweaks.
Shaman Alliance rework.
Shaman Units tweaks.
3 New Items.
Tweaks to the Alliance Items and how they work.
Tweaks to Win and Lose Streaks.
Large Scoreboard.
And some experimental features.

Dota Underlords' launch was considerably more successful, at least in terms of player numbers, than the currently on-ice Artifact, though the numbers have steadily been declining for over a week. At its peak, it had more than 200,000 concurrent players, but that was ten days ago. Still, more than 100,000 people were playing at the same time yesterday, so it remains pretty busy.

If you're wondering which of Auto Chess's progeny to play, check out our comparison of Teamfight Tactics, Dota Underlords and Auto Chess.

Editor's note: The original headline stated the battle pass was coming this week, but that's just the update. The battle pass will appear next week.