Dota 2 - Valve
* New Bloom ended a few hours earlier than intended, the event has now been extended to be active through Feb 12th.
* Fixed an issue that caused the New Bloom Nian Courier to drop at lower than expected rates. This has been corrected, and items have been granted to reflect the proper drop rate.
* Fixed a bug that allowed pressing quickbuy in rapid succession to purchase the same item twice.
* Several Ranked Emoticons have been increased in size, and all emoticons used during in-game chat are now larger and closer to center on the chat line.
Dota 2

Believe it or not, learning Dota 2 is easy nowadays. I don’t mean easy in the sense that it is straightforward or comprehensible or painless. I mean easy in the sense that it is slightly less angry at you for wanting to know what’s going on. I mean easy in the sense that people like me will tell you that you’ve never had it so good. We had to walk two miles in the Frostivus snow to find a match, and whittle our own Force Staff by hand and no-one had even heard of Purge and his useful video tutorials. 

Dota Auto Chess—a spectacularly popular custom game mode by Drodo Studio—is a return to that initial bafflement. “You can pick dota heros as your chesses,” says the blurb, “and they will automatically fight for you on a 8*8 chessboard.” 

Now, I have 2000+ hours of Dota on my account. I beat my mum at chess when I was in a hospital bed, stuffed with morphine after a life-saving operation. Neither of these skillsets has proven particularly useful in Dota Auto Chess. 

The broad idea behind Dota Auto Chess is closer to deck-building games than to either chess or Dota. The basic pattern of each round is: earn money, choose whether to spend that money on heroes, position those heroes on the board, then let a fight against the heroes of a randomly chosen opponent (from the seven others you’re grouped with) auto-resolve. If you win, you get a bit more gold and maintain your health bar. If you lose, you’ll take a bit of damage. A match lasts as many rounds as it takes for only one player to be left standing. You can keep an eye on how everyone’s doing via a leaderboard on the right hand side of the screen.

Because nothing related to Dota is ever simple, there are a lot of other variables to keep track of along the way. Managing your gold is vital—you want to balance investing in heroes and getting gold through fighting, with keeping some in your pocket to earn interest, spending to level up your donkey (and thus increase the number of heroes (referred to as “chesses”) which you can have on the board), and re-rolling the hero selection.

Each hero is listed with a species and class. If you have multiple heroes from that species or class on the board you can get boosts. The orc species combo gets you a higher maximum HP for each orc, the mage class combo reduces enemy magic resistance.

Plonking down three identical heroes of the same level (with one or two class exceptions) will merge them into a single, more powerful hero.

As well as that interplay there’s a spatial element. Do you bunch your heroes up or spread them out? Do you try to protect a vulnerable unit or shove them to the front as a meat shield? How can you keep important combos in play by keeping the relevant units alive? That’s one part which felt like it was drawing on my actual Dota knowledge. 

Another part which taps into that knowledge is the item system. Some rounds have you facing off against non-player units—the neutral creeps from Dota’s jungles. If you beat them they can drop little treasure chests containing items which the donkey can fetch and put in its little backpack. You can then ask the donkey to deliver the items to a specific unit, thus bestowing its benefits to that unit. Essentially, it’s the courier function the donkey traditionally fulfils in Dota 2. Knowing the types of items which benefit particular heroes in the main game will give you a headstart here. If you don’t know Dota you might not realise you need to deliver the items to specific heroes at all instead of just collecting them in your pack. 

Then there’s the merge-three minigame. Plonking down three identical heroes of the same level (with one or two class exceptions) will merge them into a single, more powerful hero. This has knock-on effects when it comes to which heroes you buy, when you place them on the board, and how it raises or reduces the number of units on the board.

When I booted the game up for the first time it wasn’t even clear where I was, or how I was supposed to chess. The game tips disappeared offscreen before I’d read the first word and the camera was pointing at a rival’s board, meaning I couldn’t see the result of any of my actions. The resulting panic is how I learned that the boards of each of the eight players are presented as physical islands in a 3x3 grid. Panning around you can check in on other players or enjoy the fact that the middle board is missing, replaced by a small version of the Dota map.

Finding my island is how I discovered I needed to interact with my chesses by selecting a donkey and having the donkey do the chess on my behalf. If you’re familiar with Dota, moving your donkey around is probably also when you’ll realise it’s not actually a donkey. Instead it seems to be the hero Io (as per the lore: a multidimensional wisp billed as a Fundamental of the universe) wearing a donkey costume. You can tell it’s Io because it’s making Io’s Ibiza chillout beeping and blooping noises and trailing particle effects across the chessboard.

The existential question of “when is a digital donkey not a digital donkey” is irrelevant to play, but it’s fun to notice how pieces of the main game are repurposed in these custom modes. Again, it’s a way that Dota Auto Chess feels true to an older form of Dota—the Defence of the Ancients which emerged from the Warcraft III fan-made map cauldron, and whose quirks are often the result of units being turned to a new purpose.

I’m absolutely loving it. In each phase there are a manageable number of choices to make. Making a sub-optimal choice doesn’t feel like a total disaster. It taps into the little jolts of pleasure casual games are good at—the satisfaction of merging heroes, auto-fought battles with over-the top effects and the chance to win, a little leaderboard…

Another joy is the lack of toxicity and the lack of pressure. It probably says a lot about the confusing interface that for ages I had no sense of whether the lack of repulsive messages was because the game elicits less rage or whether there’s just no all chat function. A message in Russian during my fourth match points to the former. But, with or without chat, I often feel massive pressure in PvP games. I don’t want to embarrass myself. I don’t want to lose. I particularly don’t want to be the worst on any leaderboard.

We re just having our armies and choices calibrated and recalibrated against each other. And it s this distinction which takes the sting out of the competition without damping the pleasure of winning.

But here, I’m playing a weird once-removed version of PvP. My squad of heroes is mostly pitted against the heroes of a human opponent, but the other person isn’t spectating that match. They’re looking at a different chess board, watching their heroes take on a randomly chosen selection of someone else’s heroes. It might end up being mine, but it might not. Me winning or losing doesn’t affect them directly. We’re just having our armies and choices calibrated and recalibrated against each other. And it’s this distinction which takes the sting out of the competition without damping the pleasure of winning.

But what would a free-to-play game within a free-to-play game be without cosmetic microtransactions? An excellent question, dear reader. Well, you can earn or buy candy—the premium currency and spend it on spins of a slot machine. The rewards from spinning this machine are different couriers. So it’s not pay-to-win, just a different look for your non chess piece character. 

And it’s not pushy either—a real contrast to the Dota client it sits within. While logging in to Dota 2 to access the custom game section, Valve immediately invited me to spend £28 on an outfit for a character I don’t even play. After I refused, it reminded me I can spend £2 to open a seasonal treasure chest. At some point I fully expect the Steam store will stop trading in cash and start accepting the souls of children in exchange for digital hats. But I digress.

The above should give you a sense of both the low barrier for entry (“low” being a relative term and entirely skewed by Dota’s base level of nonsense) and the ridiculously high skill ceiling of Dota Auto Chess. It manages to be similar to and the polar opposite of Artifact’s considered design and overwhelming complexity. 

It’s a joyful, weird, opaque project—a hodgepodge of casual mobile gaming compulsion and PC gaming at its most bloody-mindedly hardcore—spitting personality and spell effects from every angle.

If you want to get into the mod yourself, check out our Dota Auto Chess guide.

Dota 2

Here’s a story you’ve heard before: A mod for a popular strategy game takes the existing ideas of the game and turns them sideways, forming a new kind of game in a new, weird genre without adhering to the usual game design conventions. That’s the story of Dota 2, and that’s also the story of Dota Auto Chess, a recent Dota 2 Custom Game that’s attracting a lot of attention. Auto Chess is worth trying out if you’re interested in strategy games or digital card games, and not just because it’s free. It features mechanics from set collection card games, real time strategies, tower defense, and even from mobile gambling. 

Here’s how to get started while you read this guide: Download Dota 2, then download Auto Chess.

How do I play Dota Auto Chess?

In Dota Auto Chess, you control the composition and placement of a team of heroes on a chess-like board. Each round of Auto Chess sees you buying new heroes and placing them on the board to try to win a fight against either neutral Creeps or one of your seven opponents' teams of heroes. Buy and place is all you do, though: The real-time fights between the heroes are outside your control. That’s the Auto part of Auto Chess. If you win, you move on to the next round and get some gold. If you lose, your courier—your controlling avatar—loses hit points based on how many enemy units are left alive and how strong they are. Then you have 30 seconds to buy new heroes and manage your army before the next round starts in an ever-revolving round robin tournament. The last player standing wins.

When you place heroes on the board, placing more than one of the same kind will upgrade that hero to the next level. The number of total heroes you can have on the board is equal to the level of your courier, and leveling up your courier takes precious gold, so upgrading your heroes lets you get the most out of limited space. Heroes also get bonuses based on how many of that type are on the board. 

Upgrading or getting those type bonuses means you have to collect sets of heroes, and each round you draft heroes from a selection drawn randomly from a common pool with a fixed number of pieces shared among all the players. In effect, this means not every player can share the same strategies, and you have to watch what others are buying so that you know if you’re competing for the same pieces. You might also get items from fighting creeps that help you form a strategy. 

I’ll use the terms early-, mid-, and late-game a lot in this guide. The early game is generally considered to be the first four levels, the mid to be levels five to seven, and the late to be levels eight to ten.

If this all sounds random and surprising and hard to keep up with, that’s because it is—at least at first. So you have to focus on aspects of the game that you can control. 

The Auto Chess economy

Economics are king in Auto Chess, but feature some remarkably unintuitive aspects. The game isn't made any easier by balance updates that come nearly every day of the week, especially when they change which heroes cost what and therefore how many are in the pool.

Each round you’ll get a base gold income. You’ll also get a single extra gold for winning a round. You also get gold for a streak—either winning or losing—that can stack up to three per win or loss in a row. Each round you also get 10 percent interest on your gold stores, rounded down—saving up 50 or more gold at the mid game for late game interest is important. (It’s something you can control!)

Economic strategy, therefore, is to either win or lose for a few games in a row, but never alternate between the two. The poorest players in a game are the ones who alternate between winning and losing each round. Losing on purpose can be good if you’re struggling—it’ll cost you hit points, but it’ll also stack up your losing streak bonus and let you get back in the game before you’re out entirely. I like to just commit to the loss until I get to less than 40 health while focusing on only the most valuable heroes, and then combine those heroes to a mid-game surge and spend big to try to win.

Placing three heroes of the same kind and level on the board will upgrade them into a single, stronger hero of a higher level. Heroes cost an amount based on their power—between one and five—but take the same number of duplicates to upgrade no matter their base cost. So it’s pretty easy to make a one cost hero into a level three. You just need to spend the nine gold to buy nine copies, and there are 45 copies of a one cost hero in the pool, so you’ve got a good chance of finding them in the draft. Meanwhile, it’s expensive to make a four or five cost hero (36 or 45 gold, respectively) into its level three form—not to mention that you’d need to get randomly dealt and then have the gold to buy 90% of the available supply of a five cost hero to level it up.

Your early hero buys might not fit into a larger strategy very well, but don’t be afraid to buy low level pieces you might not use long term because level one heroes can always be sold back for their full value. You’ve got eight reserve hero slots for precisely this reason. You can spend money to refresh your available pool and hunt down the pieces for your combo, but that costs valuable gold and will guarantee your defeat if you do it too much in the early to mid game. Remember that you can lock the pool if you want a piece but can’t afford it until next round—just don’t forget to unlock it.

How do Auto Chess heroes work?

Heroes are like any unit in an RTS or RPG: They have health, mana, damage, armor, and the like. They have an attack speed with its own animations and quirks based on model—these are things very familiar to Dota 2 players and accessible on the game’s wiki. Others are weird and poorly understood or documented at this time, like movement and range. Range is measured in the imprecise way of Dota 2. Suffice to say that each chess space is about 200 range, and most heroes with range can hit two spaces away at 400 range. Dwarf heroes like Sniper have 300 extra range, for a total of 700, so they can hit most of the board from any space. Movement is… less clearly delineated. Some heroes, like assassins, can leap the whole board in a move. Others, like Tiny, plod along one space at a time.

Each hero also has a single ability, which it uses by spending its mana and which it will almost always automatically use as soon as it can. Heroes get mana by dealing or taking damage with their attacks,  so survivable or long-range and high damage heroes generally get to use their powers more often. Higher level heroes have more hit points and do more damage, so they’re also more likely to get to use their abilities.  

Where you place your heroes on the board has a lot to do with this. You have half the 8x8 board to use, that’s 16 spaces for as many as 10 heroes. Putting squishy heroes in the back and tanks in the front is good, but knowing which tank needs to be supported to survive and use its ability versus which tank can just take the hits and go down fighting is key. Putting your tough, upgraded Timbersaw up at the front is good because his ability cooldown is very low, so he’ll take lots of damage and get to use that ability a lot. Tidehunter, on the other hand, needs to take damage to get off his powerful Ravage stun as quickly as possible, but it has a huge cooldown, so he won’t need a lot of mana long term. Keeper of the Light needs to be in corners or at the side of the field because his power is a large line. Compared to the rest of Auto Chess, hero placement is actually fairly intuitive when you’re just getting started—more complicated placement combos and flanking strategies can wait. 

Composing a team isn’t just about upgrading whatever you can buy for cheap, it’s about synergising the abilities of what you do buy and knowing when you diversify out of what you’re already specialized in. Goblin Mechs are strong in the early game, for example, but their effectiveness tapers off against other late game combos. Synergy bonuses from species and class are gained by having more multiple unique units of the same class and race on the battlefield at a time. Three or more Mages, for example, decrease the magic resistance of every enemy unit.

Choosing synergies is tricky, dependent on others’ team compositions, and can be a trap if you’re not wholly committed or if you overspecialize. Three or more warriors are always good, because warriors increase every warrior’s armor by a stacking amount when you’ve got three and six of them, and there are a lot of warriors from every species. Elves are a limited species specialization, on the other hand, and give each other evasion—but only the elves will benefit, so you have to tailor strategy for that. Two undead, meanwhile, is almost always worth it because they debuff every enemy’s armor. Two nagas is invaluable, boosting every hero on your team with extra magic resistance.

Popular strategies for starting players are often Warriors early game into Mages or Assassins late game, going all-in on Knights and Undead using Luna and Abaddon, or the often-dominant Goblin Mech combo that double dips on species and class synergies using the four different Goblin Mech characters. Here’s your real warning, though: Every game of Auto Chess has its own metagame based on picks, and the game itself has a meta based on strategies. Going for the dominant or popular builds can lose you the game when everyone else is going for them too.

All this and items, too

Rounds 1, 2, 3, 5, and every fifth round after that are the creep waves, where you fight a group of neutral enemies instead of an opponent. Killing those enemies can give you valuable items to equip heroes with, and those items can make or break a strategy or win a game. No take-backsies on item equipping, though—once you give a hero an item it’s theirs forever. 

Item management is an advanced tactic, so to start just put them where they’ll do good—mana items on a mage hero, armor items on a warrior. There are also, like in Dota 2, item recipes based on equipping a specific set of items to combine them into a more powerful item. These are obscure and weird to beginners, and some differ significantly from what a Dota 2 veteran might expect. I’d recommend just keeping the recipe list on the Auto Chess wiki open on a second monitor or printing it out for ease of reference. 

At this point, you should get in there and play. Don’t be afraid to try stuff out and win or lose. First start to learn the class and species synergies so you can build teams, then the hero powers, then worry about bigger concerns like watching your opponents or building up a stable of go-to strategies.

Advanced Dota Auto Chess tactics

Once you’ve played your first few games you’ll have space to really start to learn combos. You’ll figure out which heroes you like, which heroes nobody else likes, and how to combine those into a winning team. Here are some key tips moving forward from the basics:

1. Make an early commitment to a simple strategy and go all-in on it. You want to win early games, remember, to get that win streak bonus built up and kill those creeps for items. Commit early, then base your actual, long term strategies around your mid-game hero draws and items. Dota Haven has a good guide on the game phases if you’re struggling with how to build teams for different parts of the game. Likewise, a few lucky items drops can make or break the game for you. If you’ve got lots of lifesteal, build a powerful auto-attack team that really values those items. If you luck into a powerful item recipe, be willing to spend the extra gold required to make the equipped hero into as strong a piece as possible, even if it hurts you economically.

2. Watching your enemies’ moves is hard to do in the 30 seconds you have for strategy, but it’s vital. Knowing what others are buying lets you know what you can buy in order to take advantage of surplus pieces in the pool. A few convenient leveled up heroes because nobody’s buying Knights, for example, can easily win you the game. If you’ve decided to take a few losses to hoard money, spend that time watching enemies’ compositions so you can work against them: You’re going to lose anyways.

3. Placement can really matter when you bait valuable enemy heroes away from optimal positioning of their own. If you know your enemy is deploying a central Tidehunter with its huge area of effect stun, try to put a less valuable unit of your own forward and to one side in order to pull it away from the main body of your force.

4. Balance changes can come fast and furious, often two or three times a week. Check out unit tier lists for a shorthand, but watching the Auto Chess subreddit is one of the best ways to understand what’s going on. For now, know that Crystal Maiden is awful and should almost never be picked. Kunkka is godlike good even if he’s useless for your overall strategy, and should nearly always be picked. Tidehunter is similar, if trickier to use, but also plays into the valuable Naga synergy bonus.

Dota 2 - Valve
* Fixed an issue that caused players completing calibration games using Ranked Roles to not have the correct resulting calibrated MMR. Players who have already played calibration games with this behavior have have their MMR updated to reflect the correct values.
Feb 1, 2019
Dota 2 - Ward


In celebration of the Lunar New Year, each victory you earn in normal Dota Matchmaking from February 1 - 11 will grant you progress along the New Bloom rewards line, where you'll find a host of seasonal delights including gifts, celebrations, and chat wheel sounds.

Start off by claiming your New Bloom consumables bundle at level one, and bring some festive flair into the lanes with New Bloom Celebrations. Use celebrations in your games safe in the knowledge that you can earn more on the rewards line or by purchasing a fresh bundle with shards.

As you advance along the line, you can even help your friends get into the spirit of the season by gifting them free spins on the New Bloom rewards wheel. Every spin you and your friends make offers the chance to win an indescribably-rare Nian Courier.

You'll receive 200 points for a Normal victory, 100 points for Turbo, and the first win of each day will grant a bonus of 1250 points.

You'll be able to use your consumables and chat wheel sounds in your games until March 1, so prepare yourself for battle and start the New Year in style.
Dota 2 - Valve
7.21:
===


GENERAL


* Melee creeps average gold bounty reduced by 3
* Range creeps upgrade cycle gold bounty increased from +3 to +6

* Replaced the primary jungles' ancient camps with big camps

* Heroes no longer gain 25% more benefit from their primary attributes (affects attributes from both items and the hero)
* All heroes' primary attribute growth values increased by 15%
* Health per strength increased from 18 to 20

* XP required to reach level 7->12 changed from 640/660/680/800/820/840 to 720/750/780/810/840/870 (the difference is +80/90/100/10/20/30 XP)


* The following melee heroes now have +5 movement speed: Naga Siren, Underlord, Monkey King, Nyx Assassin, Bloodseeker, Riki
* The following melee heroes now have +10 movement speed: Alchemist, Dragon Knight, Meepo
* The following melee heroes now have +15 movement speed: Legion Commander, Lifestealer, Lycan, Sven, Ursa, Wraith King
* Ranged heroes with 295 movement speed and above now have 5 less movement speed

* Tier 2 tower armor increased from 14 to 15
* Tier 3 tower armor increased from 14 to 16
* Melee Barracks armor increased from 13 to 15

* Tower Protection armor bonus for Tier 2/3/4 increased from 3 to 4






ITEMS

* Animal Courier: Flying movement speed increased from 460 to 470

* Aeon Disk: Active status resistance increased from 50% to 75%
* Aeon Disk: Recipe cost reduced from 1350 to 1250

* Battle Fury: Percentage damage bonus against non-hero units changed to be a fixed amount matching Quelling Blade

* Bloodstone: Bloodpact changed from 60% of current mana to 30% of max mana

* Bloodthorn: Cooldown reduced from 18 to 15

* Boots of Travel: Level 2 movement speed increased from +32% to +35%

* Buckler: Activated armor bonus duration on heroes reduced from 25 to 15 (carries through to Mek)

* Crimson Guard: Recipe cost increased from 600 to 750

* Drum of Endurance: Passive changed from a 6% movement speed aura to +20 movement speed to yourself only

* Ethereal Blade: Enemy debuff duration increased from 3 to 4 (matching duration when cast on allies)

* Eul's Scepter of Divinity: Movement speed bonus changed from +6% percentage to +20 flat

* Holy Locket: Now uses Energy Booster instead of a Void Stone (provides +325 Mana)

* Iron Branch: Cast range increased from 200 to 400

* Manta Style: Movement speed bonus reduced from +25 to +20

* Mask of Madness: Lifesteal increased from 15% to 20%

* Mekansm: Stack limit is now tied to cooldown on cast (like Greaves and Crimson stack mechanics)

* Meteor Hammer: Radius increased from 300 to 315

* Necronomicon: Last Will damage increased from 550/675/800 to 600/700/800

* Nullifier: Duration increased from 5 to 6

* Phase Boots: Recipe changed from Gloves of Haste to Blades of Attack
* Phase Boots: Armor bonus increased from 5 to 6
* Phase Boots: Now gives +18 damage on melee (and +12 on range) instead of +20 attack speed
* Phase Boots: Melee active speed increased from 20% to 22%

* Power Treads: Recipe changed from Blades of Attack to Gloves of Haste
* Power Treads: Attribute bonus reduced from 14 to 10
* Power Treads: Now gives +20 attack speed instead of +12 damage

* Sange and Yasha: Movement speed bonus reduced from +35 to +30

* Solar Crest: Movement speed bonus changed from +6% percentage to +20 flat

* Spirit Vessel: Damage as a percentage of current health increased from 4.5% to 5%
* Spirit Vessel: Movement speed bonus changed from +6% percentage to +20 flat

* Tranquil Boots: Active form movement speed increased from 24% to 26%
* Tranquil Boots: Disabled form movement speed reduced from 20% to 18%

* Vladmir's Offering: No longer uses Headdress nor provides its hp regen/stats
* Vladmir's Offering: Now requires a 525 gold recipe

* Wind Lace: Movement speed bonus changed from +6% percentage to +20 flat

* Yasha: Movement speed bonus reduced from +25 to +20
* Yasha and Kaya: Movement speed bonus reduced from +35 to +30








HEROES


* Abaddon: Curse of Avernus curse duration increased from 4 to 4.5
* Abaddon: Aphotic Shield manacost reduced from 115 to 100/105/110/115

* Alchemist: Base movement speed increased by 10
* Alchemist: Base agility increased from 16 to 22
* Alchemist: Chemical Rage base attack time improved from 1.3/1.15/1.0 to 1.2/1.1/1.0
* Alchemist: Level 10 Talent reduced from -8s Unstable Concoction to -7s
* Alchemist: Level 20 Talent Concoction talent now adds the damage to the max instead of the base

* Ancient Apparition: Chilling Touch damage increased from 50/85/120/155 to 50/90/130/170
* Ancient Apparition: Ice Vortex manacost reduced from 65/80/95/110 to 50/70/90/110
* Ancient Apparition: Level 25 Talent reduced from 900 AoE Cold Feet to 700
* Ancient Apparition: Level 25 Talent increased from +4% Ice Blast Kill Threshold to +5%

* Anti-Mage: Fixed Counterspell providing double magic resistance when the shield is active

* Arc Warden: Spark Wraith damage increased from 100/160/220/280 to 100/170/240/310
* Arc Warden: Tempest Double duration increased from 14/16/18 to 16/18/20
* Arc Warden: Level 10 Talent increased from +25 Attack Speed to +30

* Bane: Enfeeble attack speed slow increased from 40/60/80/100 to 50/75/100/125
* Bane: Enfeeble manacost reduced from 70/90/110/130 to 50/75/100/125
* Bane: Level 10 Talent increased from +6 Armor to +7
* Bane: Fiend's Grip duration increased from 5 to 6

* Batrider: Firefly now grants a 4/7/10/13% movement speed bonus
* Batrider: Firefly duration reduced from 18 to 15
* Batrider: Firefly cooldown reduced from 40 to 34

* Beastmaster: Inner Beast attack speed reduced from 15/25/35/45 to 10/20/30/40
* Beastmaster: Hawk health reduced from 300/450/600/750 to 150/200/250/300
* Beastmaster: Level 15 Talent changed from +40 Boar Damage to +65 Wild Axes Damage
* Beastmaster: Level 20 Talent changed from +80 Wild Axes Damage to +50 Boar Damage
* Beastmaster: Level 25 Talent increased from -15s Hawks Cooldown to -20s
* Beastmaster: Level 25 Talent reduced from +30 Inner Beast Attack Speed to +25

* Bloodseeker: Base movement speed increased by 5

* Bounty Hunter: Shuriken Toss cooldown reduced from 10 to 9
* Bounty Hunter: Jinada gold steal increased from 12/18/24/30 to 12/20/28/36
* Bounty Hunter: Track critical strike damage increased from 140/160/180% to 140/170/200%

* Brewmaster: Drunken Brawler critical strike reduced from 170/200/230/260% to 140/180/220/260%
* Brewmaster: Cinder Brew duration reduced from 7 to 5
* Brewmaster: Cinder Brew duration is refreshed on ignition
* Brewmaster: Cinder Brew ignite DPS increased from 20/25/30/35 to 20/30/40/50
* Brewmaster: Level 10 Talent reduced from +20 Damage to +15

* Bristleback: Viscous Nasal Goo manacost reduced from 25 to 12/16/20/24

* Broodmother: Level 10 Talent increased from +75 Spawn Spiderlings Damage to +125
* Broodmother: Level 15 Talent changed from +35% XP Gain to +15 Agility
* Broodmother: Level 20 Talent increased from +20 Spiders Attack Damage to +30
* Broodmother: Level 25 Talent increased from +350 Spiders Health to +450

* Centaur Warrunner: Retaliate no longer gains charges while it is active

* Chaos Knight: Chaos Strike cooldown reduced from 7/6/5/4 to 4
* Chaos Knight: Chaos Strike lifesteal reduced from 50/55/60/65% to 40/50/60/70%
* Chaos Knight: Chaos Strike max damage increased from 160/190/220/250% to 160/195/230/265%
* Chaos Knight: Reality Rift slow duration increased from 2 to 3
* Chaos Knight: Reality Rift slow reduced from 15/25/35/45% to 10/20/30/40%

* Chen: Divine Favor bonus damage reduced from 10/20/40/80 to 12/24/36/48
* Chen: Divine Favor now provides double bonus damage on non-hero units
* Chen: Divine Favor duration increased from 12 to 14
* Chen: Divine Favor manacost reduced from 110 to 70/80/90/100
* Chen: Hand of God heal increased from 250/400/550 to 300/450/600
* Chen: Level 15 Talent reduced from -10s Divine Favor Cooldown to -7s
* Chen: Level 25 Talent reduced from +400 Hand of God Heal to +350
* Chen: Level 25 Talent increased from +4 Holy Persuasion Max Units to +5

* Clinkz: Level 15 Talent changed from +20% Evasion to +15 Strength

* Clockwerk: Battery Assault cast point removed
* Clockwerk: Rocket Flare manacost reduced from 50 to 35/40/45/50
* Clockwerk: Level 20 Talent changed from +20% Magic Resistance to Rocket Flare True Sight
* Clockwerk: Level 25 Talent changed from Rocket Flare True Sight to +50% Magic Resistance

* Crystal Maiden: Freezing Field now grants you 10 bonus armor while channeling
* Crystal Maiden: Arcane Aura allied mana regen reduced from 1.2/1.7/2.2/2.7 to 1/1.5/2/2.5
* Crystal Maiden: Arcane Aura self mana regen increased from 2.4/4.4/6.4/8.4 to 2.5/4.5/6.5/8.5

* Dark Willow: Bramble Maze manacost reduced from 140/150/160/170 to 100/120/140/160
* Dark Willow: Bramble Maze cooldown reduced from 34/31/28/25 to 25

* Dazzle: Poison Touch mancost increased from 95/110/125/140 to 110/120/130/140
* Dazzle: Shadow Wave cast range reduced from 900 to 800

* Death Prophet: Base damage increased by 3

* Disruptor: Base armor increased by 1

* Doom: Scorched Earth cooldown reduced from 55/50/45/40 to 50/45/40/35
* Doom: Devour health regen from 4/8/13/18 to 3/8/13/18

* Dragon Knight: Base movement speed increased by 10
* Dragon Knight: Dragon Blood health regen increased from 4/7/10/13 to 4/8/12/16
* Dragon Knight: Elder Dragon Form frost attack slow increased from -20 to -30
* Dragon Knight: Level 20 Talent changed from 2x Dragon Blood to +25 Strength
* Dragon Knight: Level 25 Talent changed from +40 Strength to 2x Dragon Blood

* Drow Ranger: Level 15 Talent changed from +25 Attack Speed to +10 Agility

* Earthshaker: Fissure manacost reduced from 125/140/155/170 to 110/130/150/170

* Earth Spirit: Rolling Boulder damage reduced from 100 to 70/80/90/100
* Earth Spirit: Boulder Smash slow reduced from 80% to 60%
* Earth Spirit: Level 15 Talent reduced from +200 Rolling Boulder Damage to +150

* Elder Titan: Level 10 Talent reduced from +25 Movement Speed to +20

* Ember Spirit: Sleight of Fist cooldown reduced from 30/22/14/6 to 18/14/10/6
* Ember Spirit: Base damage increased by 3

* Enchantress: Enchant cooldown reduced from 55/40/25/10 to 22/18/14/10
* Enchantress: Enchant creep duration reduced from 50/60/70/80 to 26/44/62/80
* Enchantress: Enchant manacost reduced from 65 to 40/50/60/70

* Enigma: Midnight Pulse manacost rescaled from 75/95/115/135 to 50/80/110/140

* Faceless Void: Time Dilation AoE increased from 725 to 775
* Faceless Void: Level 10 Talent increased from +8 Strength to +10
* Faceless Void: Level 15 Talent changed from +300 Health to -1s Time Walk Cooldown

* Grimstroke: Phantom's Embrace rend damage reduced from 120/200/280/360 to 75/150/225/300
* Grimstroke: Ink Swell manacost increased from 90/100/110/120 to 120/130/140/150
* Grimstroke: Ink Swell movement speed reduced from 18% to 12/14/16/18%

* Gyrocopter: Base strength increased from 19 to 22

* Huskar: Attack point reduced from 0.4 to 0.3
* Huskar: Berserker's Blood max attack speed reduced from 220/260/300/340 to 160/220/280/340
* Huskar: Life Break damage and cost reduced from 34/39/44% to 32/38/44%
* Huskar: Level 15 Talent reduced from +15 Burning Spears DPS to +10

* Invoker: Base damage increased by 3
* Invoker: Exort bonus damage reduced from 4->28 to 3->27 per instance
* Invoker: Level 10 Talent changed from +1.25s Tornado Lift Time to -30s Ghost Walk Cooldown

* Io: Temporarily removed from Captains Mode
* Io: Tether now transfers health and mana even when Io is at max hp/mp
* Io: Overcharge now has an 18 second cooldown and an 8 second duration. No longer has a 2 second toggle.
* Io: Overcharge now costs 40/60/80/100 mana to cast. No longer cost 6% of health and mana per second.
* Io: Overcharge attack speed bonus increased from 40/50/60/70 to 50/80/110/140
* Io: Overcharge damage reduction increased from 5/10/15/20% to 15/20/25/30%
* Io: Relocate delay increased from 2.7/2.35/2 to 3.5/3.25/3
* Io: Relocate cooldown reduced from 130/110/90 to 90/75/60
* Io: Relocate is now cast delay again instead of channeling (being interrupted, silenced, rooted, etc will cancel the ability)
* Io: Level 25 Talent changed from -60s Relocate Cooldown to -30s

* Jakiro: Level 10 Talent changed from +30% XP Gain to +300 Attack Range
* Jakiro: Level 15 Talent changed from +300 Attack Range to +40% XP Gain

* Juggernaut: Base armor reduced by 1
* Juggernaut: Omnislash no longer allows you to teleport while using it
* Juggernaut: Healing Ward movement speed reduced from 420 to 400
* Juggernaut: Omnislash cooldown increased from 130/120/110 to 130
* Juggernaut: Level 15 Talent changed from +1s Blade Fury to +50 Blade Fury Movement Speed

* Keeper of the Light: Level 10 Talent changed from 8% Spell Lifesteal to +30% XP Gain
* Keeper of the Light: Level 15 Talent changed from +30% XP Gain to +1 Will-O-Wisp Health Count

* Kunkka: Level 25 Talent changed from -1.5s Tidebringer Cooldown to +60% Tidebringer Cleave

* Legion Commander: Base movement speed increased by 15
* Legion Commander: Level 20 Talent reduced from +40 Movement Speed to +35
* Legion Commander: Level 25 Talent changed from -10s Press The Attack Cooldown to 350 AoE Press The Attack

* Leshrac: Diabolic Edict increased from 9/18/27/36 to 11/22/33/44
* Leshrac: Level 25 Talent reduced from +50 Diabolic Edict Explosions to +40

* Lich: Frost Shield slow reduced from 35% to 20/25/30/35%
* Lich: Chain Frost damage reduced from 300/400/500 to 250/375/500
* Lich: Level 25 Talent increased from +40% slow to +50%

* Lifestealer: Base movement speed increased by 15
* Lifestealer: Base armor increased by 2
* Lifestealer: Level 15 Talent reduced from +30 Movement Speed to +25

* Lina: Base damage increased by 3

* Lion: Level 10 Talent increased from +75 Cast Range to +100
* Lion: Level 15 Talent increased from +120 Gold/Min to +150

* Lone Druid: Spirit Bear movement speed increased from 340/355/370/385 to 340/360/380/400
* Lone Druid: Spirit Bear attack damage increased from 35/50/65/80 to 35/55/75/95
* Lone Druid: Level 20 Talent changed from -0.3 Spirit Bear Attack Time to 0 Entangle Cooldown
* Lone Druid: Level 25 Talent changed from 0 Entangle Cooldown to -0.5s Spirit Bear Attack Time

* Luna: Level 10 Talent increased from +200 Cast Range to +300

* Lycan: Base movement speed increased by 15
* Lycan: Wolves armor reduced from 1 to 0
* Lycan: Wolves magic resistance reduced from 80% to 70%
* Lycan: Wolves health increased from 230/260/290/320 to 300/350/400/450
* Lycan: Howl health regen increased from 4/6/8/10 to 4/8/12/16

* Medusa: Fixed Mystic Snake bouncing to Spell Immune enemies
* Medusa: Level 10 Talent reduced from +20 Damage to +15
* Medusa: Level 15 Talent reduced from +35% Mystic Snake Mana Steal to +30%
* Medusa: Level 20 Talent changed from +700 Mana to -4s Mystic Snake Cooldown
* Medusa: Level 25 Talent changed from +7 Split Shot Targets to +1000 Mana

* Meepo: Base movement speed increased by 10

* Mirana: Sacred Arrow movement speed increased from 857 to 950

* Monkey King: Base movement speed increased by 5
* Monkey King: Wukong's Command attack rate improved from 1.3 to 1.2

* Morphling: Strength gain increased from 2.3 to 2.6
* Morphling: Level 15 Talent increased from +15s Morph Duration to +20s

* Naga Siren: Base movement speed increased by 5
* Naga Siren: Mirror Image duration from 24 to 26
* Naga Siren: Mirror Image damage taken reduced from 475/450/425/400% to 400%
* Naga Siren: Level 20 Talent increased from -5s Ensnare Cooldown to -7s

* Nature's Prophet: Using tango on a sprout tree will 2x regen (like eating a branch tree)
* Nature's Prophet: Level 20 Talent changed from -4s Sprout Cooldown to +25% Cooldown Reduction

* Necrophos: Death Pulse damage increased from 100/140/180/220 to 100/150/200/250
* Necrophos: Level 15 Talent increased from +20% Ghost Shroud Slow to +30%

* Night Stalker: Hunter in the Night movement speed bonus increased from 20/25/30/35 to 22/28/34/40%
* Night Stalker: Removed Scepter
* Night Stalker: Dark Ascension now provides full unobstructed vision, instead of only 900 range
* Night Stalker: Level 15 Talent changed from +150 Cast Range to +15% Lifesteal

* Nyx Assassin: Base movement speed increased by 5
* Nyx Assassin: Strength gain increased from 2.3 to 2.5
* Nyx Assassin: Level 10 Talent increased from +60 GPM to +90
* Nyx Assassin: Level 10 Talent increased from +6% Spell Amp to +8%

* Ogre Magi: Fireblast cooldown reduced from 12/11/10/9 to 11/10/9/8
* Ogre Magi: Multicast 2x chance increased from 60% to 70%

* Omniknight: Heavenly Grace status resistance reduced from 50/60/70/80% to 50%
* Omniknight: Heavenly Grace duration increased from 8 to 10
* Omniknight: Heavenly Grace now provides 7/14/21/28 bonus strength
* Omniknight: Heavenly Grace manacost increased from 75 to 80/90/100/110

* Outworld Devourer: Sanity's Eclipse multiplier from 9/10/11 to 8/9/10
* Outworld Devourer: Level 15 Talent reduced from +30 Movement Speed to +25

* Pangolier: Base damage increased by 4
* Pangolier: Level 10 Talent changed from +20 Movement Speed to +300 Swashbuckle Slash Range

* Phantom Assassin: Rearranged Level 15 Talents - +25% Cleave vs +15% Lifesteal
* Phantom Assassin: Rearranged Level 20 Talents - +20% Blur Evasion vs -4 Armor Corruption
* Phantom Assassin: Rearranged Level 25 Talents - +5% Coup de Grace vs Triple Strike Stifling Dagger

* Phantom Lancer: Level 10 Talent increased from +10% Evasion to +15%
* Phantom Lancer: Level 20 Talent increased from +4 Max Juxtapose Illusions to +5

* Phoenix: Sunray can no longer move forward while rooted

* Pudge: Base damage increased by 6

* Queen of Pain: Scream of Pain manacost reduced from 95/110/125/140 to 80/100/120/140
* Queen of Pain: Shadow Strike damage per tick increased from 30/45/60/75 to 30/50/70/90

* Razor: Attack backswing reduced from 0.7 to 0.4
* Razor: Level 10 Talent increased from +200 Health to +225

* Riki: Base damage increased by 4
* Riki: Base movement speed increased by 5
* Riki: Level 20 Talent increased from +0.2 Backstab Multiplier to +0.3

* Rubick: Telekinesis lift duration reduced from 1/1.4/1.8/2.2 to 0.8/1.2/1.6/2.0
* Rubick: Level 15 Talent increased from -45 Fade Bolt Hero Attack to -60

* Sand King: Burrowstrike damage increased from 85/150/215/280 to 100/160/220/280
* Sand King: Sand Storm AoE increased from 350/450/550/650 to 425/500/575/650

* Shadow Demon: Soul Catcher manacost reduced from 110 to 50/70/90/110
* Shadow Demon: Shadow Poison manacost reduced from 50 to 35/40/45/50

* Shadow Fiend: Presence of the Dark Lord armor reduction increased from 3/4/5/6 to 4/5/6/7

* Shadow Shaman: Level 20 Talent reduced from +3s Shackles Duration to +2.5s

* Silencer: Last Word cooldown reduced from 28/22/16/10 to 22/18/14/10
* Silencer: Level 10 Talent increased from +5 Armor to +6

* Skywrath Mage: Mystic Flare deals damage to creeps if no heroes are around

* Slardar: Level 25 Talent reduced from +1.5s Slithereen Crush Stun to 1.25s

* Slark: Pounce no longer does 30/60/90/120 damage

* Sniper: Headshot now has a back knockback of 10
* Sniper: Level 15 Talent changed from +35 Shrapnel DPS to +15% Shrapnel Slow

* Spectre: Strength gain increased from 2.3 to 2.5
* Spectre: Spectral Dagger movement speed increased from 8/12/16/20% to 10/14/18/22%
* Spectre: Level 20 Talent reduced from +20% Spectral Dagger to +18%

* Storm Spirit: Electric Vortex manacost reduced from 85 to 60/70/80/90
* Storm Spirit: Level 10 Talent changed from +20 Damage to +30 Overload Damage

* Sven: Base movement speed increased by 15
* Sven: Warcry shield health changed from 110/220/330/440 to 80/110/140/170 + 1/1.5/2/2.5x your strength
* Sven: Storm Hammer cooldown increased from 13 to 16/15/14/13
* Sven: Storm Hammer damage reduced from 100/175/250/325 to 80/160/240/320

* Techies: Remote Mines manacost reduced from 200/240/300 to 120/180/240

* Templar Assassin: Meld debuff is now applied before the attack damage is reduced by armor
* Templar Assassin: Fixed meld bonus damage being increased by Spell Amplification
* Templar Assassin: Level 10 Talent changed from +3 Psionic Traps to +15% Evasion
* Templar Assassin: Level 15 Talent changed from +7 Armor to +25 Movement Speed

* Terrorblade: Strength reduced from 16 + 1.7 to 15 + 1.5

* Tidehunter: Anchor Smash damage reduction from -45/50/55/60 to -30/40/50/60%

* Timbersaw: Reactive Armor bonus armor reduced from 1.3/1.4/1.5/1.6 to 1/1.1/1.2/1.3
* Timbersaw: Reactive Armor bonus health regen reduced from 1/1.2/1.4/1.6 to 1/1.1/1.2/1.3
* Timbersaw: Reactive Armor max stacks increased from 5/10/15/20 to 6/12/18/24
* Timbersaw: Whirling Death tree bonus damage increased from 10/15/20/25 to 12/18/24/30
* Timbersaw: Level 20 Talent increased from +10% Cooldown Reduction to +15%

* Tiny: Avalanche AoE reduced from 400 to 325/350/375/400
* Tiny: Avalanche cooldown increased from 23/20/17/14 to 26/22/18/14
* Tiny: Level 15 Talent reduced from +125 Avalanche Damage to +100
* Tiny: Level 15 Talent increased from +350 Health to +400

* Treant Protector: Living Armor damage block increased from 20/40/60/80 to 25/50/75/100
* Treant Protector: Scepter now causes Treant's Overgrowth to deal damage instead of only Enchanted Trees
* Treant Protector: Overgrowth duration increased from 3/3.75/4.5 to 3.25/4/4.75
* Treant Protector: Level 20 Talent increased from +40 Leech Seed Damage/Heal to +50

* Troll Warlord: Level 15 Talent increased from +75 Whirling Axes Damage to +90
* Troll Warlord: Level 20 Talent increased from +20% Evasion to +25%

* Tusk: Tag Team slow duration reduced from 0.5 to 0.4
* Tusk: Tag Team manacost increased from 40/50/60/70 to 70
* Tusk: Tag Team cooldown increased from 15 to 24/21/18/15

* Underlord: Base movement speed increased by 5

* Undying: Level 15 Talent changed from Tombstone On Death to +30 Tombstone Zombie Damage
* Undying: Level 20 Talent changed from +30 Tombstone Zombie Damage to Tombstone On Death

* Ursa: Base movement speed increased by 15
* Ursa: Fury Swipes damage reduced from 10/16/22/28 to 7/14/21/28

* Vengeful Spirit: Level 20 Talent increased from -5s Magic Missle Cooldown to -6s

* Venomancer: Strength gain increased from 1.9 to 2.1

* Viper: Nethertoxin AoE increased from 350 to 380
* Viper: Nethertoxin damage increased from 20/35/50/65 to 30/45/60/75

* Visage: Level 10 Talent reduced from +125 Cast Range to +100
* Visage: Level 20 Talent reduced from +60 Familiars Movement Speed to +50
* Visage: Level 20 Talent increased from +15 Soul Assumption Damage Per Charge to +20

* Warlock: Base strength increased by 2
* Warlock: Chaotic Offering attack damage increased from 75/125/175 to 100/150/200
* Warlock: Golem attack backswing reduced from 0.74 to 0.57

* Weaver: Level 10 Talent changed from +7 Strength to +75 Shukuchi Damage
* Weaver: Level 15 Talent changed from +75 Shukuchi Damage to +14 Strength

* Windranger: Level 15 Talent increased from +100 Attack Range to +125
* Windranger: Level 15 Talent increased from +100 Powershot Damage to +125

* Winter Wyvern: Cold Embrace base health regen increased from 15 to 14/18/22/26
* Winter Wyvern: Cold Embrace manacost changed from 75 to 50/60/70/80

* Witch Doctor: Maledict cooldown reduced from 50/40/30/20 to 30/26/22/18
* Witch Doctor: Level 10 Talent increased from +5 Armor to +6

* Wraith King: Base movement speed increased by 15

* Zeus: Reworked Static Field. Now affects enemies directly affected by your abilities. No longer has a range.
Dota 2 - Valve
7.21:
===


GENERAL


* Melee creeps average gold bounty reduced by 3
* Range creeps upgrade cycle gold bounty increased from +3 to +6

* Replaced the primary jungles' ancient camps with big camps

* Heroes no longer gain 25% more benefit from their primary attributes (affects attributes from both items and the hero)
* All heroes' primary attribute growth values increased by 15%
* Health per strength increased from 18 to 20

* XP required to reach level 7->12 changed from 640/660/680/800/820/840 to 720/750/780/810/840/870 (the difference is +80/90/100/10/20/30 XP)


* The following melee heroes now have +5 movement speed: Naga Siren, Underlord, Monkey King, Nyx Assassin, Bloodseeker, Riki
* The following melee heroes now have +10 movement speed: Alchemist, Dragon Knight, Meepo
* The following melee heroes now have +15 movement speed: Legion Commander, Lifestealer, Lycan, Sven, Ursa, Wraith King
* Ranged heroes with 295 movement speed and above now have 5 less movement speed

* Tier 2 tower armor increased from 14 to 15
* Tier 3 tower armor increased from 14 to 16
* Melee Barracks armor increased from 13 to 15

* Tower Protection armor bonus for Tier 2/3/4 increased from 3 to 4






ITEMS

* Animal Courier: Flying movement speed increased from 460 to 470

* Aeon Disk: Active status resistance increased from 50% to 75%
* Aeon Disk: Recipe cost reduced from 1350 to 1250

* Battle Fury: Percentage damage bonus against non-hero units changed to be a fixed amount matching Quelling Blade

* Bloodstone: Bloodpact changed from 60% of current mana to 30% of max mana

* Bloodthorn: Cooldown reduced from 18 to 15

* Boots of Travel: Level 2 movement speed increased from +32% to +35%

* Buckler: Activated armor bonus duration on heroes reduced from 25 to 15 (carries through to Mek)

* Crimson Guard: Recipe cost increased from 600 to 750

* Drum of Endurance: Passive changed from a 6% movement speed aura to +20 movement speed to yourself only

* Ethereal Blade: Enemy debuff duration increased from 3 to 4 (matching duration when cast on allies)

* Eul's Scepter of Divinity: Movement speed bonus changed from +6% percentage to +20 flat

* Holy Locket: Now uses Energy Booster instead of a Void Stone (provides +325 Mana)

* Iron Branch: Cast range increased from 200 to 400

* Manta Style: Movement speed bonus reduced from +25 to +20

* Mask of Madness: Lifesteal increased from 15% to 20%

* Mekansm: Stack limit is now tied to cooldown on cast (like Greaves and Crimson stack mechanics)

* Meteor Hammer: Radius increased from 300 to 315

* Necronomicon: Last Will damage increased from 550/675/800 to 600/700/800

* Nullifier: Duration increased from 5 to 6

* Phase Boots: Recipe changed from Gloves of Haste to Blades of Attack
* Phase Boots: Armor bonus increased from 5 to 6
* Phase Boots: Now gives +18 damage on melee (and +12 on range) instead of +20 attack speed
* Phase Boots: Melee active speed increased from 20% to 22%

* Power Treads: Recipe changed from Blades of Attack to Gloves of Haste
* Power Treads: Attribute bonus reduced from 14 to 10
* Power Treads: Now gives +20 attack speed instead of +12 damage

* Sange and Yasha: Movement speed bonus reduced from +35 to +30

* Solar Crest: Movement speed bonus changed from +6% percentage to +20 flat

* Spirit Vessel: Damage as a percentage of current health increased from 4.5% to 5%
* Spirit Vessel: Movement speed bonus changed from +6% percentage to +20 flat

* Tranquil Boots: Active form movement speed increased from 24% to 26%
* Tranquil Boots: Disabled form movement speed reduced from 20% to 18%

* Vladmir's Offering: No longer uses Headdress nor provides its hp regen/stats
* Vladmir's Offering: Now requires a 525 gold recipe

* Wind Lace: Movement speed bonus changed from +6% percentage to +20 flat

* Yasha: Movement speed bonus reduced from +25 to +20
* Yasha and Kaya: Movement speed bonus reduced from +35 to +30








HEROES


* Abaddon: Curse of Avernus curse duration increased from 4 to 4.5
* Abaddon: Aphotic Shield manacost reduced from 115 to 100/105/110/115

* Alchemist: Base movement speed increased by 10
* Alchemist: Base agility increased from 16 to 22
* Alchemist: Chemical Rage base attack time improved from 1.3/1.15/1.0 to 1.2/1.1/1.0
* Alchemist: Level 10 Talent reduced from -8s Unstable Concoction to -7s
* Alchemist: Level 20 Talent Concoction talent now adds the damage to the max instead of the base

* Ancient Apparition: Chilling Touch damage increased from 50/85/120/155 to 50/90/130/170
* Ancient Apparition: Ice Vortex manacost reduced from 65/80/95/110 to 50/70/90/110
* Ancient Apparition: Level 25 Talent reduced from 900 AoE Cold Feet to 700
* Ancient Apparition: Level 25 Talent increased from +4% Ice Blast Kill Threshold to +5%

* Anti-Mage: Fixed Counterspell providing double magic resistance when the shield is active

* Arc Warden: Spark Wraith damage increased from 100/160/220/280 to 100/170/240/310
* Arc Warden: Tempest Double duration increased from 14/16/18 to 16/18/20
* Arc Warden: Level 10 Talent increased from +25 Attack Speed to +30

* Bane: Enfeeble attack speed slow increased from 40/60/80/100 to 50/75/100/125
* Bane: Enfeeble manacost reduced from 70/90/110/130 to 50/75/100/125
* Bane: Level 10 Talent increased from +6 Armor to +7
* Bane: Fiend's Grip duration increased from 5 to 6

* Batrider: Firefly now grants a 4/7/10/13% movement speed bonus
* Batrider: Firefly duration reduced from 18 to 15
* Batrider: Firefly cooldown reduced from 40 to 34

* Beastmaster: Inner Beast attack speed reduced from 15/25/35/45 to 10/20/30/40
* Beastmaster: Hawk health reduced from 300/450/600/750 to 150/200/250/300
* Beastmaster: Level 15 Talent changed from +40 Boar Damage to +65 Wild Axes Damage
* Beastmaster: Level 20 Talent changed from +80 Wild Axes Damage to +50 Boar Damage
* Beastmaster: Level 25 Talent increased from -15s Hawks Cooldown to -20s
* Beastmaster: Level 25 Talent reduced from +30 Inner Beast Attack Speed to +25

* Bloodseeker: Base movement speed increased by 5

* Bounty Hunter: Shuriken Toss cooldown reduced from 10 to 9
* Bounty Hunter: Jinada gold steal increased from 12/18/24/30 to 12/20/28/36
* Bounty Hunter: Track critical strike damage increased from 140/160/180% to 140/170/200%

* Brewmaster: Drunken Brawler critical strike reduced from 170/200/230/260% to 140/180/220/260%
* Brewmaster: Cinder Brew duration reduced from 7 to 5
* Brewmaster: Cinder Brew duration is refreshed on ignition
* Brewmaster: Cinder Brew ignite DPS increased from 20/25/30/35 to 20/30/40/50
* Brewmaster: Level 10 Talent reduced from +20 Damage to +15

* Bristleback: Viscous Nasal Goo manacost reduced from 25 to 12/16/20/24

* Broodmother: Level 10 Talent increased from +75 Spawn Spiderlings Damage to +125
* Broodmother: Level 15 Talent changed from +35% XP Gain to +15 Agility
* Broodmother: Level 20 Talent increased from +20 Spiders Attack Damage to +30
* Broodmother: Level 25 Talent increased from +350 Spiders Health to +450

* Centaur Warrunner: Retaliate no longer gains charges while it is active

* Chaos Knight: Chaos Strike cooldown reduced from 7/6/5/4 to 4
* Chaos Knight: Chaos Strike lifesteal reduced from 50/55/60/65% to 40/50/60/70%
* Chaos Knight: Chaos Strike max damage increased from 160/190/220/250% to 160/195/230/265%
* Chaos Knight: Reality Rift slow duration increased from 2 to 3
* Chaos Knight: Reality Rift slow reduced from 15/25/35/45% to 10/20/30/40%

* Chen: Divine Favor bonus damage reduced from 10/20/40/80 to 12/24/36/48
* Chen: Divine Favor now provides double bonus damage on non-hero units
* Chen: Divine Favor duration increased from 12 to 14
* Chen: Divine Favor manacost reduced from 110 to 70/80/90/100
* Chen: Hand of God heal increased from 250/400/550 to 300/450/600
* Chen: Level 15 Talent reduced from -10s Divine Favor Cooldown to -7s
* Chen: Level 25 Talent reduced from +400 Hand of God Heal to +350
* Chen: Level 25 Talent increased from +4 Holy Persuasion Max Units to +5

* Clinkz: Level 15 Talent changed from +20% Evasion to +15 Strength

* Clockwerk: Battery Assault cast point removed
* Clockwerk: Rocket Flare manacost reduced from 50 to 35/40/45/50
* Clockwerk: Level 20 Talent changed from +20% Magic Resistance to Rocket Flare True Sight
* Clockwerk: Level 25 Talent changed from Rocket Flare True Sight to +50% Magic Resistance

* Crystal Maiden: Freezing Field now grants you 10 bonus armor while channeling
* Crystal Maiden: Arcane Aura allied mana regen reduced from 1.2/1.7/2.2/2.7 to 1/1.5/2/2.5
* Crystal Maiden: Arcane Aura self mana regen increased from 2.4/4.4/6.4/8.4 to 2.5/4.5/6.5/8.5

* Dark Willow: Bramble Maze manacost reduced from 140/150/160/170 to 100/120/140/160
* Dark Willow: Bramble Maze cooldown reduced from 34/31/28/25 to 25

* Dazzle: Poison Touch mancost increased from 95/110/125/140 to 110/120/130/140
* Dazzle: Shadow Wave cast range reduced from 900 to 800

* Death Prophet: Base damage increased by 3

* Disruptor: Base armor increased by 1

* Doom: Scorched Earth cooldown reduced from 55/50/45/40 to 50/45/40/35
* Doom: Devour health regen from 4/8/13/18 to 3/8/13/18

* Dragon Knight: Base movement speed increased by 10
* Dragon Knight: Dragon Blood health regen increased from 4/7/10/13 to 4/8/12/16
* Dragon Knight: Elder Dragon Form frost attack slow increased from -20 to -30
* Dragon Knight: Level 20 Talent changed from 2x Dragon Blood to +25 Strength
* Dragon Knight: Level 25 Talent changed from +40 Strength to 2x Dragon Blood

* Drow Ranger: Level 15 Talent changed from +25 Attack Speed to +10 Agility

* Earthshaker: Fissure manacost reduced from 125/140/155/170 to 110/130/150/170

* Earth Spirit: Rolling Boulder damage reduced from 100 to 70/80/90/100
* Earth Spirit: Boulder Smash slow reduced from 80% to 60%
* Earth Spirit: Level 15 Talent reduced from +200 Rolling Boulder Damage to +150

* Elder Titan: Level 10 Talent reduced from +25 Movement Speed to +20

* Ember Spirit: Sleight of Fist cooldown reduced from 30/22/14/6 to 18/14/10/6
* Ember Spirit: Base damage increased by 3

* Enchantress: Enchant cooldown reduced from 55/40/25/10 to 22/18/14/10
* Enchantress: Enchant creep duration reduced from 50/60/70/80 to 26/44/62/80
* Enchantress: Enchant manacost reduced from 65 to 40/50/60/70

* Enigma: Midnight Pulse manacost rescaled from 75/95/115/135 to 50/80/110/140

* Faceless Void: Time Dilation AoE increased from 725 to 775
* Faceless Void: Level 10 Talent increased from +8 Strength to +10
* Faceless Void: Level 15 Talent changed from +300 Health to -1s Time Walk Cooldown

* Grimstroke: Phantom's Embrace rend damage reduced from 120/200/280/360 to 75/150/225/300
* Grimstroke: Ink Swell manacost increased from 90/100/110/120 to 120/130/140/150
* Grimstroke: Ink Swell movement speed reduced from 18% to 12/14/16/18%

* Gyrocopter: Base strength increased from 19 to 22

* Huskar: Attack point reduced from 0.4 to 0.3
* Huskar: Berserker's Blood max attack speed reduced from 220/260/300/340 to 160/220/280/340
* Huskar: Life Break damage and cost reduced from 34/39/44% to 32/38/44%
* Huskar: Level 15 Talent reduced from +15 Burning Spears DPS to +10

* Invoker: Base damage increased by 3
* Invoker: Exort bonus damage reduced from 4->28 to 3->27 per instance
* Invoker: Level 10 Talent changed from +1.25s Tornado Lift Time to -30s Ghost Walk Cooldown

* Io: Temporarily removed from Captains Mode
* Io: Tether now transfers health and mana even when Io is at max hp/mp
* Io: Overcharge now has an 18 second cooldown and an 8 second duration. No longer has a 2 second toggle.
* Io: Overcharge now costs 40/60/80/100 mana to cast. No longer cost 6% of health and mana per second.
* Io: Overcharge attack speed bonus increased from 40/50/60/70 to 50/80/110/140
* Io: Overcharge damage reduction increased from 5/10/15/20% to 15/20/25/30%
* Io: Relocate delay increased from 2.7/2.35/2 to 3.5/3.25/3
* Io: Relocate cooldown reduced from 130/110/90 to 90/75/60
* Io: Relocate is now cast delay again instead of channeling (being interrupted, silenced, rooted, etc will cancel the ability)
* Io: Level 25 Talent changed from -60s Relocate Cooldown to -30s

* Jakiro: Level 10 Talent changed from +30% XP Gain to +300 Attack Range
* Jakiro: Level 15 Talent changed from +300 Attack Range to +40% XP Gain

* Juggernaut: Base armor reduced by 1
* Juggernaut: Omnislash no longer allows you to teleport while using it
* Juggernaut: Healing Ward movement speed reduced from 420 to 400
* Juggernaut: Omnislash cooldown increased from 130/120/110 to 130
* Juggernaut: Level 15 Talent changed from +1s Blade Fury to +50 Blade Fury Movement Speed

* Keeper of the Light: Level 10 Talent changed from 8% Spell Lifesteal to +30% XP Gain
* Keeper of the Light: Level 15 Talent changed from +30% XP Gain to +1 Will-O-Wisp Health Count

* Kunkka: Level 25 Talent changed from -1.5s Tidebringer Cooldown to +60% Tidebringer Cleave

* Legion Commander: Base movement speed increased by 15
* Legion Commander: Level 20 Talent reduced from +40 Movement Speed to +35
* Legion Commander: Level 25 Talent changed from -10s Press The Attack Cooldown to 350 AoE Press The Attack

* Leshrac: Diabolic Edict increased from 9/18/27/36 to 11/22/33/44
* Leshrac: Level 25 Talent reduced from +50 Diabolic Edict Explosions to +40

* Lich: Frost Shield slow reduced from 35% to 20/25/30/35%
* Lich: Chain Frost damage reduced from 300/400/500 to 250/375/500
* Lich: Level 25 Talent increased from +40% slow to +50%

* Lifestealer: Base movement speed increased by 15
* Lifestealer: Base armor increased by 2
* Lifestealer: Level 15 Talent reduced from +30 Movement Speed to +25

* Lina: Base damage increased by 3

* Lion: Level 10 Talent increased from +75 Cast Range to +100
* Lion: Level 15 Talent increased from +120 Gold/Min to +150

* Lone Druid: Spirit Bear movement speed increased from 340/355/370/385 to 340/360/380/400
* Lone Druid: Spirit Bear attack damage increased from 35/50/65/80 to 35/55/75/95
* Lone Druid: Level 20 Talent changed from -0.3 Spirit Bear Attack Time to 0 Entangle Cooldown
* Lone Druid: Level 25 Talent changed from 0 Entangle Cooldown to -0.5s Spirit Bear Attack Time

* Luna: Level 10 Talent increased from +200 Cast Range to +300

* Lycan: Base movement speed increased by 15
* Lycan: Wolves armor reduced from 1 to 0
* Lycan: Wolves magic resistance reduced from 80% to 70%
* Lycan: Wolves health increased from 230/260/290/320 to 300/350/400/450
* Lycan: Howl health regen increased from 4/6/8/10 to 4/8/12/16

* Medusa: Fixed Mystic Snake bouncing to Spell Immune enemies
* Medusa: Level 10 Talent reduced from +20 Damage to +15
* Medusa: Level 15 Talent reduced from +35% Mystic Snake Mana Steal to +30%
* Medusa: Level 20 Talent changed from +700 Mana to -4s Mystic Snake Cooldown
* Medusa: Level 25 Talent changed from +7 Split Shot Targets to +1000 Mana

* Meepo: Base movement speed increased by 10

* Mirana: Sacred Arrow movement speed increased from 857 to 950

* Monkey King: Base movement speed increased by 5
* Monkey King: Wukong's Command attack rate improved from 1.3 to 1.2

* Morphling: Strength gain increased from 2.3 to 2.6
* Morphling: Level 10 Talent increased from +15s Morph Duration to +20s

* Naga Siren: Base movement speed increased by 5
* Naga Siren: Mirror Image duration from 24 to 26
* Naga Siren: Mirror Image damage taken reduced from 475/450/425/400% to 400%
* Naga Siren: Level 20 Talent increased from -5s Ensnare Cooldown to -7s

* Nature's Prophet: Using tango on a sprout tree will 2x regen (like eating a branch tree)
* Nature's Prophet: Level 20 Talent changed from -4s Sprout Cooldown to +25% Cooldown Reduction

* Necrophos: Death Pulse damage increased from 100/140/180/220 to 100/150/200/250
* Necrophos: Level 15 Talent increased from +20% Ghost Shroud Slow to +30%

* Night Stalker: Hunter in the Night movement speed bonus increased from 20/25/30/35 to 22/28/34/40%
* Night Stalker: Removed Scepter
* Night Stalker: Dark Ascension now provides full unobstructed vision, instead of only 900 range
* Night Stalker: Level 15 Talent changed from +150 Cast Range to +15% Lifesteal

* Nyx Assassin: Base movement speed increased by 5
* Nyx Assassin: Strength gain increased from 2.3 to 2.5
* Nyx Assassin: Level 10 Talent increased from +60 GPM to +90
* Nyx Assassin: Level 10 Talent increased from +6% Spell Amp to +8%

* Ogre Magi: Fireblast cooldown reduced from 12/11/10/9 to 11/10/9/8
* Ogre Magi: Multicast 2x chance increased from 60% to 70%

* Omniknight: Heavenly Grace status resistance reduced from 50/60/70/80% to 50%
* Omniknight: Heavenly Grace duration increased from 8 to 10
* Omniknight: Heavenly Grace now provides 7/14/21/28 bonus strength
* Omniknight: Heavenly Grace manacost increased from 75 to 80/90/100/110

* Outworld Devourer: Sanity's Eclipse multiplier from 9/10/11 to 8/9/10
* Outworld Devourer: Level 15 Talent reduced from +30 Movement Speed to +25

* Pangolier: Base damage increased by 4
* Pangolier: Level 10 Talent changed from +20 Movement Speed to +300 Swashbuckle Slash Range

* Phantom Assassin: Rearranged Level 15 Talents - +25% Cleave vs +15% Lifesteal
* Phantom Assassin: Rearranged Level 20 Talents - +20% Blur Evasion vs -4 Armor Corruption
* Phantom Assassin: Rearranged Level 25 Talents - +5% Coup de Grace vs Triple Strike Stifling Dagger

* Phantom Lancer: Level 10 Talent increased from +10% Evasion to +15%
* Phantom Lancer: Level 20 Talent increased from +4 Max Juxtapose Illusions to +5

* Phoenix: Sunray can no longer move forward while rooted

* Pudge: Base damage increased by 6

* Queen of Pain: Scream of Pain manacost reduced from 95/110/125/140 to 80/100/120/140
* Queen of Pain: Shadow Strike damage per tick increased from 30/45/60/75 to 30/50/70/90

* Razor: Attack backswing reduced from 0.7 to 0.4
* Razor: Level 10 Talent increased from +200 Health to +225

* Riki: Base damage increased by 4
* Riki: Base movement speed increased by 5
* Riki: Level 20 Talent increased from +0.2 Backstab Multiplier to +0.3

* Rubick: Telekinesis lift duration reduced from 1/1.4/1.8/2.2 to 0.8/1.2/1.6/2.0
* Rubick: Level 15 Talent increased from -45 Fade Bolt Hero Attack to -60

* Sand King: Burrowstrike damage increased from 85/150/215/280 to 100/160/220/280
* Sand King: Sand Storm AoE increased from 350/450/550/650 to 425/500/575/650

* Shadow Demon: Soul Catcher manacost reduced from 110 to 50/70/90/110
* Shadow Demon: Shadow Poison manacost reduced from 50 to 35/40/45/50

* Shadow Fiend: Presence of the Dark Lord armor reduction increased from 3/4/5/6 to 4/5/6/7

* Shadow Shaman: Level 20 Talent reduced from +3s Shackles Duration to +2.5s

* Silencer: Last Word cooldown reduced from 28/22/16/10 to 22/18/14/10
* Silencer: Level 10 Talent increased from +5 Armor to +6

* Skywrath Mage: Mystic Flare deals damage to creeps if no heroes are around

* Slardar: Level 25 Talent reduced from +1.5s Slithereen Crush Stun to 1.25s

* Slark: Pounce no longer does 30/60/90/120 damage

* Sniper: Headshot now has a back knockback of 10
* Sniper: Level 15 Talent changed from +35 Shrapnel DPS to +15% Shrapnel Slow

* Spectre: Strength gain increased from 2.3 to 2.5
* Spectre: Spectral Dagger movement speed increased from 8/12/16/20% to 10/14/18/22%
* Spectre: Level 20 Talent reduced from +20% Spectral Dagger to +18%

* Storm Spirit: Electric Vortex manacost reduced from 85 to 60/70/80/90
* Storm Spirit: Level 10 Talent changed from +20 Damage to +30 Overload Damage

* Sven: Base movement speed increased by 15
* Sven: Warcry shield health changed from 110/220/330/440 to 80/110/140/170 + 1/1.5/2/2.5x your strength
* Sven: Storm Hammer cooldown increased from 13 to 16/15/14/13
* Sven: Storm Hammer damage reduced from 100/175/250/325 to 80/160/240/320

* Techies: Remote Mines manacost reduced from 200/240/300 to 120/180/240

* Templar Assassin: Meld debuff is now applied before the attack damage is reduced by armor
* Templar Assassin: Fixed meld bonus damage being increased by Spell Amplification
* Templar Assassin: Level 10 Talent changed from +3 Psionic Traps to +15% Evasion
* Templar Assassin: Level 15 Talent changed from +7 Armor to +25 Movement Speed

* Terrorblade: Strength reduced from 16 + 1.7 to 15 + 1.5

* Tidehunter: Anchor Smash damage reduction from -45/50/55/60 to -30/40/50/60%

* Timbersaw: Reactive Armor bonus armor reduced from 1.3/1.4/1.5/1.6 to 1/1.1/1.2/1.3
* Timbersaw: Reactive Armor bonus health regen reduced from 1/1.2/1.4/1.6 to 1/1.1/1.2/1.3
* Timbersaw: Reactive Armor max stacks increased from 5/10/15/20 to 6/12/18/24
* Timbersaw: Whirling Death tree bonus damage increased from 10/15/20/25 to 12/18/24/30
* Timbersaw: Level 20 Talent increased from +10% Cooldown Reduction to +15%

* Tiny: Avalanche AoE reduced from 400 to 325/350/375/400
* Tiny: Avalanche cooldown increased from 23/20/17/14 to 26/22/18/14
* Tiny: Level 15 Talent reduced from +125 Avalanche Damage to +100
* Tiny: Level 15 Talent increased from +350 Health to +400

* Treant Protector: Living Armor damage block increased from 20/40/60/80 to 25/50/75/100
* Treant Protector: Scepter now causes Treant's Overgrowth to deal damage instead of only Enchanted Trees
* Treant Protector: Overgrowth duration increased from 3/3.75/4.5 to 3.25/4/4.75
* Treant Protector: Level 20 Talent increased from +40 Leech Seed Damage/Heal to +50

* Troll Warlord: Level 15 Talent increased from +75 Whirling Axes Damage to +90
* Troll Warlord: Level 20 Talent increased from +20% Evasion to +25%

* Tusk: Tag Team slow duration reduced from 0.5 to 0.4
* Tusk: Tag Team manacost increased from 40/50/60/70 to 70
* Tusk: Tag Team cooldown increased from 15 to 24/21/18/15

* Underlord: Base movement speed increased by 5

* Undying: Level 15 Talent changed from Tombstone On Death to +30 Tombstone Zombie Damage
* Undying: Level 20 Talent changed from +30 Tombstone Zombie Damage to Tombstone On Death

* Ursa: Base movement speed increased by 15
* Ursa: Fury Swipes damage reduced from 10/16/22/28 to 7/14/21/28

* Vengeful Spirit: Level 20 Talent increased from -5s Magic Missle Cooldown to -6s

* Venomancer: Strength gain increased from 1.9 to 2.1

* Viper: Nethertoxin AoE increased from 350 to 380
* Viper: Nethertoxin damage increased from 20/35/50/65 to 30/45/60/75

* Visage: Level 10 Talent reduced from +125 Cast Range to +100
* Visage: Level 20 Talent reduced from +60 Familiars Movement Speed to +50
* Visage: Level 20 Talent increased from +15 Soul Assumption Damage Per Charge to +20

* Warlock: Base strength increased by 2
* Warlock: Chaotic Offering attack damage increased from 75/125/175 to 100/150/200
* Warlock: Golem attack backswing reduced from 0.74 to 0.57

* Weaver: Level 10 Talent changed from +7 Strength to +75 Shukuchi Damage
* Weaver: Level 15 Talent changed from +75 Shukuchi Damage to +14 Strength

* Windranger: Level 15 Talent increased from +100 Attack Range to +125
* Windranger: Level 15 Talent increased from +100 Powershot Damage to +125

* Winter Wyvern: Cold Embrace base health regen increased from 15 to 14/18/22/26
* Winter Wyvern: Cold Embrace manacost changed from 75 to 50/60/70/80

* Witch Doctor: Maledict cooldown reduced from 50/40/30/20 to 30/26/22/18
* Witch Doctor: Level 10 Talent increased from +5 Armor to +6

* Wraith King: Base movement speed increased by 15

* Zeus: Reworked Static Field. Now affects enemies directly affected by your abilities. No longer has a range.
Jan 20, 2019
Dota 2 - Ward


The Chongqing Major Main Event bracket has been set, and sixteen of the top Dota teams in the world now wage battle over the winner's share of the $1,000,000 USD and 15,000 DPC points that hang in the balance.

Fans can tune in each day now through January 27 on SteamTV to catch all of the playoff action. With 4,950 DPC points awaiting the winners less than halfway through the competitive season, it's anyone's guess what the Dota Pro Circuit standings might look like in one week's time. Will an established contender strengthen their grip on the leaderboard, or can a surprising upstart upset the status quo?
Dota 2 - Ward


Join world champions OG and a sold-out crowd as they broadcast live from the Nordisk Film Cinema Palads in Copenhagen, Denmark for the world premiere of True Sight — The International 2018.

Tune in live on Tuesday, January 15 from 11:00am PST, with hosts Kaci and PyrionFlax, to journey behind the scenes of OG's epic five-game clash against PSG.LGD, to be followed by a live Q&A session with the audience and the champs themselves.

Last year, Dota fans around the world watched as history took place in Vancouver. Now it's time to look back and see exactly how the story unfolded.
Dota 2 - contact@rockpapershotgun.com (Matt Cox)

People have been making weird and wonderful custom Dota 2 games for years. With so much good stuff coming from outside the dota-sphere, that’s easy to forget – but not when a possible bug convinces the internet you’ve got more players than Grand Theft Auto V.

That seems have happened with Dota Auto Chess, a custom game where you pit teams of increasingly powerful wizards against seven opponents. Even with that bug in mind, it’s still throbbing with players – popularity made me notice it, but quality kept me playing. For half a game, at least, until I got crushed by the people who knew what they were doing.

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