Dota Version 6.58

The latest Dota map just landed and we've got the changelog with all the details right here. It's been a while since the last update and no wonder, they dropped a huge amount of changes on us. The most notable 2 underlined here---


First major change is a complete remake of Storm Spirit.



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: 30/45/60/75AOE: 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.



Undying also got a pretty sweet overhaul. Check out the specs.



Dirge:
=======

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

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: ImmuneDamage: 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.


And The rest of the changelog here

http://getdota.com/changelogs/index/24

A complete revamp of Blademail and Cranium Basher have also been made. Blademail now requires activation and lasts for 4 sec, while Basher recieved a recipe change.

Dawn of War 2 Beta incoming

Let us rejoice, Warhammer 40K: Dawn of War 2 beta will be hitting Steam on Jan 28th. And if you happen to own a copy of Warhammer 40,000: Dawn of War - Soulstorm, you get a head start on the competition on Jan 21st. Announced for the beta are 4 playable races and 5 multiplayer maps. Time to go buy a copy of Soulstorm! See you guys in the beta.

-Frank

UGO aquires 1up.com

Image courtesy of Kotaku.com

This one hit too close to home. UGO Entertainment and parent Hearst Corporation have acquired 1UP and its associated sites. After the buyout came mass firings, all of which included the 1up Show production crew and the EGM staff. Among the fallen were long-time employees James Mielke, Skip Pfister, Ryan O'Donnell, Cesar Quintero and Shane Bettenhausen and new staff members including Philip Kollar, Nick Suttner, and Anthony Gallegos. There is a list of 40+ employees and we send our best wishes to them. Many of them have already fallen on their feet and started a very anticipated new podcast labeled Rebel FM. You can DL the new podcast here http://www.eat-sleep-game.com/news/ and follow some of the ex 1uppers as they bounce back and even better than ever.

-Frank

Virus Terrorists!

So my computer has come down with with a Trojan virus. Damn the web and it's spread of std-like virus'. My computer will be out of comission for a week but I'll be up and blogging in no time. So for the time being Happy New Years to everyone and the start of the new Video Game Arms race. We'll post up some NPD's soon and see who came out on top. 2009 here we come.

-Frank

R.I.P. Tabula Rasa, Hellgate

As you may already know Tabula Rasa and Hellgate: London will be closing their servers in about 2 months. Both are free to play till they officially close down around the January-February window.

Ok, so Hellgate had a bad launch. Most MMO's do, with Age of Conan and Warhammer Online as exceptions. People were getting charged twice for their subscriptions or not receiving certain subscription-based items but that shouldn't have spelled doom for them. The gameplay was fun. For once you felt like you were in control of your attacks rather than watching your character swing at their own will. Hellgate gave you that Diablo feel with a twist. The traditional hack-and-slash forumla was enhanced by experiencing the action RPG from the first-person perspective and through nontraditional character classes and playstyles. I reached the late 30's of the game and I enjoyed getting there. The dialogue was even pretty witty for an MMO. I've seen walls of text and trust me, 90% of the time, it isn't really worth the read unless you're getting directions for your objective. Hellgate actually added some funny stuff worth reading. The story was interesting. I don't remember much since I haven't played inforever but I plan on giving Hellgate some attention before it leaves us.

It's a shame what happened to Bill Roper's crew. I read an interview with Bill explaining how he was paying out of his own pocket to support his team here. http://www.1up.com/do/feature?cId=3169356 It's a good read and educational actually. Bill touches on everything from the development process to the failed revenue model he tried to generate. I personally thought it was worth a try since nothing like that had been done but I think without the major factors like fleshed out auction houses or PVP, it failed to grasp the players' attention. So downers aside the game just got a bad deal financially. The MMO market doesn't lend itself to much diversity and Hellgate actually went against the bill for once. I liked it for it's sense of uniqeness and overall gameplay. So If you guys ever get a chance, give it a try before it shuts down.

Tabula Rasa....Richard Garriot's bastard child. With his flight to space and then sudden statement about moving on to other things you begin to think it was only a matter of time before they signaled the white flag for Tabula Rasa. But they really really really shouldn't have. I never got the chance to play TR but now that I freed up some time I'm playing this game wondering "What the hell?" How could a game like TR fail? It's got a kickass gameplay mechanic that is totally alien to MMO's (no pun intended) and it works. So how could it fail? It even has a character cloning system so you dont have to reroll! How cool is that? How could you not want a game like this? Set in space, humans are fighting aliens! I've experienced the first 3 hours to TR so far for the first time and I cant help but feel remorse for the loss of this game. It's truly a downer but I'm going to spend the next 2 months playing it till it goes offline.

Warhammer's patches haven't been letting my patcher work for some reason so something needs to fill my MMO void now!! I'll post about my time in Warhammer soon. For now, Tabula Rasa is pretty damn sweet. So there you have it, two MMO's just waiting for you to pop in and play. Play them now before its too late.

-Frank

Oddworld added to GOG.com

Oddworld has come to GOG.com's growing library. If you haven't heard about GOG yet you should head on over and check out their list of games. GOG celebrates the Good Old Games of back in the day. Headlining their library are games like Fallout 1, 2, tactics, Giant Citizens Kabuto, Gothic and Sacred Gold. This month, as a thanks to customers, they released 2 free adventure games for your enjoyment, Beneath a Steel Sky and Lure of the Temptress. GOG's games include free DRM, wallpapers, guides and digital licenses to all the games you buy a' la Steam. So go check it out!

-Frank

Top 5 PC games to look foward to in 2009

2008 was a big year for gaming and 2009 shows no signs of stopping. Competing for your wallets and time, these games are sure to hit the spot when it comes to your favorite gaming hobby. Now looking over this list I realized they're all pretty much real time strategy games but that doesn't change the fact that they are big contenders in the PC universe this year. These top 5 games are everything a PC gamer hopes for; single-player campaign, level progression, competitive multiplayer, the whole package.

5. Company of Heroes: Tales of Valor

The third installment in the genre-revolutionizing real time strategy space. COH proved it could stand the test of time and remains to be one of the best RTS games out there. Adding a destructible enviroment and emphasis on your squads became a perfect formula for COH. The latest expansion isn't adding any new armies but its definately going to add new units, modes and maps. I found myself installing the other 2 just because I got the itch to play and dabble in those "small skirmishes that matter" campaigns. Tales of Valor is without a doubt an impulse-buy. Get it, play it, love it.

4. Demigod

Demigod has what it takes to change the face of gaming again. Take a huge influence of DOTA and mix it with beautiful graphics, sprinkle some multiplayer tournament gameplay and add a level progression MMO-style skill tree. The result? A genre bending, Real time strategy action RPG. Demigod has some big shoes to fill if it plans on taking on the underground beast that is DOTA. I've really been looking foward to this title and its coming out first quarter of 09', how awesome is that? The wait is almost over and I cant wait to sink my teeth into this game.

3. Starcraft 2

You're damn right it's about time. Blizzard has kept us waiting for over 10 years now? Can't remember if it was 97' or 98' but it's been too long! Promising the same paper-rock-scissor gameplay, SC2 looks as promising as ever. The new units alone are something to be very excited for. Wether its adding a new queen unit to the scourge or the huge mothership for the protoss, SC2 has really outdone itself this time around. I would have to say the only negative is waiting for the expansions to play the rest of the campaigns. We'll have to wait and see how that turns out.

2. Warhammer 40k: Dawn of War 2

Having discovered Warhammer this year I've grown to respect the lore and gameplay behind this series. I wasn't even aware I had purchased Mark of Chaos a while back. When Warhammer Online and Warhammer: Battlemarch released this year it gave me a chance to dive in headfirst into what has become my current obsession. Dawn of War 2 is being made by Relic, the geniuses behind Company of Heroes. Adding orcs and elves to the COH formula? In the future?!?! Count me in! Waaaaagggghhhh!!

1. Diablo 3

Is there no one else? Diablo 3 is going to be huge. It's crazy just how incredible this game looks. If you haven't seen any gameplay footage, get to the D3 website and watch their 15 minutes of epic awesomeness. Only 3 classes have been revealed but they're already creating buzz around the net. The skill trees look killer, the graphics look beautiful and it will fulfill your top-down gameplaying needs. I have to say I miss the dungeon crawling and with Mythos on hiatus at the moment, it's looking like D3 is going to fill that void. Long Live Diablo!