HoN Blogger

Basic Hero Guide 2: Flint Beastwood

2011-05-14T10:38:00.000-07:00

For years, the Beasts told of a twisted man-thing that stalked them through the Rulian marshes, leaving a trial of corpses in his wake. The humans dubbed him "Flint Beastwood" -- playing on his flint-lock firearms and his residence in the Beasts' forests. Fast to draw, fast to kill, fast to laugh about the deed, Flint has now spread his carnage beyond the marshes to wherever he can find the Legion.

Hero Role: Hard Carry

Skill List

Explosive Flare
Fires a flare at the target location. Deals 75 / 150 / 225 / 300 Magic Damage over 2 seconds to units and 25 / 50 / 75 / 100 Magic Damage instantly to buildings on impact, leaving a burning flare for 4 seconds. The burning flare gives vision and applies Flared to all enemies in the radius.
Type: Magic Range: 800 Radius: 300 Cast Time: .8 Seconds.
Cooldown: 14 Seconds Mana: 120 Action: Target Position
Flared Effects: 14 / 20 / 26 / 32% Movement Slow

Hollowpoint Shells
25 / 30 / 35 / 40% chance that a bullet will explode, dealing 20 / 30 / 40 / 50 bonus Physical Damage and stunning for .05 / .1 / .2 / .2 seconds.
Action: Passive

Dead Eye
Increases attack range by 60 / 120 / 180 / 240.

Levels 3 and 4 allow Flint to outrange towers.

Action: Passive

Silver Bullet
After a 1.7s cast time, fires a shot at the target. Deals 355 / 505 / 655 Magic Damage and stuns for .2 seconds. If the target moves more than 1800 / 2300 / 2800 units away during the channel time, the spell is cancelled. Grants 1800 day vision and 800 night vision around the target while active. Also reveals the target while active.
Type: Superior Magic Range: 1,500 / 2,000 / 2,500 Cast Time: 1.9 Seconds.
Cooldown: 20 / 15 / 10 Mana: 175 / 275 / 375 Action: Target Entity

Item Build

Early Game

or

Start with Minor Totems/Duck Boots and HP regenerating items. Flint's base damage is very low in early game so the +8 damage from double totems/boots should help with last hitting. If mid, get a bottle (pretty mandatory) if in a sidelane, get a Ring of the Teacher or a Power Supply to get mana regeneration.

Mid Game

Continue to buy wards/counterwards to provide vision for your team if you are the ward bitch. If not, build up your farm and buy a Portal Key and roam. This will keep your enemies in fear of a 6 second disable and massive burst damage all the while allowing your carry to farm.

Late Game

Your late game should be all about trying to get all of your spells off before dying. Obviously if possible avoid dying, but know that you are expendable. Be aware of which heroes you should CC and which heroes to burst down.

Basic Hero Guide 1: Witch Slayer

2011-04-19T09:25:00.000-07:00

No city is more pious in its worship of Sol than Arasunia, and no man is more fervent among its zealous citizens than the Witch Slayer. Although he is viewed with uncertainty by the beast shamans and human sorcerers in the Legion, his combat prowess and holy powers make him a mighty ally. Wielding a musket and a bladed icon of Sol, he can not only hold his own in battle, but can also sap his enemy's strength and turn any ground into sacred territory.

Hero Role: Support/Ganker
I will be giving a guide that is more oriented towards support because that's the role that I believe he fits the best.

Skill List

Graveyard
Creates a Graveyard for 700 units in the target direction. Any enemies hit will fly into the air for 0.52 seconds and are stunned for 0.5 / 1 / 1.5 / 2 seconds when they land, taking 60 / 130 / 200 / 260 Magic Damage.
Type: Magic Range: 500 Radius: 150 Cast Time: .5 Seconds.
Cooldown: 12 Seconds Mana: 100 / 125 / 140 / 170
Action: Target Dual Position

Miniaturization
Applies Miniaturization to the target enemy for 1.25 / 2 / 2.75 / 3.5 seconds, settings its base Movement Speed to 100.
Type: Magic Range: 500 Cast Time: .9 Seconds.
Cooldown: 13 Seconds Mana: 110 / 140 / 170 / 200
Action: Target Entity
Miniaturization Effects: Perplexed, Silenced, Disarmed, Smaller!, Base Movement Speed set to 100.

Power Drain
Applies Power Drain to target for duration of the channel. The Witch Slayer gains mana equal to the mana drained. Instantly kills illusions.
Type: Magic Range: 600 / 650 / 700 / 750 Channeling Time: .9 Seconds.
Cooldown: 25 / 20 / 15 / 10 Seconds Mana: 10
Action: Target Entity
Power Drain Effects: 20 / 40 / 60 / 80 Mana drained per second.

Silver Bullet
Deals 500 / 650 / 850 Magic Damage to target.
Type: Magic Range: 700 Cast Time: .9 Seconds.
Cooldown: 12 Seconds Mana: 200 / 420 / 650
Action: Target Entity
Staff Effect: Increases damage from {500,650,850} to {600,800,1025}.

Item Build

Early Game

Start off with either the courier or a pair of wards for your team. Your goal in the early game is to survive, set up kills, and allow your carry to farm.

Mid Game

Continue to buy wards/counterwards to provide vision for your team if you are the ward bitch. If not, build up your farm and buy a Portal Key and roam. This will keep your enemies in fear of a 6 second disable and massive burst damage all the while allowing your carry to farm.

Late Game

Your late game should be all about trying to get all of your spells off before dying. Obviously if possible avoid dying, but know that you are expendable. Be aware of which heroes you should CC and which heroes to burst down.

Beginner Guide 1: Hero Roles

2011-04-11T06:19:00.000-07:00

Before you read too much on, there is a concept that every player needs to hammer into his brain over and over (especially all you beginners out there) as it is the single most important thing that you can learn about the game: HoN is a team game.

Now, a lot of people are of course going to say "Ego, of course HoN is a team game. There are five players on each side and they have to work together as a team to defeat the enemy right?"

And I would respond "Correct!". But there is more to it than simply that. It is so easy to be drawn into individual well-being in a game that you can lose sight of what the ultimate goal of playing is: winning! So here you will learn what specific role you're best suited for, and how to play a certain type of role.

The Carry

My worst nightmare when it comes to public/AP games because each team ends up with 4-5 carries and the game becomes a clusterfuck of carries, rather than a balanced game. The carry is the hero that in the early game is heavily supported by his teammates, but in the late game is able to ‘carry’ them to victory.

Characteristics

-Stronger late game than early game (generally)
-Item-dependent
-Must farm well in order to succeed (whether heroes or creeps)
-Able to destroy opposing heroes late game extremely fast

Sub-Categories

Hard Carry

These are carries that are usually only able to really shine once the late game kicks in. They are generally weaker than all other types of heroes early to mid game and must have a very strong farm to be successful.

Semi-Carry

These are carries that are effective all throughout the game (early, mid, and late) but have less carry potential the longer the game goes on compared to a hard carry.

Tank-telligence Carry

My own made-up category because I feel as though they take a special spot distinguished from the other types of carries. The distinct difference is that semi-carries are still reliant on their auto attacks, and TT carries are more or less completely reliant on their spells. TT carries have spells that scale into the late game, and as expected are built like tanks.

Ganker/Nuker

These heroes are the ones that will do bulk of the damage early to mid game. They are able to do well without farm because they are spell-dependent. Needs early levels to have run-away potential.

Characteristics

-Has offensive spells that can either control the enemy hero(es).
-Dishes out large amount of damage in quick succession.
-Expected to roam early/mid game to set up kills.
-Level dependent (to get higher skill levels).

Support

The bane of low rating and pub games: there are no support heroes! When played well, the support heroes can be the most important part of your line-up. They place wards to give vision to your allies so they can gank/avoid being ganked. It's common for them to not even directly be in the lane but rather off in the jungle nearby so that the carry in their lane can get the farm.

Characteristics
*AKA "Ward Bitch"
*Typically lower level and farm than other heroes
*Responsible for setting up wards
*Must protect the carry

Final Words
Please note that the above guide and heroes listed in each section is a general guideline and is not intended for top-tier play. Use it as a good base to build your game sense of hero roles and adjust accordingly.

HoN Introduction: Part 1

2011-03-28T06:19:00.000-07:00

Welcome to the first of a series of blogs to help you become a better HoN player. If you have some concept of the game, you can most likely skip the introduction.

So what is Heroes of Newerth? HoN is a game descended from Defense of the Ancients (more commonly referred to as DotA), a Warcraft 3 custom game. A game of strategy, micro management, and above all, teamwork. Let's jump right into it.

The Game Modes

The game mode decides how each players pick their heroes.

All-Pick: All heroes will be available and all players will have one minute to choose their heroes. There is no picking order.

Random Draft: 20 random heroes will be on screen and each player will have 40 seconds to choose their heroes. Picking order is 1-2-2 for the side picking first and 2-2-1 for the side picking second.

Single Draft: Each player will be given a choice of three heroes, one of each type (Agility, Intelligence, and Strength) and have two minutes to complete the picks.

Banning Draft: Similar to Random Draft, except in this mode a captain from each side will take turns banning a hero until 4 bans have been completed. Also, the pool consists of 8 Agility heroes, 8 Intelligence heroes, and 8 Strength heroes instead of 20 random heroes. After the bans have been completed, the picks continue the same as Random Draft. The side that banned first will also pick first.

Banning Pick: Similar to All Pick, except in this mode a captain from each side will take turns banning a hero until 8 bans have been completed. After the bans have been completed, the picks will continue the same as Random Draft, except from a pool of all the heroes (minus the bans, of course).

*In All-Pick, you can choose to random a hero and you will receive an extra 250 starting gold for your boldness.
**In any case where a player does not pick a hero in the allotted time, that player will be forced to random.

The Map

Each team starts with five players on each side. The team is divided into the Legion or the Hellborne. There are no inherent benefits to being on either side as the map is a mirror (for the most part).

The following is a list of important areas of the map you should familiarize yourself with.

The Spawn Locations: The Legion's spawn is the bottom left corner and the Hellborne's is the top right corner. This is where your hero will appear at the beginning of the game and after he has resurrected from a death.

The Towers: Towers do a large amount of damage and has a big health pool and a good amount of armor. Your team must take the opposing team's towers down to gain access into their base. Towers get progressively stronger the closer you get to the enemy's base.

The Barracks: After three towers in one lane have been destroyed, you can attack the enemies' barracks. Once the barracks have been taken down, it will dramatically increase the HP, armor, and damage of the creep waves that spawn from your base. It is favorable to attack the melee barracks first because there are more melee creeps than there are ranged creeps. Once all three sets of barracks have been taken out, it is essentially game over as you will begin spawning Mega Creeps - and they do an incredible amount of damage, enough to take down heroes very quickly.

The Thrones: Popularized by the DotA term "throne", they represent the core of your base and simply put, once they die - you lose. The thrones are only attackable after the enemy team has taken down 4 towers in the same lane and both of the towers guarding the throne. Legion's throne is called the World Tree and the Hellborne's the Sacrificial Shrine. Destroying the enemy player's throne is ultimately the goal of the game.

Kongor: A 7500 HP beast at base level, Kongor is a neutral creep that either side is able to attack and kill. He gets progressively stronger (every 30 seconds) as the game goes by, increasing his HP, damage, and armor. Once killed, he drops a Token of Life and starting from the third time he is killed also drops a Banana. Token of Life is bound on pick up and will resurrect the owner following a death on the same spot after a three second resurrection timer. It lasts 10 minutes (same as Kongor's respawn time from the second he is killed). Bananas heal your HP for 2500 and restore 1000 mana.

Secret Shops: Here, you can purchase items that you cannot purchase at the base shop.

Side Shops: The convenient side shops allow you to purchase items while still in lane.

Part 2 coming soon