Version 4.3.3

Design

New Hero:  Goldenveil

Goldenveil the Gilded Sellsword has fought in every corner of Newerth for countless banners, crowns, and causes -- none of which he cared about -- and the only constants he's witnessed are death and gold. These two are inextricably intertwined, and long ago Goldenveil slithered his way between them to offer his legendary, lethal skills to the highest bidder. He served as a scout and assassin for Lord Commander Maliken Grimm during the War of the Single Banner, silently dispatching enemy sentries and scoffing at any mention that he had sold his soul to the true enemy: mankind. When The Second Corruption tore Newerth asunder and gold temporarily lost all value -- survival was the only currency worth anything -- Goldenveil wisely used some of his blood money to sail beyond the known borders to fight for civilized customers.

But every new country, culture, and kingdom was eventually overcome by the relentless Hellbourne corruption, and when this sly mercenary ran out of new battlefields, he returned to the land, and profits, he knew best. The once-prosperous city of Hope's Keep was unrecognizable. It had been reduced to rubble and charred corpses within hours of The Second Corruption, but in the ensuing years the nightmare of Hell's Keep had grown to meet the demands of the Hellbourne war effort. The negotiation with Maliken Grimm was short and brutal, exactly how Goldenveil operates: Kill as many Legion soldiers as possible and collect the heads of Jeraziah and Ophelia. The reward will be a fortune, more than the coffers of Adkarna and Arasunia combined, and the Gilded Sellsword gets to keep every ounce of gold he takes from his victims along the way. Death and gold: inseparable, eternal, and Goldenveil collects them both.

Stats

Strength: 16 + 1.5

Agility: 19 + 1.8

Intelligence: 21 + 2.6 (Primary)

Base Damage: 51-54 (30-33 when not considering primary attribute)

Movement Speed: 290

Attack Range: 600

Armor: 1.5 (-1.2 when not considering primary attribute)

Magic Armor: 6

• Ability 1: Dagger Dance

  Radius: 300

  Mana Cost: 80/100/120/140

  Cooldown: 9/8/7/6 seconds

  • Activate to whip your daggers at the closest enemy in radius every 0.25 seconds for 3 seconds, dealing 15/25/35/45 Magic Damage per whip. Total damage output of 180/300/420/540 over the duration.

• Ability 2: Perch

  Range: 1000

  Mana Cost: 40 (first jump only, 0 on subsequent jumps)

  Cooldown: 2 seconds

  • Target a tree to hop on top of it, gaining Clearvision of the surrounding area and becoming invisible to enemies, but immobilized.
  • While Goldenveil is perched on a tree, he has 450 Attack Range. Goldenveil can reactivate this ability to jump to another tree, or cast the sub-ability Plunge.
  • If Goldenveil is knocked down from a tree, he will be Stunned for 3 seconds.
  • While perched, Goldenveil can unperch from the tree by issuing a Move command.

• Subability: Plunge

  Range: 800

  Radius: 250

  Mana Cost: 40/60/80/100 (Plunge only, 0 for descent)

  Cooldown: 12 seconds

  • Target a position to jump there after a short delay, dealing 80/140/200/260 Magic Damage and a 1.6/1.9/2.2/2.5 Second Stun to all enemies in the area.
  • Places Perch on a 12/10/8/6 second cooldown.

• Ability 3: Recluse
  • Passively regenerates 10/20/30/40 Health per second when you are not seen by enemies.

• Ability 4: Greedgutter

  Range: 900

  Mana Cost: 150/175/200

  Cooldown: 60/45/30 seconds

  • Target an enemy to throw your golden dagger at them, applying a 60% Movement Speed Slow for 4 seconds and dealing 150/200/250 Magic Damage + 50/75/100 Magic Damage per token.
  • If Goldenveil kills or assist in killing a hero, he receives 60/90/120 Gold per token and his team receives 20/30/40 Gold per token. Killing the entire enemy team will reset the tokens and grants each member of Goldenveil's team 100/200/300 Gold.
  • Passively applies 3 golden tokens on enemy heroes when this ability is learned. Enemy heroes lose a token whenever Goldenveil kills or assists in killing them.

Features

• Added a new option, Auto Select Summons
  • Can be found in Options -> Interface -> Assistance.
  • If enabled, controllable new units or illusions spawned under your control will be added to your current selection group.
    • Enabled by default.

Forests of Caldavar - Map Changes

•  Kongor has been relocated to a new home in a neutral position on the southeast side of the river.
• The southern ramps leading to mid lane have been adjusted to create a safer, harder to gank matchup in mid.
• The Hellbourne ancients have been repositioned to better reflect the Legion ancients.
• The Observatory has also found a new location with the shuffling of all its immediate neighbors.

Heroes

 Aluna

• Emerald Lightning
  • Bounces reduced from 1/2/3/4 to 1.
  • Stun duration on both chained targets increased from 1 to 1.25/1.5/1.75/2 seconds.
  • Attack Speed magnitude on the buff and debuff increased from 40 to 50.
  • Emerald Red Attack Speed buff and debuff increased from 60 to 75.

 Berzerker

• Base Strength Increased from 21 to 23.
• Strength gain per level increased from 3.0 to 3.5.
• Base Agility reduced from 19 to 15.
• Agility gain per level increased from 1.8 to 2.0.
• Movement Speed increased from 300 to 310.
• Chain Spike
  • Range increased from 550 to 600.
  • Mana Cost rescaled from 90/95/100/105 to 80/90/100/110.
  • Damage rescaled from 45/80/115/150 to 40/80/120/160.
  • Immobilie rescaled from 1.3/1.7/2.1/2.5 seconds to 1/1.5/2/2.5 seconds.
• Mark for Death
  • Moved to the Ability 2 (W) slot.
  • Range increased from 800 to 1000.
  • Mana Cost increased from 50 to 75.
  • Now also refreshes Chain Spike if the unit affected by Mark of Death dies.
• Furious Anger (Reworked)
  • Passive: Every attack made by Berzerker increases his chance to Critically Strike the target for 1.2/1.4/1.6/1.8x by 8%. The Furious Anger State lasts 3 seconds.
• Carnage (Reworked)
  • Cooldown: 100/60/20 seconds
  • Mana Cost: 0
  • Activate to gain 40/60/80% Stun, Debuff and Slow Resistance for 10 seconds.

 Blood Hunter

• Base Strength reduced from 23 to 22.
• Agility gain per level increased from 2.6 to 3.0.
• Movement Speed reduced from 310 to 290.
• Blood Crazy
  • Cooldown reduced from 15 seconds to 15/13/11/9 seconds.
• Blood Sense
  • Radius increased from 1500/3000/4500/6000 to Global.
  • Health threshold for detection rescaled from 35% to 25/30/35/40%.
• Hemorrhage
  • Superior Magic Damage taken per distance unit travelled decreased from 35/55/75% to 30/45/60%.
  • New Staff of the Master effect
    • Applies Hemorrhage in a 325 radius around the target.

 Chronos

• Agility gain per level increased from 2.6 to 2.8.
• Base Intelligence increased from 14 to 15.
• Time Leap
  • Movement Speed Slow reduced from 22/28/34/40% to 10/15/20/25%.

 Demented Shaman

• Unbreakable
  • No longer grants 20/40/60 Attack Damage.

 Flux

• Magnetic Surge
  • Cast time reduced from 700ms to 400ms.
    • Cast action time remains unchanged.
  • Magnetic Surge can now be auto-cast on your next autoattack by right-click toggling it.
    • Does not affect your autoattack cooldown.

 Gemini

• Strength gain per level increased from 2.1 to 3.
• Intelligence gain per level increased from 1.9 to 3.

 Hammerstorm

• Hammer Throw
  • New Staff of the Master effect:
    • Increases cast range and leaves a hammer at the landing location. You can reactivate Hammer Throw within the next 3 seconds to teleport to the target and apply 1 autoattack to them.

 Kinesis

• Movement Speed lowered from 300 to 290.
• Attack range lowered from 600 to 550.
• Base Strength increased from 18 to 20.
• Strength gain per level lowered from 1.8 to 1.6.
• Base Agility lowered from 16 to 15.
• Agility gain per level lowered from 1.8 to 1.5.
• Base Intelligence increased from 25 to 30.
• Intelligence gain per level lowered from 2.7 to 2.0.
• Thoughtsteal (Reworked)
  • Cast Range: 1000
  • Mana Cost: 0
  • Cooldown: 16/14/12/10 seconds
  • Activate to steal the first ability from the target hero.
    • Your first (Q) ability turns into the target's first (Q) ability. Target gets to keep their ability.
  • The stolen ability will last for a single cast or until you die and costs the same as it would for the enemy at that level. Level of the stolen ability is equivalent to the level of Thoughtsteal.
• Telekinetic Control (Reworked)
  • Range: 800
  • Mana Cost: 60/80/100/120
  • Cooldown: 3 seconds
  • Activate to lift the 1/2/3/4 closest trees or creeps for up to 8 seconds. If not enough are present, pieces of ground are lifted instead. Lifted objects are invulnerable and will follow Kinesis at 450 speed during the effect.
  • Activate again by targeting an enemy to throw all lifted objects at it, dealing 60 Magic Damage per object and applying a 20% Movement Speed Slow for 2 seconds.
  • Objects must be within 1500 range to be thrown.
• Stasis Smash (Reworked)
  • Range: 600
  • Radius: 400
  • Mana Cost: 100/150/200
  • Cooldown: 100/80/60 seconds.
  • Target enemy unit to place it in a stasis and lift non-hero units around it for up to 3/3.5/4 seconds. Target gains 50% Damage Reduction from sources other than Kinesis and is Stunned while in stasis.
  • When stasis expires, the target takes 150/250/350 Magic Damage and an additional 20/30/40 bonus Magic Damage for every other unit lifted. Units lifted take the same damage. Other enemies in the area receive a 2 second 50% Movement Speed Slow if they are caught in the blast.
  • Ability can be activated again to end the effect early.
  • Creeps thrown with Telekinetic Control at a target lifted with Stasis Smash will get caught and contribute to the effect as well.
  • Staff of the Master Effect: Increases the radius to 600 and allows you to choose where the target lands. Cannot throw further than 1200 distance.

 The Madman

• Stalk
  • Movement Speed bonus increased from 50% to Haste (max Movement Speed, cannot be slowed).
• Berserk
  • No longer gives a Movement Speed bonus.

 Maliken

• Base Strength lowered from 25 to 20.
• Strength gain per level increased from 2.6 to 3.5.
• Base Agility lowered from 20 to 15.
• Agility gain per level lowered from 2.0 to 1.5.
• Base Intelligence increased 17 to 18.
• Base Damage increased from 22-28 to 29-35.
  • Starting damage increased from 47-53 to 49-55.
• Sword Throw
  • Mana Cost lowered from 110/120/130/140 to 100/110/120/130.
• Sword of the Damned
  • Enchanted Flames Magic Damage to self rescaled from 6/12/18/24 to 15.
  • Life Essence now also heals you for 3/6/9/12% of your Attack Damage per attack (in addition to the base 10/20/30/40 Heal).
    • This bonus Heal based on Attack Damage is not propagated to Life Essence's modification to Sword Throw.
• Hellbourne Zeal
  • Attack Speed bonus increased from 0.5/0.8/1.1/1.4 to 1/1.5/2/2.5 Attack Speed for every 1% of missing Health.
  • Attack Speed bonus no longer has a limit (previously 100).
  • Now also grants 0.1 Magic Armor per 1% of missing Health.
• Possession
  • Health loss effect changed: sets your Health to 75% of your Max Health if your current Health is higher than that value.
  • No longer gains bonus Armor for the first 7 seconds of the effect.
  • Attack Range in demon form increased from 550 to 600.

 Master of Arms

• Acid Bomb
  • Physical Damage rescaled from 10/20/40/80 to 15/30/45/60.
• Weapon Enhancement
  • New Staff of the Master effect:
    • Now gains the effects of both guns at once.
• Master's Call
  • Cooldown reduced from 100/80/60 seconds to 60 seconds all levels.
  • Shield value increased from 200/300/400 to 200/400/600.
  • Attack Speed on Cheetah while shield active increased from 40/80/120 to 50/100/150.

 Midas

• Golden Salvo
  • Radius increased from 150 to 175.
• Transmute
  • Magic Damage increased from 50/100/150 to 100/150/200.

 Monkey King

• Strength gain per level reduced from 2 to 1.8.
• Base Agility increased from 19 to 20.
• Agility gain per level reduced from 3 to 2.8.
• Illusive Dash
  • Cooldown reduced from 15/13/11/9 seconds to 13/11/9/7 seconds.
• Heavenly Vault
  • Cooldown reduced from 12 seconds to 10 seconds.
• Wan Jin Slam
  • Cooldown reduced from 14/12/10/8 seconds to 13/11/9/7 seconds.
• Flying Nimbus
  • Cooldown upon taking damage reduced from 5 seconds to 3 seconds.
  • No longer loses Nimbus when damaged by creeps or neutrals.
  • No longer reduces cooldown of other abilities.

 Moon Queen

• Agility gain per level reduced from 3.5 to 3.2.
• Multi-Strike
  • Damage reduction per bounce increased from 25% to 50% when attacking structures.

 Nitro

• Ballistic
  • Damage dealt to the initial target decreased from 120% to 100/105/110/115/120%.
  • Physical Damage on subsequent targets hit reduced from 15/30/45/60/75% to 10/20/30/40/50%.

 Oogie

• Conflagrate
  • Magic Damage based on Max Mana changed from 2/3/4/5% to 1/2/3/4%.
    • The values were unintentionally changed previously from 2/3/4/5% to 4%, so this is being remedied correctly based on Oogie's performance since the change.

 Ophelia

• Nature's Wrath
  • Movement Speed Slow is now tapering.
• Ophelia's Touch
  • No longer grants affected units 5/10/15 Health Regeneration.

 Pandamonium

• Strength gain per level from 2.7 to 3.0.
• Flick
  • Range increased from 350 to 400.
  • Movement Speed Slow rescaled from 20/30/40/50% to 40%.

 Pharaoh

• Wall of Mummies
  • Duration reduced from 4/5/6/7 to 3/4/5/6 seconds.
  • No longer removes Mana from affected targets.
  • Damage type changed from True to Magic.

 Pollywog Priest

• Voodoo Wards
  • Cooldown increased from 100/90/80 seconds to 120/110/100 seconds.
  • Damage against structures reduced by 25%.

 Predator

• Venomous Leap
  • Cast type is properly changed from Physical to Magic.
• Terror
  • New Staff of the Master effect:
    • Stacks reduced from 4 to 2.
    • Attack Speed increased from 25/50/75 to 50/75/100.
    • Kills reset the cooldown of Venomous Leap.

 Rally

• Battle Experience
  • Attack Damage bonnus increased from 6/12/18/24 to 10/20/30/40.
  • Armor Penetration increased from 15/30/45/60 to 20/40/60/80.

 Ravenor

• Strength gain per level increased from 2.5 to 3.
• Storm Blades
  • Attack Speed increased from 20/40/60/80 to 30/60/90/120.
  • Number of bounces increased from 1/2/3/4 to 3/4/5/6 targets.
• Static Shock
  • Active component removed (i.e. will no longer grant 15/30/45/60 Attack Speed to Ravenor for 6 seconds).
• Power Overwhelming
  • Charges gained per damage instance increased from 6 to 8.
  • No longer gains a minimum amount of charges.
  • Maximum charges rescaled from 125 to 80/120/160.
  • Movement Speed per charge rescaled from 0.6/0.8/1 to 0.5/1/1.5.
  • Superior Magic Damage per charge rescaled from 0.8/1.2/1.6 to 0.5/1/1.5.

 Rhapsody

• Intelligence gain per level reduced from 2.8 to 2.4.

 Shadowblade

• Gargantuan's Blast
  • Strength bonus increased from 3/6/9/12 to 4/8/12/16.
• Feint's Siphon
  • Movement Speed bonus increased from 10/20/30/40 to 25/30/35/40.
  • Agility bonus increased from 3/6/9/12 to 4/8/12/16.
• Soul's Sight
  • Intelligence bonus increased from 3/6/9/12 to 4/8/12/16.

 Slither

• Toxin Ward
  • Moved to the Ability 2 (W) slot.
  • Toxin Wards no longer apply a 25 Movement Speed Slow.
• Toxicity
  • Moved to the Ability 3 (E) slot.
  • Movement Speed slow increased from 1.25/2.5/3.75/5% to 3/6/9/12%.
  • Health regeneration reduction lowered from 30/50/70/90% to 20/40/60/80%.

 Swiftblade

• Movement Speed increased from 305 to 310.
• Agility gain per level increased from 2.5 to 3.

 Thunderbringer

• Lightning Rod
  • Radius reduced from 1200 to 900.
• Lightning Storm
  • Staff of the Master changes only: Magic Damage reduced from 150/250/350 to 150/200/250 Magic Damage per strike.

 Tremble

• Agility gain per level increased from 2.2 to 3.2.
• Movement Speed reduced from 310 to 290.
• Dark Swarm
  • Damage Reduction from enemies outside the swarm increased from 40% to 60%.
• Terrorform
  • Terror Mounds no longer grant 50% Mana Regeneration.
  • Cooldown is reduced from 40 seconds to 10 seconds if you use Terror Port to teleport to the Terror Mound in your Ally Well.

 Tundra

• Base Strength reduced from 25 to 23.
• Piercing Shards
  • Cast range increased from 1300 to 1500.
  • Mana Cost decreased from 120 to 100/105/110/115.
  • Mixed Damage reduced from 180/250/320/390 to 170/230/290/350.
• Cold Shoulder
  • Moved to the Ability 2 slot (W).
• Call of Winter
  • Reworked and moved to the Ability 3 slot (E).
  • Passively summons Shiver the flying scout to follow you around at 300/325/350/375 Speed and scout for you, providing 800/1000/1200/1400 Clearvision.
  • Shiver is also invisible to enemies unless they come within 600 range and dies in 1 hit.
  • When Shiver dies the ability goes on a 60/50/40/30 second cooldown.
  • Shiver gives enemies 15 gold and experience when killed, and can no longer see enemy units affected by Veiled Rot.
  • The ability can be activated to send Shiver to the target location or go back to following you around if used on self.
    • This has global cast range and no cast time.
  • Shiver will automatically teleport back to you when he's in follower mode and more than 3000 range away.
• Avalanche
  • Magic Damage on main target reduced from 200/250/300 to 150/225/300.
  • Knockback Magic Damage increased from 100/200/300 to 150/225/300.

 Valkyrie

• Javelin of Light
  • New Staff of the Master effect:
    • Applies the current level of Call of the Valkyrie around the target hit by Javelin of Light.

 War Beast

• Base Strength increased from 22 to 24.
• Strength gain per level increased from 2.8 to 3.0.
• Agility gain per level lowered from 1.9 to 1.4.
• Summon Hellhounds
  • Hellhound Health rescaled from 400/475/550/625 to 500.
  • Hellhound Damage rescaled from 30/35/40/45 to 25/35/45/55.
  • Hellhound Armor lowered from 3 to 2.
  • Critical Strike chance rescaled from 0/30/30/30% to 10/20/30/40%.
• Battle Cry
  • Mana Cost increased from 30 to 50.
  • Cooldown increased from 35 to 70/60/50/40 seconds.
  • Bonus Damage for heroes rescaled from 11/22/33/44 to 15/20/25/30.
  • Bonus Damage for non-hero units rescaled from 4/8/12/16 to 6/8/10/12.
  • Buff now also grants 5/10/15/20 bonus Attack Speed.
    • This applies to both heroes and non-hero units.
  • Duration increased from 16 to 20 seconds.
• Primal Rage
  • Base Damage bonus increased from 10/15/20/25% to 10/20/30/40%.
  • No longer grants 10/15/20/25 Attack Speed to your owned units.
  • Now also grants 2/4/6/8 Health Regeneration.
• Metamorphosis
  • Cooldown increased from 80/60/40 to 100/80/60 seconds.
  • Active effect now also increases sight range during the night by 600/800/1000.
  • Critical Strike damage multiplier increased from 1.5x to 1.6/1.8/2.0x.

 Wretched Hag

• Movement Speed reduced from 300 to 295.
• Flash of Darkness
  • Range increased from 1250 to 1300.
• Sonar Scream
  • Mana Cost lowered from 135/140/145/150 to 110/120/130/140.
• Bat Blast
  • Range increased from 700 to 900.

 Zephyr

• Movement Speed increased from 295 to 310.
• Wind Shield
  • No longer passively grants a 5% bonus Movement Speed.
  • Evasion increased from 15/20/25/30% to 15/30/45/60%.

New Items

• New supportive item: SomaZ's Synchronizer
  • Recipe: 2x Minor Totem + Recipe 250  = 350 
  • Passively gives: +2 Strength, +2 Agility, +2 Intelligence.
  • Passively synchronizes with a nearby ally hero if you stay near them for 2 seconds (500 range).
  • Once done, you will stay synchronized unless you move more than 3000 range away from each other for longer than 10 seconds.
  • "Synchronized" effects (which both you and your ally receive): +10 Movement Speed, +5 Attack Damage, Each enemy unit killed grants 15 bonus gold to your synchronized partner.
  • You cannot synchronize with a hero which has already been synchronized with someone else.
  • Item can be activated to turn the effect on/off.
  • Visual effects of synchronization are randomly assigned 1 of 3 colors: Red, Green or Blue.
  • Every pair of synchronized heroes is guaranteed to have a color unique to them.
    • This helps you tell which hero you are synchronized with.

• Merrick's Bounty
  • Removed from the game.
    • The addition of SomaZ's Synchronizer promotes a more healthy way of gaining gold for support heroes, as it requires teammates and yourself to be more proactive to reap its benefits.

Items

• Grimoire of Power
  • Spell Damage bonus vs Heroes increased from 15% to 20%.

• Master's Legacy
  • Recipe cost increased from 1500  to 2000 .
  • Total Cost increased from 5700  to 6200 .

• Nullfire Blade
  • Mana Burn per attack decreased from 50/75/100 to 40/60/80.

Matchmaking Maps & Modes

• Champions of Newerth (CoN)
  • Map: Forests of Caldavar
  • Mode: Counter Pick

• Forests of Caldavar
  • All Pick
  • Single Draft
  • Balanced Random

• Mid Wars
  • Hero Ban
  • All Random

• Team Deathmatch
  • Blind Ban

New Content

• New  Goldenveil EA Avatar:  Lurx

Before the Second Corruption, the citizens of Hope's Keep shuddered at the thought of the notorious cutpurse Lurx targeting them as they skittered home from services at the Cathedral of Hope or one of the city's numerous libraries. The infamous thief had confounded authorities for years, mocking them by robbing the elite of Hope's Keep and, more often than not, murdering them even though they hadn't seen his face or heard even a whisper from him. When the Hellbourne spewed forth from the Scar and reduced the glorious city to ash and corpses, Maliken Grimm spared Lurx, finding in him a highly capable and lethal assassin who could rob the Lord Commander's enemies of gold, precious relics, or their lives. "Spared" may be used loosely here -- Grimm allowed the corruption to take hold of Lurx and transform his body into a daemonic form that better represented his inner self, and increase the terror in his victims tenfold.

• New  Goldenveil Avatar:  Copperhead

The ruthless bandits who roam the Great Waste preying upon supply lines, merchants, and hapless travelers may puff their chests, brag about their fighting prowess, and bray about the lack of any real warriors to challenge them, but a closer examination will show their eyes shifting to the treetops and their voices dropping to a whisper whenever they pass through a shaded grove. For these are the hunting grounds of Copperhead, the desert vigilante who shows no mercy to those who target civilians to fill their purses. Should they -- or any other corrupted soul -- cross his path, their only real hope is that he is not interested in a fair fight and makes quick work of their demise.

8-Bit II

The electronic realm of Arcadia has been sealed away from the passage of time for decades due to a defensive shield coded by the Quarter Masters. This shield had kept them isolated and safe from the chaos of Newerth, until 8-Bit Kane accidentally sliced through the power cord during his headstrong rush through the shield to join the fray. Now all the characters of Arcadia are free to roam Newerth while the Quarter Masters duct-tape the cord, jostle consoles and blow into cartridges in a frantic attempt to reactivate the shield.

• New 8-Bit II  Bombardier Avatar:  Short Fuse Bomber

Short Fuse spent years trying to explode his way out of the endless mazes that trapped him in Arcadia, then stupid 8-Bit Kane accidentally set him free with that ridiculous sword of his. Well, now that this cantankerous demolitions master is free, he'll never be trapped again! Towers, trees, houses, basecamps -- they all need to be reduced to dust and pixels as quickly and loudly as possible. If any bystanders get caught in the blasts, too bad for them -- they were probably trying to fence him in again anyway.

• New 8-Bit II  Blitz Avatar:  Power-Up Blitz

It may take a while to get used to this top-down view, for Power-Up Blitz comes from the side-scrolling realm of Arcadia, but if there's one thing he's learned over the decades it's that speed overcomes all obstacles. Confronted by an unknown enemy? He goes fast. Teammates need help across the map? He goes faster. Spot some rings to collect? He goes so fast he bursts into flames. Those burns are mild compared to the blistering smack talk and wisecracks he slaps on everyone he cuts off, runs over, or sets afire, but hey -- the rings are worth it.

General

• New  Lodestone Avatar:  Tumbler

Tumbler has always dreamed of joining the circus and basking beneath the spotlights for the adoring crowd. But when he finally got the chance to make his dream come true, he found that the circus already had a soft, snuggly, adorable bear -- and this one had a gorgeous woman inside! How is he supposed to compete with that? With hard work and talent, that's how. So he mastered the art of balancing on a ball (pretty much), learned to play the double horn (reasonably well), and became Newerth's top umbrella artist (it's a thing). Now it's time to roll through the three rings playing masterpieces and show Goldie who the real circus bear is!

• New  Sand Wraith Avatar:  Storm Daughters

The Nine Kings of the Great Waste believed one could never be too rich, too powerful, or too ruthless. Perhaps the best example of this was their practice of identifying the Storm Daughters -- young girls among the Bedouin tribes who were gifted in the ways of sorcery -- and claiming them as soldiers for their barbaric armies. The Storm Daughters were trained to use their control of the weather to utterly destroy enemies of the Nine Kings, and the sand, dust, and thunderstorms they could summon were used to mask the looting of sacred sites and fallen castles. When the Storm Daughters could take no more death and refused to fight for the brutal kings, they were sacrificed on an altar built from the gold they had helped steal.
But the Nine Kings, so focused on victory in the mortal realm, did not consider the aftershocks of their heartlessness. As they passed, one by one, into the spirit realms, something waited for them. The Storm Wraith, an elemental being created from the vengeful souls of the Storm Daughters, stood ready to serve justice upon the Nine in whatever fashion would bring them the most misery. And now that they have all been released from All Hells, she hunts them across Newerth to ensure their reign of terror does not begin anew.

• New Name Color: Candy Cane
  • Share the sweet taste of victory with the Candy Cane Name Color!

Bug Fixes & Optimizations

Heroes

 Circe

• Twisted Visage now properly copies the Master's Legacy state from the target.

 Emerald Warden

• Staff of the Master effect only: Gawain, when spawned on  Circe, will now expire if  Circe successfully casts Twisted Visage.

 Midas

•  Sterling Midas' attack projectile's spawn position (relative to his hand) has been corrected.

 Moon Queen

•  Lunari and  Moon avatars can now properly toggle off Multi-Strike.