Version 4.1.0

Champions of Newerth (Season 3)

• Due to the general inflation of each player's Rank during the last Season, Rank compression will be heavier than normal this Season.
• The Rank growth has been adjusted to not be as geared towards progression, and will feature absolutely no progression outside of skill in the upper brackets.
• Win Streak bonuses will no longer be active in this Season.
• Players can now see whether they have won or lost a Placement Match in their Placement Match history progression bar.

Design

Hero Mastery

The third and final stage of the Hero Mastery system is now implemented into Heroes of Newerth!

Hero Mastery Rewards

• Individual Hero Mastery has been increased to LV15.
• Rewards will be given at each additional level.
• New Perks include:
  • LV13 will reward a new Emote Ability in game. You can use the Emote to show your best dance moves on the battlefield.
  • LV15 will upgrade your Hero Mastery border to the Epic Border.
  • LV15 will upgrade your Mastery Badge effect.
  • LV15 will upgrade your Teleport effect.

Overall Hero Mastery Rewards

• Overall Hero Mastery has been increased to LV100.
• Rewards will be given every 5 levels.
• New Perks include:
  • LV55, LV75 and LV95 will reward a new item, Super Boost.

Other Updates

Lunari the Moon Goddess

• When a player reaches LV15 with  Moon Queen, the Lunari avatar's visual effects upgrade to silver/gold versions! In addition, she gains:
  • Additional glowing effect on her weapon & wings.
  • Additional visual effects on her Multi-Strike attack projectiles.
  • Enhanced visual effects for her Moon Beam and Moon Finale.

Super Boost

• Super Boost can only be earned via the Mastery System.
• Each player will receive a free Super Boost upon launch of the update.
• Super Boost can only be used on LV1 & LV0 (Mastery level before match) Heroes. You can use the Super Boost before the next match to earn 9x bonus Mastery Experience.

Boost Bundles

• Mastery Boosts can now be purchased in a bundle of 10 Boosts.
• The Boost Bundle will offer a 10% total discount on the Boosts.

Gold Hero Bonus Experience Increase

• The Mastery XP Bonus per Gold Hero (LV10) has been increased to 10% from 5%.
• The maximum bonus is still 50%.

Mastery Ladder

• Show the top 1000 players on Mastery ranks with the Hero Mastery Ladder.

Facebook Streaming (BETA)

• Players will now be able to livestream their games to their Facebook!
• Choose to show off your skills to your friends in real time!
  • Note that there are some known issues (mouse flickering and most Facebook features are not supported).

UI Changes

• Players can now hold down the "Alt" key and left-click on various parts of the HUD to communicate key pieces of information to their teammates via Team Chat. These include (but are not limited to):
  • An ability on your hero (tells your teammates whether the ability is ready to be used or not, and indicates the reason why)
  • An item in your inventory (tells your teammates whether the item is ready to be used or not, and indicates the reason why)
  • An item in the item shop (tells your teammates whether you plan on buying an item and how much more gold you need to purchase it)
  • Enemy hero icon on the sidebar (tells your teammates respawn time if the hero is dead, or indicates that the specific hero is missing)
  • The selected unit's Health and Mana bar (tells your teammates your current Health or Mana correspondingly)
  • State bar icons (tells your teammates that you're affected by a particular state)
  • Current Gold (tells your teammates whether you have enough gold or not to buy back - this takes into consideration the gold loss on death if you are still alive when you do this)

• Players can now ping the minimap while the game is paused.

• Items can now be rearranged while the Automated Courier is in transit to your hero or to your Ally Well.
• New hotkeys have been added for controllable units:
  • F2: Selects all controllable units that you own.
  • F3: Selects all controllable non-hero units that you own.

• The HoN Tray Icon now flashes, brings the game window to the front, and plays a sound when the game is Unpaused.
• An extra row has been added to the Quickbuy section of the in-game Shop UI.
  • Default items in the row: Ward of Revelation, Dust of Revelation, Veiled Rot, Mana Battery, Marchers
  • These can be changed by the player if desired.

• Implemented a Cloud Save/Cloud Configuration feature.
  • Game settings and configurations can now be uploaded, saved and synced to the Cloud.

Backdoor Protection System

A Backdoor Protection System is now implemented in the game:

• Towers regenerate 75 Health per second while the Backdoor Protection System is active.
  • Only heals damage taken while the Backdoor Protection System is active.

• Backdoor Protection System is enabled after 15 seconds when no enemy lane creep/siege unit is in 1500 radius of the respective Tower.
• Backdoor Protection System is disabled when an enemy creep/catapult enters within 1500 of the respective Tower.
• Backdoor Protection System will not activate when taking damage from friendly units.

• Tier 1 Towers (outermost towers) are not affected by the Backdoor Protection System
• Tier 3 Towers and all other base buildings lose the benefits of the Backdoor Protection System if 1 of those Tier 3 Towers or base buildings have lost the Backdoor Protection.

General

• Gold per minute changed from 69 to 100.
  • This change also affects Mid Wars.

• Starting Gold decreased from 603 to 600.
• Default Max Movement Speed limit increased from 522 to 550.

• Shop detection radius for the Outposts increased from 500 to 600.
• The Ally Well now grants a bonus 150 Movement Speed for 2.5 seconds.
  • Dispels early if you travel too far from the Well.

Automated Courier

• Movement Speed towards your hero increased from 522 to 550
  • Time to destination decreased from 17 seconds to 15 seconds if the courier travels from Legion fountain to the middle of the river in the middle lane.
• Movement Speed towards your Well increased from 225 to 330
  • Time to destination decreased from 40 seconds to 28 seconds if the courier travels from Legion fountain to the middle of the river in the middle lane.

Hero Reworks

 Aluna

• Emerald Red
  • No longer has charges.
  • When activated, any ability cast within a 10 second timeframe is powered up (like they currently are, with the exception of Power Throw: see below).
  • Activating Emerald Red grants {0/1/2} charges of Power Throw. These instances of Power Throw are free to cast as long as Emerald Red is active.
    • Power Throw still has its current boosted properties when powered up by Emerald Red.

 Bramble

• Ability 1: Fungal Spit (Reworked)

Range: 1000

Mana Cost: 90/100/110/120

Cooldown: 11/10/9/8 seconds

• Target a location to launch a pod in a line, hitting all enemies and allies. Deals {70/125/180/235} Magic Damage to enemies while healing allies for {60/90/120/150}.

• Ability 2: Enhanced Shrubbery (Reworked)

Mana Cost: 60

Cooldown: 18 seconds

• Activate to leave a trail behind you for 6 seconds, granting yourself and allies {30/60/90/120} Movement Speed while they are on the trail.
  • Each part of the trail remains on the ground for 4 seconds after spawning.

• Abilty 3: Chomp! (Reworked)

Cooldown: 12/10/8/6 seconds

• When off cooldown, your attack Chomps the target, dealing {4/6/8/10}% of Bramble’s Max Health as bonus Magic Damage and putting the skill on cooldown.

• Entangling Vine Wall
  • Cooldown increased from 80/70/60 seconds to 120/100/80 seconds.
  • Attack Range of Vine Walls increased from 250 to 300.
  • Movement Speed Slow increased from 30/40/50% to 40/50/60%.
  • Attack Damage of Vine Walls increased from 10/20/30 to 15/30/45.

 Cthulhuphant

• Strength gain per level increased from 2.8 to 3.5.
• Trample
  • Mana Cost increased from 115 to 120.
  • Cooldown increased from 12 seconds to 15 seconds.
  • No longer stops when Cthulhuphant touches a cliff.
  • Magic Damage from launched non-hero units changed from 15/20/25/30 to 20.
  • Travel speed increased from 800 units per second to 1000 units per second.
• Obliterate (Reworked)

Range: 600

Radius: 200

Mana Cost: 90/100/110/120

Cooldown: 25 seconds

• Activate to shoot a pulse of water in front of Cthulhuphant every second for 4 seconds.
• Damage from each pulse starts at 30/40/50/60 Magic Damage and deals an additional {5/10/15/20} Magic Damage every second. Max total Magic Damage of {200/300/400/500}.
  • Can damage Siege units.

• Ability 3: Maddening Revenge (Reworked)
  • Whenever you take non-DoT Physical Damage, you deal Physical Damage to the attack equal to {20/30/40/50}% of Cthulhuphant’s Strength (3x for non-hero units).
• Dreams of Madness (Reworked)

Radius: 700

Mana Cost: 200

Cooldown: 140/120/100 seconds

• Activate to gain an aura for 6 seconds that applies a {20/30/40}% Movement Speed Slow to enemy units.
• Enemies units who look at you for a combined 2 seconds will go mad, attacking Cthulhuphant for 3 seconds.

Heroes

 Adrenaline

• Shard Blast (Renamed)
  • Fractures have been replaced with Ember Shards.
  • Ember Shards are illusions which have a distinctive look, take 400% of Damage, deal 10% of your Base Damage, have 1800 Attack Range but cannot move and only attack up to 3 times.
  • Ember Shards also have vision of the target they're attacking.
• Death's Halo
  • Cooldown increased from 80/70/60 seconds to 100/80/60 seconds.
  • Fractures have been replaced with Ember Shards.

 Bombardier

• Sticky Bomb
  • Magic Damage decreased from 100/180/260/340 to 75/150/225/300.

 Bubbles

• Shell Surf
  • Cooldown increased from 10 seconds to 12 seconds.
• Song of the Sea
  • Cooldown increased from 16/14/12/10 seconds to 18/16/14/12 seconds.

 Emerald Warden

• Overgrowth
  • Now displays a charge count that represents the number of Overgrowths currently placed.

 Forsaken Archer

• Attack Range decreased from 600 to 550.
• Crippling Volley
  • No longer uses a skeleton to cast Crippling Volley.
  • Now has a cast action time of 200ms and a cast time of 800ms.
  • Cooldown decreased from 18/16/14/12 seconds to 10 seconds at all levels.
  • Immobilize duration changed from 1/1.5/2/2.5 seconds to 1.5/1.75/2/2.25 seconds.
• Split Fire
  • Attack split count increased from 2/3/4/5 to 5 at all levels.
  • Attack Speed bonus increased from 10/15/20/25 to 15/20/25/30.
  • Now passively grants the Attack Speed bonus (rather than needing to toggle the Split Fire on).
  • No longer amplifies damage against Forsaken Archer by 15% when toggled on.
  • Split Fire attack range has been decreased from 650 to 600 (in conjunction with the general Attack Range reduction).
  • Split Fire's damage per shot decreased from 50/60/70/80% to 45/55/65/75% of your main shot.

 Klanx

• H.A.W.K.
  • No longer a passive ability. Instead, activate to grant him the bonuses of H.A.W.K. for {10/20/30/40 seconds}.

Mana Cost: 50

Cooldown: 10 seconds

• Movement Speed bonus increased from 0/5/10/15% to 5/10/15/20%.

• A.T.K. Drones
  • Cooldown increased from 60 seconds to 120/90/60 seconds.
  • The first Drone no longer deals 2x damage to non-Hero units.
  • The second Drone now deals 20 Magic Damage and applies a 20% Movement Speed Slow for 2 seconds.
  • The third Drone now deals 20% of your Base Damage as Magic Damage (instead of healing you based on your Base Damage).

 Magebane

• Flash
  • No longer grants Magic Armor to allies or self upon activation.
• Master of the Mantra
  • No longer deals Magic Damage when a nearby enemy hero casts a spell.
  • Now passively grants {3/6/9/12 Magic Armor} to Magebane.
• Mana Rift
  • Magic Damage is no longer dealt in an area around the target.
    • Now only deals Magic Damage to the main target.
  • Percentage of Missing Mana dealt as Magic Damage increased from 60/85/110% to 90/110/130%.

 Moon Queen

• Multi-Strike
  • Damage penalty per bounce increased from 20 to 25%.
• Lunar Glow
  • Bonus Base Damage lowered from 7/14/21/28% to 6/12/18/24%.
• Moon Finale
  • Movement Speed bonus decreased from 20/40/60 to 20/30/40.
  • Max number of times a target can be hit by Moon Finale decreased from 5 to 4.

 Nitro

• Ballistic
  • Damage to subsequently hit targets changed from 12/30/48/66/84% to 15/30/45/60/75%.
• Divide & Conquer
  • Movement Speed bonus for Nitro reduced from 0/20/30/40/50 to 0/10/20/30/40.
  •  Mauser: bonus Attack Damage received based on Nitro's level decreased from {1.5x Nitro's Level to 1.2x Nitro's Level}.

 Pollywog Priest

• Tongue Tied
  • Magic Damage per second increased from 40 to 40/50/60/70.
• Voodoo Wards
  • Wards now die in 2 hits instead of having {135/150/150 Health}.
  • No longer deals Splash Damage.
  • Attack Damage per Voodoo Ward increased from 40/55/70 to 40/70/100.

 Predator

• Stone Hide
  • Duration increased from 3/3.75/4.5/5.25 seconds to 4/5/6/7 seconds.
  • Cooldown lowered from 15 seconds to 14 seconds.
• Terror
  • Attack Speed bonus increased from 20/40/60 to 25/50/75.

 Puppet Master

• Puppet Show
  • Range decreased from 700 to 600.
• Voodoo Puppet
  • Amplified Magic Damage value changed from 160/180/200% to 140/160/180%.

 Pyromancer

• Phoenix Wave
  • Damage increased from 100/170/240/310 to 110/180/250/320.
  • Range increased from 600 to 900.
  • Travel distance increased from {600 to 900}.
• Dragonfire
  • Range increased from 600 to 625.
  • Stun duration increased from 1.6 to 1.6/1.9/2.2/2.5.
  • Damage reduced from 100/160/220/280 to 80/120/160/200.
• Fervor
  • Attack Speed per charge increased from 20/30/40/50 to 20/40/60/80.
  • Cast Speed increased from 10/20/30/40 to 20/40/60/80.
  • Burning Effect removed.
• Blazing Strike
  • Magic Damage lowered from 450/675/950 to 450/650/850.
  • Cooldown changed from 150/90/55 seconds to 100/80/60 seconds.

 Rampage

• Stampede
  • Cooldown increased from 15 seconds to 20 seconds.

 Ravenor

• Storm Blades
  • Now grants {20/40/60/80 Attack Speed}.
  • The state is now considered a Buff, making it able to be dispelled or transferred.

 Rhapsody

• Disco Inferno
  • Heal per second increased from 10/20/30/40 to 15/30/45/60.
• Arcane Hymn
  • Radius increased from 500 to Global.
  • Magic Armor Penetration decreased from 1/2/3/4 to 0.5/1/1.5/2.
  • Now grants {20/40/60/80 Cast Speed}.
  • No longer grants Magic Damage Lifesteal.

 Sir Benzington

• Joust
  • Cooldown changed from 14/12/10/8 seconds to 14 seconds.
  • Magic Damage reduced from 100/170/240/310 to 70/140/210/280.
• Lance-A-Long
  • Cooldown increased from 10 seconds to 14 seconds.

 Wretched Hag

• Haunt
  • Range decreased from 550 to 500.

Items

New Items

New Consumable Item: Rejuvenation Potion

• Consumable Item

Cost: 400 Gold

Cooldown: 300 seconds

• Upon use, restores 1200 Health and 900 Mana over 20 seconds. Dispels when damaged by a non-Lane-Creep unit.
  • Also sold at the Observatory.

New Supportive item: Sand Scepter

• Recipe: Luminous Prism (1500) + Amulet of Exile (465) + Recipe (600) = 2565 Gold Total
• Passively gives: +5 Strength, +5 Agility, +25 Intelligence
• Active: Target an ally or self to dispel Debuffs, or target an enemy to dispel their buffs and immobilize them for 2 seconds. Enemies are also Revealed and Sighted for the duration.
  • Action Type: Target Entity

Range: 700

Mana Cost: 60

Cooldown: 20 seconds

General

• Removed the concept of Attack Modifiers from the game. You may now mix and match previously unique attack modifiers together. For example, a Shieldbreaker and Frostwolf's Skull will now work together.
  • Hungry Spirit, Whispering Helm, Symbol of Rage and Elder Parasite (new) are now Lifesteal Modifiers, which do not stack with themselves.
  • Icebrand, Frozen Light, Frostburn, Dawnbringer and Frostwolf's Skull are now Freeze Modifiers, which do not stack with themselves.

Abyssal Skull

• Trinket of Restoration removed from the recipe.
• Recipe cost increased from {300 Gold to 600 Gold}.
  • Total recipe cost reduced from {2050 Gold to 2000 Gold}.
• Aura Base Damage bonus increased from 12% to 15%.
• No longer grants 2 Health Regeneration.

Alchemist's Bones

• Mana Cost reduced from 25 to 0.

Arclight Crown

• Lightning visuals and icon have been recoloured to a red colour.

Assassin's Shroud

• Mana Cost reduced from 75 to 50.

Astrolabe

• No longer restores 200 Health instantly.
  • Instead, now restores 150 Health instantly and another 100 Health over 10 seconds.
• No longer applies a cooldown state to affected allies (which also restored 75 health over 25 seconds).

Barbed Armor

• Recipe changed from: Broadsword (1200) + Apprentice's Robe (450) + Ringmail (550) = 2200 Gold Total to:
• New: Punchdagger (500) + 2x Bolstering Armband (450) + Recipe (600) = 2000 Gold Total.
• Now passively gives: +15 Damage, +15 Strength.
• Can no longer be disassembled.

Barrier Idol

• Moved from the Supportive section to the Protective section of the item shop.
• Refreshing Ornament is replaced with a Major Totem in the recipe.
  • Total cost reduced from {3578 Gold to 3515 Gold}.
• Passive bonus Stats increased from +2/+5/+2 to +5 to all Stats.
• No longer grants a Health Regeneration aura.
• Now also passively grants 30% Debuff and Stun duration reduction.
• Mana Cost reduced from 100 to 50.

Brutalizer

• Mighty Blade is replaced with a Bolstering Armband in the recipe.
• Strength bonus reduced from 10 to 8.
• Recipe cost increased from {300 Gold to 800 Gold}.
  • Total cost reduced from {3500 Gold to 3450 Gold}.

Daemonic Breastplate

• Cooldown reduced from 10 seconds to 1 second.

Elder Parasite

• Lifetube has been replaced with a Hungry Spirit in the recipe.
• Recipe cost reduced from {625 Gold to 600 Gold}.
  • Total cost remains unchanged (2000 Gold).
• No longer gives 5 Health Regeneration.
• Now gives +10% Lifesteal.
  • Lifesteal modifier.
• “Crazed” buff's Lifesteal reduced from 25% to 20%.

Energizer

• Bonus Movement Speed now tapers from 75 -> 0 (instead of 75 -> 25).
• Duration increased from 6 seconds to 10 seconds.
• No longer applies a cooldown state to affected allies.
• Mana Cost reduced from 75 to 25.

Firebrand and items it builds into

• Movement Speed bonus increased from 6/8/10% to 8/10/12%.

Frostwolf's Skull

• Mana Cost reduced from 100 to 50.

Genjuro

• Mana Cost reduced from 75 to 50.

Geometer's Bane

• Movement Speed bonus increased from 8% to 10%.
• Mana Cost reduced from 165 to 50.

Ghost Marchers

• Movement Speed bonus on the buff state increased from 8% to 10%.

Health Potion

• Now only dispels when damaged by a non-Lane-Creep unit.
• Cooldown reduced from 120 seconds to 90 seconds.

Logger's Hatchet

• Cast time decreased from 200ms to 0ms.

Luminous Prism

• Cost reduced from {1650 Gold to 1500 Gold}.
• Intelligence bonus decreased from 16 to 15.

Mana Potion

• Now only dispels when damaged by a non-Lane-Creep unit.

Merrick's Bounty

• Now has an active effect which consumes all the charges for their Gold value.
  • Same effect as if you killed a creep.
• Gold per charge increased from 9 to 10.
• No longer automatically gains 1 charge whenever coming off cooldown.

Minor Totem

• Cost decreased from {53 Gold to 50 Gold}.

Nullfire Blade

• No longer able to purge yourself.

Plated Greaves

• Buff duration increased from 30 to 60 seconds.
• Hero Armor bonus from the buff state (3) and non-hero buff base damage bonus (20%) are now both doubled (6 & 40%) for the first 10 seconds of the effect.
• Mana Cost reduced from 10 to 0.

Post Haste

• Mana Cost reduced from 75 to 50.

Pretender's Crown

• Cost decreased from {185 Gold to 165 Gold}.

Restoration Stone

• Bonus Mana Regeneration increased from 150% to 200%.

Ring of Sorcery

• No longer applies a cooldown state to affected allies.

Sacrificial Stone

• Buff duration increased from 45 to 60 seconds.
• Armor bonus from the buff state (3) is now doubled (6) for the first 10 seconds of the effect.

Savage Mace

• Physical proc Damage increased from 120 to 140.

Shaman's Headdress

• Bonus Health Regeneration increased from 9 to 10.
• Now also passively grants 15% Debuff and Stun duration reduction.

Shieldbreaker

• Damage decreased from 40/50/60 to 35/45/55.
• Armor Reduction decreased from 3/5/7 to 2/4/6.
• Max number of Armor Reduction against buildings and gadgets decreased from 8 to 6.

Shield of the Five

• Armor bonus from the buff state (3) is now doubled (6) for the first 10 seconds of the effect.

Shrunken Head

• Duration reduced from 10 to 7 seconds.
• Cooldown reduced from 80 to 65 seconds.
• No longer loses duration and cooldown with every use.

Snake Bracelet

• Cost reduced from 1800 to 1100.

Sol's Bulwark

• Cooldown reduced from 10 seconds to 1 second.

Sorcery Boots

• No longer applies a cooldown state to affected allies.

Spell Sunder

• Damage per second reduced from [5 + 5% of current Health] to [5% of current Health].
• Debuff now reduces Health Regeneration by 50%.

Spiked Bola

• Mana Cost reduced from 75 to 0.

Tablet of Command

• Bonus armor increased from 2 to 3.

Veiled Rot

• Movement Speed Bonus increased from 15% to 20%.

Whispering Helm

• Lifesteal reduced from 20% to 15%.
• No longer grants the dominated creep 50 Movement Speed.
• Instead, now grants the dominated creep a bonus of 25% of your Damage and Movement Speed.
• Mana Cost reduced from 75 to 25.

Wingbow

• Recipe changed to include another Steamstaff.
  • Full recipe is now: Dancing Blade + Snake Bracelet + 2x Steamstaff.
• Total cost increased from 5800 to 5900.

Community

HoNiversary 2017

• With another year in the books, Newerth celebrates its 7th Anniversary!
  • From bonus gold sales to silver multipliers, HoNiversary is guaranteed to highlight the best of Newerth.
  • For more information on the event, check the HoN forums and social media.

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
  • Blind Ban
  • All Random
• Rift Wars
  • Shuffle Pick

New Content

Silver Coin

• New Silver Coin  Parasite Avatar:  Nuclear Parasite

As the arrival of Apex and his soldiers threatens all of Newerth, the previously unknown sub-levels of All Hells continue to crack open and spew their filth across the landscape. And as if the parasitic abominations growing within the black, primordial cesspools weren't bad enough, the sludge that leaked from that crevice wormed its way through the depths of the cursed realms until it congealed within a nuclear waste storage facility, long-since buried and forgotten by the Lost Civilization. The horror that evolved there is beyond a mutated parasite -- it is an entirely new form of daemonic creature whose body is constantly consumed by the radiation simmering within every cell of its being, driving it to drain the life from everything it encounters in order to replace its dying flesh.

Plushies and Misfits

War has touched every inch of this magical land, and not even the Illuminated Orphanage is safe. Within the high, clean walls maintained by the Sacred Order of Arasunia, a constant battle rages for dominion over one of the most highly contested plots in all of Newerth – the toddler's playroom. Divided by a river of blankies and soiled diapers, the romping area has opposite corners claimed by two factions: the Plushies, adorably soft and cuddly dolls, and the Misfits, unsettling and dangerous toys tainted by the echo of evil left behind by Jaru the Corrupted Disciple. The Plushies find haven in the Nursery Corner, from where they strive to protect the orphans and Sisters within the orphanage, while the Misfits dwell across the room in the Cursery Corner, plotting to overtake the entire campus. Let the stuffing fly!

• New Plushies and Misfits  Cthulhuphant Avatar:  Plushie Cthulu

Everything is rainbows, sunshine, and adorable stuffed animals for Plushie Cthulu -- and we mean everything. Whether a child is sobbing from a disturbing nightmare or a Sister is weeping because a certain green, winged Misfit keeps stomping through naptime, Plushie Cthulu is there to cheer them up with an endless supply of delightful rainbows and cuddly lovies. As an added bonus, Misfit Cthulu absolutely cannot stand anything bright, colorful, and adorable, and these keep him away while the children sleep and the Sisters get some well-deserved rest.

• New Plushies and Misfits  Cthulhuphant Avatar:  Misfit Cthulu

The Misfit Cthulu doll is reviled among the Sisters of the Illuminated Orphanage because of the havoc he wreaks upon the most sacred hours of the day -- naptime. When the rowdy children finally settle onto their blankets and pillows for a brief period of peace and quiet, Misfit Cthulu waits, waits, waits...then tramples through the dozing kids, spreading terrifying nightmares and obliterating any chance for the Sisters to take a little time for themselves. Once everyone is awake and screaming, Misfit Cthulu waddles away, cackling and looking forward to the setting sun, when he can ruin even more sleep and dreams. The only thing that will keep him away is his disgust for anything bright, colorful, and adorable, but the other Misfits will happily destroy those barrier so he can continue his destruction. It's a recipe for true madness.

• New Plushies and Misfits  Pestilence Avatar:  Plushie Pesti

Plushie Pesti loves to help with Arts & Crafts time, and he carries a bottomless supply of buttons and yarn to help the children create their masterpieces. When the artwork is done, he soars around the playroom with his swarm of flying yarn balls to make sure the glorious treasures of creativity are hung high for all to see! Should anyone -- Misfits in particular -- dare to interfere with the wonderful Art & Crafts time or the childrens' creations, Plushie Pesti is ready and willing to attack and turn his helpful swarm into an aggressive, stinging cloud. Feel the rope burn and beware the buttons, Misfits!

• New Plushies and Misfits  Pestilence Avatar:  Misfit Pesti

Arts & Crafts is a wonderful time for the children and Sisters of the Illuminated Orphanage, when everyone gets to play with paper, glue, fabric, and paint to create pure expressions of joy. The children feel immense pride as their works of art are hung on the walls of the playroom for all to see. But "all" includes Misfit Pesti, who lurks in the shadows, waiting for his chance to scuttle out, unsheath his wickedly sharp scissors, and ruthlessly shred every last painting, drawing, and collage. This stinkbug of a stuffed animal doesn't just use his snippers on paper though -- he also loves to create his own artwork by cutting the adorable Plushies into ribbons and leaving a pile of cloth and stuffing behind for the children and Sisters to discover. They don't understand his art, but that just exposes their lack of sophistication and appreciation for nuance. Stupid kids.

General

• New  Aluna Avatar:  The Emerald Princess

he emerald mines of Fuathmoor along the western base of the Iron Mountains used to be a focal point for war because of the massive financial value of the countless gems hidden within the caverns. These days, the magical and devastating powers of the now-priceless emeralds bring looters, scavengers, even entire armies to the northern villages to steal the crystals from the people who have protected them from before Man's Fall from Light. Their leader, known as The Emerald Princess for her stunning beauty, hardened soul, and razor-sharp edges, will gladly give her life to protect her people and the mines, but she'd much rather make the Fenwater turn from green to red as it fills with the invaders' blood.

• New  Forsaken Archer Avatar:  Forsaken Siren

The Forsaken Siren’s call is hauntingly beautiful, and countless fishermen have heard it and felt the irresistible compulsion to throw themselves into the crashing waves just to get closer. Both breathtakingly alluring and chillingly ugly, she sits astride an equally fearsome mount; a freakish variant of a once-elegant creature known as the Hippocampus. Armed with her gigantic bow and arrows that could put the greatest siege machines to shame, the dyad tear themselves from the sea and into the night, the chilling song heard for miles around.

• New  Legionnaire Avatar:  Maritime Legionnaire

The Maritime Legionnaires are a fierce lot indeed, banished from Legion soil for fighting higher-ranking officers, disobeying orders, and insulting royalty, among other crimes. Given the choice between the noose and serving aboard the ships of the Legion Armada, some opt for a quick death, for the warships are infamous for monstrous rats, rampant disease, and constant clashes with pirates and water daemons, not to mention the bottomless Maw and whatever manages to crawl out of it. But the Legionnaires who embrace this life and thrive amid the chaos are among the most dangerous men of any army, land or sea, and when they swarm over the gunwales with their wicked boarding axes swinging, the planks and seas quickly run red.

Bug Fixes & Optimizations

General

• Forests of Caldavar: The area with the Legion high cliff ward spot by the hard bottom-left neutral camp has been adjusted so that Wards placed by the Legion team has the possibility of not blocking their own hard neutral camp.
• An enemy hero's inventory will now persist on the scoreboard when they move into fog, but the inventory for enemy heroes will not update on the scoreboard for your team until you have vision of them again.
• The limit for Max Charges has been increased from 127 to 999.
  • This change reduces truncation to values like damage or movement speed per charge in select corner cases.
• Units will now be able to properly damage Kongor even when they are standing at the inner corners of Kongor's lair.

• The following abilities can no longer be acquired in Rift Wars:
  •  Adrenaline's Shard Blast
  •  Rampage's Tough Hide
  •  Maliken's Sword of the Damned

Heroes

 Magmus

•  Chocolate Magmousse's Eruption now plays the proper voice line when Staff of the Master is in your inventory.

 Maliken

• Switching stances via Sword of the Damned will no longer give charges to Mana Battery and Power Supply.

 Night Hound

•  Catnip Night Hound's bones are now positioned correctly.

 Witch Slayer

•  Hunter Witch Slayer's gun on his back will now glow properly when Staff of the Master is in your inventory.

Items

• Ring of the Teacher, Abyssal Skull and Nome's Wisdom will now properly display their Armor value in the Heads Up Display (HUD).
  • Mechanically, this was working fine while the display bug was active, i.e. the Armor was properly given regardless of what the HUD was showing.