v0.99, v0.99b, and v0.99c Changelogs

Changelog for v0.99

Gameplay:
* added new hero: Tauren Chieftain (High Elf)
* completely remade Shadow Priest
* added an innate ability to Afflictor: Shadow Bolt (1.1 sec cast time, deals damage equal to 100 + 2x int, costs 17% max mana)
* replaced Spirit Watcher's Reincarnation ability with Empowered Spirit (increases mana regeneration, improves Spirit's Rain of Fire damage, and causes spawned Spirit to have the Renew ability)
* replaced Footman Cold Sword ability with Shield Slam (causes damage, silences, and slows)
* widened the Undead outpost path terrain a bit
* removed teleporter cooldowns (this made Only-Mid mode very one sided as only one person could teleport in at a time against an entire team)
* cut Outpost teleporter gold costs in half
* improved Outpost towers' attack damage significantly
* moved bottom lane level 1 High Elf tower a bit
* reduced lane creeps' armor values slightly
* Mountain King's Counter Slam now does not activate from illusion attacks

Fixes:
* fixed a minor crash bug
* fixed a Demonic Charge bug
* fixed a bug with Conjurer teleporting with orbs
* fixed Thief Rage to work correctly
* fixed Ether Burst to deal the correct damage to low hp heroes
* fixed an abuse with Midas Touch and Assassin's Blade
* fixed a camera movement inconsistency after selecting a hero
* fixed Blood Sphere and Feral Soul sell costs
* fixed Mana Disruption damage
* fixed Stratoblast buff icon
* fixed Blood Pact, Burning Wave, and Demon Morph typos
* fixed typos on Medallion of Courage, Helm of Valor, and Hood of Cunning

Balancing:
* Abomination - nerfed Regurgitate stun duration to 1 second
* Archmage - nerfed stats slightly
* Archmage - increased Mind Blast cooldown to 14
* Archmage - improved Teleport cooldown to 50/40/30/20/10 seconds; increased cast time to 3.5 seconds
* Blood Fiend - Bloodthirst now heals 1% max life on attacks in addition to increasing movespeed; increased aoe to 1500
* Conjurer - hero kills now grant +4 life orbs
* Conjurer - reduced Conjure Potion cooldown to 25/19/13/7/1 seconds
* Death Knight - changed Lich King's Pact to reduce 40/50/60/70% damage when below 35% hp
* Doom Guard - reduced strength growth from +3.3 to +2.8 per level
* Doom Guard - lowered Demonic Charge damage to 100/125/150/175/200
* Earth Revenant - increased Hurl Boulder cooldown to 12 seconds and reduced damage to 100/150/200/250/300
* Earth Revenant - lowered Earth Blast damage to 100/150/200/250/300
* Earth Revenant - reduced Aura of Might damage bonus to 6/12/18/24/30%
* Earth Revenant - improved Earthen Presence damage bonus to 100/150/200/250; improved half-damage aoe to 500
* Eredar Diabolist - improved Demonic Curse ministun duration to .5 sec
* Eredar Diabolist - allowed Infiltrate to drain a slight amount of hitpoints (20/25/30/35/40 hp per sec)
* Faceless Terror - nerfed Faceless Strike bonus damage to 20/40/60/80/100, changed mana cost to 100/115/130/145/160 and cast range to 700
* Faceless Terror - changed Incredible Reflexes attack speed bonus to 5/10/15/20/25%
* Faceless Terror - lowered Pummel chance to 10/13/16/19/22% and bonus damage to 30
* Faceless Terror - reduced Doom duration to 5/6/7/8
* Footman - improved Rage damage to 3/5/7/9/11% missing hp
* Footman - improved War Cry bonus stats to 16/24/32/40
* Gargoyle - increased Sonic Blast cooldown to 11 seconds
* Grunt - reduced Beserker Strength bonus to 5/10/15/20/25 bonus str
* Harpy Stormwitch - improved Cyclone base attack time to 1 second
* Hematologist - lowered Hyperventilate armor reduction to 5 and movespeed bonus to 50%, increased cooldown to 14
* Hematologist - reduced Coagulation life regeneration bonus to 2/3/4/5/6 hp per sec
* Hematologist - nerfed Blood Transfusion to 150/225/300/375 health transferred and reduced mana cost to 200/300/400/500
* Holy Priest - Divine Intervention now removes all debuffs in addition to granting invulnerability
* Hydra Hatchling - reduced Hydra Split duration to 20 and cooldown to 120, lowered bounty on each Hydra to 30; changed one of the Hydras into an Hydra Elder with additional abilities
* Hypnotist - buffed Mass Replica damage output to 20%
* Huntress - allowed Sentinel sight range to remain constant at 1200; its mana cost scales 100/80/60/40/20
* Illusionist - increased Phantom Strike chance to 10/12/14/16/18%; made illusions unable to proc illusions
* Kobold Digger - reduced Bash chance to 10/15/20/25%
* Kodo Rider - reduced War Drums damage bonus to 5/10/15/20/25%
* Marksman - lowered starting stats slightly
* Merchant - lowered Steal stun duration to 1 second
* Mountain Giant - improved Tree Smash to last 2 attacks
* Mountain King - lowered Counter Slam damage to 50/65/80/95/110
* Nerubian Lord - increased Web aoe to 350
* Ogre Fighter - lowered starting strength and strength growth significantly; improved agility slightly
* Pit Lord - lowered Brute Force strength bonus to 5/10/15/20/25
* Raider - rebalanced stats (lowered str by .3/level and agi by .5/level, increased int by .3/level; lowered starting str by 2 and increased starting int by 2)
* Reaper - increased Dark Bolt cooldown to 12, reduced stun to 1/1.25/1.5/1.75/2 sec, changed damage to 100/140/180/220/260
* Reaper - nerfed Zombie armor to 2 constant; increased Summon Zombies cooldown to 40 seconds
* Reaper - lowered Crippling Void duration to 5 seconds
* Sludge King - nerfed starting strength and strength growth; increased agi and int slightly
* Shadow Hunter - reduced Red Lightning dmg/heal to 100/160/220/280/340
* Shadow Hunter - reduced Hex duration to 1/1.75/2.5/3.25/4 seconds
* Shadow Lich - lowered Death and Decay cooldown to 16; lowered its structure damage factor to 25%
* Spider - improved base strength from 16 to 20
* Spirit Watcher - nerfed Ancestral Shield duration to 1/1.5/2/2.5/3
* Time Keeper - increased Time Bomb cooldown to 12 seconds
* Void Walker - lowered Void Blast damage to 50/100/150/200/250, changed cooldown to 15 flat and mana cost to 100/125/150/175/200
* Void Walker - increased Energy Absorption cooldown to 45/40/35/30/25, lowered mana cost 100 constant
* Void Walker - nerfed Vortex max duration to 5 seconds flat, increased mana cost to 400/600/800/1000 and cooldown to 180
* Witch Doctor - reduced Curse of Weakening duration to 5 seconds
* Witch Doctor - nerfed Voodoo Ward hp to 200/300/400/500 and armor to 2/4/6/8

Items:
* added 3 new items: Axe of Might, Sorcerer Robe, Vacuum Wand
* removed Shield of Honor, Killmaim, and Killmaim II
* moved Blade of the Monkey and Mask of the Vampire to the Armory
* nerfed Essence of Aszune/Heart of Searinox/Soul Core series: lowered life bonus, str bonus, and heal on each; Essence of Aszune now does not require Ring of Regeneration and costs 700 to combine; Heart of Searinox costs 1400 to combine
* lowered Curve Bow/Wind Bow stuns to .1/.25/.5/1
* reduced Healing Salve cost to 65
* reduced Lesser Clarity Potion cost to 35
* Blood Sphere - nerfed fixed steal to 7/14/21/28/35/42 life
* Feral Soul - improved damage bonus to 30/52/69/82/92/99
* Paralysis Prism - changed bonus damage to 30 constant
* Gloves of Magic - nerfed duration to 2 seconds
* Crown of Kings II is now Golden Crown

Others:
* added new icons for Battle Roar, Bloodthirst, Coagulation, Hemorrhage, Natural Concealment, Piercing Shot, Rifle Upgrade, Sentinel, Vital Reversal
* added animation to Holy Shock's periodic damage
* changed Marksman attack projectile to the original Charged Shot projectile; changed Charged Shot projectile to old Goblin Sapper attack projectile
* added new Fountain attack animation
* added new Gunner model
* renamed Footman to Warrior
* changed Shadow Priest's proper name to Horror (from Dark Horror)
* reverted Desert Advocate's skin to default
* reverted Ghost model and skin to non-custom
* allowed Firelord's Burning Wave to burn down trees
* renamed Banshee's Shadow Rip to Soul Tear

Development Notes:

The newly added hero, Cairne the Tauren Chieftain, is a powerful melee damage dealer and tank. Its primary ability, War Stomp, stuns nearby units and damages them, and also gives the Chieftain a short strength boost. Its Pound ability causes single target damage and ministuns, with a very short cooldown and low mana cost, although it can only work at melee range. Cairne also can summon a Earthspring Totem that increases armor and heals life and mana like a fountain for a short duration. His ultimate, Reincarnation, allows the Chieftain to come back to life when he runs out of hitpoints; this has a fairly long cooldown.

Also, the Shadow Priest was completetly revamped with 4 all-new abilities. It is now modified off the Shadow tree spells from the World of Warcraft Priest. Mind Flay is a channeling ability that slows a target and drains its life. Devouring Plague deals damage over time and heals the Shadow Priest for a portion of the damage inflicted; it also causes a slight slowing effect. Vampiric Touch causes damage over time to a target and restores mana to any allied hero for a proportion of any damage the target suffers for a duration. Finally, Dispersion allows the Shadow Priest to resist all physical damage and heal from spell damage. Overall, the new Shadow Priest is a powerful support caster with great survivability.

The Afflictor gained the Shadow Bolt innate ability, which is special in that it has no cooldown but a decent cast time. In addition, the Spirit Watcher's Reincarnation and the Footman's Cold Sword abilities were replaced by Empowered Spirit and Shield Smash respectively. Numerous balances and fixes occurred.

Three new items were introduced as well. The Axe of Might is a powerful weapon that adds strength and damage, and also grants a splashing attack for melee heroes. Part of its damage bonus scales with the base damage of the hero, making it a fearsome item for late game.

The other two items were made for intelligence heroes. The Sorcerer Robe is an enchanted robe that adds intelligence, mana, mana regeneration, and armor. It also grants the passive Invocation ability, which increases the damage of single-target abilities by 100. This effect only works on intelligence heroes. Also, targeting allies will result in a +100 heal.

Finally, the Vacuum Wand is a utility item that also has potent combat value. It lowers nearby enemies' armor and mana regeneration, and adds a slight amount of damage. It can be actively used to restore a sizable chunk of mana, although this effect dispels upon taking damage, similarly to the Clarity Potion.

Changelog for v0.99b

Gameplay:
* replaced Shadow Priest's Devouring Plague with Mind Blast (causes aoe damage and stuns)
* replaced Archmage's Mind Blast with Arcane Blast (causes aoe damage and increases int temporarily)
* replaced Marksman's Rifle Upgrade with Silencing Shot (causes damage and silences the target; increases Marksman's attack damage temporarily)

Fixes:
* fixed Vacuum Wand disabled icon
* fixed Far Seer and Tauren Chieftain scorescreen icons

Balancing:
* Afflictor: changed Shadow Bolt damage to 2.5x int
* Afflictor: reduced Corruption base damage to 90/160/230/300/370
* Afflictor: reduced Curse of Agony base damage to 90/150/225/315/420
* Arcane Wizard: increased Arcane Channeling cooldown to 45/40/35/30/25, reduced mana cost to 50
* Tauren Chieftain: changed Pound mana cost to 60/50/40/30/20

Changelog for v0.99c

Fixes:
* fixed a minor item exploit
* fixed Archmage and Shadow Priest hotkeys