How to watch old Dota replays

Frozen Throne only allows you to watch replays played under the current patch, which is very restricting considering there is a new patch every few months.  So if you want to watch old Dota replays, you have to re-install Warcraft 3 and Frozen Throne, then patch to the correct old version in order to watch the replay.  There is an easier way to watch old replays, but you still need to have the old patches and Dota maps available.  First, download Ever-Craft here (original link is missing): http://warcraft.ingame.de/downloads/?file=27187

What is Ever-Craft?  It lets you change between B.net patches without having to re-install Warcraft 3 and Frozen Throne each time.  Read more here: http://www.wcreplays.com/scene.php?get=126

Download old Battle.net patches from the Blizzard ftp site here: http://ftp.blizzard.com/pub/

The date of each patch is indicated in the ftp list.  Compare with the date created on your replay to figure out which patch you need.  You can also load replays into Ever-Craft and it will tell you which patch version they are for.

Download old Dota maps here (goes back to to version 6.48 from 06/23/2008): http://www.getdota.com/map_archive/map/249/lang/en

If you need older Dota maps, search Google.

Also thanks to this post for more help:

Alright, for those of you getting this run time 53 error read here:

I DL’d the program, trying to view the awesome match up of grubby vs Zacard – http://www.wcreplays.com/replays.php?get=7407&lc=true – but couldn’t get the program to switch to the other version. SO, here’s what I did:

1) use ever craft to back up
2) download patch (blah blah) do all that crap the read me says
3) switch to any version – for some reason it defaults to 1.13 or something – at which point it gives you an error. You EXPECT the program to switch to the version you want, but it just screws it all up.
4) after that, run the stand alone patch by double clicking it – NOT THROUGH EVER CRAFT

Some of these programs and methods are ancient and barely working, but I tested the above method 2/12/2010 and it works!

Dota Guide to properly using Urn of Shadows

Urn Of Shadows

+50% mana regeneration
+6 Strength
Soul Release (active):

»»Can expend one charge to target an allied or enemy hero
»»If an ally is targeted, it is healed for 400 HP over 8 seconds (this effect ends if the hero takes damage from a source other than Sentinel or Scourge creeps)
»»If an enemy is targeted, it takes 200 damage over 8 seconds
»»Has a 10 second cooldown, and 950 cast range

Description :

Whenever an enemy hero dies within 1425 AoE, gains 2 charges if it has 0 charges, else gains 1 charge (each death can only charge one of these items, if two or more heroes in the AoE have this item, only one will be charged)

Recipe (875 Gold):

Sobi Mask (325 Gold)

2x Gauntlets of Ogre Strength (150 Gold each, 300 Gold total)

Recipe for Urn of Shadows (250 Gold)

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Explanation:

So basically this nifty little addition is obviously meant for support/gankers.  It adds a small dose of health to a hero from the +6 STR and also a small mana regen, but decent for the cost (remember, a void stone also costs 875 Gold & gives 50% mana regen).  There’s also the fact that you can heal yourself or allies, or damage an enemy hero.

Remember to get ONE per team, as a kill will only give a charge to one hero if two or more in the vicinity have an Urn

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Soul Release Mechanics:

Basically it works like bloodstone, except for a nearby kill when you have 0 charges & gain 2, you gain one charge per kill in a 1425 AOE, which is fairly decent, about a screenlength.

Now if you have a charge in your Urn of Shadows you can choose to heal an ally or yourself for 400hp over 8 seconds, which amounts to 50hp/sec.  However the kicker is that it works much like a flask but restricted to hero damage, that is if the unit being healed takes damage from an enemy hero unit, the heal will nullify.

*NOTE THAT IN V6.65 NEUTRAL CREEPS ALSO CANCEL URN OF SHADOWS HEAL, DO NOT KNOW IF INTENTIONAL*

On the opposite side of the coin, you can damage an enemy unit for 200hp over 8 seconds as well, which amounts to 25hp/sec.  This can be very very useful, to finish off a hero that would otherwise be able to escape, to disable Blink Dagger etc.  any damage is good damage.  It’s a great trade-off if you are able to kill a hero with Urn’s Soul Release, you get gold/xp and the charge that was used is obtained again assuming the unit is still in 1425 range.

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Who to get it on & Why?

Ideally it is best to get it on gankers who tend to roam early-game and amass assists/kills to create an advantage for their team in the early stages of the game.  Think about it, as a carry hero if you get a kill or an assist on an opposition thats extra gold, and if you are in the vicinity then XP as well.  On top of that the opposing hero is dead for at least one creep wave meaning you have less of a trouble for farming and they are denied XP which is vital to early game.  There’s also the fact that if you are damaged that your ally ganking with the Urn can heal you with one of the charges, and if previously had none, still has one to heal themselves or go off to gank with another piece of arsenal at their disposal.

Heroes:

Rylai Cresftall; Crystal Maiden

Low health, adds a bit of mana regen allowing for instant max of Brill Aura

Lina Inverse; Slayer

Low health again, mana regen when roaming for ganks with her two strong spells

Zeus; Lord of Olympia

Low health, massive DPS & killing capability with bolt makes charge obtaining easy

Lion; Demon Witch

Low Health, mana regen allows for dual disables early game instead of mana drain

Shendelzare Silkwood; Vengeful Spirit

Low health, often used as a roam hero, mana regen allows for more roaming earlier

Obviously there are more heroes that Urn of Shadows is good on but I’m going to leave it at that.

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Who to NOT get it on & Why?

Despite what most pubs are doing right now, getting it on support heroes is not the best idea.  Why? Most support heroes lack an ability essentially disable a hero or to cause enough damage without two or more allies to another hero, thus making it extremely frustrating and hard to gain charges to use Soul Release.

Demnok Lannik; Warlock

Has enough health, Soul Release is a weaker last word & unless solo, rarely gains enough damage to overpower enemies early.

Dazzle; Shadow Priest

As a babysit hero, you are better off getting better support items, like Mekansm & Pipe.

Ezalor; Keeper of the Light

As a support hero with a slow that is mediocre at best without the DPS to make an opponent run it’s better to go support items

Dota Ancient Apparition Hero Guide

Ancient Apparition

Kaldr the Ancient Apparition is a new ranged Intelligence hero in Dota version 6.55.  Another winter-themed hero, Kaldr’s spells and effects look just like those of Crystal Maiden and Lich, though the hero plays a lot more like Invoker.  Here is a closer look at Ancient Apparition’s stats and abilities:

Stats

Range: 600
Movement Speed: 295
Hero Type: Intelligence

Agility: 20 + 2.2
Strength: 18 + 1.4
Intelligence: 25 + 2.6

Cold Feet (c)

The Apparition curses his foes with The Frozen Mark which will freeze enemies to the ground. Unless target enemy moves at least 740 away from the mark within 4 seconds he is frozen still.

Damage per second: 37.5/50/62.5/75
Stun duration if triggered: 1.25/2/2.75/3.5

Cooldown: 15/13/11/9
Manacost: 90

Note: Target takes damage per second until he is stunned or moves out of range.

Cold Feet forces the target unit to run by freezing him to the ground unless he quickly gets far from the area.  This is best used in combination with Ice Vortex, which slows an area and prevents units from escaping in time  The result of Cold Feet is something just like Crystal Maiden’s Frostbite ability:

Ice Vortex (e)

Gathers ancient frost energy into one area to create a small, immobile ice vortex at a location. Whenever enemies are near it, their movement speed and magical resistance are reduced.

Movement Reduction: 18/22/26/30
Magic Resistance: -10/15/20/25
AOE: 275

Duration: 12
Cooldown: 6
Manacost: 80/90/100/110

As mentioned above, Ice Vortex’s slow works well with the Cold Feet ability to set up an immobilizing freeze.  The other part of this spell, which reduces magic resistance, is a great compliment to Ancient Apparition’s third ability, Chilling Touch, which adds magic damage to allied heroes’ attacks.

Chilling Touch (g)
Releases a gust of cold wind at a target area, enchanting allied heroes with bonus magical damage on their attacks. Lasts for a limited number of attacks up to a maximum of 40 seconds. While the enchanted heroes have this chilling touch, their attack speed is reduced by 15%.

Maximum number of attacks: 2/3/4/5
Bonus Damage: 40/50/60/70
Attack Speed Reduction: -15%

Cooldown: 50/46/42/38
Manacost: 140

Note: Damage bonus only works against enemy heroes, not creeps.

Chilling Touch adds some bonus magic damage to allied heroes’ attacks in a large AOE.  This is a great way to kill heroes after they have been encased in ice by Apparition’s Cold Feet spell.  Also try to use this after heroes have been hit by Ice Vortex so their magic resistance is reduced, causing them to take increased damage.

Ice Blast (ultimate) (t)

Ancient Apparition projects his presence out to make way for a powerful ripple of hailstone and dark magic. Once cast, it can release the spell to strike targets within 200 area of where his presence was upon release. It will deal damage to enemy units and apply a frostbite curse on them for 7 seconds where their health regeneration will be frozen and will shatter if they fall close enough to death. This spell has global range depending on how long you wait for the projections to move. Frostbitten units will take minor damage over time.

Impact Damage: 250/350/450
Shatter Threshold: 10/11/12%

Cooldown: 44/32/20
Manacost: 100/125/150

Ice Blast launches a projectile (above) at any location on the map.  When you touch the hotkey again, it will send out an Ice Blast to the projectile’s most recent location, causing AOE damage at that spot only.  Due to the speed of the initial projectile, and between initially sending out this projectile and the following Ice Blast, this skill takes some serious timing to land.  When used successfully, the effect is similar to that of Invoker’s Sunstrike or Clockwerk Goblin’s Rocket– it is an ability that allows you to pick off low health enemy heroes from any range.

Recommended Skill Build

1. Cold Feet
2. Ice Vortex
3. Cold Feet
4. Ice Vortex
5. Cold Feet
6. Ice Blast
7. Cold Feet
8. Ice Vortex
9. Ice Vortex
10. Chilling Touch
11. Ice Blast
12. Chilling Touch
13. Chilling Touch
14. Chilling Touch
15. Stats
16. Ice Blast
17. Stats -> Level 25

Strategy and Item Builds

Early Game

Early game you can control your lane by spamming Cold Feet on the weakest enemy in your lane.  This will cause the hero damage no matter what and force them to run or take more damage while you attack them after they’ve frozen.  Either way it makes it difficult for them to stay near the creeps and get last hits.  Later on you can combo this with Ice Vortex, which will make it very hard for them to escape the freeze at all, and amplify the magic damage over time being done by Cold Feet.  If you aren’t getting kills this way by level 4-5, then you definitely should produce some at Level 6 with your ultimate.

Since Ancient Apparition is a Intelligence hero and you’ll be putting all your experience points into learning spells, you will have very low hit points and should tank up early with a couple Bracers to keep from feeding early and help you gank.  Strength Power Treads is also a good choice since it raises your hit points and also gives you attack speed for smashing heroes that are frozen in ice cubes from your Cold Feet spell.  Look for carries and gank them hard early.  Bottle and observer wards are also useful.

Mid Game

You should keep ganking and be aware of the Minimap.  Use your ultimate to pick off low-hp heroes that are escaping from your teammates– you can snipe them from long range.

Ancient Apparition really doesn’t need a massive mana supply since his ultimate only takes 100 mana and all the rest of his abilities require less than 150 each.  Since his role is also that of a lane-controller or ganker early, and a support hero later in the game, Mekansm is a good choice as you have the necessary mana for it and can use it to tank up a little more and support your team in battles.  Some other viable mid-game options are Eul’s Scepter of Divinity, which you can use to set up a flawless Ice Vortex/Cold Feet combo on a single hero, or a blink dagger, if you really like to gank hard.  If these don’t interest you then just save your money for a big time support item like Guinsoo’s Scythe of Vyse.

Late Game

Team battles are pretty simple.  Just try to land Ice Vortex and Ice Blast on as many enemy heroes as you can.  Use Cold Feet on the most important hero the other team has and spam Chilling Touch on your team whenever it’s up.

If you haven’t farmed a Guinsoo yet get one asap and use it to contribute a little more disable to team battles.  Your lane control and ganking earlier has set up the carries on your team for a strong game, and your AOE damage and disables will set up battles for them to win.

Dota Murloc Nightcrawler Hero Guide

Murloc Nightcrawler

Slark the Murloc Nightcrawler is a new melee agility hero in Dota version 6.55.  Much like Bounty Hunter, Nightcrawler is a speedy hero with invisibility that is great for map control, picking off individual heroes, and carrying late game.  Here is a look at his stats and abilities:

Stats

Range: 128
Movement Speed: 305
Hero Type: Agility

Agility: 21 + 2.0
Strength: 21 + 1.0
Intelligence: 16 + 1.6

Dark Pact (d)
Slark calls upon deities of the swamps to seal a dark pact. Sacrificing some of his lifeblood, Slark is redeemed of all negative effects. After 2 seconds, a dark wave of destruction emits from theNightcrawler, dealing damage to himself as well as all nearby enemies.

Damage: 75/150/225/300
AoE: 325
Manacost: 55/50/45/40
Cooldown: 10

Deals half the damage to you immediately as part of the cost.

On top of emitting a formidable AOE nuke where Nightcrawler stands, Dark Pact works just like an allied purge to remove negative effects and help Nightcrawler escape from trouble.  Though dealing half damage to self is costly, this setback is offset by an extremely low mana cost– only 40 mana to deal 300 damage when this skill is maxxed out!  Spamming this ability can make a huge difference in controlling a lane early game but will require a large amount of health regeneration items.  Once you reach Level 6,  the passive health regeneration of Shadow Dance will help with this.

Pounce (e)

Surges directly forward and latches on to the first enemy he hits, binding it with chains of darkness. The enemy is unable to move more than 275 distance away from the point of impact for 3.5 seconds.

Pounce Range: 400/500/600/700
Pounce Damage: 50/75/100/125
Leash Range: 275
Leash Duration: 3.5

Cooldown: 16
Manacost: 75

The first part of this ability is analogous to Priestess of the Moon’s Leap; Nightcrawler pounces in whichever direction it is facing.  The second part works something more like Windrunner’s Shackleshot.  Whichever unit Nightcrawler bumps into during his pounce gets chained to the spot and can’t run more than a short distance from there for a short duration.  Pouncing successfully takes some precision and finesse, but once landed on an enemy hero it lets you get some additional attacks in before they can run.  Pounce can also be used to jump gaps and escape from enemy heroes, again just like with Leap.

Essence Shift (passive)
Reciting ancient Nightcrawler incantations, Slark enchants his blade to steal the power and courage from his enemies. Every time Slark hits an enemy hero, he steals 1 point from all attributes and 1 additional from the main attribute of that enemy hero while Slark gains 4 points of Agility.

Duration: 15/30/45/60

Making use of the same icon as Obisidan Destroyer’s Essence Aura, Nightcrawler’s Essence Shift allows him to drain several attributes from enemy heroes it attacks, not just Intelligence like Obsidian does.  Each point of attribute he steals is converted to 4 of Agility for a short time.  This can be used to great advantage in a lane against melee heroes, which will increase Nightstalker’s last hitting damage through Agility increase.  Later in the game this will cause Nightstalker to continually get more powerful as he land attacks while chasing enemy heroes, as they have their own stats drained and die quicker.

Shadow Dance (ultimate) (passive and active) (d)

Covers himself with a dark smoke, he becomes invisible and does not reveal himself while attacking or casting spells for 5.5 seconds.

Passively increases Nightcrawler’s movement speed and regeneration when he is out of sight of hostile units. Has a 0.7 delay when activated or deactivated.

Movement Speed: 30/35/40%
Health Regeneration: 2/3/4%

Active duration: 5.5 seconds
Cooldown: 25
Manacost: 120



The active part of this ability just makes Nightcrawler invisible for 5.5 seconds.  Because enemy heroes cannot see him, the passive part kicks in as well, giving him increased movement speed and health regeneration.  This leads to the epic chasing scenes we’ve seen in the Nightcrawler teaser video:

While going invis for 5.5 seconds is all fine and dandy, the passive part of this ability is what’s really awesome, giving Nightcrawler increased movement speed and hp regeneration whenever he is out of sight of hostile units.  This means anytime you are running to or from the base, controlling runes, running through the jungle or to a different part of the map you have a big speed boost without having to spend any mana or anything.  And you get a mellower version of the billowing black clouds behind you too:

Recommended Skill Build

1. Pounce
2. Dark Pact
3. Dark Pact
4. Essence Shift
5. Dark Pact
6. Shadow Dance
7. Dark Pact
8. Essence Shift
9. Essence Shift
10. Essence Shift
11. Shadow Dance
12. Pounce
13. Pounce
14. Pounce
15. Stats
16. Shadow Dance
17. Stats -> Level 25

Item Build

coming soon

Counters

The Nightcrawler relies heavily on Shadow Dance for increased movement speed and invisibility, but because he’s always billowing black smoke and all it’s pretty easy to tell where he’s at. Take care of business with Dust of Revelation or Necronomicon Level 3 whenever he goes invisible. These items will not only give you vision of him during his ultimate, but also negate the passive speed boost he gains from being unseen by enemies. Disable and nuke him with heroes like Lina and Lion that can take advantage of a low hit point agility hero and prevent him from wiggling away with the escaping characteristics of Dark Pact and Pounce. Late in the game use Guinsoo’s Scythe of Vyse to disable a farmed Nightcrawler and kill him.

HoN Forsaken Archer Hero Guide

Forsaken Archer

Forsaken Archer is a new hero in HoN beta Patch 0.1.58.  Forsaken Archer is an Elf that rides a skeletal beast and closely resembles Priestess of the Moon from Dota.  It is a HoN-unique ranged agility hero with a some abilities that are similar to others in Dota and some that are completely new.  Let’s take a look at the abilities and find out how to play this hero:

Crippling Volley (q)

Forsaken Archer fires a massive volley of arrows into the sky at a high angle.   When these arrows land a short time later, they deal damage in an AOE and immobilize units caught within them.  This spell is a bit like casting Pyromancer’s Dragonfire stun, where you need to figure out where an enemy hero will be in the near future in order to correctly catch them in it’s area of effect.  This is Forsaken Archer’s most versatile ability, and should be leveled up first.

Split Fire (w)

This ability is analogous to Medusa’s Split Shot ability in Dota.  Forsaken Archer splits an attack into as many as four separate shots at reduced damage per shot.  This ability has limited utility early in the game when you are more focused on last-hitting individual creeps than increasing your overall damage output, and should not be leveled up until after Call off the Damned and Crippling Volley are maxxed out.  Also consider that, for now, orb effects work on every single one of your split arrows, so if you get an item like Frost Wolf’s Skull (Skadi),  it will frost all four targets that your split arrows hit!  This is likely to be changed in the near future, but for now orb effects work great with this ability.  Also: lifesteal items appear to be gaining life from each arrow but actually only steal from the main target you’ve selected.

Call of the Damned (passive)

Forsaken Archer raises skeletal warriors from the corpses of any units she kills.  These little guys are really cute and are sure to make to make Forsaken Archer a fan favorite.  The skeletons are uncontrollable, but follow Forsaken Archer and attack nearby enemy units or buildings.  Similar to Dirge’s Tombstone ability in Dota, Call of the Damned is great for harassing enemies and especially for pushing.  Level this up early to push towers; works best if you are good at last-hitting.

The skeletons also burn mana of whatever unit they are attacking, which is is why they are extra good for harassing early game.  However, they are also easy to kill and give 5 gold per death so be careful about giving your opponent too many free kills early.  You may just want to get stats/Crippling Volley to avoid feeding them if you don’t have enough control of your lane early.

Piercing Arrows (ultimate) (channeling) (r)

“Fueled by the rage in her heart”, Forsaken Archer fires a continuous stream of arrows that travel through and deal magic damage to all enemy units in one direction for several seconds.  This is essentially like Windrunner’s Power Shot ability in Dota, except that it is channeling and keeps firing arrows off instead of just shooting one at a time.  This spell is really effective if your team has a lot of disable and is able to hold the enemy in one area, like with Tempest’s ultimate for example, so that you can keep blasting arrows through them for the duration of your spell.  Otherwise you should use this directly after your own Crippling Volley spell in order to channel it while the enemy heroes are immobilized from the arrows.  Since this ability does a constant magic damage instead of scaling in some way with Forsaken Archer’s attack damage like one might expect for an agility hero, Forsaken Archer is less of a carry hero and more like an intelligence ganker.

Strategy

Early Game

Forsaken Archer has a very long ranged attack very similar to Valkyrie that consequently makes it a good solo hero.  The disabling and nuking ability of Cripping Volley and her long attack range also make Forsaken Archer good at harassing in and controlling a multi-player lane and a good semi-solo with a lane partner that is pulling creeps and occasionally comes back to gank.

Go for items like Soulscream Ring (Wraith Band) that will increase your attack damage for harassing and last-hitting from long range and also give you some more hit points and mana to use Crippling Volley.  If you are soloing mid, you will likely want to quickly get boots and a bottle to control runes and gank with Crippling Volley and your ultimate.

You should max out Crippling Volley first and probably put some early points into stats for best control of your lane.  Call of the Damned generally just feeds your lane enemy gold early and you shouldn’t get it early unless you are doing a push strategy.  Split Fire is useless until late game when you have more items.

Mid Game

Steamboots (Treads) and Shrunken Head (BKB) might be ideal items to improve your survivability and attack speed in ganking, and for channeling your ultimate safely in team battles.  Alternatively, you might select Post Haste (BoT) and an Assassin’s Shroud (Lothar’s) for farming outside lanes, pushing towers with summoned skeletons from your Call of the Damned ability, and evading ganks.  A whole host of other items can be effective mid game on Forsaken Archer like Frostburn (S&Y) or Shield Breaker (Desolator); consider that you might want to play this hero very much like Valkyrie (Potm) for ganking or Broodmother in Dota for pushing.  Remember though, that Forsaken Archer doesn’t have as good escape mechanisms as Valkyrie, so you really want to think about Assassin’s Shroud or some other way to get away if you are getting caught while farming or pushing outside lanes.

Late Game

At this point in the game you want to start focusing on dishing out as much damage as possible to the other team with your Split Fire ability in every team battle.  This lets you hit four enemies at one time at 75% damage each, which means you are doing (4*.75 = 3) three times your normal damage output just by turning this skill on as long there are four enemy targets in the vicinity.  This has the potential to be a massive game-changer, which is why you want to make sure your hero is built to seriously shit damage straight onto people’s faces.  If you didn’t grab a solid damage item like Shield Breaker in mid game, then get serious with something like Savage Mace (MKB) to really up the ante.  Otherwise just go straight for a Wingbow (Butterfly) to enhance whatever damage item you already got.  You should also be getting something like Frost Wolf’s Skull (Skadi) to tank up and a lifesteal item so you can sustain your health while duking it out in long late game battles.