Striders — HoN Item Guide

Striders are a new movement item in HoN version 1.0.9. These are essentially the Boots of Mobility item from League of Legends.
Striders are the cheapest upgrade to Marchers on the market. They give increased movespeed to heroes when they are out of combat. This is a great item on ROAMING GANKERS like Slither and Andromeda, or any hero that is going to control the runes and move around the map quickly. It is especially good on ganking heroes since it is so cheap and these heroes often are working with a small budget while roaming and not farming.

New Item – Striders
- New boots added to the Initiation shop
- Marchers + 300 (Recipe)
- 50 Movespeed. No other bonuses.
- When out of combat for 6 seconds, increases movespeed by 100 over the next 2 seconds, for a total of +150 movement speed (including the base).
- Bonus movespeed is removed when the owner takes damage, casts a spell, attacks, or uses an item.
* Using Non-combat items such as Wards, Bottle, Mana, or Health Potions will not remove the bonus speed

August 14th, 2010 | daggius | Tags: HoN, item guide, striders.
Categories: Guides: HoN | Comments: 3 Comments

iFlee/Rice’s General Item Guide for HoN & DotA

Since I’ve received many messages about my item builds which I do not really put in the necessary core items that should require no thought to obtain I decided to make this guide in order to help some people look at situations and judge for themselves what to get. Please note that items are not solely dedicated to a certain group, for instance Shrunken Head/BKB while good on a carry hero is universally good, just more beneficial to a hero that needs to not be stunned/slowed to output DPS.

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Carry Hero

This item section is meant for the heroes that have carry potential whether it be hard-semi or gank-carry categorized such as Swiftblade/Juggernaut, Soulstealer/Nevermore, Arachna/Drow Ranger etc. These items should be looked at seriously for any of the heroes categorized as carries however please consider in which order you purchase your items.

Shrunken Head (HoN) | Black King Bar (DotA)

This is probably a core item for any carry hero due to the fact that this item when activated, negates all spells that would otherwise be aimed at the hero with the exception of some ultimate spells. A Shrunken Head/BKB used at the proper time can turn the tides of a battle. The point of SH/BKB is to allow the carry hero to stand in the fray and dish out a huge amount of damage since they cannot be stunned/slowed by means of most spells so after obtaining this item most carry heroes gear for huge DPS items.

Geometer’s Bane (HoN) | Manta Style (DotA)

Pretty much a staple item since most carry heroes tend to be Agility based due to the + IAS/MS/All Stats & gives illusions which wreak havoc late game. The great thing about this item is that it has a split millisecond of invulnerability which can be used to dodge single target spells and turn around a fight. This item at the metagame phase while still an effective item isn’t the best DPS item available however due to the illusions the longer the game goes the higher the DPS capability of this item goes up. Remember that illusions do not benefit from +dmg items only from +stats.

Savage Mace (HoN) | Monkey King Bar (DotA)

A great counter to evasion heroes and also Wingbow/Eaglehorn with the True Strike ability which makes it impossible for your hero to miss. Also adds a % chance to deal 100 extra damage as well as adds a % chance to ministun. As you can see this item has a lot of sub-abilities to it and as such makes it an extremely good item for heroes who have a decent chunk of attack speed but really lack a huge amount of damage.

Shieldbreaker (HoN) | Stygian Desolater (DotA)

This item has an orb effect that lowers the enemy’s armor that you attack by 6 and does not stack with other orb effects. This orb effect has the hugest DPS output due to the negative armor it gets as well as the damage it has period. Usually gotten on carry heroes that can farm it early and then take out enemy heroes extremely fast with just a few auto-attacks. Usually this item is gotten in conjunction with Daemonic Breastplate/Assault Cuirass due to that items huge increment in attack speed and its -armor aura.

Whispering Helm (HoN) | Helm of the Dominator (DotA)

Probably the most bought orb effect which is lifeleech, this item adds so much more since it allows your hero to dominate a creep which for the most part is used to stack neutral creep camp as well as the ancient spawns. It’s fairly easy to get this early due to the fairly cheap components (900 Hungry Spirit/Mask of Death, 950 Helm of the Victim/Helm of Iron Will) allowing for heroes +gold/exp farm to increase a lot when the higher level neutral creep camps are stacked. Also can be upgraded into Symbol of Rage/Satanic which is the best leech in the game.

Charged Hammer (HoN) | Mjollnir (DotA)

While this item is geared more for the HoN carry since Charged Hammer is not considered an orb effect in HoN, it’s still an effective orb for DotA. The rest of this section will assume you are playing HoN since there’s not much more to say for DotA. The chain lightning proc is a huge plus for farming as well as teamfights and with the +attack speed that the item and its predecessor (Thunderclaw/Maelstorm) give allows you to utilize the +dmg and chain lightning proc.

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Support Hero

This item section is meant for support heroes such as Glacius/Crystal Maiden, Plague Rider/Lich, Slither/Venomancer, Accursed/Abaddon. This item section for a reason does not have a huge list of high costing items because support heroes should not be farming a lot to begin with.

Courier & Flying Courier

One of the 3 necessary components to supporting your team, a courier can make or break the middle lane more than others due to lack of a sideshop to grab boots or any regeneration etc. Flying courier makes it that much better due to the fact that it is faster and can ship back and forth bottles that need to be refilled etc. If there isn’t a courier bought at the beginning (and shared) then you will most likely be hearing about it so just suck it up and buy the 200 gold courier.

Wards

Wards are EASILY the most important item that can be bought early to mid game and still have a huge effectiveness late game. Early/Meta game is all about map control which incidentally usually involves rune control and being able to see said runes is an exponential advantage to your middle lane to grab those runes/bottle it and make effective use of it by killing another hero possibly with the appropriate rune (Double Damage, Haste, Invisibility). However people are often counter warded with the use of the true-sight wards (Blue ones) which just shows you how much an emphasis on more vision of the map teams really jockey for.

Teleport

The last of 3 “must-haves” for support heroes that pay off huge dividends a teleport scroll is an item that while costing 135 gold has a huge payback if used properly. You can chase down enemies who may hide behind a tower a lot easier, run to where the tower cannot see you and teleport home, you can teleport to another lane and gank or set up defense etc. etc. You should ALWAYS be carrying a teleport around if you do not have Post-Haste/Boots of Travel which in most games will be all the time.

Astrolabe (HoN) | Mekansm (DotA)

This item is good in literally any situation, who doesn’t want to be healed? Not only does it increase your own heroes survivability it increases the survivability of your allies be creeps or heroes due to not only the heal but the fact it adds 2 armor to all units in the AoE, 2 armor may not seem like a lot but damage reduction is damage reduction and even a little bit helps at all times.

Barrier Idol (HoN) | Khadgar’s Pipe of Insight (DotA)

More situational if the other team has a huge amount of burst magic damage (Pyromancer/Lina, Witch Slayer/Lion, Thunderbringer/Zeus etc.) but really a good pickup overall since there will always be magic damage in a game regardless of the hero picks unless you manage to do (in DotA) ARSH and get Troll Warlord. Again used at the right moment can nullify a lot of burst magic damage and again, applies the magic shield in an AoE making it effective for the whole team.

Tablet of Command (HoN) | Force Staff (DotA)

An underrated item in both games to be honest, it can be used to push an enemy closer to your team when they aren’t expecting it, to juke out enemies by pushing you up cliffs, help chase by pushing you or a teammate, the possibilities are endless. The only minor issue with this item is that it does take a bit of intelligence of when to use it, for instance if you are chasing through the woods and get your pathing changed, you may regret using this item but overall this item is very, very hilarious to see/use and a decent underrated item overall.

Nomes Wisdom (HoN)

This item is exclusive to Heroes of Newerth but it is such a good item. When allies cast a spell they get healed based on the % of the manacost of the spell which really, who doesn’t want that? As well as it adds a minor mana regeneration of 1, which may not seem like a lot but then again it is like level 2 aura of Glacius/Crystal Maiden. Overall an extremely good item to pick up usually as Demented Shaman, Soul Reaper, Jereziah etc. basically any healer.

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Gank/Roamer Hero

This item section is dedicated to those roamers who focus or may focus on roaming/ganking as their main point of xp/gold early/meta game such as Andromeda/Vengeful Spirit, Witch Slayer/Lion, Pyromancer/Lina, Magmus/Sand King.

Teleport

Since these kinds of heroes depend on kills more than last hitting creeps a teleport scroll is key to moving around the map with wards, teleporting to a lane and taking the long detour route to another lane may seem tedious but it may pay off due to lack of vision to that particular gank spot/better positioning overall but overall turning a 2v2/1v1 into a 3v2/2v1 should come out with favorable odds for your side (assuming you have the 3 or 2), key word being SHOULD. Always make sure your teammates are aware of your presence before progressing with your gank.

Bottle

This item will probably be bought by at least 8/10 of the heroes in the game because is it such a good versatile item, heals for 135 hp/75 mana over a short duration with 3 charges and allows you to bottle up runes to use at a later date, the reason why this is bought so much that with all the refills you will be doing over the game by fountain or runes this item will pay for itself tenfold as opposed to buying regen like Health Potions/Mana Pots.

Portal Key (HoN) | Kelen’s Dagger (DotA)

An item good in any heroes inventory, some more than others however no one can refute the logic that blink dagger is a great item. It can be used to help initiate for those heroes who have spells that are an AoE around themselves (Magmus/Sand King, Behemoth/Earthshaker, Kraken/Tidehunter etc.) or it can be used to blink away from incoming ganks or to juke out heroes. I have to say that this is probably THE best item in the game, but that’s just my personal opinion.

Codex (HoN) | Dagon (DotA)

While this item is rarely gotten, that’s more to the fact by the time it is gotten 400 damage isn’t the biggest source of DPS one could have gotten, however if bought early enough a level 1 Codex/Dagon can easily combo off heroes, thinking particularly of Pyromancer/Lina and Witch Slayer/Lion who already have burst nukes. However it is rarely upgraded past level 1 for a good reason, you should be looking to different items and leaving codex at level 1, the 100 dmg/minor mana cost/cd reduction isn’t worth the 1350 upgrade IMO at least.

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From here on out it really depends on the hero’s main attribute and there’s a handful of items that I did or did not include, feel free to leave a comment with your opinion on item choices that you may have or on my item choices with some reasoning, remember that these items are not a MUST-buy for the most part (the only 2 real items I would classify as must-buy outside of TP/Wards/Courier would be Shrunken Head/BKB & Portal Key/Kelen’s Dagger) and are just my opinion of typical core items you would see watching a high tier HoN/DotA game.

July 23rd, 2010 | iFlee | Tags: carry, Dota, ganker, HoN, item guide, rice, support.
Categories: Guides: Dota, Guides: HoN | Comments: 2 Comments

Blood Chalice — HoN Item Guide

Overview

Fashioned by a forgotten haemomancer eons ago,
the Blood Chalice drains one’s vitality and converts it to pure magical energy.
Only the audacious soul dare make this contract!

Cost: 875

(Equivalent to Dota’s Soul Ring)

Passive Bonuses

+3 HP Regeneration Per Second

+70% Mana Regeneration

Activation

Self

Type: Superior Magic

On use removes 150 heath and grants 150 mana

Requirements

Scarab (325)

Trinket of Restoration (350)

Blood Chalice recipe (200)

On use, removes 150 health and grants 150 mana.
One second after use, the bonus mana will begin being draining away over the next 10 seconds.
Only the bonus mana initially gained can be drained and the drain is dispelled as soon as it is used up.

Usage Guide

Blood Chalice is essentially a half-price Ring of Sorcery that only gives mana to your hero, instead of also to your nearby teammates like Ring of Sorcery does. While Blood Chalice removes your hit points, remember that its passive +3HP per second regeneration will nearly heal all of that up in the 35 seconds it takes to cool down (35*3 = 105 HP, more than 2/3 of the 150 you lost by activating it), so this is not as major an inconvenience as it may initially seem.

With this in mind, consider using Blood Chalice on Strength heroes that like to spam spells but don’t have the mana recovery to do so without an item. Blood Chalice is a cheaper alternative to Ring of Sorcery and a similar alternative to Bottle that would be good in the type of situation, for example, where you are not leaving your lane enough to control runes, or one or more of your teammates already have Bottles and are using them to control runes.

It can also decent on Int heroes with high early-game mana requirements, but be wary of taking a 150 hit point drop on these already fragile heroes. Consider getting it on heroes that have a self-healing nuke like Soul Reaper and Succubus, so that they can inherantly cancel the hit point loss when they use the mana from Blood Chalice’s activation. For this reason, Blood Chalice can even be good on Blood Hunter, a mana-challenged hero that has an easy way to regenerate health (by last hitting).

Specific heroes that benefit from getting Blood Chalice:

Jeraziah
Behemoth
Blacksmith
Balphagore
Keeper of the Forest
Accursed
Soul Reaper
Succubus
Tempest
Blood Hunter

July 5th, 2010 | daggius | Tags: blood chalice, HoN, item guide.
Categories: Guides: HoN | Comments: 4 Comments

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.