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General13 years agoGosu "GosuGamers" Gamers

Item Reworks in v.2.0.38

In the latest patch 2 days ago, S2 games decided to provide players with a wider arsenal of mid game items to choose from, providing more alternatives to the more passive turtle style. This was accompanied by a minor nerf to Alchemist Bones. Will the new items have an impact on the metagame and shift it in a desirable direction? Let's take a look.

Version 2.0.38


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- Fixed hitting S or H while connecting to a server causing the game to never load
- Updated text when disconnecting from Matchmaking to be more clear
- Fixed players respawning attached to projectiles when Gore Taunted when "no respawn timers" is set
- Fixed custom account icons counting as modified files for the purposes of Tournament Rules
- Fixed exploit with Rampage and Blood Hunter reveal gadgets
- Fixes to Emerald Warden bugs with Nullstone and Magic Immunity
- Nullstone effects tweaked

- Added new Alt Avatar: Phantom Defiler

- Added new Alt Courier: Rat Courier

== Items ==

- Alchemist's Bones cooldown/timer increased by 20 seconds

- Astrolabe
* Reworked Components
* Fortified Bracer (510)
* Refreshing Ornament (603)
* Astrolabe Recipe (600)
* Total Cost: 1713
* Effects
* +8 Strength, +5 Agility, +5 Intelligence
* +3 Health Regen aura
* On use: Heals nearby allies for 200 Health. 100 Mana cost, 45 second cd
* A hero/unit can still only be healed once every 25 seconds

- Energizer
* Components
* Soulscream Ring (460)
* Major Totem (540)
* Energizer Recipe (700)
* Total Cost: 1700
* Effects
* +7 Strength, +10 Agility, +7 Intelligence
* On use: Nearby allies gain 50 Movement Speed and Unitwalking for 5 seconds. 100 Mana cost, 45 second cd

- Ring of Sorcery
* Reworked Components
* Amulet of Exile (485)
* Pickled Brain (900)
* Auto combines
* Total Cost: 1385
* Effects
* +300 Mana, +3 Strength, +3 Agility, +6 Intelligence
* On use: Nearby allies gain 135 Mana. 25 Mana cost, 33 second cd

- Shieldbreaker
* Rework
* Warhammer (1600)
* Shieldbreaker Recipe (900)
* Total Cost: 2500 / 3400 / 4300
* Effects
* +30 / 45 / 60 Damage
* -2 / -4 / -6 Armor debuff on target

My take:

As we can see the reworked Astrolabe and Ring of Sorcery along with the new Energiser now offer smooth transitions from tier 1 items (Amulets, Bracers and Rings) which are usually gotten by struggling players. Players with a gold advantage also have the choice of getting them to consolidate their advantage. But who would benefit from these items? Well, Astrolabe is now more attractive than ever to that Glacius that keeps struggling to have more than 500 gold at one point in time. However, it in it's now weaker state makes it less appealing as an EHP item for ranged heroes such as Aluna and Vindicator. Is Astrolabe now still better than Helm of the Black Legion for ranged heroes? Hopefully someone will emerge with calculations and graphs to provide an answer.

Ring of Sorcery up til now has only been regularly gotten on Electrician, and with this buff that will probably not change. Push lineups will probably get one and maybe even Thunderbringer as well. As for Energiser, I could possibly see it being useful on very niche roles (e.g. Roaming Valkyrie), because AGI supports like Andromeda have better items to get while DPS heroes will go for damage and protection. Maybe some kind of crazy gank mobility-heavy strategy might revolve around this, only time will tell.

As for Shieldbreaker, it's pretty much the same item, but now with a better build-up. Don't think many heroes would opt for it as Lifesteal's a better choice for most cases. /font>


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