|
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- BETA PATCH 307
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APR 10 2003
BALANCE CHANGES:
- Runes no longer are on random drop tables. However, they still drop on
Turtle Rock at certain pre-determined locations.
- Ballista hitpoints reduced to 300 from 380, build time increased to 48
from 36, and damage reduced to 1d12 + 38 from 1d14 + 55. Additionally,
Ballistas can no longer damage trees. We will re-add the capability to
attack trees in some capacity in a future patch.
- Breath of Fire now deals 50/100/150 damage by level, down from
70/140/210 damage by level. Its mana cost has also been reduced to 75,
but its DoT from comboing it with Drunken Haze has not changed.
- Impale effect area increased to 300 from 200. It now has the same area
of effect as Shockwave.
- Blood Mage speed increased to 300 from 270.
- Summon Bear now costs 125 mana down from 135 mana.
- Beastmaster speed increased to 320 from 270.
Undocumented change:
Bears and Quilbeasts now have proper formation priority -- Bears will tend towards the front of a formation-enabled group, while Quilbeasts will arrange themselves with archers and ranged heroes (between siege and melee).
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- BETA PATCH 306
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2003-APR-08
MAJOR ADDITIONS
- Added Battle.net Tournament support. We will be running occasional Tour-
naments through out the remainder of the beta.
- Added Icon selection support on Battle.net. Check your profile and click
the "Select Icon" button beneath your profile portrait to select from your
available icons.
BALANCE CHANGES
Maps:
- Turtle Rock Increased the difficulty of the Goblin Merchant camps,
added Runes and Powerups to several creeps.
- Islands Replaced the 4 less powerful turtle camps at the center of the
map with less powerful creep camps which drop less powerful items. Tweaked
the corner camps to use level 8 Revenants instead of level 7 Turtles.
Human Changes:
- Flamestrike has been completely rebalanced. Flamestrike initial damage
increased to 45/80/110 per second from 35/65/90 per second and duration
of initial damage increased to 3 seconds.
- Bloodmage strength increased to 18 from 16 and agility increased to 16
from 15.
- Mana Siphon drain/sec increased to 15/30/45 from 12/24/36.
- Phoenix negative regen is now -10 HP/sec, up from -14 HP/sec.
- Spellbreakers now have heavy armor instead of light armor, have had their
hitpoints increased to 650 from 550 and have had their damage reduced to
1d2 + 8 from 1d2 + 11.
- Spellbreaker attack range increased to 250 from 200, and movement speed
increased to 300 up from 270.
- Spellbreaker mana regeneration increased to .8/sec from .625/sec.
- Spell Steal steals a much wider array of buffs and debuffs now. Some
spells, such as anti-magic shell, unholy frenzy, and cyclone are only
affected if spell steal is cast on them manually. Spell steal only
affects unit cast spells, and doesnt work on hero spells such as Howl
of Terror, Frost Armor, Drunken Haze, etc.
- Control Magic now works on wards.
- Dragonhawks have had their attack decreased to 1d2 + 15 from 1d6 + 20,
and their attack range decreased to 300 down from 600, but their cost
was decreased to 235/40 from 255/60.
- Dragonhawks have a new ability: Aerial Shackles. This ability is a
channeling spell which completely disables a target air unit, while
dealing 10 points of damage a second to it.
- Guard Tower upgrade time increased to 50 from 40 and armor type changed
to heavy.
- Arcane Tower feedback damage is now 12 per hit, down from 20 per hit.
- Arcane Tower build time increased to 50 from 30 and armor type changed
to heavy.
- Arcane Vault hitpoints increased to 485 from 410.
- Gryphon Rider hitpoints increased to 825 from 750.
- Gyrocopters are now heavy armor.
- Gyrocopter vs ground damage reduced to 1d2 + 6 from 1d2 + 10 and Gyro-
copter cooldown vs air is now 2 up from 1.
- Flak Cannons have been rebalanced.
- Heal now heals 20 hp per cast, down from 25, and costs 4 mana to cast,
down from 5.
- Defend no longer reduces damage from spells (for real this time).
Undead Changes:
- Essence of Blight, which was previously known as Replenish Life, now
heals 10 hitpoints per casting, up from 8.
- Spirit Touch now replenishes 5 mana per cast, up from 4.
- Obsidian Statue mana regeneration is now 2, up from 1.25.
- Tomb of Relics hitpoints increased to 475 from 400.
- Impale has been redone. The new impale sends a series of impaling spikes
through the ground. Enemy units hit by the spikes are impaled (taking
damage), thrown into the air, and then stunned.
- Level 2 and level 3 Carrion Scarab hitpoints are now 275 and 410 hitpoints
respectively, up from 260 and 380 hitpoints.
- Devour Magic now deals 180 damage to summoned units, up from 100.
- Devour Magic radius reduced to 200 from 250.
- Devour Magic cooldown is now 8 seconds up from 6.
- Frost Wyrm hitpoints increased to 1350 from 1100.
- Frost Wyrm base armor increased to 1 from 0.
- Black Sphinxes are now called Destroyers.
- Destroyer armor increased to 4 from 1.
- Tomb of Relics now sells Healing Scrolls at tier 3.
Orc Changes:
- Hex now costs 75 mana at all levels, and its cooldown is always 7 seconds.
Additionally, Hex duration on units is now 15/30/45 by level (changed from
24/24/24), and its duration on heroes is now 4/5/6 (changed from 5/5/5).
- Watch Tower build time increased to 55 from 40.
- Watch Tower armor type changed to heavy.
- Burning Oil (from Catapults) is slightly more powerful than before.
- Unstable Concoction is now an instantaneous spell. Previously, it took a
brief amount of time to cast.
- Unstable concoction primary damage increased to 900.
- Troll Batriders now deal siege damage instead of piercing damage, deal 1d2
+ 10 damage, down from 1d4 + 18, and no longer deal splash damage.
- Troll Batrider hitpoints increased to 500 from 400.
- Liquid Fire now reduces building attack speed by 80%, up from 75%, and
deals 15 points of damage/sec to buildings, up from 5/sec.
- Voodoo Lounge hitpoints increased to 500 from 425.
- Disenchant has been re-balanced -- its radius was increased to 250 from
200, its damage to summoned units increased to 250 from 200, and its mana
cost was increased to 125 from 75. It also correctly removes buffs on
friendly and hostile units now.
- Wand of Neutralization removed from Orc shop
- Scroll of Speed added to Orc shop at tier 1.
- Disenchant now removes buffs and debuffs from units.
- Level 2 and Level 3 serpent ward damage increased by approximately 10%.
Night Elf Changes:
- Huntresses have had their hitpoints reduced to 575 from 600, their armor
increased to 3 from 1, and their damage increased to 17-19 from 16-18.
- Ancients can no longer attack while producing a unit, researching, or
upgrading.
- Hippogryph Riders now have an attack value which is the same as the
Archers attack and hitpoints which match the sum of Archer and Hippogryph
hitpoints. Hippogryph Rider range was also reduced to 400 from 450.
- Faerie Dragon range decreased to 300 from 600 and damage increased to
13-14 from 12-13.
- Dryad mana regeneration increased to .75/sec from .5/sec.
- Den of Wonders hitpoints increased to 450 from 375.
- Chimaera hitpoints increased to 1000 from 900.
- Ballistas no longer require a Tree of Ages to be built.
- Tranquility no longer heals mechanical units.
Changes to Neutral Buildings, Units and Heroes:
- You can now purchase the Pit Lord and Beastmaster neutral heroes from the
Tavern. Their skill sets are described at the bottom of the patch text
for this version.
- Pandaren Brewmaster starting intelligence increased to 15 from 14.
- Drunken Haze now affects several units and is targeted much like Frost
Nova the unit you target will always be affected, as will nearby units.
Its cost, cooldown and duration have all been rebalanced to reflect this
change.
- Tornado now tosses units into the air, and has been rebalanced for this
capability. We expect to make further improvements to Tornado in the next
patch, so this functionality is not truly done yet.
- Mana Shield has been improved. It now blocks 100% of incoming damage, and
prevents 1, 1.5 or 2 damage per point of mana spent depending on the level
of the ability.
- Forked Lightning damage reduced to 100/175/250 per target by level, down
from 110/180/250.
- Goblin Sappers now deal 750 damage to buildings, 250 damage to all units,
and 185 damage to heroes. These values are reduced by armor values such as
5 armor, but do not interact with armor types (e.g. medium armor).
- Further slowed merc regen times. Mercenaries regenerate at 10 + (40 seconds
times level) now.
Item Changes:
- Rod of Necromancy now has 4 charges, down from 5.
- Potion of Divinity duration reduced to 25 from 30.
- Increased the level of the items Staff of Silence, Dagger of Escape and
Amulet of Spell Shield.
- Decreased the level of Medallion of Courage, Helm of Valor and Hood of
Cunning.
- Boots of Speed no longer stack two boots of speed will make a hero just
as fast as one.
- Moonstone effect lasts 50% longer than previously (30 seconds up from
20).
- Wand of Illusion can no longer be cast on hostile units. This change was
made to prevent players from cheesing high level creep camps by using Wand
of Illusion on high level creeps, and then using this illusionary creep to
tank the damage.
- Orb of Lightning and Orb of Fire now cost 400 gold, down from 450.
- Orb of Lightning does not deliver its purge ability to summoned units as
often as before (35% down from 55%).
- Orb of Lightning damage to summonables is now 150, down from 400.
Other:
- Several creeps now drop Runes. Runes work like tomes, but instead of
upgrading your hero, they provide some other immediate benefit.
- Units healed while ethereal gain an additional 66% benefit. For example,
casting level 1 Holy Light on an ethereal unit for 200 hitpoints actually
ends up healing 333 hitpoints. Only spell healing is affected by this
item healing and aura healing is not.
- Creeps can no longer be dragged via constant attacks they eventually
give up and return to their start location. As a result, we have re-added
the Ice Flow map to ladder play.
- Magic Damage now deals 125% damage against light armor.
- Creeps that are not in combat now ignore flying units. This means that if
you move flying units around using move instead of attack move, creeps
will generally not attack them.
- When attack-moving, air units now prefer to attack other air units more
often than previously.
- When a unit is purchasing from a shop, and the shop is selected, the
units inventory will be displayed in the normal position.
- Dragons, Drakes, and Dragon Whelps are a lot tougher than they used to be,
particularly when fighting other air units.
Neutral Hero Abilities:
The Beastmaster - The Beastmaster is a high-hitpoint tanking strength hero
who deals his damage primarily through summonables. All of his basic spells
are some form of summoning.
- Grizzly Bear High hitpoint / high damage melee attacker
Level 2: Gains the Bash ability.
Level 3: Gains the Blink ability.
- Quill Beast -- Excellent ranged attacker.
Level 2: Gains the Rage ability, which causes the Quill Beasts
attack speed and movement speed to increase in combat.
Level 3: Attacks become splash damage.
- Thunder Hawk Versatile flying unit.
Level 1: No attack, truesight ability.
Level 2: Attacks air and ground units.
Level 3: Gains passive invisibility when not attacking, a level 3
Thunder Hawk is invisible.
- Stampede (ultimate) - Summons waves upon waves of stampeding beasts which explode and cause damage to enemy units and buildings in their path.
The Pit Lord - The Pit Lord is a high-hitpoint tanking strength hero with
a number of useful abilities.
- Rain of Fire Similar to Blizzard, except it also ignites affected units,
causing moderate damage over time to them. Additionally, it costs a bit
more mana than Blizzard, has a longer cooldown, and in all circumstances
will do slightly more damage.
- Howl of Terror The Pit Lord screams a blood-curdling cry which causes
nearby enemy units to have reduced damage for a limited time. Think of it
as a reverse roar.
- Cleaving Attack Causes the Pit Lords attacks to do splash damage to
targets near the primary target.
-Doom (ultimate) Can be cast on any non-hero, ground unit. The unit is
enveloped in darkness, and takes damage over time. Since doom is not
dispelable, and cannot be cancelled, the unit WILL die. Once the unit dies,
it will turn into a Doomguard under the control of the player who cast
Doom.
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- BETA PATCH 305A
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2003-MAR-30
Major Fixes:
- Fixed a bug where tomes could be used multiple times.
- Removed magic damage resistance from the Defend ability.
Balance Fixes:
- Animate Dead duration is now 40 down from 60.
- Animate Dead cooldown is now 180 down from 240.
- You can not have more than 6 vengeance spirits summoned by the Avatar
of Vengeance at any given time.
- Heroes gain experience at the same rate as they used to for level 1 and
2, down from a slight bonus.
- Mercenaries restock slower in general, and many initial availabilities
of mercenaries have been adjusted.
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- BETA PATCH 305
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2003-MAR-28
Major Fixes:
- We have fixed a bug that occasionally caused unit commands to be ignored
by the game. This most commonly occurred when attempting to use healing
spells while creeping, as the bug was related to adding units to a
selection group and then using an ability.
Item Changes:
- Lion Horn of Stormwind is now a level-4 item.
- Items now have 75 hit points, down from 100.
- Clarity Potion, Scroll of Regeneration and Healing Salve are now
dispelled only when a unit under the effect is hit by an attack or an
offensive spell.
They are no longer dispelled by attacking.
Changes to Neutral Buildings, Units and Heroes:
- Forked Lightning has been rebalanced. It now requires a specific unit
target, and hits 3 targets, down from 4/5/6. It also has had its damage
per target changed to 110/180/250 from 125/160/200.
- Frost Arrows now last 5 seconds, down from 6.
- Delayed the initial availability of various mercenaries, such as the
Makrura Snapper and Goblin Shredder.
- The Pandaren Brewmaster has gained 2 Agility, but lost 1 point of
Strength and 1 point of Intelligence.
- Breath of Fire damage reduced to 70/140/190 from 75/150/200.
- Tornado is now a channeling spell, and does 40 points of damage a second
to buildings, up from 20.
Undead Changes:
- Gargoyle anti-air attack increased by roughly 50%.
- Black Sphinx hit points increased to 900 from 800.
- Obsidian Statue's Replenish Life and Spirit Touch abilities have been
rebalanced. They are much stronger now.
- Obsidian Statue mana regeneration increased to 1.25 from .5.
- Locust Swarm damage has increased 25%, but its life drain rate per
attack has been decreased 25%.
- Units created by Animate Dead are now invulnerable. Note that the creep
version of this spell does not create invulnerable versions.
- Units created by Animate Dead only last 60 seconds now, down from 120.
- Carrion Beetle damage increased by 15% at all levels.
Human Changes:
- Devotion now gives 1.5/ 3 / 4.5 armor per level. Note that this
fractional armor will not show up properly on unit information cards,
but will work properly on units in terms of damage reduction. We are
aware of this bug and will fix it at some point in the future.
- Banish range increased to 800 from 600.
- Banish now halves the speed of units rather than reducing it to 1/3 of
their total speed.
- Banish no longer affects mechanical units.
- Flame Strike now costs 135 mana, down from 150 mana.
- Flame Strike area increased to 225 from 200.
- The spell formerly known as Mark of Fire is now known as "Phoenix".
- Phoenix cooldown increased to 180 from 120.
- Phoenix mana cost increased to 175 from 125.
- Phoenixes now shed feathers, which cause both initial damage as well as a
certain amount of damage over time to nearby hostile units. Note that
the graphics and effects of this spell are temporary, though the
functionality is done.
- When a Phoenix dies, it becomes a Phoenix Egg. If the Phoenix Egg is not
destroyed within 10 seconds, the Phoenix will be reborn.
- Phoenixes only lose 10 hp a second now, down from 14 hp a second.
- Casting Phoenix when you already control a Phoenix results in the original
Phoenix's being destroyed, in much the same manner as Feral Spirit.
- Blacksmith cost changed to 140/60 from 120/120.
- Gyrocopters now deal 1d2 + 5 damage to air units, down from 1d2 + 8.
Note that Gyrocopters with the Flak Cannons upgrade are still extremely
effective against other air units.
- Arcane Tower now deals 20 Feedback damage, down from 25.
- Siphon Mana now drains 12/24/36 mana per second, up from 8/16/24 mana per
second.
- Siphon Mana can now be cast at range 600, up from 500, and will keep
draining until the target is at a distance of 850, up from 800.
Night Elf Changes:
- Huntresses are now Light armor (formerly known as Heavy armor).
- Huntress damage increased to 1d3 + 15 from 1d3 + 14.
- Huntress hit points increased to 600 from 550.
- Archer damage reduced to 1d3 + 15 from 1d4 + 18.
- Archer hit points increased to 310 from 260.
- Cyclone no longer affects mechanical units.
- Shadow Strike move speed reduction is now 50% down from 60%.
- Fan of Knives now deals a maximum of 400/750/1075 damage by level, down
from 450/825/1200.
- Entangled units are now unable to attack, though they can still cast
spells.
- Entangle duration on units reduced to 12/24/36, down from 15/30/45.
- Hippogryph anti-air damage increased by roughly 50%.
- Blink no longer works when the Warden is immobilized.
Orc Changes:
- Spirit Link is now a "chaining" spell which affects 3 targets. It also
now costs 100 mana to cast.
Armor System Change:
We have switched around the naming of certain armor types for conceptual
reasons. Heavy armor became Light armor, Medium armor became Heavy armor,
and Light armor became Medium armor.
- Light armor units, most of which are air units, take bonus damage from
Piercing damage.
- Medium armor units, which include basic ranged units such as Archers, as
well as peon-type units, take bonus damage from Normal damage, and
reduced damage from Magic and Piercing damage.
- Heavy armor units, which include both tier-1 and tier-3 melee, take bonus
damage from Magic damage.
Other:
- No Upkeep is now from 0-50 food, Low Upkeep is now from 51-80 food, and
High Upkeep is now from 81-100 food. This change was made to compensate
for the need to have large amounts of lumber-gathering peons.
- Heroes gain more experience from creeps early on, and less once they hit
level 3. Once they hit level 5, Heroes can only gain experience through
killing units controlled by other players.
- Backpack upgrade now requires a shop.
- Ethereal units, which include Banished units and Spirit Walkers in
Ethereal Form, now take 66% bonus damage from spells and magic, down
from 100% bonus damage.
- Units can never move at a speed slower than 150 (roughly 60% the speed
of a Footman). This means that stacking slow effects such as Slow Poison,
Shadow Strike, Slow, etc. will no longer virtually stop units. Note that
Ancients still move very slowly.
- All standard spellcasters have had their mana regeneration increased by
33%. Examples include Druid of the Claw, Sorceress, Witch Doctor and
Necromancer.
- All workers (Peons, Wisps, etc.) now have Medium type armor, which was
formerly known as Light armor. This means that they take bonus damage
from Normal damage, and reduced damage from Piercing and Magic attacks.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------
- BETA PATCH 304a
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2003-MAR-24
PLEASE NOTE: We have made the Ctrl/Subgroup order functionality an optional
feature that is disabled by default. You can re-enable this functionality
by going to the "Options --> Gameplay" screen from the main Menu and check-
ing the "Subgroup Order modifier key" box.
MAJOR FIXES
- Naga Sea Witch movement type is no longer amphibious.
- Naga Sea witch now follows the proper "Hero" purchasing rules.
- Added a new map and fixed several others that were not properly
updated in previous patches.
MAP CHANGES
- (6)RiceFields: Added this new map which will initially be enabled for
2vs2 games. This map utilizes a new Random Creep concept where the creeps
that make up each camp are generated randomly each time the map is played.
- (6)Whirlwinds: Removed all Taverns. Replaced two Goblin Merchants
with Mercenary Camps.
- (6)StranglethornVale: Starting gold mines are reduced. Mercenary Camps
are now gold mines with strong creep camps. Neutral buildings altered in
the middle of the map. **NOTE: This map was unchanged in previous versions
regardless of notes indicating otherwise. **
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- BETA PATCH 304
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2003-MAR-19
BALANCE CHANGES
We have made numerous changes to improve the strategic depth of WC3: The
Frozen Throne. Please try new strategies!
BUILDING & UPGRADE CHANGES
- Players now start with 500 gold and 150 lumber, down from 750 gold and
200 lumber.
- Barracks-equivalents and Altars are much less expensive.
- Technology structures, in general, cost more lumber, while costing less
gold. This was part of an effort to make various strategies have a wider
window of opportunity, as well as to decrease the cost of switching
strategies.
- Town Hall-equivalents and the Haunted Gold Mine cost more lumber.
- Town Hall-equivalent upgrades cost more gold and a lot more lumber.
- Most upgrades cost more lumber and less gold.
- Upgrades other than attack/defense upgrades tend to have lower research
times now.
- Humans and Undead both have new towers, the Arcane Tower and the Nerubian
Tower, respectively, which are designed to discourage Hero harassment.
- Shop hit points have been significantly reduced, as they should be a prime
target when attacking a base.
Damage and Combat Hierarchy Changes:
- Normal damage now does 70% damage to buildings, up from 50%.
- Heroes now have the aptly-named 'Hero' damage type, which works much
like Normal damage, except it only does 50% damage against buildings,
and 100% damage against Light armor. This was done primarily so that
Heroes no longer strongly counter tier-1 ranged units.
- Piercing damage now does 200% damage to Heavy armor, up from 150%. This
change was made to ensure that Archers and other ranged units can
effectively counter air units.
- Magic damage now deals 75% damage against Light armor units, as Light
armor units typically are supposed to counter units that deal Magic
damage.
- Tier-3 melee units now have Medium armor in order to encourage their use,
and make them more dangerous.
- Siege units have been significantly improved by increasing their range
and speed.
- Heavy air units such as Gryphon Riders and Frost Wyrms now deal Magic
damage, which makes them very effective against Medium armor units, and not
so effective against Light armor units, which are supposed to counter them.
- Air units OTHER than heavy air units have for the most part been
rebalanced. You may notice different damage values and other
differences.
- All air units now have Heavy armor.
Experience-Related Changes:
- Kills made when no Hero is nearby still result in your Heroes' receiving
experience. If one Hero is nearby, but another is not, only the nearby
Hero gains experience. This change was made to encourage the use of air
mobility in harassing an opponent.
- High-level creeps and units give significantly less experience.
- High-level creeps have Medium armor now.
- Low-level Heroes take 30% longer to revive. Heroes of level 4 and higher
still take the maximum of nearly 2 minutes to revive.
- Units killed by buildings no longer give experience.
Maps:
- (4)BridgeTooNear: Goblin Laboratories are now gold mines. Starting gold
mines and expansions have reduced gold. Tree circle in middle has thin
wall of trees instead of thick wall of trees.
- (4)HailStone: Moved the Tavern out of player's base and replaced with a
large creep camp. Removed 4 expansion gold mines and replaced them with
Taverns and creep camps. Beefed up a gold mine.
- (4)IceFlow: All gold mines have been reduced.
- (4)Islands: Changed creep camps at Goblin Shipyards.
- (4)Tanaris: Middle is now a gold mine. Made creep camps stronger at
Laboratory and gold mines. Ripped out the medium-sized creep camps. All
gold mines reduced slightly.
- (4)Turtle Rock: Starting gold mines reduced slightly. Tertiary gold mines
reduced significantly.
- (4)WhirlWind: Removed Mercenary Camps and some creep camps. Replaced with
high ground, a Tavern, and a strong creep camp.
- (6)WheelofChaos: One Goblin Laboratory replaced by a Marketplace. All
Marketplaces around the outside became Goblin Laboratories. Gold mine and
Laboratory islands are now connected. Island gold mine creep camps are now
stronger.
- (6)StranglethornVale: Starting gold mines are reduced. Mercenary Camps
are now gold mines with strong creep camps. Neutral buildings altered in
the middle of the map.
Item Changes:
- Clarity Potions, Healing Salves, and Scrolls of Regeneration all have
their effects dispelled when units under their influence attack, are
attacked, cast a spell, or are hit by a spell which does damage.
- Circlet of Nobility price increased to 175 from 125.
- Potion of Lesser Invulnerability now costs 150, up from 100.
- Crystal Ball now has unlimited charges, but a 60-second cooldown. It is
also now a level-5 permanent item instead of a level-2 charged item.
- Staff of Teleportation now costs 100 gold, down from 200, and no longer
randomly drops.
- Orbs no longer cause melee Heroes to deal double damage.
- Adjusted the level of several items.
Human Changes:
- Gyrocopters can now benefit from the new Flak Cannons upgrade, which gives
their air-to-air attack splash damage.
- Gyrocopters have been rebalanced as 1 food units.
- Mortar Teams can now benefit from the Fragmentation Shards upgrade, which
allows them to do increased damage against units.
- Knights adjusted to have a higher damage output, while being the same
overall strength.
- Spell Breakers now have the Feedback ability, which causes their attacks
to remove up to 10 mana from their target. Each point so removed causes
1 point of damage to the target.
- Spell Steal no longer requires an upgrade to use.
- Spell Breakers now have the Control Magic ability, which allows them to
charm enemy summoned units. The spell's cost is relative to the hit points
of the target. Control Magic requires the Control Magic upgrade.
- Blood Mages no longer have the Mana Shield ability, but have gained the
Siphon Mana ability, which is similar to the Dark Ranger's Life Drain,
except it drains mana instead of life from the target.
- Banish can now be cast on oneself, and slows its target by 66%.
- Banished units, by virtue of being ethereal, now take double damage from
Magic and spell attacks. The Sorceress' attack, Storm Bolt, and Flame Strike
are all examples of spells that are doubled in damage by Banish.
- Mark of Fire no longer requires a unit to create--just the spell.
- Dragonhawk Riders now benefit from the Animal War Training upgrade.
- Flame Strike now costs 150 mana to cast, up from 125.
- Flame Strike initial damage/sec reduced to 35/65/90 by level from 45/75/105.
- A bug with Flame Strike was fixed. Now it effectively deals 33%
more damage against units. This means that its values have
effectively been changed to 45/85/120 damage/sec by level.
- War Engine rockets now deal 25 damage down from 75, and have had a range
increase to 500 from 400. Additionally, up to 10 rockets can be fired at
once, up from 3.
- Human Shop no longer sells Scroll of Speed.
- Scout Towers now cost 30/20, down from 70/20.
- Guard Towers now have Light armor, take less time to build, and cost 80/60,
down from 120/60.
Undead Changes:
- Black Sphinx now has the Absorb Mana ability.
- Abominations now have the Cannibalize ability, which works much like the
Ghoul Cannibalize ability, except 1 corpse will not always fully heal an
Abomination.
- When units Cannibalize, the most injured units do so first.
- Obsidian Statues have been significantly changed. They now have only two
abilities: Spirit Touch and Replenish Life. They are auto-cast area-of-
effect mana and health restores which do not stack with other spells of
the same type. Two Sphinxes replenishing mana do not do so faster than 1.
Note that Statues no longer have Aura of Blight, Absorb Mana, or Replenish
Mana.
- Obsidian Statues are once again 3 food in addition to now having 800 hit
points, being able to attack, and having medium armor.
- Black Sphinxes now lose 3 mana per second.
- Devour Magic radius reduced to 250 from 400, but cooldown reduced to 6
from 12.
- The Meat Wagon's corpse-carrying capability has been improved. Cannibalize
and Raise Dead will automatically use corpses in a Meat Wagon as if the
corpses were on the ground.
- Shade speed increased to 350 from 270, but hit points reduced to 125 from
250.
- Scroll of Speed now sold on Tomb of Wonders if a Black Citadel is built.
- A Graveyard is once again required to make Spirit Towers.
- Halls of the Dead hit points reduced to 1750 from 2000.
- Black Citadel hit points reduced to 2000 from 2300.
Orc Changes:
- Catapults now have the Naphtha upgrade, which allows Catapults to cause
an incendiary effect after hitting a target, causing damage to nearby
buildings and units over time
- Level-1 Serpent Ward now has 75 hit points, down from 135.
- Ethereal Spirit Walker hit points increased to 500 from 350.
- Spirit Walkers in ethereal form take double damage from Magic and spell
attacks. The Sorceress' attack, Storm Bolt and Flame Strike are all
examples of spells that do double damage against ethereal Spirit Walkers.
- Disenchant radius reduced to 200 from 400, but mana cost reduced to 50
from 125, and cooldown reduced to 0 from 3.
- Wand of Neutralization now affects 8 targets per use, up from 5.
- Watch Towers now have Light armor, build more quickly, and cost 110/80
down from 155/80.
- Reinforced Burrows upgrade is now called "Reinforced Defenses". It also
costs 50/200, as opposed to 125/75, and now takes 60 seconds to research,
up from 45 seconds. It gives Fortified armor to both Watch Towers and
Burrows.
- Liquid Fire damage/sec reduced to 5/sec from 10/sec temporarily.
- Batrider attack now deals 1d4 + 18 damage, down from 1d5 + 22. This is
a temporary change.
Night Elf Changes:
- Mana Burn cooldown is now 7/6/5 seconds by level, down from 7/7/7 seconds
by level.
- Mana Flare damage cooldown reduced to .75 from 1.5.
- Shadow Strike now affects air units.
- Wisps now move speed 270, up from 220.
- Tranquility cooldown reduced to 60 from 120.
- Tranquility mana cost reduced to 125 from 200.
- Ancients now have Medium armor instead of Heavy armor when uprooted.
- Mountain Giant Hardened Skin now subtracts 15 damage from every attack,
down from 20.
- Spirit of Vengeance has been reworked. You can summon the Spirit of
Vengeance regardless of whether there are corpses nearby. The SoV will
raise invulnerable Spirits from nearby friendly corpses to fight for you.
These Spirits will dissipate if the SoV dies, or if their summon time
elapses.
- Treants (summoned by Force of Nature) now benefit from Nature's Blessing.
- Anti-magic Potion now requires Ancient of Eternity to purchase.
- Clarity Potion no longer sold on Ancient of Wonders.
Neutral Heroes and Units:
- You can now buy the Pandaren Brewmaster and Naga Sea Witch from the
Tavern. Check the bottom of this readme for full details on their
abilities.
- Silence range increased to 900 from 700 to allow for easier use.
- Level-2 and level-3 Black Arrow now create the same Dark Minions as
level-1 Black Arrow.
- Black Arrow damage bonus changed from 5/10/15 to 2/10/20.
- Black Arrow now works on high-level creeps.
- Charm now works on creeps of level 5 or lower, down from 6 or lower.
- Charm mana cost increased to 150 from 125.
- Neutral Heroes are not as quickly available for hire as before.
- Marketplaces have been greatly changed. In no particular order: each
Marketplace has its own stock of items; every 30 seconds, a new item is
added; Marketplaces remove items once they are purchased; Marketplaces
don't stock items until 2 minutes into the game.
- Mercenary camps have a number of new creeps seeking to be soldiers of
fortune! Be sure to check them out!
- Creeps sold at Mercenary Camps and Goblin Laboratories are often
available much earlier than before. Some are available as early as
60 seconds into the game (down from 440 seconds previously)!
Other:
- Second and third Heroes no longer start with Scrolls of Town Portal.
- The allied minimap color filter now has a third state: minimap only. In
this state, units on the main screen will have their own particular
player's color, while units in the minimap will be color coded according
to their team.
- Group-selected buildings now distribute orders properly. For instance,
if you tell two Barracks to research several upgrades and build several
units at the same time, the orders are distributed between them equally.
- Ethereal units take double damage from spell damage and Magic damage.
- All Backpack upgrades now cost 50/25, down from 75/25.
Neutral Hero Abilities:
Pandaren Brewmaster
* Drunken Haze - Causes the target to become extremely drunk, causing it
to move slowly and miss attacks.
* Breath of Fire - The Brewmaster breathes fire in a short-ranged cone shape,
causing damage to both air units and ground units in the area of effect.
Units which were under the effects of Drunken Haze are set aflame and take
significant damage over time.
* Drunken Brawler - Exactly like Evasion.
* Storm, Earth, and Fire - The Brewmaster splits into three mini-pandas:
Storm, Earth, and Fire. Each is a formidable fighter in its own right,
and possesses at least one ability. All have the Resistant Skin ability.
After the spell duration ends, if any one of the pandas is still alive,
the Brewmaster reforms.
- Storm: Can cast Cyclone, level-1 Wind Walk and Dispel Magic. Has a ranged
attack.
- Earth: Magic immune, has extremely high hit points, and possesses the
Pulverize and Taunt abilities.
- Fire: Has Permanent Immolation and a strong attack.
Naga Sea Witch
* Forked Lightning - Similar to Carrion Swarm. A cone-shaped direct damage
spell which does fixed damage to a certain number of targets.
Amount of damage and number of targets go up with level. This spell is
slightly more powerful than Carrion Swarm, but is also a bit more costly,
and has a slightly longer cooldown.
* Mana Shield - This ability is completely reworked version of the Blood
Mage's old Mana Shield ability. It is now an ability that can be activated
or deactivated, much like Immolation. When it is activated, damage done to
the Sea Witch is instead dealt to her mana pool instead of her health.
* Cold Arrows - Similar to Searing Arrows. Deals bonus damage when turned
on, and also slows the victim's attack rate and movement rate.
* Tornado (ultimate) - Creates a randomly moving Tornado in the area of
effect which causes significant damage to buildings and slows the attack rate
and move speed of units.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------
- BETA PATCH 303
--------------------------------------------------------------------------
- Fixed an issue with spirit walkers dying in ethereal form.
- Corrected Sleep duration.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------
- BETA PATCH 302
--------------------------------------------------------------------------
2003-MAR-11
MAJOR ISSUES
- "Your CD key is already in use." message now displays appropriately when
connecting to Battle.net with an already active key.
- Fixed an issue with transports that allowed players to instantly teleport
units to any location on the map.
- Fixed a crash that could occur when morphing a buffed unit when "Spell
Detail" was set to Low or Medium.
- Sleep is temporarily making units sleep for .5 seconds. This will be
fixed in the next patch.
MAP CHANGES
- (4)HailStone: Adjusted a couple creep camp locations & strength.
- (4)IceFlow: Slightly reduced an item drop.
- (4)TurtleRock: Slightly adjusted creep location.
- (4)Whirlwind: Slightly adjusted creep location.
- (6)StranglethornVale: Adjusted an item drop.
BALANCE CHANGES
Human Changes:
- War Engine, formerly known as the Rocket Tank upgrade, now costs
150/50, down from 200/50.
- Dragon Hawks now benefit from the steel weapons upgrade.
- Dragon Hawks are now built at the Gryphon Aviary.
- Dragon Hawk build time reduced to 45 from 65.
- Flame Strike now costs 125 mana, up from 80 mana.
- Flame Strike area is now 200, down from 250.
- Flame Strike secondary DoT lasts 6 seconds, up from 4 seconds, but also
does 33% less damage per second.
- Flame Strike cooldown is now 10, down from 13.
- Banish cooldown increased to 10, up from 6.
- Banish durations modified to non-Hero(Hero): 12(5) / 24(6) / 36(7), from 8(6)
/ 16(7) / 24(8).
- Banished units can no longer cast spells.
- Arcane Vault cost increased to 130/30 from 70/30.
Undead Changes:
- Locust Swarm damage reduced by 50%, but life transfer rate doubled.
- Impale now does 100/200/300 damage a level, down from 120/240/360 damage
per level. It also no longer stuns, beyond the fact that impaled units
are in the air for a while and lose any channel spell they are casting.
- Obsidian Statues now regenerate .5 mana per second, down from 4 mana per
second. They are now similar to a slightly improved Moon Well for mana
regeneration.
- Obsidian Statues are now 2 food, down from 3.
- Obsidian Statue cost reduced from 215/50 to 200/35.
- Black Sphinx hit points reduced to 800 from 1000.
- Black Sphinx cost increased to 100/50 from 85/35.
- Tomb of Relics cost increased to 130/30 from 70/30.
- Devour Magic range increased to 600 from 500.
- Spirit Towers no longer require a Graveyard to be built.
- Spirit Tower gold cost increased to 145 from 135.
Orc Changes:
- Spirit Walkers have an attack range of 400, up from 250.
- Spirit Walkers now start in corporeal mode, and can enter ethereal mode
as a defense. When Spirit Walkers leave ethereal mode, they cannot
become ethereal again for 30 seconds.
- Ethereal Spirit Walkers can no longer cast spells.
- Troll Batrider's Unstable Concoction now does 750 damage to the unit it attacks
(up from 500), and 100 damage to surrounding units (down from 200).
Additionally, its splash radius is now 200, down from 300.
- Batriders now have 400 hit points, down from 500 hit points.
- Batrider range is now 300, down from 550.
- Liquid Fire damage per second is now 10/sec, down from 25/sec.
- Wind Walk now has a cooldown of 5 seconds.
- Wind Walk costs 75 mana at all levels (changed from 100/75/25).
- War Mill now takes 70 seconds to build, up from 60.
- Watch Towers now take 65 seconds to build, up from 55.
- Voodoo Lounge cost increased to 130/30 from 70/30
- Hex duration is now 24 seconds on units, up from 15.
- Hex cooldown reduced from 17/13/9 to 14/11/8.
- Attacking while under the effect of Healing Salve removes the effect.
Night Elf Changes:
- Spirit of Vengeance now has Resistant Skin, which renders it immune to
Kodo Beast Devour, among other things.
- Mana Flare can only hit 1 target per 1.5 seconds. Previously, Mana Flare
could hit an infinite number of targets.
- Mana Flare now costs 50 mana to cast, down from 100.
- Phase Shift now has a cooldown of 6.5 seconds, up from 3.5 seconds. Its
duration has also changed and is now 1.5 seconds, down from 2 seconds.
- Phase Shift no longer turns Faerie Dragons ethereal--instead, they are
temporarily removed from the game, and reappear a short time later.
This still causes attackers to switch targets, and causes any projectiles
en route to a Faerie Dragon to miss.
- Faerie Dragons can no longer use Phase Shift when casting Mana Flare.
- Phase Shift no longer dispels Web and Ensnare.
- Enchanted Bears and Enchanted Crows now cost 100/50 to research, down
from 150/75. They also take only 20 seconds to research, down from 30.
- Ancient of Wonders cost increased to 90/30 from 40/30.
- Ancient of Wonders attack increased from 1d3 + 12 to 1d5 + 20.
- Ancient of Wonders hit points increased to 550 from 500.
- Blink can no longer escape Entangling Roots and other immobilizers.
- Mountain Giants will now use the 'War Club' ability when you right-click
on a tree with them.
Item Changes:
- Boots of Speed now give a 60 movement speed boost, up from 40. They are
also a level-2 item now (up from 1), and cost 150 gold (up from 100).
- Tome of Power is once again in the game as a level-8 artifact. However,
it has been reworked. It now gives you a level's worth of experience,
rather than just promoting your Hero to the next level up.
- All player shop Orbs give a +5 damage bonus now, down from +6 in most
cases (+9 in the case of Orb of Venom).
- Orb of Venom poison damage per sec increased to 6/sec from 5/sec.
- Claws of Attack +9 no longer sold on Goblin Merchant.
- Circlet of Nobility now sold on Goblin Merchant for the low, low price
of 125 gold.
- Ring of Regeneration is now a level-3 item (up from 2).
- Sobi Mask is now a level-4 item (up from 3).
- Potion of Omniscience no longer drops in multiplayer games.
- Staff of Teleportation is now available at the first nightfall, as
opposed to dawn of the second day.
- Periapt of Vitality now costs 350, down from 400.
- Tiny Great Hall gold cost increased to 600 from 450.
Other:
- All normal spellcaster upgrades (i.e., adept and mastery) now cost
100 at first level, and 200/50 at second level.
- Summonables give 1/2 the experience they used to when killed. Powerful
summonables such as water elementals and the Spirit of Vengeance have been
increased in level to preserve their old values, while small summonables
such as skeletons have been left as level 1.
- You can now buy neutral Hero for free if it is your first Hero.
- Life Drain now costs 75 mana to cast.
- Life Drain now deals 20/35/50 damage per second by level, down from
25/40/55.
- Charm cooldown increased to 45 seconds, up from 30 seconds.
- Becoming ethereal now makes a unit unable to cast spells.
- Backpack upgrades now take 20 seconds to research, down from 75.
- Magic damage does 100% damage to Unarmored now, up from 50%.
- Magic damage does 50% damage to Heroes now, up from 40%.
- Item sell price reduced to 50% of base price (down from 75%).
- Instant revive now costs 2.5x the Hero's base revive price, up from 2x.
- Level-10 Dragons are once again magic immune.
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- BETA PATCH 301
--------------------------------------------------------------------------
2003-MAR-04
MINOR ISSUES
- Several Battle.net Clan related message improvements.
- Several minor button and art related fixes.
BALANCE CHANGES
Human Changes:
- Flamestrike area of effect no longer increases with level.
- Flamestrike initial damage decreased. It now does 45/75/105 damage per
second down from 70/105/135.
- Arcane Vaults can now stock an inventory of up to 3 Ivory Towers. They
also restock towers much more quickly (30 sec down from 120 sec), and
charge 70 gold for them, down from 80.
- Dragon Hawks now deal piercing damage and have heavy armor.
- Dragon Hawk cost increased by 50% (Food, lumber, gold)
- Dragon Hawks now have 650 hitpoints.
- Dragon Hawks now deal 21-26 damage, and attack 12% more slowly. (Cooldown
increased to 1.7 from 1.5).
- Banish is no longer auto-dispelled by dryads
Undead Changes:
--------------------------------------------------------------------------
- Obsidian Statue and Black Sphinx both now have 400 mana. Obsidian Statues
previously had 750 mana and Black Sphinxes previously had 300 mana.
- Obsidian statue mana regen increased to 4/sec from 3/sec.
- Orb of Annihilation mana cost increased to 25 from 20.
- Carrion swarm max damage increased to 375/700/1000 from 300/550/800.
Orc Changes:
- Spirit Walkers now have 150 less hitpoints in ethereal form than in
corporeal form.
- Spirit walkers are now called Spirit walkers regardless of their current
mode (ethereal vs corporeal)
- Spirit Link now lasts 75 seconds, up from 45 seconds.
- Orb of Lightning damage bonus reduced to 6 from 12.
- Orb of Lightning now procs 50% of the time on summoned units, and 35% of
the time on units, up from 35% and 25% respectively.
Night Elf Changes:
- Blink cooldown is now 10/10/1 by level, and Blink mana cost is now 50/10/10
by level.
- Entangle now interrupts channeling spells such as Starfall and Blizzard.
- Fan of Knives maximum damage decreased to 450/825/1200.
- Fan of Knives now costs 110 mana up from 100 mana.
- Faerie Dragons now do piercing damage.
- Taunt no longer affects units that are casting spells or units that are
repairing something.
Item Changes:
- Sobi mask no longer sold at goblin merchant.
- Boots of Speed now sold at the goblin merchant for the low, low price of
100 gold.
- Dust of Appearance cost reduced to 75 from 200, but number of uses reduced
to 2 from 3.
- Items now sell for 75% of their base price rather than 50%.
Changes to Neutral Buildings, Units and Heroes:
- Transport ship hitpoints upgraded to 1500 from 600.
- Silence now costs 75 mana regardless of level, and has a cooldown of 15
seconds regardless of level.
- Silence Area of Effect is now 150/250/350 by level.
- Silence duration is now: Units(Heroes) by level: 16(8)/20(10)/24(12)
Other:
- All races now have a backpack upgrade on their town hall equivalent.
This upgrade gives units the ability to carry items. It currently costs
125/75.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------
- BETA PATCH 300
--------------------------------------------------------------------------
2003-MAR-01
Welcome to the Warcraft III Expansion Beta
NOTE: Patch 300 was the first version of The Frozen Throne Beta.
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