-------------------------------------------------------------------------- WARCRAFT III BETA VERSION HISTORY -------------------------------------------------------------------------- - BETA PATCH 315 -------------------------------------------------------------------------- 2003-JUN-10 Maps: Two Rivers - Miscellaneous improvements to creep and start location balance Changes to Neutral Buildings, Units and Heroes: - Forest Troll Shadow Priests have had their starting availability delayed by 60 seconds to 120 seconds. - The Beastmaster now has a smaller "footprint" or collision size - 32 down from 48. Undead Changes: - Spirit Touch now replenishes 4 mana per casting, down from 5. - Spirit Touch and Essence of Blight now affect a maximum of 6 units per casting. Note that multiple obsidian statues can be used together to heal a larger number of units. - The Tomb of Relics now sells dust of appearance, but no longer sells clarity potions. - Devour Magic now heals 50 hitpoints per spell devoured, up from 25, and 75 mana, up from 50. Human Changes: - Lumber Mill cost reduced to 120 from 145. - Lumber upgrade effect doubled to +10 lumber capacity per level of upgrade, up from +5 lumber capacity per level of upgrade. - Human masonry upgrade cost reduced to 100/25, 125/50 and 150/75 from 100/100, 125/175, 175/250. - Guard Towers and Arcane Towers now cost 70/50 to upgrade, down from 80/60. - Mortar Teams now have a limitless supply of flares, but they can only use one flare every 2 minutes. - Gyrocopter air to air damage increased to 12-13 from 7-8 - Gryphon Aviary cost reduced to 140/150 from 170/190 - Dragonhawks are now correctly a level 3 unit instead of a level 5 unit. This only impacts the experience gained when they are killed. Night Elf Changes: - Archer hitpoints reduced to 240 from 300. - Archers now have a new passive ability, Elune's Grace. This ability grants them 35% damage reduction against piercing attacks, and 20% damage reduction against spells. - Hippogryph Rider hitpoints reduced to 765 from 825 and armor increased to 1 from 0. - Huntress hitpoints increased to 600 from 575. Orc Changes: - The Voodoo Lounge now sells clarity potions, but no longer sells dust of appearance. - Wyvern damage reduced to 36-44 from 39-47. - Wyvern poison now deals 4 damage a second up from 3.3 damage a second. - Wyvern speed reduced to 320 from 350. - Batriders no longer require a fortress to build. - Spirit Link cost reduced to 75 from 100. - The Tauren Chieftan now has a smaller "footprint" or collision size - 32 down from 48. Other: - If a player owns only one hero (dead heroes count), and is at tier 2 or tier 3, they gain bonus experience of 10% for tier 2 and 20% for tier 3. This affects all experience gain - both creeping and killing enemy units. -------------------------------------------------------------------------- - BETA PATCH 314A -------------------------------------------------------------------------- 2003-JUN-02 Bug Fixes: - Fixed a crash with Arranged Team games. -------------------------------------------------------------------------- - BETA PATCH 314 -------------------------------------------------------------------------- 2003-MAY-30 Map Changes: - Turtle rock - Center gold mine creeps now less aggressive - Twisted Meadows - Improved overall balance - Wheel of Chaos - Tweaked aggressive creeps - Tranquil Paths - Removed dragons from random island camps. Changes to Neutral Buildings, Units and Heroes: - Mercenaries cost 25% more gold than previously. - Mud Golem availability delayed to second day. - Summoned Doom Guard hitpoints increased to 1600 from 1350. - Howl of Terror % damage reduction increased by 5% at all levels to 30/40/50%. - Zeppelin hitpoints increased to 575 from 500. Undead Changes: - Gargoyles now require Halls of the Dead instead of Black Citadel. - Obsidian statue Aura of Blight effect reduced to 10 hp/sec from 12 hp/sec. - Halls of the Dead and Black Citadel deal one quarter as much damage as previously, but now possess a frost attack similar to that of Nerubian Towers. - Nerubian Tower damage reduced to 1d2 + 8 from 1d2 + 10. - Orb of Corruption cost reduced to 375 from 400, and armor debuff increased to 5 from 4. - Boneyard cost changed to 175/200 from 125/250. Human Changes: - Gryphon Aviaries now require a Keep instead of a castle. However, both the Cloud upgrade and Gryphons require a castle to access. - Mana cost of spell steal increased to 75. - Spell Breaker armor type changed to medium. - Orb of Fire cost reduced to 375 from 400 and splash radius increased to 140 from 125. - Gryphon Aviary cost changed to 170/190 from 120/240. Night Elf Changes: - Mountain Giant base armor increased to 4 from 0 and hitpoints increased to 1650 from 1400. - Hardened skin upgrade cost reduced to 100/175 from 100/250, and damage reduction reduced to 12 from 15. - Orb of Venom cost reduced to 375 from 400 and poison damage/sec increased to 7 from 6. - Chimaera Roost cost changed to 140/190 from 100/230. Orc Changes: - Feral Spirit mana cost reduced to 75 from 100 and cooldown increased to 25 from 15. - Purge has been improved. It no longer slows friendly units when used on them and causes units to stop for a brief moment when first cast (in addition to slowing them later). - Wyverns no longer require a Fotress to be built. - Orb of Lightning cost reduced to 375 from 400. - Tauren Totem cost changed to 135/155 from 90/200. Other: - Tier 3 town halls all cost 20 lumber and 20 gold less. -------------------------------------------------------------------------- - BETA PATCH 313 -------------------------------------------------------------------------- 2003-MAY-19 Major Fixes: - Fixed a resource exploit with constructing queued buildings. - Drunken Brawler is available again on the Pandaren Brewmaster. - Tranquil Paths creeps fixed. -------------------------------------------------------------------------- - BETA PATCH 312 -------------------------------------------------------------------------- 2003-MAY-13 Maps: - Adrenaline, Rice Fields, Bridge Too Near, and Turtle Rock have been updated with improved item balance, creep balance, and creep placement. - Tranquil Paths has been added to the beta. Its key difference from the Classic version is that it has random creeps. For the most part, creep camps are of the same power and type of capabilities (with slight differences), though some vary radically. - A significant number of new maps have been added: Floodplains (1v1 version), Jungle Fever, Avalanche, Twisted Meadows, Paradise Islands, The Two Rivers, and Desert Strife. The final four of these are map contest winners. - 1v1 template changes: Hailstone, Ice Flow, Whirlwind and Floodplains removed; Floodplains (1v1 version), Twisted Meadows, Desert Strife, The Two Rivers, Tranquil Paths added. - 2v2 template changes: Tanaris, Islands, Plains of Snow removed; Jungle Fever, Paradise Islands, Avalanche added. Changes to Neutral Buildings, Units and Heroes: - Forked lightning damage reduced to 85/160/250 from 100/175/250. - Tornado now deals 7 damage a second to buildings in its general vicinity (down from 10), and 50 damage to buildings it is over (down from 80) and costs 250 mana to cast, up from 150. - Silence area of effect increased from 150/250/350 to 200/275/350. Item Changes - Scroll of Restoration is now a level 5 item instead of a level 6 item. Undead Changes: - Crypt Fiend damage reduced from 28-33 to 26-31. - Burrowed Crypt Fiends now heal 5 hp/sec down from 10 hp/sec. - Rod of Necromancy cooldown increased from 15 to 22. - Ghoul hitpoints upgraded to 340 from 330. - Carrion Swarm max damage reduced to 300/600/1000 from 375/700/1000 and damage per target reduced to 75/125/200 from 100/150/200. - Impale Area of Effect width reduced to 250 from 300. - Obsidian Statue hitpoints reduced to 700 from 800. Human Changes: - Spell Breaker hitpoints reduced to 600 from 650. - Scroll of Regeneration now heals 225 hitpoints over its 45 second duration, up from 150 hitpoints. - Thunderclap damage reduced to 60/100/140 from 70/110/150. Night Elf Changes: - Archer hitpoints reduced to 300 from 310. - Hippogryph Rider hitpoints decreased to 825 from 835. - Entangle duration vs heroes reduced to 3/4/5 from 3/5/7. - Chimaera splash increments reduced by 50 for quarter, 25 for half. This effectively means that Chimaeras will do less splash damage than previously. - Mana Flare has had a bug fixed that was preventing multiple mana flares from attacking multiple targets at the same time. As a result, Mana Flare has been rebalanced, and deals up to 90 damage to targets in a 250 area when a unit casts a spell, down from 125 damage. - Fan of Knives maximum damage reduced to 275/575/950 from 350/675/950, and damage per target reduced to 70/115/180 from 90/135/180. - Dryad damage increased from 15-17 to 16-18. Orc Changes: - Catapult damage reduced from 82-102 to 76-94 - Kodo Beasts are now unarmored. - Ensnare duration increased to 15 from 12, and range increased to 500 from 400. - Raiders now have a base armor of 1, up from 0. - Shockwave area of effect width reduced to 250 from 300. - Chain Lightning base damage reduced to 85/125/180 from 100/140/180. - Tauren Chieftan speed increased to 270 from 250. Other: - Town Portal now takes 5 seconds to activate, up from 3. - Units killed in a transport will "spill out" over a wider area. This means that surrounding a webbed transport and killing it will generally not kill the passengers. - Tavern instant revive costs three times more lumber than previously. - Heroes revived at the tavern now are brought back to life with 0 mana and 50% health. -------------------------------------------------------------------------- - BETA PATCH 311 -------------------------------------------------------------------------- 2003-APR-28 Tournament Additions: - Added support for team tournaments. -------------------------------------------------------------------------- - BETA PATCH 310 -------------------------------------------------------------------------- 2003-APR-24 Map Additions: - Adrenaline has been revamped for the expansion and has been added to the 1 on 1 template. - Scorched Basin has been added to the 1 on 1 template. - A new map, Floodplains, has been added to the 1 on 1 and 2 on 2 templates. - Another new map, Mur'gul Oasis, has been added to the 2 on 2 template. - Plains of Snow, has been added to the 2 on 2 template. Changes to Neutral Buildings, Units and Heroes: - Stampede area of effect increased to once again be 1000, up from 500. - Tornado tosses units into the air much more often than previously. With this change, Tornado is quite effective when used against armies. - Merc cooldowns slightly increased. Their cooldowns are now 50 seconds x Level + 10 seconds, up from 40 seconds x Level + 10 seconds. Undead Changes: - Statue mana regen reduced to 1.5/sec from 3 /sec. - Destroyers now start with zero mana. - Gargoyles are now unarmored type armor instead of light armor. - Nerubian Tower frost duration reduced to 5 seconds, down from 10 seconds. Human Changes: - Powerbuild effectiveness has been halved. It now takes 2 additional peons to double the rate of building, 4 to triple, etc. Note that the cost increase per additional peon is unchanged. - Flamestrike area of effect changed to 200, down from 225. - Spellbreaker feedback damage vs heroes reduced to 5 from 7. - Spellbreaker feedback no longer affects spell-immune units. - Spell steal mana cost increased to 60 from 50. - Dragon hawk damage increased to 1d3 + 18 from 1d2 + 17. Night Elf Changes: - Ballistas are now 3 food, down from 4 food. - Ballistas gain the ability to hit trees when the Impaling Bolt upgrade is researched. Note that trees will not be harmed by follow-through damage from the Impaling Bolt. You can use the Attack Ground command to damage multiple trees. - Hippogryphs and Druids of the Talon in Storm Crow form are now unarmored units rather than being "light armor" units. - Huntresses are now unarmored and have had their stats slightly tweaked. They now deal 1d3 + 15 damage, down from 1d3 + 18 damage, and their armor has been reduced to 2 from 3. - Mana Flare has been upgraded. It now gives bonus armor to the Faerie Dragon casting it (while it is being cast), as well as causing splash damage when it strikes targets. Orc Changes: - Hexed units once again move at speed 100 instead of speed 150. Other: - The mini-map creep camp indicator now displays 3 levels of difficulty instead of 2. - Added support for advanced users to customize hotkeys. For further information see the CustomKeyInfo.txt file inside your Warcraft III directory. -------------------------------------------------------------------------- - BETA PATCH 309 -------------------------------------------------------------------------- 2003-APR-17 Major Changes: - Corrected 308 data to properly reflect patch 307 changes -------------------------------------------------------------------------- - BETA PATCH 308 -------------------------------------------------------------------------- 2003-APR-16 Item Changes: - Town Portal range to include units to teleport increased to 1100 from 900. - Scroll of Speed duration increased to 10 seconds from 7 seconds. - Clarity Potion cost reduced to 70 from 80. - Healing Salve cost reduced to 100 from 125. Changes to Neutral Buildings, Units and Heroes: - Neutral heroes now require an Altar to be purchased. - Death Coil now heals Pit Lords while Holy Light harms them. - Pit Lord speed increased to 300 from 270. - Black Arrow minions once again improve with the level of the skill. For each level gained, Minions gain 30% hitpoints and slight amounts of damage. - Tornado has been reworked. It now creates a controllable unit that does extreme damage to nearby buildings, light damage to buildings in the general vicinity, slows units by a large amount, and tosses nearby units and heroes up into the air randomly. Note that the spell is still a channel spell. - Drunken Haze duration reduced to 12 seconds at all levels. Undead Changes: - Destroyers are now magic immune. - Destroyer damage decreased to 1d4 + 20 from 1d5 + 24. - Orb of Annihilation now adds 20 bonus damage up from 12 bonus damage. - Obsidian Statue mana pool increased to 600, up from 400, and Obsidian Statue starting mana is now 400, up from 100. - Obsidian Statue mana regeneration increased to 3/sec from 2/sec. - Essence of Blight and Spirit Touch now cost less mana when less targets are available. 5 or more targets: 10 mana; 4 targets - 8 mana; 3 targets - 6 mana, etc. Currently, these abilities show up as "2" mana, but this is a bug which will be fixed soon. - Essence of Blight now heals 12 hitpoints per casting, up from 10. - Cannibalize on the Abomination now heals 15 hp/sec, up from 10 hp/sec, and heals a maximum of 495 hitpoints, up from 330. - Spiked Carapace armor bonus now 3/5/7 up from 2/4/6. - Impale cooldown reduced to 9 seconds from 11 seconds. - Death Pact can now be used on invulnerable units. Human Changes: - Spell Breakers are now 3 food. - Spell Breaker cost increased to 215/30 from 155/20. - Spell Breaker damage increased to 1d3 + 12 from 1d2 + 8. - Spell Breaker feedback now deals 20 damage to units, and 7 damage to heroes (assuming they have mana to feedback). - Arcane Tower feedback now deals 24 points of damage to units and 12 damage to heroes (assuming they have mana to feedback). - Polymorph no longer affects summoned units. - Aerial Shackles now deals 20 damage / sec, up from 10 damage / sec. - Town Hall cost increased to 385/205 from 385/185. - Banish duration vs heroes is now 5/7/9 by level, up from 5/6/7. Banish cooldown is 10 (for reference) - Mana Siphon now costs 10 mana down from 25. - Mana Siphon duration and cooldown reduced to 6 from 8, but rate of drain increased by roughly 20% at all levels. - Phoenixes now lose 25 hitpoints per second, up from 10. - Frag Shards now deals 25% more bonus damage than it did previously. Note that this bonus damage is only effective against unarmored and normal armor units. - Gyrocopters now move at speed 400 up from 350. Night Elf Changes: - Taunt radius reduced to 450 from 500. - Rejuvenation can now be cast on units at full health. - Dryad hitpoints increased to 435 from 380. - Fan of Knives damage cap reduced to 350/675/950 from 400/750/1075. - Fan of Knives mana cost reduced to 100 from 110. Orc Changes: - Lightning shield range increased to 600 from 500. - Hex no longer affects summoned units. - Hex cost reduced to 70 from 75. - Spirit Link now affects 4 targets, up from 3. - Researching the Berserker Strength upgrade now requires a Stronghold instead of a Fortress. - Berserker Strength cost reduced to 50/150 down from 50/200. - Troll Berserker hitpoints increased to 450, up from 425. - A bug which was reducing the effectiveness of Burning Oil has been fixed. Other: - Upgraded casters properly get the +30% mana regen boost that was put in several patches ago. Up until this patch, casters only got +30% mana regen to base regen, which ended up being only +15% when fully upgraded. - Splash damage units that get a "MISS!" from Curse, Evasion or Drunken Haze, now deal ˝ damage to targets. Previously, they dealt full damage. - Gargantuan Sea Turtle hitpoints increased to 1250 from 1000. -------------------------------------------------------------------------- - BETA PATCH 307 -------------------------------------------------------------------------- 2003-APR-11 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. -------------------------------------------------------------------------- - BETA PATCH 306 -------------------------------------------------------------------------- 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 doesn’t 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. 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 Wonders 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 Archer’s 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% stronger 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 unit’s 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 Beast’s 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 Lord’s 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. -------------------------------------------------------------------------- - BETA PATCH 305A -------------------------------------------------------------------------- 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. -------------------------------------------------------------------------- - BETA PATCH 305 -------------------------------------------------------------------------- 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 -------------------------------------------------------------------------- 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. ** -------------------------------------------------------------------------- - BETA PATCH 304 -------------------------------------------------------------------------- 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 -------------------------------------------------------------------------- 2003-MAR-14 MAJOR ISSUES - 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. -------------------------------------------------------------------------- - 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 ** -------------------------------------------------------------------------- --------------------------------------------------------------------------