Friday, January 29, 2010

Smota Media

Here are some short Smota-related videos.

Ghost's Nuclear Launch

Nuclear Launch ability from SMotA, a WarCraft III map. In game, it has the "Nuclear Launch Detected" sound from StarCraft. The hero using the ability is the Ghost.



Faerie Dragon

The first ability seen is Deflector Shield, which allows the Faerie Dragon to reflect all damage taken to surrounding enemies for a short duration; the shield is channeled. The hero also has, in order of usage in video, Blink, Faerie Fury, and Energy Beam. The damage of the Energy Beam increases as the beam is stretched; it breaks after four seconds.



Conjuror

A hero that uses Life Orbs.



Burning Archer

Ranged damager with explosive fire abilities.



Skinkapulter

Comedic summoner capable of launching self.

Friday, December 25, 2009

v1.00 Changelog

Gameplay:


* replaced Hippogryph's Precision with Feather Storm (aoe damage)
* replaced Chaos Peon's Improved Masonry with Fix (instant aoe heal including structures)
* replaced Marksman's Charged Shot with Exploding Shot (aimed aoe damage and stun)
* replaced Sphinx's Spirit Hull with Seeking Death (slow homing stun missile)
* reworked Sorceress: its spells are 6-level, removed Elemental Mastery, added level 21 Triple Finish super-ultimate
* reduced Spirits' Finger of Death default damage to 75; Spirit Bottle upgrade is unaffected
* reworked Outpost and Observatory mechanics slightly: they have full health when captured, but do not repair
* Oupost towers have been weakened to 750 hitpoints and 60-70 base damage
* Boss creeps now act smarter and cannot be lured out of base as much
* basic melee spawn creeps now have medium armor
* extended shopping range to 900
* Arena mode kill requirement now scales with number of players, with the requisite being 5x number of human players
* Faerie Dragon's Energy Beam no longer damages self
* Teleporters no longer cost gold

Fixes:
* Spider's Nerve Poison no longer has a slow effect
* fixed Silencing Shot leveling glitch and mana cost
* fixed Infiltrate and Thief Rage to work properly
* fixed a crash glitch with Beastmaster
* fixed Conjurer to gain Life Orbs if Spirit kills a hero
* fixed some stacking issues with hero buffs
* fixed Shadow Bolt to be able to hit Chaos Peon
* fixed Dazing Gemstone to not slow movespeed
* fixed Blade of the Monkey to not mess up with Shadow Sight
* fixed a few typos

Balancing:
* Afflictor: decreased Shadowbolt damage to 2.2x int
* Arcane Wizard: reduced Arcane Strike damage to 400/600/800/1000
* Chaos Peon: lowered tower attack range to 600, increased tower build time to 6 seconds
* Chaos Peon: increased Summon Peon build tower cooldown to 30 seconds
* Conjurer: changed Detonation damage to 50/100/150/200/250 + Int
* Conjurer: increased Conjure Tome cooldown to 120/105/90/75/60
* Conjurer: changed Restoration Potion healing to 20% max hp and mana
* Death Knight: changed Lich King's Pact required hp from 33% to 20%
* Demon Hunter: reduced stats slightly
* Ghost: allowed Lockdown to cause 25/50/75/100/125 damage
* Ghost: improved Ocular Implants agility bonus to 5/10/15/20/25
* Giant: nerfed Ring of Fire damage per second to 50/80/110/140
* Grunt: lowered stats slightly
* Helicopter: lowered Auto Gunships damage per bomb to 12
* Holy Priest: lowered stat gains slightly
* Knight: gained an innate ability: Burst, increases movespeed by 100% for 2 seconds
* Mountain Giant: reduced Tree Smash bonus damage to 35/70/105/140/175
* Naga Warrior: nerfed Snap Dragon armor and damage signficantly
* Naga Warrior: reduced Draining Blade lifesteal to 15/17/19/21/23%
* Necromancer: lowered strength slightly
* Necromancer: changed Curse of Ner'zhul to have constant 7 second duration
* Nerubian: lowered Web mana cost to 100 constant
* Ogre Fighter: nerfed Force Slam shockwave damage to 50/80/110/140/170
* Shadow Hunter: reduced Serpent Ward normal ward duration to 20 seconds
* Shadow Hunter: lowered Voodoo Spirits duration to 30 seconds
* Shadow Lich: changed Wisdom of the Dead to add 2/4/6/8/10% ms and ias, and increase base int by 2/4/6/8/10
* Spirit Watcher: added one additional target to Lightning Blast, lowered its damage gain to 15% per hit, reduced cooldown to 6 seconds
* Spirit Watcher: allowed Empowered Spirit to act as an aura and lower Rain of Fire cooldown by 3 per level
* Tuskarr Mage: nerfed Frost Bolt damage to 75/125/175/225/275
* Tuskarr Mage: reduced Snowball damage to 65/130/195/260/325
* Warden: improved Fan of Knives base damage to 50/100/150/200/250

Items:
* Axe of Might: decreased splash amount from 55% to 42% and removed the +20 fixed damage bonus
* Blade of the Monkey: increased recipe cost from 2000 to 2300
* Sorcerer Robe: improved armor bonus from 4 to 8
* Vacuum Wand: nerfed aura to deplete 1% max mana per second (instead of 2%)

Others:
* added a new game lobby minimap image (Thanks Anj)
* destinations of the three base-to-lane teleporters are now marked with circles of power
* upped the size of several hero models


This will probably be the final version. I've had a great time with this map. But now, I think it is now time for me to move on to other things in life. I'll still visit occasionally.

Tuesday, March 10, 2009

v0.99, v0.99b, and v0.99c Changelogs

Changelog for v0.99

Gameplay:
* added new hero: Tauren Chieftain (High Elf)
* completely remade Shadow Priest
* added an innate ability to Afflictor: Shadow Bolt (1.1 sec cast time, deals damage equal to 100 + 2x int, costs 17% max mana)
* replaced Spirit Watcher's Reincarnation ability with Empowered Spirit (increases mana regeneration, improves Spirit's Rain of Fire damage, and causes spawned Spirit to have the Renew ability)
* replaced Footman Cold Sword ability with Shield Slam (causes damage, silences, and slows)
* widened the Undead outpost path terrain a bit
* removed teleporter cooldowns (this made Only-Mid mode very one sided as only one person could teleport in at a time against an entire team)
* cut Outpost teleporter gold costs in half
* improved Outpost towers' attack damage significantly
* moved bottom lane level 1 High Elf tower a bit
* reduced lane creeps' armor values slightly
* Mountain King's Counter Slam now does not activate from illusion attacks

Fixes:
* fixed a minor crash bug
* fixed a Demonic Charge bug
* fixed a bug with Conjurer teleporting with orbs
* fixed Thief Rage to work correctly
* fixed Ether Burst to deal the correct damage to low hp heroes
* fixed an abuse with Midas Touch and Assassin's Blade
* fixed a camera movement inconsistency after selecting a hero
* fixed Blood Sphere and Feral Soul sell costs
* fixed Mana Disruption damage
* fixed Stratoblast buff icon
* fixed Blood Pact, Burning Wave, and Demon Morph typos
* fixed typos on Medallion of Courage, Helm of Valor, and Hood of Cunning

Balancing:
* Abomination - nerfed Regurgitate stun duration to 1 second
* Archmage - nerfed stats slightly
* Archmage - increased Mind Blast cooldown to 14
* Archmage - improved Teleport cooldown to 50/40/30/20/10 seconds; increased cast time to 3.5 seconds
* Blood Fiend - Bloodthirst now heals 1% max life on attacks in addition to increasing movespeed; increased aoe to 1500
* Conjurer - hero kills now grant +4 life orbs
* Conjurer - reduced Conjure Potion cooldown to 25/19/13/7/1 seconds
* Death Knight - changed Lich King's Pact to reduce 40/50/60/70% damage when below 35% hp
* Doom Guard - reduced strength growth from +3.3 to +2.8 per level
* Doom Guard - lowered Demonic Charge damage to 100/125/150/175/200
* Earth Revenant - increased Hurl Boulder cooldown to 12 seconds and reduced damage to 100/150/200/250/300
* Earth Revenant - lowered Earth Blast damage to 100/150/200/250/300
* Earth Revenant - reduced Aura of Might damage bonus to 6/12/18/24/30%
* Earth Revenant - improved Earthen Presence damage bonus to 100/150/200/250; improved half-damage aoe to 500
* Eredar Diabolist - improved Demonic Curse ministun duration to .5 sec
* Eredar Diabolist - allowed Infiltrate to drain a slight amount of hitpoints (20/25/30/35/40 hp per sec)
* Faceless Terror - nerfed Faceless Strike bonus damage to 20/40/60/80/100, changed mana cost to 100/115/130/145/160 and cast range to 700
* Faceless Terror - changed Incredible Reflexes attack speed bonus to 5/10/15/20/25%
* Faceless Terror - lowered Pummel chance to 10/13/16/19/22% and bonus damage to 30
* Faceless Terror - reduced Doom duration to 5/6/7/8
* Footman - improved Rage damage to 3/5/7/9/11% missing hp
* Footman - improved War Cry bonus stats to 16/24/32/40
* Gargoyle - increased Sonic Blast cooldown to 11 seconds
* Grunt - reduced Beserker Strength bonus to 5/10/15/20/25 bonus str
* Harpy Stormwitch - improved Cyclone base attack time to 1 second
* Hematologist - lowered Hyperventilate armor reduction to 5 and movespeed bonus to 50%, increased cooldown to 14
* Hematologist - reduced Coagulation life regeneration bonus to 2/3/4/5/6 hp per sec
* Hematologist - nerfed Blood Transfusion to 150/225/300/375 health transferred and reduced mana cost to 200/300/400/500
* Holy Priest - Divine Intervention now removes all debuffs in addition to granting invulnerability
* Hydra Hatchling - reduced Hydra Split duration to 20 and cooldown to 120, lowered bounty on each Hydra to 30; changed one of the Hydras into an Hydra Elder with additional abilities
* Hypnotist - buffed Mass Replica damage output to 20%
* Huntress - allowed Sentinel sight range to remain constant at 1200; its mana cost scales 100/80/60/40/20
* Illusionist - increased Phantom Strike chance to 10/12/14/16/18%; made illusions unable to proc illusions
* Kobold Digger - reduced Bash chance to 10/15/20/25%
* Kodo Rider - reduced War Drums damage bonus to 5/10/15/20/25%
* Marksman - lowered starting stats slightly
* Merchant - lowered Steal stun duration to 1 second
* Mountain Giant - improved Tree Smash to last 2 attacks
* Mountain King - lowered Counter Slam damage to 50/65/80/95/110
* Nerubian Lord - increased Web aoe to 350
* Ogre Fighter - lowered starting strength and strength growth significantly; improved agility slightly
* Pit Lord - lowered Brute Force strength bonus to 5/10/15/20/25
* Raider - rebalanced stats (lowered str by .3/level and agi by .5/level, increased int by .3/level; lowered starting str by 2 and increased starting int by 2)
* Reaper - increased Dark Bolt cooldown to 12, reduced stun to 1/1.25/1.5/1.75/2 sec, changed damage to 100/140/180/220/260
* Reaper - nerfed Zombie armor to 2 constant; increased Summon Zombies cooldown to 40 seconds
* Reaper - lowered Crippling Void duration to 5 seconds
* Sludge King - nerfed starting strength and strength growth; increased agi and int slightly
* Shadow Hunter - reduced Red Lightning dmg/heal to 100/160/220/280/340
* Shadow Hunter - reduced Hex duration to 1/1.75/2.5/3.25/4 seconds
* Shadow Lich - lowered Death and Decay cooldown to 16; lowered its structure damage factor to 25%
* Spider - improved base strength from 16 to 20
* Spirit Watcher - nerfed Ancestral Shield duration to 1/1.5/2/2.5/3
* Time Keeper - increased Time Bomb cooldown to 12 seconds
* Void Walker - lowered Void Blast damage to 50/100/150/200/250, changed cooldown to 15 flat and mana cost to 100/125/150/175/200
* Void Walker - increased Energy Absorption cooldown to 45/40/35/30/25, lowered mana cost 100 constant
* Void Walker - nerfed Vortex max duration to 5 seconds flat, increased mana cost to 400/600/800/1000 and cooldown to 180
* Witch Doctor - reduced Curse of Weakening duration to 5 seconds
* Witch Doctor - nerfed Voodoo Ward hp to 200/300/400/500 and armor to 2/4/6/8

Items:
* added 3 new items: Axe of Might, Sorcerer Robe, Vacuum Wand
* removed Shield of Honor, Killmaim, and Killmaim II
* moved Blade of the Monkey and Mask of the Vampire to the Armory
* nerfed Essence of Aszune/Heart of Searinox/Soul Core series: lowered life bonus, str bonus, and heal on each; Essence of Aszune now does not require Ring of Regeneration and costs 700 to combine; Heart of Searinox costs 1400 to combine
* lowered Curve Bow/Wind Bow stuns to .1/.25/.5/1
* reduced Healing Salve cost to 65
* reduced Lesser Clarity Potion cost to 35
* Blood Sphere - nerfed fixed steal to 7/14/21/28/35/42 life
* Feral Soul - improved damage bonus to 30/52/69/82/92/99
* Paralysis Prism - changed bonus damage to 30 constant
* Gloves of Magic - nerfed duration to 2 seconds
* Crown of Kings II is now Golden Crown

Others:
* added new icons for Battle Roar, Bloodthirst, Coagulation, Hemorrhage, Natural Concealment, Piercing Shot, Rifle Upgrade, Sentinel, Vital Reversal
* added animation to Holy Shock's periodic damage
* changed Marksman attack projectile to the original Charged Shot projectile; changed Charged Shot projectile to old Goblin Sapper attack projectile
* added new Fountain attack animation
* added new Gunner model
* renamed Footman to Warrior
* changed Shadow Priest's proper name to Horror (from Dark Horror)
* reverted Desert Advocate's skin to default
* reverted Ghost model and skin to non-custom
* allowed Firelord's Burning Wave to burn down trees
* renamed Banshee's Shadow Rip to Soul Tear

Development Notes:

The newly added hero, Cairne the Tauren Chieftain, is a powerful melee damage dealer and tank. Its primary ability, War Stomp, stuns nearby units and damages them, and also gives the Chieftain a short strength boost. Its Pound ability causes single target damage and ministuns, with a very short cooldown and low mana cost, although it can only work at melee range. Cairne also can summon a Earthspring Totem that increases armor and heals life and mana like a fountain for a short duration. His ultimate, Reincarnation, allows the Chieftain to come back to life when he runs out of hitpoints; this has a fairly long cooldown.

Also, the Shadow Priest was completetly revamped with 4 all-new abilities. It is now modified off the Shadow tree spells from the World of Warcraft Priest. Mind Flay is a channeling ability that slows a target and drains its life. Devouring Plague deals damage over time and heals the Shadow Priest for a portion of the damage inflicted; it also causes a slight slowing effect. Vampiric Touch causes damage over time to a target and restores mana to any allied hero for a proportion of any damage the target suffers for a duration. Finally, Dispersion allows the Shadow Priest to resist all physical damage and heal from spell damage. Overall, the new Shadow Priest is a powerful support caster with great survivability.

The Afflictor gained the Shadow Bolt innate ability, which is special in that it has no cooldown but a decent cast time. In addition, the Spirit Watcher's Reincarnation and the Footman's Cold Sword abilities were replaced by Empowered Spirit and Shield Smash respectively. Numerous balances and fixes occurred.

Three new items were introduced as well. The Axe of Might is a powerful weapon that adds strength and damage, and also grants a splashing attack for melee heroes. Part of its damage bonus scales with the base damage of the hero, making it a fearsome item for late game.

The other two items were made for intelligence heroes. The Sorcerer Robe is an enchanted robe that adds intelligence, mana, mana regeneration, and armor. It also grants the passive Invocation ability, which increases the damage of single-target abilities by 100. This effect only works on intelligence heroes. Also, targeting allies will result in a +100 heal.

Finally, the Vacuum Wand is a utility item that also has potent combat value. It lowers nearby enemies' armor and mana regeneration, and adds a slight amount of damage. It can be actively used to restore a sizable chunk of mana, although this effect dispels upon taking damage, similarly to the Clarity Potion.

Changelog for v0.99b

Gameplay:
* replaced Shadow Priest's Devouring Plague with Mind Blast (causes aoe damage and stuns)
* replaced Archmage's Mind Blast with Arcane Blast (causes aoe damage and increases int temporarily)
* replaced Marksman's Rifle Upgrade with Silencing Shot (causes damage and silences the target; increases Marksman's attack damage temporarily)

Fixes:
* fixed Vacuum Wand disabled icon
* fixed Far Seer and Tauren Chieftain scorescreen icons

Balancing:
* Afflictor: changed Shadow Bolt damage to 2.5x int
* Afflictor: reduced Corruption base damage to 90/160/230/300/370
* Afflictor: reduced Curse of Agony base damage to 90/150/225/315/420
* Arcane Wizard: increased Arcane Channeling cooldown to 45/40/35/30/25, reduced mana cost to 50
* Tauren Chieftain: changed Pound mana cost to 60/50/40/30/20

Changelog for v0.99c

Fixes:
* fixed a minor item exploit
* fixed Archmage and Shadow Priest hotkeys

Monday, February 16, 2009

Random Facts About SMotA

Here are some random facts about SMotA as of v0.99.
  • There are 110 heroes.
  • Marksman, Meat Wagon, and Lurker are the only 3 heroes able to out-range towers with normal attacks, with the Rifle Upgrade, Improved Targeting, and Piercing Spikes abilities respectively.
  • Only Lurker, Conjurer, and Afflictor start out with innate abilities; they are Burrow, Life Orb, and Shadowbolt respectively
  • Heroes have 1800 sight range by day and 800 at night.
  • There are 8 heroes with global abilities: Far Seer, Prophet, Tauren, Nerubian Lord, Spirit of Vengeance, Archmage, Footman, and Royal Guard. Of these, the first 4 affect enemies, the 5th and 6th affect self, and the last 2 help allies.
  • Shackling Ward (Warden) nullifies blinks and teleports.
  • Mending Wave (Beastmaster) will not bounce if every friendly unit nearby is at full hp after the first hit.
  • Skinkapulter is able to repair towers with his Skink Companion.
  • Afflictor's Curse of Agony normally causes just slightly more damage than Corruption, but when Extend Suffering is activated, the former can far exceed the latter in damage, because each tick will cause more damage the the previous one.
  • The Ancestral Guardians summoned by Keeper of the Grove act as Moon Wells in ladder; an ally can right-click on an Ancestral Guardian to be healed.
  • Undeath makes the Scarab Lord virtually invulnerable when he has allies near him.
  • The Dazing Gemstone orb does not stack with Drunken Haze (Fire Panda).
  • The Radiant Shard orb and Faerie Fire (Druid of the Talon) do not stack.
  • Divine Intervention (Holy Priest), Ancestral Shield (Spirit Watcher), and Voodoo Ward (Witch Doctor) are the only 3 abilities able to grant true invulnerability temporarily.
  • The Amulet of Spell Shield item is unable to prevent many targeted spells. Neither can Spell Block (Spell Breaker).
  • Normal frost effects slow 20% attack speed and 30% movespeed. These effects are on Frost Claws (item), Frost Nova (Polar Furbolg Shaman), Chilling Armor (Polar Furbolg Shaman), and Winter Chill (Tuskarr Mage). Note that this does not affect Cold Sword (Footman), Freezing Arrows (Naga Sea Witch), Ice Storm (Polar Furbolg Shaman), and Winter's Bane (Shadow Lich). The slows on these are stated in the game.
  • If an enemy stands close enough to Force Slam (Ogre Fighter) or Strafe (Burning Archer), he may take damage from more than one wave.
  • Stun Trap (Gnoll Assassin) takes 1.5 seconds to activate, detonating in a 450 area. It will activate when an enemy passes within 250 distance of it.
  • Purify (Paladin), Harmony (Dryad), Divine Intervention (Holy Priest), and Dispersion (Shadow Priest) are able to remove debuffs.
  • The Mistress of Pain is the only hero that can take down a boss creep in less than 5 seconds without any single player cooldown refreshes. A maxed out Thunderlizard Diamond or other high-damage item is necessary.
  • The Druid of the Claw is the only hero with 5 hero abilities (i.e. not including any innate). Rejuvenation and Lacerate are leveled together, and are available in Druid Form and Feral Form respectively.
  • Holy Blessing (Holy Champion) is by far the longest lasting buff, with a duration of 5 minutes. Chilling Armor (Polar Furbolg Shaman) comes in 2nd place at 2 minutes. Theoretically speaking, it is possible for Hemorrhage (Hematologist) and Epidemic (Abomination) to last forever, though the conditions for such to happen are extraordinary.
  • The Huntress's attack while using Glaive Attack can bounce on the same target multiple times.
  • All heroes have at least 2 active abilities. The max is 5: Conjurer with its innate.
  • The only hero abilities that grant lifesteal are Taste of Blood (Blood Fiend), Draining Blade (Naga Warrior), and Zerginate (Zergling). Ironically, the Dreadlord does not have a lifesteal ability, although the item Mask of the Vampire grants lifesteal. The Blood Sphere orb can grant lifesteal as well.
  • Tidal Manipulation (Royal Guard) actually summons a dummy unit with a speed aura. Hence if the Royal Guard dies and revives, he will still have the Tidal Manipulation buff if it has not run out.
  • The buff from Vindication (Knight) cannot be removed by Mass Purge (Shaman) or by the Shamanic Totem item. Tidal Manipulation (Royal Guard) also may not be dispelled.
  • Web (Nerubian Lord) will have no effect if casted on an empty area.
  • The Chaos Peon's Watch Towers can be affected by many abilities as if they were normal units, not structures.
  • Crossbow Mastery (Gnoll Assassin) and Vampiricism (Dreadlord) grant the same average damage bonus; Vampiricism offers much higher crits but with a less accurate chance.
  • Conjure Potion (Conjurer) is the only hero ability able to create items.
  • Counter (Footman) can affect any damage, not just damage from attacks. The same applies to Shift (Desert Advocate), Callous Scales (Skink), Hardened Carapace (Scarab Lord), and Lich King's Pact (Death Knight).
  • Nuclear Launch (Ghost) can kill a level 1 tower in one hit in Short Mode, with the nuke at level 4. Ghost is the only hero that can one hit kill a tower.
  • Speed Drain (Elven Ranger) does not increase the Ranger's movespeed based on the amount lowered on the enemy.
  • Armor Rip (Demolitionist), Steal (Merchant), and Liquid Fire (Troll Batrider) are the only three single-target abilities that can affect towers.
  • Exploding Arrow (Burning Archer) has 900 sight radius while in flight and gives that vision for a few seconds after it explodes.
  • Life Orbs (Conjurer) will grant 500 sight range when the Conjurer dies in that area.
  • Only Flight Form (Druid of the Talon) grants true flight movement.
Latest version available for download at The Hive Workshop.