New Blood On The Streets

Introducing a big shakeup on the streets of White Spire as new heroes and old friends/enemies/frenemies join the fray. We've got a lot in store for you this update, everything from a big roster shakeup to new alliances, items, and even a new way to play Standard matches. We've also compressed ranks downward, it's time to show off what you can do with the new lineup! And don't worry Lords, though you may be (temporarily?) Dethroned, we've given you a little keepsake (it will unlock soon after the rank reset).

Note that this is a compatibility-breaking update, so until you download the new client on your mobile device you'll only be matched with other users running the old version too.

RANK RESET

Ranks above Grifter are being compressed downwards by one major level and Grifter and all lowered ranks will be reset to the first minor level. For example, if you're a Big Boss I-V, you'll be a Boss I. If you're a Grifter V you're only reset to Grifter I. Lords of White Spire will be reset to Big Boss I.

CLASSIC MODE

We've added a Classic Mode option to Standard Casual. Missed those Creep waves and don't want Anessix or Jull to interrupt the nostalgia? Check it out! You can play Classic by turning on the Classic checkbox in the Standard Casual tab on the Play screen or by playing a Private Match in Standard.

NEW HEROES

Vengeful Spirit: Tier 1 Heartless Fallen

• Ability: Wave of Terror: Vengeful Spirit lets loose a wicked cry in a straight path, damaging enemy units along the way and reducing their armor.
• 3 Star Effect: When Vengeful Spirit dies, she damages all enemies nearby.

Meepo:

• Tier 2 Rogue Summoner
• Ability: Poof: Meepo teleports to a random enemy, dealing damage to all adjacent enemy units.
• Ability: Divided We Stand: Passive. Whenever Meepo casts an ability, he creates a copy of himself with the same health he currently has. If Meepo or any clone dies, all Meepos die.
• 3 Star Effect: Clones copy Meepo's item as well.

Spirit Breaker:

• Tier 2 Savage Brute
• Ability: Charge of Darkness: Spirit Breaker charges towards a distant enemy, Bashing it and enemies along the way.
• 3 Star Effect: Spirit Breaker's attacks have a chance of Bashing his target.

Spectre:

• Tier 3 Void Demon
• Ability: Spectral Dagger: Spectre flings a dagger at an enemy hero, dealing damage and drawing a Shadow Path. Enemies on the path lose Movement and Attack Speed. Spectre runs to attack the target unit and gains massively increased Movement and Attack Speed. While on the path Spectre also gains phasing movement.
• 3 Star Effect: While Spectre is alive, whenever a Demon casts a spell all Allied Demons erupt in flames and wreathe their targets in fire, dealing damage in a wide swathe and setting units hit on fire.

Death Prophet:

• Tier 4 Heartless Fallen
• Ability: Exorcism: Death Prophet sends out evil spirits to roam the battlefield, dealing damage to all enemies they pass through. At the end of the duration, the spirits return to Death Prophet, healing her for a percentage of the damage dealt.

Pangolier:

• Tier 4 Savage Swordsman
• Ability: Shield Crash: Pangolier jumps in the air and slams back into the ground, doing damage to enemies nearby and gaining a reduction to incoming damage based on the number of nearby enemies. After the jump all enemies in attack range focus on Pangolier.

Rubick:

• Tier 4 Mage Magus
• Ability: Fade Bolt: Rubick creates a powerful stream of arcane energy that jumps between targets, dealing damage and reducing their attack damage.
• Ability: Spell Steal: Passive. Whenever a nearby enemy casts a spell, Rubick will cast a copy of that spell at his current star level.

Wraith King:

• Tier 5 Fallen Swordsman
• Ability: Wraithfire Blast: Wraith King sears an enemy with spectral fire, stunning and damaging them over the duration of the spell.
• Ability: Raise Dead: Passive. Heroes spawn zombies when they die near Wraith King.

RETURNING HEROES

• Anti-Mage: Tier 1 Rogue Hunter. 3 Star Effect: Anti-Mage deals bonus damage during Mana Break if he lowers his target's Mana to 0.
• Bounty Hunter: Tier 1 Rogue Assassin. 3 Star Effect: Bounty Hunter gives the player 1 Gold during combat for each hero he kills.
• Enchantress: Tier 1 Shaman Healer. 3 Star Effect: Enchantress gains Untouchable. When attacked, Enchantress has a chance to greatly slow her attacker's Attack Speed.
• Phantom Assassin: Tier 1 Assassin Swordsman. 3 Star Effect: Phantom Assassin gains the benefit of your current Rogue Alliance, if any.
• Kunkka: Tier 2 Human Warrior Swordsman. 3 Star Effect: Kunkka gains Tidebringer. Every few attacks, Kunkka takes a mighty swing, dealing bonus damage to his target and cleaving nearby enemies.
• Alchemist: Tier 3 Brute Rogue Poisoner. 3 Star Effect: Alchemist gains Chemical Rage at the start of battle, gaining Attack Speed and becoming Magic Immune for a few seconds.
• Puck: Tier 3 Dragon Mage. 3 Star Effect: Illusory Orb's cooldown is greatly reduced.
• Lina: Tier 4 Human Mage.

NEW ALLIANCES

• Fallen: Units required: 3/6. When each Fallen unit first dies, allies within 2 cells are healed for 250HP and gain +10% bonus damage to attacks and spells. A Fallen unit can revive [0/1] times per combat, resurrecting with 50% health.
• Shaman: Units required: 2/4/6. When combat starts, a is summoned to help. The creature gains bonus effects based on the Shaman units summoning it and their star levels.
• Swordsman: Units required: 3/6. Each Swordsman unit gains +[10/25]% bonus damage for each enemy unit adjacent to it.
• Rogue: Units required: 2/4. Allied Rogue units gain [20/30]% evasion. Whenever a Rogue unit evades an attack, it gains +[10/20] Attack Damage.
• Poisoner: Units required: 3. Attacks from Poisoners apply stacks of Poison. Enemies lose 7 Attack Speed per stack of Poison.
• Magus: Units required: 1. Once per battle, when a Magus unit's health drops below 50%, the unit becomes invulnerable and unable to attack for 3 seconds.

NEW ITEMS

• Craggy Coat: Tier 3. Equipped hero gains +15 Armor but at the cost of -30 Attack Speed.
• Heaven's Halberd: Tier 2. +25% Evasion. When equipped hero attacks, disarm the target for 3 seconds. (10 second cooldown)
• Monkey King Bar: Tier 4. Equipped hero gains +90 Attack Damage and their attacks cannot miss.
• Necronomicon: Tier 3. Whenever equipped hero casts a spell, summon a Brill Bruiser. (Max 2 units alive at once)
• Paladin Sword: Tier 2. +25 Attack Damage. Allied healing is increased by 20%.
• Pirate Hat: Tier 3. Equipped hero is a Swordsman.
• Witless Shako: Tier 3. Equipped hero gains +1000 HP but at the cost of gaining 50% less Mana.

HERO CHANGES

• Dazzle: Tier changed from 2 to 1. Now also a Poisoner.
• Lich: Tier changed from 5 to 1. Ability: Frost Shield. Lich applies a shield of ice to a random ally, reducing damage from attacks. While the shield is active, enemy units nearby take damage and lose Movement Speed and Attack Speed. Chain Frost is now unlocked by Lich's 3 Star Effect as a second ability.
• Magnus: Alliances changed from Savage Druid to Savage Shaman.
• Slardar: Tier changed from 2 to 1.
• Venomancer: Now also a Poisoner. Venomancer's attacks now no longer poison if the Poisoner alliance is not active. Plague Ward attacks do still poison however.
• Juggernaut: Changed from Tier 3 Brawny Warrior to Tier 2 Brawny Swordsman. 3 Star Effect: While Juggernaut is alive, all allied heroes gain 15% of Juggernaut's Max HP.
• Legion Commander: 3 Star Effect: At the start of a Duel, any units targeting Legion Commander (other than her Duel partner) will pick other targets.
• Nature's Prophet: Alliances changed from Druid Summoner to Shaman Summoner.
• Queen of Pain: Now also a Poisoner.
• Abaddon: Alliances changed from Heartless Knight to Fallen Knight.
• Beastmaster: Tier changed from 2 to 3. Now also a Shaman.
• Ember Spirit: Now also a Swordsman.
• Slark: Tier changed from 4 to 3. 3 Star Effect: Slark gains Dark Pact. After a short delay, Slark sacrifices some of his life blood, purging negative effects and damaging enemies nearby. Slark himself takes some of the damage too.
• Terrorblade: Now also a Fallen.
• Treant Protector: Alliances changed from Brute Druid to Shaman Healer.
• Lone Druid: Alliances changed from Savage Druid Summoner to Savage Summoner Shaman.
• Sven: Alliances changed from Human Scaled Knight to Rogue Knight Swordsman.
• Viper: Tier changed from 3 to 4. Alliances changed from Dragon Assassin to Dragon Poisoner.
• Keeper of the Light: Tier changed from 4 to 5.
• And various hero balance tweaks.

ALLIANCE CHANGES

• Brawny: Multiplier to Brawny Bonus HP changed from 4x for a 3 Star hero to 3x. ( [1, 2, 4] changed to [1, 2, 3].)
• Heartless: Armor debuff to enemies changed from [4, 8, 15] to [4, 10, 15].
• Knight: Base Physical and Magical damage reduction changed from [15, 19, 23] to [15, 20, 25]. Bonus Physical and Magical damage reduction changed from [15, 19, 23] to [15, 20, 25].
• Savage: Bonus Attack Damage per attack changed from [5, 8, 10] to [5, 8, 13].
• Troll: Bonus Attack Speed to non-Troll allies changed from [10, 30] to [15, 30].
• Warrior: Bonus Armor changed from [9, 19] to [10, 20].

ITEM CHANGES

• Barricade: Gives two placeable barriers to block enemies and reduce ranged attack damage by 50%. Invulnerable and immune to magic.
• Battle Fury: Cleave Damage changed from 35 to 50%.
• Blade Mail: Tier changed from 3 to 2. Damage Reflection percentage changed from 30 to 20.
• Dragon Lance: Attack Damage changed from 20 to 35.
• Eul's Scepter: Mana per second changed from from 5 to 10.
• Headdress: The equipped hero, and allied units within 1 cell left or right of them at the start of combat, gain +20 health per second.
• Hood of Defiance: The equipped hero, and allied units within 1 cell left or right of them at the start of combat, gain +30% Magic Resistance.
• Kaden's Blade: Damage change from 7% to 9% of target's Max Health.
• Maelstrom: Tier changed from 3 to 4. 25% chance on attack to cast chain lightning for 125 damage to 4 targets. Does 50% more damage to summoned units.
• Pipe of Insight: Shield HP changed from 225 to 250. Radius changed from 1 to 2 cells.
• Vitality Booster: The equipped hero, and allied units within 1 cell left or right of them at the start of combat, gain +250 Health.
• Vladmir's Offering: Tier changed from 4 to 5.
• Void Stone: Mana per second changed from 10 to 7.

ROTATED OUT

• Heroes: Arc Warden, Bloodseeker, Broodmother, Disruptor, Enigma, Io, Morphling, Necrophos, Nyx Assassin, Ogre Magi, Razor, Sand King, Shadow Fiend, Tiny, Warlock, Weaver, Witch Doctor.
• Alliances: Blood-bound, Deadeye, Druid, Insect, Primordial, Warlock.
• Items: Aegis, Crystalis, Force Staff, Hand of Midas, Mantle of the Flayed Twins, Ogre Cap, Orb of Venom, Tombstone.

FIXES

• Heroes with passive abilities but active 3 Star Effect abilities can now be given Mana-related items (Refresher Orb, Void Stone, etc.) when they are 3 star.
• All items, abilities, and alliances that vary based on game mode show the correct stat in that game mode. This includes Duel Bonus Damage and items and alliances that have kill-count-based effects like Brawny.
• Fixed a bug with Drow Ranger's 3 Star Effect Frost Arrows missing FX.
• Fixed a bug where Tusk would not pay mana or put Punch on cooldown if he lost mana in between starting his attack and landing the Punch.
• Fixed a bug with the segments on the Shop XP radial display where segment markers would not be properly hidden.
• Fixed a bug with Jull's Barrels FX where they could disappear too early.
• Clarified Snapfire's Ol' Scatterblast ability description so it is clear the duration applies at all star levels.
• Clarified Vanguard description.
• Other odds and ends.