Genre: Role-playing (RPG), Strategy, Tactical, Card & Board Game
Dota Underlords
The Hotfix Where We Stop The Jailbreaks
HOTFIXES
Fixed an issue (in most cases) where some users could not start multiplayer or Proto-Pass bot games (symptom: loading to the map with no UI). There is still one rare circumstance that we are trying to track down.
Fixed an issue where items couldn't be equipped to units.
Fixed Jail not updating ingame.
Fixed Disruptor's Warlock Ace Bonus only working for 4 Warlocks, not 6.
Fixed Assassins being trapped in Chronocube.
Fixed Legion Commander not receiving Ace bonuses.
Fixed Morphling not animating.
Moved the Brawny kill tracker from unit status to the alliance tooltip.
Fixed Tap To Move on mobile.
Fixed alliance tooltip window being too small for some alliance descriptions.
Further Radeon fixes.
Fixed incorrect team names on match intro screen in Duos.
Added an option to disable hero icons on healthbars.
Fixed sound cutting out on iOS when dragging a unit from the shop to buy it (once Apple approves this patch).
Fixed Underlord In-Combat Speech checkbox being purely a placebo.
Fixed Assassin's Veil causing a unit to fail to attack if the enemy Underlord is alive but unreachable.
Added a specific binding option for Camera Reset.
Fixed a UI issue with the Talent browser.
Fixed an issue where, if a Talent round starts while you're spectating another board, you wouldn't be offered Talent choices when you return to your own board.
The Hotfix In Which We Undamage Damage
[H1]HOTFIXES
Fixed an issue with the damage meters on PC where the scrollbar could hide some numbers.
Fixed multiplayer and proto-pass bot matches on old clients (including the only active iOS client).
The Itemized Hotfix
HOTFIXES
Fixed an issue with dragging items on mobile (when Android and iOS stores approve).
Fixed an issue resulting in reduced shields with the new Knight alliance (included, but not patchnoted) in the Big Update. Knights only get their additional shielding when attacked from the side or front, not from behind.
Added Rulebook button to the shop.
Further healthbar tweaks.
Always display Duos team name on the Underlord panel.
Further UI improvements, including considerable improvement to 4:3 aspect ratio (i.e. iPads).
Fixed an issue with barricades in Freestyle causing a crash.
Mobile performance improvements.
Sorry For Dragging Out This Hotfix
HOTFIXES
Fixed dragging units on the board being broken.
Turns out fixing crashes doesn't fix the crashes those crashes had crashed. Those are now fixed too. Duos spectating is good now.
Improved dragging targeting.
Hide "Send to Teammate" button if unit can't be sent (Target Buddy is yours forever).
Tweak health bar size, especially on low resolution phones.
Hobgen: Adjusted timing of Friendly Fire so bomb damage is done when the bomb lands, not when it's launched.
Fixed an issue where Faceless Void wouldn't get the Ace appearance bonus in the shop when you have Assassins alliance.
Mobile: Require two-finger touch to tilt the camera.
Minor UI tweaks.
Added a toggle in Audio Settings for playing speech when Underlords cast abilities.
Improved mobile UI performance.
Attempt to fix black text for users with Radeon graphics cards.
Bots don't Spam That Thanks Button in Duos anymore.
This Hotfix Escaped Jail
HOTFIXES
We ran out of crash jokes, so we just fixed crashes instead.
Fixed a crash while spectating Duos.
Fixed a crash while dragging an item to a unit.
Fixed an issue with Ace units escaping from jail.
Hobgen:
Friendly Fire damage is halved for units not in the cell the bomb hits.
Drain Bomb amount increased 25->50.
Fixed Kaboom not setting enemies on fire after death.
Fixed Feedback Loop not giving the unit that cast the ability credit for the damage.
Clarified Io's Tether ability description. Io can only tether to heroes.
Fixed an issue where Treant's Leech Seed would jump to Spiderlings.
Fixed an issue where Brutes could still brutalize targets despite being Broken.
Fixed some missing lore.
Added some extra time onto the end of combat so all players, even the last to finish combat, get a few seconds to play with their board before the next round starts.
Fixed an issue with alliance icons in the place-on-board FX being outdated.
Fixed a performance issue on iOS.
Fixed an issue with some item images rendering in low quality.
Fixed an issue where talent tooltips on the scoreboard were broken.
Tweaked leaderboard location of health and gold.
A Talented Hotfix
HOTFIXES
Fixed an issue where talents would not be auto-picked for you by the server if you were disconnected during the talent select period. This would leave your client in a bad state and prevent you ever getting that round's talents.
More crash bashing.
Improved Underlord selection UI on the dashboard.
Fixed an issue where Poaching Knife would give gold for killing Spiderlings.
Fixed a health bar placement issue.
Fixed Aegis sometimes not preventing damage.
Fixed a healthbar issue with units in the air.
Fixed the wrong variable being shown in Crystal Maiden's new ability.
Fixed bots in Duos not sending gold when asked. They will now send gold when asked if they have 15 or more gold.
Fixed an issue where Freestyle could terminate.
We Hob-fixed Some Issues That Were On Fire
HOTFIXES
We put out the fires in some crashes.
Fixed an issue where Brutal units could fail to attack targets.
Savage units kept their buffed numbers from public. That was a beastly mistake. They now again have the numbers we mentioned felt good to us in our internal testing (4/8/15 per level of alliance rather than 7/15/25).
Hobgen Super-Charged: Hype cost lowered 50->40.
Hobgen: passive hype generation 1.5->1.65, hype generation from units on fire increased 0.75->0.95.
Anessix: lowered armor and health on archer.
Change to Underlord casting: If more than one ability is ready to cast an Underlord will choose their ultimate in preference to a regular ability.
Fixed an issue where Outlines couldn't be disabled on mobile.
Minor UI fixes.
Made the talent browser swipable.
Bot matches no longer start paused by default.
Fixed an issue with the Friendly Fire FX.
Fixed missing FX for daily challenge reward claim.
Fixed missing mention of health regeneration on Hood of Defiance. It's 10HP/sec.
Doom's Doom description clarified to say it Breaks.
This hotfix is now live on PC and our servers (so multiplayer games will have the gameplay changes), but will roll out on mobile devices as it is approved.
The Big Update
Hello! The day has finally arrived and The Big Update is here. There’s a bunch of stuff to get through – and this post will just be covering the highlights. If you’re the type of person who likes to know all the nitty gritty details, you can check out the patch notes here. Without further ado, here’s what’s new in The Big Update.
The Underlords Have Arrived
The Underlords (as in the folks we named the game after) have finally joined the fray after watching on the sidelines for months. Before every match you’ll choose an Underlord to lead your crew. They’ll fight alongside your heroes, fire off abilities, provide buffs, and grow stronger throughout each match.
Each Underlord has their own set of unique Talents that can be picked as the match progresses – these talents improve and unlock your abilities. Anessix and Hobgen have a total of 22 Talents each, and 11 are locked by default. Play games (bot games count) to unlock and discover the rest of the Talents available to you. For more information about Underlords, see our previous posts about the Underlords, Hobgen, and Anessix. You’ll also be able to read about them in-game.
Duos Mode – Battle with Your Buddies
With this update we are adding a new social game mode – Duos. In this game mode you’ll party up with a friend and queue up with seven other teams of two (16 players total, if you were counting). You and your teammate will each be hiring and leveling your own crews, but now you’ll be able to help each other out by sending gold and heroes to each other. Watch out though, your health is also shared, as is your level. Battle is fought in pairs against other teams, and round damage is summed up. We are launching Duos with Casual matchmaking with plans to ship a Ranked Duos mode soon.
Freestyle Mode – The Board is Your Test Lab
We’ve also added a new mode we’re calling Freestyle. With Freestyle mode you can quickly set up and test different scenarios. Maybe you want to test out different theories for your own strategies, or maybe you want to put a new hero through its paces to learn what they do and how they fight in a battle. Or if you’re like us you just want to see who would win between 32 Tomatoes and 32 Potatoes (Potatoes by a mile).
New Heroes for Hire, and New Alliances to Form
Insects, Healers, Brute, and Champion Alliances can now be formed, and favorite Heroes like Faceless Void, Io, Broodmother and Legion Commander are now for hire in the shop. In total, 12 Heroes have been added to the roster, filling out the new Alliances and padding a few of the existing ones. The team has also made a host of balance and gameplay updates to the rest of the Underlords roster, so head over to the patch notes for details if you’re curious.
Too Many Heroes? Introducing JAIL
You may be asking yourself “Wow, that’s a ton of new heroes. How am I ever going to get anyone to Rank 3 in a match?” We hear you, and the local law enforcement of White Spire also hear you. A random group of 8-12 heroes will now be detained in The Rookery for a day, and this group will update every day. To see who’s in jail, and what they’re in there for, we’ve added jail buttons to the dashboard, the game-start panel, and the Shop. Not to worry though – even though these heroes are in jail, all Alliances can still be fully completed.
New UI. So Fresh, So Clean
Meanwhile, the team has been overhauling our PC and Mobile user interfaces. From the new Dashboard (lovingly referred to internally as the Beautiful Corner), to the new notification message system (all yo-able of course), to the new full-featured in-game PC UI - we’ve worked hard to give the whole experience an upgrade. This is all in addition to the new interfaces to help you communicate with your Duos partner, set up experiments in Freestyle mode, pick Talents for your new Underlord, and all of the other new features that have been added in this Big Update.
A Note About Ranks
When this update rolls out, ranked play will be disabled for a few hours as we watch to make sure things are stable. Once we set ranked live, player ranks will be compressed a bit as part of the new update. Try to beat your previous record, or be the first to climb back to Lord of Whitespire.
With The Big Update, Underlords takes a large step forward as we move closer to the end of the Beta Season and the beginning of Season 1. So what is included in the appropriately named Big Update? We're so glad you asked...
NEW MODES
DUOS Team up with a partner in crime to battle 7 other teams in an effort to be the last pair standing. You share a health pool with your buddy and can freely trade heroes and gold with them. Currently, to queue up for Duos you will need to form a party with a friend.
FREESTYLE Create any combat scenario that you want and watch it play out in a custom sandbox. You can easily share the board that you've set up with others.
GENERAL GAMEPLAY
JAIL Every 24 hours a small number of heroes are detained in The Rookery. These heroes won't be available in-game until they're released the next day. All Alliances can still be completed even with these absences.
XP XP is now advanced in increments of 5 instead of increments of 4. Each click of the XP wheel now spends 5 gold to gain 5 XP. The XP curve has been adjusted to compensate:
OLD XP CURVE
Level 1 - 0
Level 2 - 1
Level 3 - 2
Level 4 - 4
Level 5 - 8
Level 6 - 16
Level 7 - 32
Level 8 - 56
Level 9 - 88
Level 10 - 128
NEW XP CURVE
Level 1 - 0
Level 2 - 1
Level 3 - 2
Level 4 - 5
Level 5 - 10
Level 6 - 20
Level 7 - 40
Level 8 - 65
Level 9 - 100
Level 10 - 150
ITEM DROPS The table for item drops from Wave 30 and beyond has been adjusted.
OLD ITEM DROP TABLE
Wave 30 (Thunderhides) Tier 3 - 50% Tier 4 - 50%
Wave 35 (Black Dragon) Tier 3 - 20% Tier 4 - 80%
Wave 40 (Trolls) Tier 4 - 70% Tier 5 - 30%
Wave 45 (Year Beast) Tier 4 - 50% Tier 5 - 50%
Wave 50 (Roshan) Tier 4 - 40% Tier 5 - 60%
NEW ITEM DROP TABLE
Wave 30 (Thunderhides) Tier 3 - 20% Tier 4 - 80%
Wave 35 (Black Dragon) Tier 4 - 70% Tier 5 - 30%
Wave 40 (Trolls) Tier 4 - 50% Tier 5 - 50%
Wave 45 (Year Beast) Tier 4 - 30% Tier 5 - 70%
Wave 50 (Roshan) Tier 5 - 100%
UI CHANGES
The UI has received a major overhaul. That's it. That's this entire section. Just a ton of updates to the UI. Like a lot.
HERO VOICE LINES
White Spire got a lot more chatty. Almost every hero in Underlords has received a ton of voice lines, with the remaining few on the way!
UNDERLORDS
Starting with The Big Update you'll be able to pick either Hobgen or Anessix to be your Underlord. Underlords are powerful units that are the centerpiece of your crew. You'll be able to modify them throughout the game to fit your current crew by selecting Talents every 5 rounds starting at round 10. Underlord Talents modify their abilities in powerful and unique ways. Be careful though, Underlords are not immortal, and can be killed in combat each round.
Hype Hype is required to power each of your Underlord's abilities. Each Underlord generates passive Hype in a unique way. Every time an Underlord kills a unit they gain 10 Hype. If an Underlord is Stunned or Hexed they lose 5 hype per seconds while under those effects. When the enemy Underlord is killed your Underlord is empowered and gains twice as much Hype for the rest of the fight. Hype is not consumed when an Underlord casts an ability.
Underlord Abilities As long as your Underlord's Hype is above the threshold for an ability then your Underlord will cast it whenever it is ready. Each ability has its own separate cooldown.
Trash Talk Each Underlord comes with their own unique set of taunts for both the preparation phase (which go out to all players), as well as the combat phase (which will only be heard by your current opponent).
NEW HEROES
Nyx Assassin:
Alliances: Insect Assassin
Tier: 1
Ability: Spiked Carapace - Nyx Assassin pops spikes out of its carapace, negating and reflecting 100% of the damage dealt (max once from each source), as well as stunning the source of the damage for [1/1.5/2]s. (100 mana, 10s cooldown)
Ability: Vendetta - PASSIVE: After teleporting to attack a unit, Nyx Assassin deals 200 bonus damage on his next attack and applies Break to the enemy for 4s, disabling all passive effects.
Shadow Demon:
Alliances: Heartless Demon
Tier: 1
Ability: Demonic Purge - Repeatedly purges the target enemy unit, removing positive buffs, applying Break, and slowing the target for 5 seconds. The unit slowly regains its movement/attack speed until the end of the duration, upon which [500/800/1100] damage is dealt. (100 mana, [20/15/10]s cooldown)
Dazzle:
Alliances: Troll Healer
Tier: 2
Ability: Shadow Wave - Dazzle sends out a bolt of power that arcs between up to [3/4/5] allies that are 3 cells apart, healing each ally for [80/140/200] while damaging any enemy units 1 cell away for [80/140/200]. Dazzle is always healed by Shadow Wave. (100 mana, [10/8/6]s cooldown)
Magnus:
Alliances: Shaman Brute
Tier: 2
Ability: Empower - Magnus enrages an ally granting him [30/50/80]% damage and [30/50/80]% Cleave for 20 seconds. (0 mana, 7s cooldown)
Weaver:
Alliances: Insect Hunter
Tier: 2
Ability: Shukuchi - Weaver shifts out of visibility, becoming untargetable and quickly moving through a target up to 3 cells away. Weaver deals [60/120/200] damage to each enemy it passes through. (20 mana, [6/5/4]s cooldown)
Io:
Alliances: Primordial Druid
Tier: 3
Ability: Tether - Io tethers to the nearest allied unit and pulls itself towards it. Io and the tethered unit gain [50/80/110] attack speed and [10/20/30]% damage reduction. The tether will break if Io is more than 4 cells away. (0 mana, 2s cooldown after tether is broken)
Ability: Relocate - Io teleports away for 4 seconds to revive a dead hero. The two units return with full health and are purged of negative effects. (100 mana, 60s cooldown)
Legion Commander:
Alliances: Human Champion
Tier: 3
Ability: Duel - Legion Commander targets the lowest health enemy 1 cell away and they are forced to attack each other for [4/4.75/5.5]s. Neither hero can use abilities. If either hero dies during the duration, the hero winning the Duel gains permanent [5/10/15] bonus damage. (100 mana, 40s cooldown)
Ability: Will of the Bullsnake - UNLOCKED BY THE DRAGON ALLIANCE PASSIVE: When Legion Commander wins a Duel she instantly heals for 50% of her maximum health.
Lifestealer:
Alliances: Heartless Brute
Tier: 3
Ability: Feast - PASSIVE: Lifestealer's attacks damage enemies and heal himself for [3/4.5/6]% of his target's max health.
Bristleback:
Alliances: Brawny Savage
Tier: 4
Ability: Quill Spray - Bristleback sprays quills from his back, damaging all enemy units 2 cells away. Enemies take [40/80/160] damage along with an additional [60/64/68] damage for each stack of Quill Spray they have been hit with this round up to a maximum of 5 stacks. (20 mana, 3s cooldown)
Broodmother:
Alliances: Insect Warlock
Tier: 4
Ability: Spin Web - Broodmother spins a web 2 cells wide on top of an enemy unit. Enemies on the web lose [20/30/40] attack speed, 80% movement speed, and [50/75/100]% cast speed. (100 mana, 25s cooldown)
Faceless Void:
Alliances: Primordial Assassin
Tier: ACE OF ASSASSINS
Ace Effect: Allied Assassins have a 5% chance per Assassin Alliance level to dodge attacks by jumping backward in time, fully avoiding both physical and magical damage. +15% chance of finding if you have at least one level of the Assassin Alliance completed.
Ability: Chronocube - Creates a blister in spacetime, stunning all units caught 2 cells away from the center of the cube for [4/5/6]s. Faceless Void moves very quickly inside the cube and gains 50 attack speed. Only Faceless Void is unaffected. (100 mana, [15/12/9]s cooldown)
Sven:
Alliances: Human Scaled Knight
Tier: ACE OF KNIGHTS
Ace Effect: When Sven casts God's Strength, all allied Knights lose their Knight Alliance bonus and gain 50% damage per Knight Alliance level for the remainder of the round. +15% chance of finding if you have at least one level of the Knight Alliance completed.
Ability: God's Strength - Sven enrages and gains [100/150/200]% damage for 60 seconds. (200 mana, 60s cooldown)
Ability: Great Cleave - PASSIVE: This unit's melee attacks strike nearby enemies for [30/45/70]%.
HERO CHANGES
All heroes have had their health doubled from their current values.
Anti-Mage:
Alliance changed from Elusive DemonHunter to Elusive Assassin
Maximum Mana changed from 100 to 0
Mana Break:
Also burns [2/4/6] Hype from Underlords.
Axe:
Alliances changed from Brawny Warrior to Brawny Brute
Batrider:
Sticky Napalm:
Cell Range changed from 2 to 1
Bloodseeker:
Alliances changed from Human Deadeye Assassin to Blood-Bound Deadeye
Crystal Maiden:
Tier changed from 3 to 2
Removed Arcane Aura.
Added Frostbite - Encases an enemy unit in ice, prohibiting movement and attack, while dealing [100/125/150] damage per second for [3/4/5] seconds.
Doom:
Alliances changed from Demon Warrior to Demon Brute
Doom:
Cooldown changed from 10 to 20
Eidolon:
Rank 3 Eidolons are now possible from Primordial Level 3 (6 units)
Attack Damage Minimum changed from [40, 80] to [40, 80, 160]
Armor changed from [5, 10] to [5, 10, 15]
Attack Damage Maximum changed from [60, 120] to [60, 120, 240]
Enchantress:
Alliances changed from Savage Druid to Savage Druid Healer
Enigma:
Enigma changed from the ACE OF SHAMANS to the ACE OF PRIMORDIALS
Old ace effect: Enemies affected by Hexes, Silences or Stuns will not generate mana when attacked. +15% chance of finding if you have at least one level of the Shaman Alliance completed.
New ace effect: Allied eidolons cast Malefice on their killer, stunning them for 0.4s every 2 seconds. The effect lasts 2 seconds per Primordial Alliance level. The target takes 50 damage per Primordial Alliance level each time they are stunned. +15% chance of finding if you have at least one level of the Primordial Alliance completed.
Midnight Pulse:
Damage changed from [5%, 7%, 9%] to [2.5%, 3.5%, 4.5%]
Gyrocopter:
Old ace effect: Grants Deadeye units True Strike. Units with True Strike cannot miss. +15% chance of finding if you have at least one level of the Deadeye Alliance completed.
New ace effect: Attacks from Deadeye units pierce their main target, dealing 100% damage per Deadeye Alliance level to the unit behind them. +15% chance of finding if you have at least one level of the Deadeye Alliance completed.
Keeper of the Light:
Maximum Mana changed from 150 to 100
Illuminate:
Mana Cost changed from 150 to 100
Lina:
Attack Rate changed from 0.625 to 0.714
Tier changed from 2 to 3
Laguna Blade:
Damage changed from [500, 750, 1200] to [600, 800, 1500]
Now sets targets on fire for 5.0
Medusa:
Medusa changed from the ACE OF SCALED to the ACE OF HUNTERS
Old ace effect: Grants Scaled units Retaliate. When a unit with Retaliate is attacked, they apply a 25 dmg/sec per Alliance level debuff to their attacker. +15% chance of finding if you have at least one level of the Scaled Alliance completed.
New ace effect: Hunters deal 5% extra Attack Damage per Hunter Alliance level for each other Hunter attacking the same target. +15% chance of finding if you have at least one level of the Hunter Alliance completed.
Nature's Prophet:
Alliances changed from Elusive Druid to Druid Shaman
Necrophos:
Alliances changed from Heartless Warlock to Heartless Healer
Omniknight:
Alliances changed from Human Knight to Human Knight Healer
Sand King:
Alliances changed from Savage Assassin to Savage Insect
Shadow Shaman:
Maximum Mana changed from 100 to 70
Hex:
Cooldown changed from 10 to 8
Mana Cost changed from 100 to 70
Slark:
Essence Shift:
Stolen Attack Speed changed from [3, 5, 7] to [1, 2, 3]
Terrorblade:
Alliances changed from Demon Demon-Hunter to Demon Hunter
Tiny:
Toss:
Stun Duration changed from [1.5, 2.0, 2.5] to [1.0, 1.5, 2.0]
Cooldown changed from [10, 8, 6] to [10, 9, 8]
Treant Protector:
Alliances changed from Elusive Druid to Druid Brute
Warlock:
Alliances changed from Blood-Bound Warlock to Blood-Bound Warlock Healer
NEW ALLIANCES
Brute
Whenever a Brute attacks an enemy it applies a -[15/40]% damage debuff for 3 seconds. When the debuff is initially applied it deals [50/100] damage. Brutes prefer to attack enemies that do not have the debuff.
Champion
Champions receive all Alliance bonuses.
Healer
All friendly healing is amplified by 30%.
Insect
Spiderlings constantly swarm enemies from the edge of the board. Spiderlings are untargetable units that deal low damage and have 1 health. Enemies bitten by spiderlings have a 30% chance to miss their attacks for 0.5 seconds. Spiderlings are replenished upon death up to a maximum of 12.
ALLIANCE CHANGES
Brawny
Old: All Brawny units gain [30/60] maximum HP for each kill they have.
New: All Brawny units gain [15/30] maximum HP for each kill by any of your team Brawny units throughout the game.
Deadeye
In addition to the standard Alliance bonus, Melee Deadeye units gain phasing movement.
Demon
Old: Demon units gain +50% Pure Damage. Active when you have only one type of Demon unit on the board.
New: Whenever a Demon casts a spell, for 4 seconds all Demons are silenced and the caster gains +50% bonus Pure damage for each allied Demon.
Demon Hunter
Removed from the game. Demon Hunters have taken up other jobs on the streets of White Spire.
Elusive
Old: All Elusive units gain [25/50]% Evasion.
New: All Elusive units have a [10/20]% chance to gain +100% Evasion and +35 Attack Speed for 3 seconds when attacked.
Human
Old: All Human units gain a [20/44/66]% chance to Silence target for 4 seconds when attacking.
New: Allies generate [4/7/10] mana per second.
Primordial
Primordial Alliance changed from 2/4 to 2/4/6 allowing for strong Rank 3 Eidolons.
Savage
Attack Damage gain decreased from [7/15/25] to [4/8/15]
Shaman
Old: Units attacking a Shaman have a 17% chance of being turned into a chicken and hop 4 cells in a random direction.
New: Units attacking a Shaman have a 17% chance of being turned into a chicken and hop [2/4] cells in a random direction. Each shaman can only turn each enemy into a chicken once per battle.
NEW ITEMS
Assassin's Veil:
Tier: 3
Equipped hero always attacks the enemy Underlord if able. Equipped hero's attacks against the enemy Underlord remove 10 Hype (3s cooldown).
Celebratory Murder Gong:
Tier: 2
Every time the equipped hero gets a kill they generate 20 Hype for your Underlord.
