DOTA Allstars: Lich King Tips

Kel`Thuzad - The Lich

Range: 580 | Move Speed: 280
Primary: INT
Str: 18 + 1.55 | Agi: 15 + 2 | Int: 18 + 3.25
Damage: 37 - 49 | HP: 492 | Mana: 234
HP Regen: 0.79 | Mana Regen: 0.73
Attack Speed: 1.44 | Armor: 1
Frost Nova (V)
Blasts enemy units around a target enemy unit with a wave of damaging frost that slows movement and attack rates for 4 seconds.
Level 1 - 50 target damage and 75 nova damage.
Level 2 - 100 target damage and 100 nova damage.
Level 3 - 125 target damage and 125 nova damage.
Level 4 - 175 target damage and 150 nova damage.
Mana Cost: 125/150/170/190
Cooldown: 9
Comment: This is the Lich's basic damage spell (nuke), and in the game called DoTA it makes sense to level up nuke spells as quickly as possible. By level 7 you can raise this to level 4, making it a very painful spell against your enemies and, used together with Dark Ritual, makes the Lich a powerhouse nuker and harasser. To use this spell the Lich has to select a target, which will receive 325 spell damage (not yet factoring in magic resistance) while enemy units near the target will be damaged for 150 spell damage as well. You as the Lich receive this nuking power at level 7. Note that the cooldown for Frost Nova is 9.25 seconds.

Frost Armor (F)
Creates a shield of frost around a target friendly unit. The shield adds armor and slows attacking melee units for 2 seconds.
Lasts 25 seconds.
Level 1 - Adds 2 armor.
Level 2 - Adds 4 armor.
Level 3 - Adds 6 armor.
Level 4 - Adds 8 armor.
Mana Cost: 50
Cooldown: 5
Comment: The recent buffs to the Lich increased the armor provided to 3/6/9/12 that lasts for 40 seconds (not 25), making it much more imbalanced as the Lich is now able to give free sets of Dragon (Knight) armor to everyone, abusing the duration. Great as this spell is, the Lich only learns it after he has maxed out his other 2 skills. If there are many melee enemy heroes that deal little attack damage (eg caster earthshaker, ogre magi), it may be useful to take just 1 level of this spell to provide the slow effect. Otherwise max this skill to provide a reduction of attack damage, very useful against late-game heroes who depend on attack damage. More about this spell later.
Dark Ritual (D)
Sacrifices a target friendly unit to convert its hit points into mana.
Level 1 - 15% of hit points to mana.
Level 2 - 30% of hit points to mana.
Level 3 - 45% of hit points to mana.
Level 4 - 60% of hit points to mana.
Mana Cost: 25
Cooldown: 55/50/45/40
Comment: The spell which makes the Lich fearsome as a nuker, it is used in conjunction with Frost Nova to repeatedly bombard the Sentinel with ice blasts. This spell requires you to sacrifice a friendly creep to regain mana based on its remaining hit points. Therefore it is best to select a full-HP Ghoul (scourge melee creep) and kill it preferably before it is doing battle so that you can regain as much mana as possible. We will discuss more aspects of this spell later on.
Chain Frost (C)
Releases a jumping breath of frost that can jump up to 7 times. Frost will bounce back and forth between units that are within 750 range.
Level 1 - Deals 280 damage per hit.
Level 2 - Deals 370 damage per hit.
Level 3 - Deals 460 damage per hit.
Level 4 - (with Aghanim Scepter) - Deals 580 damage per hit.
Mana Cost: 200/ 325 / 500/ 500
Cooldown: 145 / 115 / 60 / 60
Comment: This is probably what the Lich is most well-known for. The timing of this powerful spell is what makes or breaks the Lich. Due to various buffs on the Lich, level 3 Chain Frost now has a cooldown of 60 seconds (not 95). Therefore it is easily abusable late-game and probably only a few other ultimate spells like Laguna Blade and Finger of Death can match its cooldown. With Aghanim's Scepter, Chain Frost deals 550 damage per bounce and leashes out 7 bounces instead of the usual 6, and improves cast range from 750 to 850. We will discuss more on this spell to maximise its power.

DOTA Allstars Map Changes

The latest changes to DOTA Allstars in version 6.50 are as follows:

DotA All-Stars Version 6.50 Other Changes

Thursday, February 7th, 2008

* Remade Invoker as promised in 6.49
* Added a new game mode -singledraft or -sd (swiss)
* Improved Sentinel creep pathing on top Sentinel lane
* Adjusted starting gold between all game modes like ap/xl/rd/sd to be the same (all the same as xl) and for randoms to be like ar. Gold is now give at the start and income starts with the first creep wave.
* Income is now distributed in 1 gold intervals instead of in 8 gold intervals (same total gold)
* Added a new experimental command -ah
* Added a new system to detect replays used in -ah (thanks PandaMine)
* Changed how the secondary shops work. You can now see their location and click them while in fog.
* Added new visual effect for Orchid Malevolence’s Soul Burn (JetFango)
* -roll now shows the range the person entered (188889)
* Added a new command -clear to clear game messages from your screen
* Reduced model size and changed the look of the non-ancient Golems
* Added a new command -apm to show your actions per minute
* Carriers can now disassemble items (161180)
* Added text descriptions for power ups (68307)
* Delayed the creep spawn time by 30 seconds in -vr
* Made “Helm of Iron Will” item name consistent between recipes and core, using Helm instead of Helmet.
* Centered swap request notice is given to a player (182779)
* Added -afk that displays how long each player has been idle for
* Added a conditionally available -kickafk command to boot players that have been idle for more than 10 minutes (171984)
* Necronomicon icon now changes per level (190183)
* Changed durations of some power ups (Haste 45->30, Illusion 60->75, Regen 45->30)
* Moon Wells now gather water during night and get drained during day. This has no gameplay impact (60920)
* Added new tooltip text on items showing if they can be disassembled
* Improved tooltip for observer wards to detail the stock mechanics
* Added a new command -courier that toggles idle courier icon on and off (Ro-Coco)
* Added a new command -swapall to request to swap for any hero (175040)
* Improved Shackles caster effect
* Added an additional constant (7) Mana regeneration to home base
* Removed replenish interval from buying Clarity Potion (like tangos now)
* Changed Heartstopper pure damage type to HP loss (not a nerf or a buff, just works with things like dagger in a more desirable way)
* Improved Electric Rave icon (169997)
* Improved Luna’s orb warning message (113338)

DotA All-Stars Version 6.50 Bug Fixes

Thursday, February 7th, 2008

* Recoded impale based effects completely, fixing various ramp bugs, stacking issues and a lot of rare problems. (Burrowstrike, Impale (Lion), Impale (Nerubian Assassin), Ravage)
* Fixed Land Mines to properly detect floating heroes
* Fixed a problem with Huskar’s Burning Spears that would cause him to swing incorrectly when the enemy is moving
* Fixed some bugs with Wild Axes
* Fixed some color issues on the load screen (kunkka)
* Couriers can no longer use Scroll of Town Portal to make buildings invulnerable
* Fixed Dark Rift from initiating cooldown when cast incorrectly
* Fixed a bug introduced in the recent Aghanim’s Scepter changes on Crystal Maiden
* Fixed Last Word triggering off of Linken’s Sphere’s usage
* Fixed Berserker Rage triggering Essence Aura
* Insatiable Hunger, God’s Strength and Rampage are no longer removed by Cyclone
* Fixed Javelin’s odds being slightly off
* Fixed an issue with the Cheese drop from Roshan
* Fixed an issue with Forest Troll High Priest’s pathing scale
* Fixed some text display problems when viewing replays (thanks DonTomaso)
* Fixed a very minor bug with Elder Form’s duration
* Fixed Armlet of Mordiggian’s recipe cooldown
* Fixed typo on Psi Blades
* Fixed some creep death time discrepancies (188461)
* Fixed a very minor bug with the damage mechanism on Shukuchi
* Fixed a display bug with Mode Random
* Fixed a possible abuse with Helm of the Dominator
* Fixed Overload from using its charge when attacking an allied unit
* Fixed Last Word from turning off Electric Rave

DotA All-Stars Version 6.50 Neutral Creeps Changes

Thursday, February 7th, 2008

Change some of the Scourge’s top left forest area
* Changed the locations and distribution of neutral creep camp groups
* Fixed neutral spawn times in various modes
* Reworked the trees and pathing near the small Sentinel creep camp
* Increased neutral creep Centaur’s aura by 5%
* Added an Alpha Wolf with a command aura in the wolves’ creep camp
* Added a new creep camp group (1 Ghost with Frost Attack + 2 Fel Beasts)
* Added a new ancient creep camp group (Jungle Stalkers)
* Added a new creep camp group (1 Enraged Wildken with Tornado + 2 Wildkins)
* Added a new creep camp group (1 Dark Troll Warlord with Raise Dead and 1.5 sec Ensnare + 2 Dark Trolls)
* Changed the Furbolg’s Stomp to a Clap
* Improved Satyr Hellcaller’s Unholy Aura
* Neutral Ogre no longer autocast Frost Armor
* Changed the location of some of the Scourge creep camps
* Redid neutral creep spawner code for some optimizations

DotA All-Stars Version 6.50 Item Changes

Thursday, February 7th, 2008

* Redesigned Eul’s Scepter of Divinity
* Redesigned Orchid Malevolence
* Redesigned Guinsoo’s Scythe of Vyse
* Added cooldown to Bottle usage and reduced its sell cost
* Bottle is in full state at all the side shops once again
* Changed how Dagger of Escape works. It cannot be activated if you took damage in the last 3 seconds.
* Added Hyperstone to the Goblin Shop
* Changed Unholy Rage’s lifesteal type to be the same as regular lifesteal
* Reduced price on Ultimate Orb
* Added ring of Health to the Goblin Shop
* Added Quarterstaff to the Goblin Shops
* Increased Perseverance’s damage from 7 to 10
* Added Javelin to the Goblin Shops
* Removed the stack restriction on Shiva’s Guard
* Improved Vanguard a little
* Changed Lothar’s Edge’s recipe and stats
* Reduced Vladmir’s Offering recipe cost
* Reduced Linken’s Sphere’s cooldown
* Removed stacking restriction from Bloodstone and improved its stats
* Improved Helm of the Dominator damage from 10 to 20
* Improved Oblivion Staff mana regen by 25%
* Quarterstaff price reduced
* Hand of Midas can now target level 6 Neutrals (Satyr Hellcaller and Dark Troll Warlord)
* Reduced Void Stone’s cost by 25 gold
* Improved casting range per level of Dagon upgrade
* Improved Sange and Yasha
* Removed Flying Courier Mana and gave it a Mana base upgrade ability
* Wards now require 5 mana to be placed
* Reduced animation time and cooldown on Manta Style
* Ring of Health’s regeneration increased by 1

DotA All-Stars Version 6.50 Hero Changes

Thursday, February 7th, 2008

From the change log: (Italics are my own comments)

  • Removed manacost on Mana Shield activation - Medusa
  • Changed Leap’s cooldown to scale with levels - Mirana
  • Improved Juggernaut’s movement speed - LOL!
  • Implemented a better silencing mechanism in the Black Hole area to prevent spell execution regardless of cast animation time - Enigma
  • Lowered Drow Ranger’s Agility gain per level
  • Changed Drow Ranger’s Marksmanship ultimate
  • Increased Morphling’s base damage
  • Macropyre’s cooldown no longer increases per level - Jakiro’s Ulti
  • Added an extra bounce to Chain Frost - Lich… NOT NECESSARY!
  • Reduced Sprint’s damage amplification - Slardar
  • Increased Maledict’s area of effect by 15 - Witch Doctor
  • Changed Spectre’s Dispersion
  • Redesigned Visage