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- Analyzing Spellshards by f0cusfire
- Heroes of Newerth #5 Newsletter
- Patch 2.0.3 Changelog - Xmas Patch 2
| Analyzing Spellshards by f0cusfire Posted: 18 Dec 2010 03:18 AM PST  So, found a very good article made in f0cusfire.com(another honblog too).And then decided to post it, I think it will be very usefull to you guys(envy the writer to made a very good article). So here you go :  At first glance, Spellshards seems like a pseudo Harkon's Blade at about half the cost initially. The item's bonuses are all relatively small, except for the one stand-out effect: * Causes any Magic damage you deal to ignore 2/4/6 of your target's Magic Armor. This effect can never cause their magic armor to go below 0. The negative armor stat in general is very powerful because of the way it scales, and negative magic armor is especially rare. The only other instances of reduced magic armor in the game are Harkon's, Blacksmith's Flaming Hammer, Hellbringer's Life Void, and Myrmidon's Wave Form. Couple that with the fact that bonus magic armor is almost as rare, and it's obvious that Spellshards is a powerful item.  Theorycrafting All heroes start with 5.5 magic armor, and for most, the only way to get more is with Magic Vestments and Shaman's Headdress/Barrier Idol. Here's some theorycrafting to show the effect of Spellshards' negative magic armor (-2/-4/-6): 5.5 magic armor = 24.8% damage reduction with a Magic Vestments (+5 magic armor): 10.5 magic armor = 38.7% damage reduction with a Shaman's Headdress/Barrier Idol (+10 magic armor): 15.5 magic armor = 48.2% damage reduction As demonstrated, a Rank 3 Spellshards can give you almost a full 25% increase in magic damage! But a 400g Magic Vestments cuts into that bonus dramatically. Pros and Cons + Harkon's is expensive. Especially for a semi-support hero, 4775g is a lot to farm. Yes, a Rank 3 Spellshards is only going to cost you 200g less, but the individual parts of the recipe are small and no more than 1000g each (375g + 450g + 800g + 1000g). The 2700g Acolyte's Staff for Harkon's can be a BITCH to farm. Compared to most major items, you're more likely to finish a Spellshards, and you'll see the benefits sooner. + Again comparing it to Harkon's, you don't have to attack each of your enemies to apply the magic armor debuff to them. You just have the bonus all the time. This makes Spellshards a lot better for heroes with AoE magic damage, and heroes who don't get much use out of their normal attack. + You can't ignore the reduced cooldowns effect. It's a small 3% per rank, but that can translate into an extra spell during a teamfight or 10 seconds off your ulti cooldown. It's also another very rare effect (the only others are Behemoth's Heart on Int heroes and Restoration Stone, kind of). - No health. There are a lot of heroes that Spellshards would be great on, but they are simply starving for health. Increased magic damage and decreased cooldowns don't do you much good if you have no survivability. Become a glass cannon at your own risk. - Doesn't really support your team besides providing more damage output, and only you get the bonus, unlike Harkon's and other magic armor debuffs. If you are the secondary support on your team, think about how important a Nome's or a Tablet of Command are before you pick up that Spellshards. Spellshards vs. Other Items Just because your hero may deal a lot of magic damage, it doesn't necessarily mean that Spellshards is the best option. For the single-target ganker that bursts you down before you get a chance to fight back - Fayde, Pebbles, Gauntlet - a Codex is often better. Let's look at the numbers for Pebbles' Stun + Toss combo: Level 11-15 Pebbles on target with 5.5 base magic armor: (600 - (600 * .248)) + (450 - (450 * .248) = ~789 damage Level 11-15 Pebbles on target with 5.5 base magic armor (w/ Rank 3 Spellshards): 600 + 450 = 1050 damage Level 11-15 Pebbles on target with 5.5 base magic armor (w/ Rank 1 Codex): (600 - (600 * .248)) + (450 - (450 * .248) + (400 - (400 * .248)) = ~1090 damage This is just a contrived example, but it's comparing a 4575g item to a 3000g item! Even taking into account the other stat bonuses, a Rank 1 Codex clearly gives you more bang for your buck. Another comparable item that can be better in certain situations: Puzzlebox. The minions have the capacity to do more damage than a Spellshards will, plus the mana burn and invis detection they give. Of course, with enough farm, there's nothing stopping you from getting a Harkon's/Codex/Puzzlebox AND a Spellshards. In fact, it will make both items even stronger. The negative magic armor from Harkon's and Spellshards do stack, but is only useful if a majority of your enemies have made Magic Vestments or Shaman's Headdresses (since the Spellshards effect can't put their magic armor below 0). Spellshards scales well into late-game, so it can work as a luxury item on any hero that deals a significant amount of its damage in magic form. You also have to consider the utility that items like Kuldra's Sheepstick, Hellflower, or Storm Spirit provide. Can you afford to trade disable for damage? What heroes do I get Spellshards on? After all of this analysis, we can conclude that a hero needs several things to be a good Spellshards candidate: lots of magic damage (preferably AoE), no large health requirement, no need of support items, and moderate gold-farming ability (by creeping or ganking). Here's a few examples of heroes I would consider getting Spellshards on:  ThunderbringerHe's a spell-spammer and his powerful passive is triggered by casting spells, so the cooldown reduction is another great bonus.  Wretched HagNullstone is pretty standard on Hag, but if there's not a lot of targeted abilities to null, Spellshards is great with her AoE nukes. Or, consider it as a second item after Nullstone. With blink, she's a bit safer with items that have no health.  BombardierFour magic damage spells? Spellshards is a no-brainer and would probably fit in his item build along with Staff of the Master.  Doctor RepulsorHe's always hungry for more mana and mana regen. Harkon's Blade is obviously great on him, but can be rather mana-intensive.   Magmus/BehemothHeroes that do huge AoE magic damage. Spellshards is a great option after Portal Key.   Hellbringer/MyrmidonThey already have magic armor reduction, so be aware of your opponents' magic armor values before you let the Spellshards effect go to waste. Other heroes worth mentioning: Slither, Torturer, Pyromancer, Tempest, Blacksmith, Voodoo Jester, Bubbles, The Chipper. Source : http://www.f0cusfire.com/2010/12/analyzing-spellshards-in-hon-20.html  |
| Heroes of Newerth #5 Newsletter Posted: 18 Dec 2010 02:40 AM PST  Most of the content are about HON 2.0, and also there is information about tourney schedule. Read it here : http://www.heroesofnewerth.com/newsletter/vol5/news.html  |
| Patch 2.0.3 Changelog - Xmas Patch 2 Posted: 18 Dec 2010 02:55 AM PST  Version 2.0.3 ------------- - Added more Winter/Christmas stuff, including a new courier and three free new Alt Avatars in the store! - Maliken, Keeper of the Forest, and Deadwood now have alt avatars in the store that cost 0 coins. Merry Christmas! - Fixed some matchmaking bugs - Fixed some UI bugs with the minimap and RAP * This should fix the FPS issues players have been having - Added some new icons and country flags that were missing - Fixed gold report's GPM calculations (this the popup you get when you hover over your gold) - Fixed Ophelia's targeting with Judgment - Fixed Nymphora and her ultimate on Grimm's - Fixed a few spots on Caldavar you could get perma stuck - Fixed Pollywog's alt shooting lightning from the wrong hand  |
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