Heroes of Newerth Forums - Balance Discussion https://forums.heroesofnewerth.com/ Discuss all balance related matters here en Tue, 21 May 2013 12:02:15 GMT vBulletin 60 http://forums.heroesofnewerth.com/images/misc/rss.png Heroes of Newerth Forums - Balance Discussion https://forums.heroesofnewerth.com/ <![CDATA[[Hero] The Runic Shift - Madman]]> http://forums.heroesofnewerth.com/showthread.php?496553-The-Runic-Shift-Madman&goto=newpost Wed, 15 May 2013 03:00:25 GMT Runic Shift - Madman A little bit of history Madman used to be pretty good back in the days where his barrel roll used to stun and he had his... Runic Shift - Madman

A little bit of history

Madman used to be pretty good back in the days where his barrel roll used to stun and he had his stalk on a 6 sec cooldown. His barrel roll received a slow afterward and his stalk cooldown went from a 6 sec cooldown to a 7. I’ve been playing this hero for long time and I saw almost all the changes that’s been done to him. He used to be seen in competitive scene alot back in the days, mostly played by FreshPro who used to suicide him a lot. Even though his barrel already was nerfed to a slow by then, he was still used because his bread and butter skill, which in my opinion is the core skill of the hero, the “stalk” wasn’t been touched yet and still was on a 6 sec cooldown. I remember when S2 decided to nerf it to a 7 sec cooldown, Madman completely disappeared from the scene and hasn’t been used since then.


In depth Analysis of the hero

Madman at his core is a hit and run hero, kill a hero fast and stalk away. He can accomplish that relatively well during early and mid game with the help of his teammates. But Madman never really takes off unless he’s been fed a lot of early game kills. Even late game, he needs his teammates for some sort of lockdown on heroes for him to shine with his huge amount of sustained DPS. HoN’s meta developed in a more burst and run oriented game, where heroes with sustained dmg falls off really quickly. Madman is designed to be a hit and run heroes but late game he has to stay on his targets to deal dmg but he’s relatively easy to focus down or kite with ranged heroes, unlike berserker who’s quite tanky and can take a beating. With the recent release of alot of heroes with escape mechanisms , it’s hard to stay on your targets as you need barell roll for that but they can just escape with a skill until the slow wears off. Also most carries will have a Shrunken head making it extremely hard to dps them without your slow.

Madman is a hybrid hero, being an early game ganker with his stalk and barell roll skills while still having his gash and berserk the scale into a late game melee carry. The main problem with Madman I feel is his lack of direction by S2, although Madman can play any lane relatively well, being in the position of Hard carry, Mid or suicide role, he excels at none and I’ll explain why :

Hard Carry Madman

In this position, Madman assumes the role of a hard carry, for this he needs a dual lane with a support partner, putting your team in a disadvantageous spot right away needing more resources to free farm that lane vs. the opposition’s suicide player, where a ranged carry would perform better alone. Similar to a Swiftblade, Madman needs to racks up kills to be able to scale into the late game, because although he can farm decently after the laning phase with stalk and barell spam, he’s not as fast as the popular carries and will usually have a lower gpm than the opposite hardcarry by the end of the game who will free farm his short lane too. In this role, he will be the most powerful during the midgame and in my opinion should try to end the game as fast as possible before the harder carry from the opposition gets too big.

Madman in Mid

Madman as mid is ok, not that strong, not that weak. Stalk gives him an edge over the enemy with rune control, which will win him mid eventually if played right. The main problem with Madman as mid is even if you win your lane (which is by no mean as easy as the more popular mid ganker heroes), you don’t have a definite role. Since you’re winning your lane, you can stay mid and farm more to get to your late game items faster or you can help your team and play him as a roaming ganker like a regular mid hero. If you choose to play him as a hardcarry, the opposition’s mid player will usually leave his lane reaching level 6 to gank the others lane in which he usually does a better job than you being a proper mid ganker hero(exemple deadwood, hag, gauntlet,rally etc.) If you decide to roam and fight off those gankers, you’re losing farm and the opposite’s team hard carry who’s free farming will most definitely outcarries you and win the game for them. Your best chance in this lineup is winning mid and having a push team to end it quicky or to have a harder carry at the short lane in your team.

Madman as suicide

I feel like it’s his best position, it’s very hard to completely deny him of exp and with level he can transition to mid game pretty well and can fast farm himself back into the game while your teammates are wrecking the mid game. But still, Bubbles would do that or better.
Before and after the runic shift
I feel like his old gash fit him better even though he has more late game potential with the rework because atleast during your hit and run you had a chance to crit so you had better burst and could quickly kill a lockdown enemy. In a practical game it’s highly unlikely that you will stack up gash 6 times on your enemy reaching your maximum potential damage. MacroHard did a good job of comparing the dmg output of the old vs new madman here: http://forums.heroesofnewerth.com/sh...nge-Old-vs-New
As you can see, it’s really nothing impressive even if you do manage to stack 6 attacks, which is nearly impossible in a real scenario.

Suggestions

Depending on the direction S2 wants to take this hero, some of these adjustments might be needed , not all of them but maybe a combo of them, this needs to be extensively tested of course but I feel he needs to more bursty to fit his semi-carry hit and run role or to simply output much more sustained dps to be viable as a hard carry.

-Bring his stalk back to a 6 sec cooldown (the +1 sec cd might have been justified in the past, but nowadays a lot of heroes has escape so he needs some sort of his chasing potential back to finish them off)

-Lower barrel roll cooldown (13 sec cd is a bit too much for its use)

-Rework gash to be like this : You start at 6 stacks and decrease the stack each time you attack, example : first hit = 154% dmg, second 145%, third , 136%, 4th 127%, 5th 118%, 6th 109%. After 3 seconds of not hitting anyone you gain your 6 stacks. (This would synergize better with the hit and run skillset madman currently have and would bring him more of a semi-carry).

-Alternative gash rework so he stacks attacks faster: Reach 118% dmg after first hit, 136% after second hit, 154% after third hit (Would make him more viable as a late game carry, reaching his maximum dmg potential much sooner and much more practical in a real game.)
-Berserk : Give him more AS and movement speed because right now he’s quite slow when he’s not stalked and can’t keep up with ranged targets and gets demolished by most melee heroes.

-Berserk : Give him more AS and movement speed because right now he’s quite slow when he’s not stalked and can’t keep up with ranged targets and gets demolished by most melee heroes. ]]> Balance Discussion FredJ http://forums.heroesofnewerth.com/showthread.php?496553-The-Runic-Shift-Madman <![CDATA[[Hero] Rampage now obsolete with Sir Benzington?]]> http://forums.heroesofnewerth.com/showthread.php?496238-Rampage-now-obsolete-with-Sir-Benzington&goto=newpost Sun, 12 May 2013 21:04:30 GMT I was wondering if anyone else felt the same, when watching play with the new hero, I feel many of his moves are similar to Rampage, making sir... I was wondering if anyone else felt the same, when watching play with the new hero, I feel many of his moves are similar to Rampage, making sir benzington a better pick overall. Also Rampage fails to scale to the end game like Benzington does, anyone else agree? I feel Rampage may need revamped or buffed in some way to compete, at least in general, as his late game capabilities are pretty much none. ]]> Balance Discussion Rageypoo http://forums.heroesofnewerth.com/showthread.php?496238-Rampage-now-obsolete-with-Sir-Benzington <![CDATA[[Item] Elder Parasite]]> http://forums.heroesofnewerth.com/showthread.php?496175-Elder-Parasite&goto=newpost Sun, 12 May 2013 11:40:49 GMT I want to dedicate a thread to discussing the new very successful Elder Parasite introduced in the 3.1 patch. If there is already a thread up for... I want to dedicate a thread to discussing the new very successful Elder Parasite introduced in the 3.1 patch. If there is already a thread up for this then feel free to lock/delete this thread.

Let's look at the item's current stats:

Passive
-----------
250 Health
15 Attack Speed

Active (Activation Modifier)
-----------
+20% Lifesteal
+20% Movespeed
+100 Attack Speed
+15% Damage Taken

Personally I think this item is too powerful as it is now. For 2000 gold you get a nice boost of health, plenty of offensive power, unrivaled movespeed, and post-combat farm potential (Lifesteal). The major downside of this item is that it cannot be used in conjunction with Shrunken Head.

A hero in particular that comes to mind with Elder Parasite is Predator. Predator is enjoying a booming 55.8% win ratio according to the learnatorium since the 3.1 patch. Since this hero has built-in magic immunity and can easily opt for Ghost Marchers + EP over Steamboots, Predator now decimates support heroes more than ever and there's not much anyone can do about it.

Post any comments, additional thoughts, and arguments below regarding this newly buffed item. ]]> Balance Discussion Silynn http://forums.heroesofnewerth.com/showthread.php?496175-Elder-Parasite <![CDATA[[Gameplay] State of the Game: 3.1]]> http://forums.heroesofnewerth.com/showthread.php?495909-State-of-the-Game-3-1&goto=newpost Fri, 10 May 2013 14:31:34 GMT After the massive overhaul in balance and a somewhat refreshing revival to some issues that have been rigorously discussed in great depth it is time... After the massive overhaul in balance and a somewhat refreshing revival to some issues that have been rigorously discussed in great depth it is time to reflect back and reach a clear line of balance.

The state of the game of HoN saw many powerful competitive plays. Wildsoul, Keeper, Moon Queen, Draconis and others were absurdly good - and even Fayde to a lesser extent. All the issues surrounding them were at least addressed.

Player kills are now more beneficial. Risk of engagement may now be more worthwhile than passive farming, though time will ultimately tell. Old favorites or seldom picked up heroes also had many interesting buffs and the integration of a now powerful item Elders as well as Lex will surely create a new dynamic.

What state do we believe this will put us in? Will we see more gankers? Abusive carries thanks to Elders (don't forget SH cannot be up with Elders which creates an interesting dynamic) or buffs in general? Has anyone even seen SoTM on Revenant, holy ****ing **** wow?

Personally, I thought the competitive seen was pretty stale, but this will surely produce interesting outcomes. I cannot say what the state of the game will be in now, but we can at least make predictions and consider what approach toward balance we should continue into the future.

Do we continue to buff older heroes? And make small nerf tweaks to God tier heroes? Remember a lot of heroes aren't necessarily overpowered but are certainly strong given the shift in the meta. I feel like a lot of it is up for grabs now thanks to vision control changes and the other buffs/nerfs we saw. What say you? ]]> Balance Discussion Rocko http://forums.heroesofnewerth.com/showthread.php?495909-State-of-the-Game-3-1 <![CDATA[[Map] Midwars Experience Change [3.1]]]> http://forums.heroesofnewerth.com/showthread.php?495864-Midwars-Experience-Change-3-1&goto=newpost Fri, 10 May 2013 05:26:02 GMT ​Midwars Experience Change

Until recently I have only played midwars occasionally and overall enjoyed my experience. There have been the anticlimactic backdoor endings, the epic comebacks and gigantic throws, as is the nature of HoN, but overall I found games to generally be enjoyable. Recently i have been playing with people who played HoN for a few months so instead of risking stats we've been playing midwars. Throughout the last week I have noticed that the increased experience has resulted in very large early game level differences, and that this has resulted in a reduced opportunity for comebacks to occur. Whether it is my team getting the first few kills or the other it seems that the team who starts well snowballs to an inevitable end over 90% of the time. As most know early game experience is more valuable than gold because it has a larger impact, resulting in more skills at lower cost than the items you will gain from larger amounts of gold. The fact that gold has been increased based on GPM is a side topic to discuss as well, as I have seen 1700+ gold for a single hero kill. Overall I'm just wondering what other people think of midwars after the new 3.1 Runic Shift patch, and whether or not people are sharing my experiences or if it is an isolated incident.

- Hero Kill Changes
+ Hero kills become much more valuable throughout most stages of the game. Level 1 Hero kills remain mostly the same but after level 1, experience granted for early kills is greatly increased. Late game Hero kills give about a 33% increase in gold. Players will now be encouraged to get killing sprees rather than discouraged. Teams are now more incentivized to kill static farming Heroes instead of avoiding them.
* Increased the gold given per level of a Hero from 5 to 10
* Decreased the amount of gold given for kill streaks from 50 to 25
* Decreased the gold loss for dying from 30 to 25 per level
* Heroes will now be worth more gold depending on their GPM compared to the average GPM of the game. A Hero can be worth up to 50% more. Kill streak and first blood are not affected.
* Changed experience granted on kills from 100-2300 to 100-2500 (Area experience when multiple Heroes are around remains unchanged)
* A streak will now reduce the gold lost of the streaker by 25 per streak on his next death
* Solo Hero kills will now grant the absence of assist gold to the team (split four ways)

Note: This discussion should only be related to the affects on MIDWARS, and whether or not the experience should be returned to the old system for midwars or if the new system is better.

To any responses thank you for your time and consideration. ]]> Balance Discussion I4MWH014M http://forums.heroesofnewerth.com/showthread.php?495864-Midwars-Experience-Change-3-1 <![CDATA[[Item] [3.1] Hellflower]]> http://forums.heroesofnewerth.com/showthread.php?495710-3-1-Hellflower&goto=newpost Thu, 09 May 2013 02:04:57 GMT What is the general consensus on the changes made to this item? Is it still going to be that very universal pick-up that can be made on a huge... What is the general consensus on the changes made to this item?

Is it still going to be that very universal pick-up that can be made on a huge part of the hero pool, or did the damage reduction nerf make it more of a situational, or maybe even bad item?

Discuss, and trolls, BEGONE! ]]> Balance Discussion Petzi` http://forums.heroesofnewerth.com/showthread.php?495710-3-1-Hellflower <![CDATA[[Gameplay] [3.1] Runic Shift - General Changes]]> http://forums.heroesofnewerth.com/showthread.php?494581-3-1-Runic-Shift-General-Changes&goto=newpost Fri, 03 May 2013 14:32:41 GMT https://forums.heroesofnewerth.com/showthread.php?494505-3-1-The-Runic-Shift-Patch-Notes ---Quote--- - Added a new Rune: Rune of Refreshment +... https://forums.heroesofnewerth.com/s...ft-Patch-Notes

Quote:
- Added a new Rune: Rune of Refreshment
+ The purpose of this rune is to create more contention between the rune locations while creating more action and movement from Heroes.
* Spawns at the opposite location and at the same time as the normal Rune spawn
* When picked up, this Rune will restore 135 Health and 70 Mana over 3 seconds. Dispels on damage.
* If bottled, refills the Bottle to 2/3 full
* Will not appear unless a normal Rune would as well

- Hero Kill Changes
+ Hero kills become much more valuable throughout most stages of the game. Level 1 Hero kills remain mostly the same but after level 1, experience granted for early kills is greatly increased. Late game Hero kills give about a 33% increase in gold. Players will now be encouraged to get killing sprees rather than discouraged. Teams are now more incentivized to kill static farming Heroes instead of avoiding them.
* Increased the gold given per level of a Hero from 5 to 10
* Decreased the amount of gold given for kill streaks from 50 to 25
* Decreased the gold loss for dying from 30 to 25 per level
* Heroes will now be worth more gold depending on their GPM compared to the average GPM of the game. A Hero can be worth up to 50% more. Kill streak and first blood are not affected.
* Changed experience granted on kills from 100-2300 to 100-2500 (Area experience when multiple Heroes are around remains unchanged)
* A streak will now reduce the gold lost of the streaker by 25 per streak on his next death
* Solo Hero kills will now grant the absence of assist gold to the team (split four ways)

- Lane Dynamic
+ Lane pulling used to be mandatory. These changes will still allow a team to gain an advantage from pulling Neutral creeps but it will no longer become mandatory in order to compete against another team if they are pulling. This change does not affect player controlled Neutrals.
* Melee Lane Creeps increased damage they do to Neutrals from 125% to 150%
* Ranged Lane Creeps increased damage they do to Neutrals from 75% to 150%
* Uncontrolled Neutral creeps damage reduced to Lane Creeps by roughly 50%
* Lane Creeps will no longer be able to be pulled to multiple Neutral camps
* When a player takes control of a Lane or Neutral creep, the damage they do to each other is reverted to the normal values

- Ancients
+ Making Ancients somewhat harder to kill will increase the length of time when a team or player can effectively do them. Going this route instead of reducing their reward still allows ancients to be an effective boost in terms of gold and experience. The Predasaurs getting more Movement Speed also helps to make them more of a threat and not as easily kited.
* Predasaur Crusher: Movement Speed increased from 300 to 350
* Predasaur Crusher: Armor increased from 4.12 to 8
* Predasaur: Movement Speed increased from 270 to 350
* Predasaur: Health increased from 675 to 800
* Predasaur: Armor increased from 2.94 to 3.5
* Dragon Master: Magic Armor increased from 10 to 12
* Dragon: Magic Armor increased from 5.5 to 8

- Bosses
+ Due to our past buffs to Kongor, we are no longer worried about the extra damage illusions bring to killing this boss. This also fixes the issue where picking up the Rune of Power in Mid Wars and the other boss instantly killing your illusions.
* Kongor, Transmutanstein, and Zorgath will no longer instantly kill illusions that attack them
Forum rules apply as always! ]]> Balance Discussion Gorb http://forums.heroesofnewerth.com/showthread.php?494581-3-1-Runic-Shift-General-Changes <![CDATA[[Item] [3.1] Runic Shift - Item Changes]]> http://forums.heroesofnewerth.com/showthread.php?494579-3-1-Runic-Shift-Item-Changes&goto=newpost Fri, 03 May 2013 14:30:24 GMT https://forums.heroesofnewerth.com/s...1#post15685602

Once again, linked for our mutual conveniences. Feel free to quote a specific item's changes in your post :)

Remember the forum rules, otherwise posts will vanish! ]]> Balance Discussion Gorb http://forums.heroesofnewerth.com/showthread.php?494579-3-1-Runic-Shift-Item-Changes <![CDATA[[Hero] [3.1] Runic Shift - Hero Changes]]> http://forums.heroesofnewerth.com/showthread.php?494578-3-1-Runic-Shift-Hero-Changes&goto=newpost Fri, 03 May 2013 14:28:13 GMT https://forums.heroesofnewerth.com/s...1#post15685546

The changes are linked here for convenience because there is a gorraming heap of them. Feel free to quote a specific hero's changes in your post if you're debating a specific hero in-depth.

Remember to follow the forum rules, folks. Sarky one-liners or attempts to bait a response without actually giving any reasoning will be deleted on sight. ]]> Balance Discussion Gorb http://forums.heroesofnewerth.com/showthread.php?494578-3-1-Runic-Shift-Hero-Changes <![CDATA[[Item] The Lex Talionis: First impressions]]> http://forums.heroesofnewerth.com/showthread.php?494572-The-Lex-Talionis-First-impressions&goto=newpost Fri, 03 May 2013 14:13:28 GMT First impressions, now for items ---Quote (Originally by The Runic Shift)--- NEW ITEM: Lex Talionis + Focused more as an offensive support item... First impressions, now for items
Quote:
Originally Posted by The Runic Shift
NEW ITEM: Lex Talionis
+ Focused more as an offensive support item to help take down 1 enemy hero. Also makes for one of the few early game items that offers regeneration for supports. Ganker Heroes may find this item useful as well but the debuff to yourself hopes to focus it more towards supports wanting to be offensive.
- New Item added to Supportive
- Requires Trinket of Restoration, Guardian Ring, and a 300 gold recipe
- Can be upgraded 3 times
- Passively gives 3/4/5 Armor, 1/2/3 Magic Armor, 2.5/3/3.5 Health Regeneration
- Activate to apply a debuff to yourself and the target enemy that reduces armor by 3/4/5 and Magic Armor by 1/2/3 for 7 seconds
- 750 Cast range, 50 Mana cost. Physical cast type
* Does not activate Nullstone
What do you think of this item? What do you thinks its uses are? Do you think it's overpowered, balanced, or underpowered?

I think it's a pretty good addition to the game and I think it should be picked up as all round survivability in teamfights, and good ganking prowess, but it seems a bit strong for a support orientated item and will probably be picked up by gankers a lot. ]]> Balance Discussion SomethingOdd http://forums.heroesofnewerth.com/showthread.php?494572-The-Lex-Talionis-First-impressions <![CDATA[[Hero] Sir Benzington: First impressions]]> http://forums.heroesofnewerth.com/showthread.php?494568-Sir-Benzington-First-impressions&goto=newpost Fri, 03 May 2013 13:44:23 GMT ---Quote (Originally by HoN 3.1 - The Runic Shift)--- Added new Hero: Sir Benzington * Nimble and deadly, Benzington is a highly mobile melee...
Quote:
Originally Posted by HoN 3.1 - The Runic Shift
Added new Hero: Sir Benzington
* Nimble and deadly, Benzington is a highly mobile melee ganking Hero that also gains increased attack range. Knightfall and Joust allows for engagements at incredible distances making Benzington an intimidating force anytime an enemy is spotted.

* Joust - Target a direction to dash forward up to 900 units, passing through the first enemy Hero hit and stopping. Enemies hit receive 100/170/240/310 Magic Damage and a 0.7 second stun.
* Royal Stomp - Activate to pull all nearby enemies 200/250/300/350 units towards you and reduce enemy Movement Speed by 40% for 2/2.5/3/3.5 seconds.
* Lance-A-Long - Passively increases your Attack Range by 50/100/150/200. Activate to boost your next attack to 428 range and add up to 100/180/260/340 Magic Damage. Your attacks passively build up to 5 charges, increasing the damage when you activate it.
* Knightfall - Target an enemy at considerable range to leap into the air and become invulnerable for 3 seconds. When you land, you deal 200/350/500 Magic Damage and apply a 50% tapering slow for 2 seconds in a 400/500/600 radius.
The new hero of 3.1 brings a few new things to the table, noticeably an extended melee range and very long range engagements.

What do you think of him, both design and balance wise? ]]> Balance Discussion SomethingOdd http://forums.heroesofnewerth.com/showthread.php?494568-Sir-Benzington-First-impressions <![CDATA[[Spell] [3.0.9] Lord Salforis's The Undying]]> http://forums.heroesofnewerth.com/showthread.php?493205-3-0-9-Lord-Salforis-s-The-Undying&goto=newpost Thu, 25 Apr 2013 17:30:54 GMT (This is mostly a suggestion which is against the rules, but I've been invited to bring this here by DOGKaiser so...)

The express purpose of The Undying is to counter healers and line-ups that are centred around healing. Essentially, the idea is that you can throw it down on someone and guarantee that any damage they take isn't coming back (for the duration of the effect).

However, Demented Shaman's Unbreakable will still prevent death and heal targets to the advertised health. For reference, the exact wording of the two skills are:

Quote:
For the duration of [The Undying], the target cannot regenerate or heal health, and takes x damage per second.

[While under the effect of Unbreakable,] if the target receives fatal damage, he does not die and is instead restored to y health[, and Unbreakable is dispelled].
I reported this behaviour as a bug, but there is just as much of a reason from a balance perspective for The Undying to nullify Unbreakable. Since Salforis was made to counter healers, a healer being able to instead counter him is backwards. Salforis is already enjoying both a terrible win rate in pubs and zero competitive usage, and changing this behaviour would at the very least let him actually do what he is supposed to do. ]]> Balance Discussion Octavia http://forums.heroesofnewerth.com/showthread.php?493205-3-0-9-Lord-Salforis-s-The-Undying <![CDATA[[Gameplay] [3.0.9] Non-linear Skill Levelling]]> http://forums.heroesofnewerth.com/showthread.php?493160-3-0-9-Non-linear-Skill-Levelling&goto=newpost Thu, 25 Apr 2013 14:25:13 GMT Many non-ultimate skills -- more particularly those affected by recent changes -- go by the following rule: * level 1 has approximately 40%... Many non-ultimate skills -- more particularly those affected by recent changes -- go by the following rule:

  • level 1 has approximately 40% effectiveness compared to the highest level
  • level 2 ditto at 60%
  • level 3 ditto at 80%
  • level 4 ditto at 100% (naturally)

Older heroes seem more often to have a 25/50/75/100% effectiveness on their skills. Durations (stuns, slows, (de)buffs) are generally closer to 70/80/90/100% (if they scale at all). Ultimates seem to be around 40/70/100% effectiveness. Regardless of the numbers, one thing remains consistent: in all cases, the increase is linear.

However, some heroes fall victim to ramping up of a skills effectiveness from numbers which on the face appear linear but in effect are non-linear. When a hero's strength is mostly measured the strength of their primary or secondary skill (that is, those which are commonly levelled first or second) when maxed, if the skill scales non-linearly, the early levels of the hero take a significant hike. In particular:

Night Hound's pounce has a cooldown of 20/15/10/5 seconds, i.e. a linear decrease of 5 seconds per level. However, the deception lies in the effectiveness of the skill being inversely proportional to its cooldown: a linear increase of a divisor has a non-linear effect on the quotient. Put simply: Night Hound can do 3/4/6/12 pounces per minute with the current cooldown scaling, which is 25/33/50/100% effectiveness -- an exponential increase. This is a contributing factor to Night Hound having (what I consider) an deceptively weak early game. If rescaled to be a linear increase, he would have 3/6/9/12 pounces per minute -- 20/10/6.66/5 seconds cooldown -- for 25/50/75/100% effectiveness. As you might imagine, this would make the hero much more effective before level 7.

Valkyrie's arrow increases in stun duration by 0.5 every 225/200/175/150 units, i.e., a linear decrease of 25 units per level. Again, the deception lies in the variable being a divisor. For all arrows, the travel distance is constant. If we were to plot this (note that the actual calculation would use ceiling() around x / a; this simply visualises better), it becomes apparent that a decrease in this value gives exponentially higher stun durations. As it currently exists, the stun duration on Valkyrie's arrow has 67/75/85/100% effectiveness -- again, an exponential increase. This makes the earlier levels of it deceptively weak.

Lord Salforis' nuke has a cooldown of 10/8/6/4 seconds -- 40/50/75/100% effectiveness. Again, this causes his early game to be deceptively weak.

Scout suffered a similar problem in the past when his invisibility cooldown was 24/18/12/6 seconds. (It's still non-linear, but the difference is mostly negligible now.)

The effect is present in far more heroes, mostly relating to cooldowns, but to what degree it affects the heroes varies. In particular:

Gladiator's whip has a 16/12/8/4 second cooldown, i.e., 25/33/50/100% effectiveness. However, if it scaled linearly, he'd either be too strong early game, or too weak altogether. Whether this is by design or not is anyone's guess, but it's clearly a very well-made skill and not something I'd seek to change.

Bushwack's side step has a 15/12/9/6 second cooldown -- 40/50/66/100% effectiveness. Arguably this is fine since the first level can be the difference between escaping and not. Ditto for Valkyrie's leap.

Overall, this is something that seems to me often overlooked and is an area for improvement on some heroes. When thinking about and observing numbers, people ought to consider the difference in effectiveness of skills between levels and what that means for a hero's game. ]]> Balance Discussion Octavia http://forums.heroesofnewerth.com/showthread.php?493160-3-0-9-Non-linear-Skill-Levelling