The wait / delay is finally over. Now that we have located / resolved the issue that held this patch up for a solid 3 months. I can explain what was happening. Unit Death events / Buff system / Unclean Up were all tied together to cause broken aggro bars (ones that appeared detached from the unit after it died), random Double Free of Type Buffs, incorrect buff timers, broken struct references, and several other things that didn't happen often, but it pretty much happened every game and caused a lot of problems. Thanks to lots of monotonousness testing editing, code rewriting and patience, we tracked down the source of the issue the corrected the logic.
System Unit recycling system removed. We felt that the bonus of saving 1 unit event vs the whole recycling process, the code, events, and everything that goes on with preventing a unit death then faking it with triggers is more troublesome and problematic than dealing with the extremely small event memory leak.
Re-coded the entire UnitStatus function. UnitStatus library handles events like: Freeze, Stun, Silence, Disable, Root. The overall improvements protect against those 'permastun' or 'permaroot' bugs we have seen in the past.
Projectile system altered to guard against long code loops with MANY projectiles on the screen at once (7 players + Karavnos phase2, or 7 players and Muarki). Each loop iteration is now run in its own separate trigger execution instead of every projectile in 1 big loop. While this may have no been a problem, it definitely won't be one ever now.
Altered the buff system to reset its private global buff before every .execute() call to ensure that with all the other triggers running, that the proper buff is always being referenced. In moments of extremely intense processing with lots of buffs and debuffs flying around, I had a strong feeling from past experiences that a wrong buff was being returned at some point to a function call.
Fixed fatal errors with Muarki and Frostmaster.
Finally tracked down the elusive Double Free of type Buff bug. This one took MONTHS of debugging to figure out what was happening.
Rewrote the entire unit death event system and clean up system to streamline and optimize the process
- Many, Many, Many other bug fixes
Items Reduced the power gap between epic and enchanted items
Reduced how much higher level items scale up
Items can now have Magic Resist, bonus gold gain percent, and bonus xp gain percent
Leather and Chain items now get bonus magic resist instead of bonus hp
There's new items from the new bosses, of course!
FYI blue items only go up to level 24. The item system has been changed so you can no longer see the level/prefix/suffix of blue items without picking them up. This will help improve map load times and fix some problems. In the next zone (ruined temple) regular enemies will start dropping enchanted items (repeats of old enchanteds, plus two full sets of new weapons).
Boss Balance / Skips Karavnos Phase1 made slightly easier and more forgiving. Timers between graphic warnings and actual ability cast slightly increased and overall damage on heroes has been reduced slightly (normal game mode). The boss is easier to tank and deal with Threatening and Insignificance in phase2. The mechanics behind these abilities changed from removal of total threat to reduction in dealt threat. These stacks still need to be managed and cleared.
Several balance changes and bug fixes on Muarki along with an exploit. Muarki's mechanics have been altered code wise and you should see a lot of improvement and the spells should flow better.
Saving Saving now has a cooldown. 10/25/40 minutes for normal/legendary/heartcore
New "Save & Quit" option. Ignores the save cooldown. Permanently removes your hero from the game so it no longer scales enemies (you can still watch).
Some general changes. A few specific ones listed for individual heros below.
Standardized based attack speed of all heros to 2s. Except ranger is 2.25 and cleric and barbarian are 2.5
Reduced damage and attack crit chance bonuses on items
ACC elixer reduced to 11% from 15%
Where to begin with this one...
Arcanist
Arcanic Blast is now based off the ability Channel, it will no longer have some hardcoded targeting issues against certain mobs
Drain spirit re-coded in some spots to help guard against faulty EventEnds of the channel (dealing with monster death, or effects spawning on the player)
Cleric Holy Fire is now based off the ability Channel, it can now target heroes already at full HP.
Chaotic Knight Cleanse is now based off the ability Channel, it can now target heroes already at full HP.
Re-coded Chaotic Grasp and altered it's order of events. This spell is much more efficient in processing and will no longer randomly crash the game when it is the killing blow
Paladin Divine Touch is now based off the ability Channel, it can now target heroes already at full HP.
Re-coded Divine Light, this ability will no longer randomly crash the game
Fixed a bug with Mark of Sanctuary that would cause improper healing to be done with the improved effect
Fixed a bug with Divine Touch and Light Infusion that would cause improper AoE healing
Shadowblade Corrected target checks / buff / debuff code for Unholy Embrace.
Corrected the bug with Time Strike, it now functions properly all the time with no leak
Corrected a buff bug with Shadow Bind
Time Strike stacking debuff and bug that could cause a double free corrected
Pyromancer Fireform buffed.
Dragon's Breath now has more range/aoe (to match purify).
Hydromancer Lowered damage from watery bubble explosion when it ends.
Druid Introducing the druid... which had TONS of bug fixes and wc3 limit work arounds to deal with. That was fun, not even going to mention all the bull s*** we had to deal with on this one... The point is he works now and he's the most complicated hero and he's awesome.
The Druid has 4 forms: Caster, Treant, Bear, Wolf. Each form comes with its own set of abilities / rule sets / aura / and fun
Caster Form contains the following:
Moonfire
Earthen Grasp
Starfall
Essence of Water
Serenity Aura
Wolf Form contains the following:
Bite
Fury Swipes
Howl
Pounce
Pack Leader Aura
Bear Form contains the following:
Maul
Crush
Enrange
Hibernate
Frenzy
Treant Form contains the following:
Rejuvenation
Barkskin
Mending Touch
Peaceful Mind
Tranquility Aura
The druid can do the following: Melee DPS, Caster DPS, Healer, Tank
While the druid can do all of the following with 1 gear set, keep in mind that the druid is a Jack of All Trades, not the Master of All Trades. You will be able to fill a need in a party, but you will not be the best for the need. The druid will start in caster form and each ability learned in the talent tree will unlock an ability in all forms. You learn shapeshifting at level 4 so you can visit the other forms.
Click to review boss names and a short description without revealing any fight mechanics or how to's
Vjaier, The Centaur Conjurer. Begin the next step to uncovering the mystery and darknes surrounding Kaliron as you dabble into Vjaier's dark secrets and the mysterious energy barrier cutting Nebu Harbor off from Tol'Calm and Vormur. Defeat his 4 elemental guards to bring down Vjaier's defenses so you can take on the Conjurer of Storms. He has a new mechanic not seen before in TKoK that you will have to learn and understand to prevent him from absorbing power from his Energy Orbs.
Crueltis, The Centaur Warlord. For those that remember TKoK2.0, Defense of Grom'Gol. This new event, mini bosses, trash waves, and boss replaces that old event. After Vjaier is defeated, the centaur make their counter attack. Travel through the narrow valley into a centaur ambush. Deal with the minions while avoiding the archers high above raining arrows down onto you while you battle through the valley to find Crueltis and his 2 commanders, Ithan and Larthil. Survive the onslaught of centaur, defeat Ithan and Larthil to bring forth Cruelti's full reign of power. This fight also has new mechanics never before seen in TKoK. There are no buff or debuff descriptions to read to help you with this one, but once you see it, you will understand it or you will be destroyed instantly. Protect the Tauren Chieftain from Crueltis as they battle each other.
Vjaier VX Mode - 90% or more of all the pulses must reach Vjaier
Crueltis VX Mode - Let Darkness kill every Centaur Add. Players cannot kill any of them.
To be included in 3.1.1 - After Crueltis is defeated, you can venture forth into the sacred shrine of the Orcs, buried under the sand. Seek the wisdom of their Ancient Elders passed for clues how to remove the energy barrier from Nebu to free the town... but be prepared for what lurks in the sand below, reaching the elders will be no easy task[/spoil]
There are no new zones in this patch but do not let this fool you. There are 6 new super mini bosses that are actually boss fights, but shorter. There are 3 new intense bosses with new mechanics and VX modes. There are new quests to complete, and new gear to be had.
There are 2 new segments attached onto the Trials area in Grom'gol, a new valley entrance has been build that leads into the valley and down to their Shrine below the sand. I am not calling this a new zone due to it's small size, but it does provide a new area to explore and battle through.