Hello HoN Tour and welcome to the 2.6.27 patch analysis. As you may have already noticed, this patch did not have any balance changes. Nevertheless, I will cover the aesthetic changes, namely the alternate avatars and features added. I will also point out the highest quality avatar from the bunch for you with a star next to its name. First, let's start with the alternate avatars.

Tribal Tundra


Front


Back

A very detailed alternate avatar, Tribal Tundra includes a fully redone model with a Native American-esque new skin and new voice. Notice the fine detail on the axes and the leather clothing. If you look closely, you can see that he is wearing the headdress of his re-skinned flying pet Shiver, and the head of Coeurl on his left arm, possibly to show that he has gained the respect of these animals by adorning them on his body, or possibly because he has defeated the strongest leaders.



You can see above that both pets have been slightly remodeled and reskinned.



His Piercing Shards(Q) spell also has a new look, turned into axes reminiscent of Rexxar's.



As you can see, leveling up Cold Shoulder(E) gives your spear an added glow. Apparently, the normal avatar has had this as well!

Here are a few sample lines:

"Be patient, like the Spirit of Sloth."
"No more energy to do that."
"Chief, the spirits have got me!"
"As you cause them to suffer, so shall you suffer!"
"No spirit shall show mercy, unto kin like yours."

Rating:

Pretty nice avatar, one of the better ones, and the one that may be called the “DotA version.” However, the lack of new effects or even coloring on Avalanche(R) and Cold Shoulder(E) lower the quality of this fine avatar. This is the avatar I recommend for purchase.


Holly Polly


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Back


Her ultimate is the only spell that has been modified, sporting a personalized set of "froggy wards."

Here are some lines—she is really obsessed with something called Pollywog:

"Ahee hee hee! Frogs make me so happy!"
"Bouncy bouncy bouncy, bouncy up and downsie down!"
"Pollywog is sooo cute!"
"Hey! Have you seen Pollywog anywhere?"

Rating:

Pretty cute avatar. It fits the theme, has a very nice voice, and at least one spell has been changed. Not good, but not bad either.


Centaur Warden


Front


Back

This avatar is a reskin of the normal Emerald Warden, accompanied by naturally-skinned wolves and a hawk for Hunter's Command(W) and Summon Gawain(R), respectively. The first three spells and their animations remain as is.



Here are some lines:

"Let us commence."
"The earth calls to me."
"Stop your running!"
"I really need new horseshoes. My hoofs are killing me."
"My bow is ready."

Rating:

This avatar looks very good. Again though, the lack of attention to the first 3 spells hurts the quality of this avatar, and reusing the same Tribal Tundra's eagle model/skin was a bit...lazy. Still, it fits the theme, looks great, and is a worthy purchase.


Patchwork Devourer (Skin)


Front


Back (Notice the HoN tramp stamp on the back!)

This avatar is a simple skin for Devourer. As usual for skins, they tend to put detail onto the hero, and you can tell just by looking at the new metal weapon and cloth skin (possibly a reference to the movie 9) that this is no exception.

Rating:

For a simple reskin, you get what you pay for, just a skin, but this one is quite good. It is a good alternate for Devourer fans new and old.


Features

Ingame hero avatar icons will now default to the original heroes icon.

This means that during the game, hero icons will show the original hero icon, not the alternate avatar.



As you can see, both the top right and top left Balphagore hero icons show the original hero image, but the model is the Crematorium Balphagore. This is visible to everyone else. This is not the case during the picking phase and for the 3D model at the bottom of the screen; they will show the alternate avatar you selected.

This change is mainly for newer players and for casual players that do not keep up with each week's alternate avatars. This will make it simpler for them to know which enemy heroes they are dealing with without having to ask fellow players, or look it up on the forums! This is one of the most needed changes, as it lowers the already steep learning curve.

Rating:

Voting is now even more anonymous.

Now, voting is anonymous, meaning that placing a vote will not show the usual green thumb next to the person that cast the vote. Pretty nice idea that will lower the rage from having a griefer call a vote on somebody just to get a reaction, which only calls for more rage from the targeted individual. While it won't guarantee that incessant grief voting will stop, it does let anyone call a vote without having higher mmr players immediately down vote due to not trusting a lower level player's idea. This is a good change.

Rating:

As always, I am here to serve the HoN Community. Send a message to either to my HoN Tour profile or via the PM system in the HoN Forums for more info.

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