Finished the texture on my Mirana Snow Storm set!

I even gave the mount two colour styles as I really love both styles.

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Mirana SnowStorm final High poly

Here is a render of the final highpoly model for my Mirana Snow Storm set! Complete with fluffy bow :)

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Ear morphling final render

I rendered this image here in marmoset toolbag to then send of to Danidem who made it look amazing.

And here is an animated giff of the set in the games loadout!

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Team Ideas: Global Pain!

Just for fun, I thought up some viable teams with global-effect spells or positioning.

Heroes of Choice:  Clockwerk, Gyro (Aghs), AA, Zeus, NP, Spectre, Invoker (Exhort), and Wisp.
Also "Global":  Spiritbreaker,  Tinker, Centaur, Troll, Drow, Crystal Maiden

Team Ideas:

#1

Clock, Gyro (Aghs), AA, Zeus, NP

Clock solo offlane

NP jungle

Zeus mid (early Refresher)

Gyro + AA safelane

#2:

Zeus, Silencer (Aghs), NP, Spectre, AA

NP + Zeus offlane

Spectre + AA safelane

Silencer mid

#3:

Clock solo offlane

Invoker mid

NP jungle

Gyro + AA/Zeus safelane

#4:
Tiny, Io, NP, Gyro, AA

Tiny+Io mid
NP solo safelane
Gyro + AA dual offlane*
* depends heavily on enemy team laning and draft

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The Math on Axe

There's been an idea that taking a double-stout shield on Axe is actually more effective for damage mitigation than other alternatives.

Now, double-Stout Shield doesn't completely stack.  However, you get a 60% chance to block 20 of the damage that gets through the first 60% chance, meaning your net block chance is 84% to block 20 damage.

There's been some controversy about the usefulness of double-stout shield on Axe as early items.  I did the math, and here's the result:

https://drive.google.com/file/d/0B4HHV8LhGPUuSUxFS1VpT0ZjNUU/edit?usp=sharing

Summary of Double-Stout on Axe:

Yes, double-stout IS actually quite effective for damage mitigation.

It's only once attack damage passes 60 per hit that the RoP + single shield option overtakes the double-Stout choice.  Thus, for almost all camps and neutrals (except Rosh), you actually mitigate more damage by using two Stout shields.

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The Math on Ogre Magi

Here's a spreadsheet of the math on Ogre's Magi's Fireblast-versus-Ignite damage scaling:

As of patch 6.81:
https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/14qwcEPuv6nckulk4z2ZnvjQ1iotvasxWKwzhm7AH6sk/edit?usp=sharing

As of patch 6.82b:

Fireblast has a fixed damage scaling of 65 additional damage / level after L1.

Ignite, on the other hand, increases in damage faster than Fireblast, and each subsequent level adds more damage than the previous level-up.

Ignite is also more efficient damage per mana, at all levels.

This leads to the idea that maximizing Ignite first actually boosts your damage slightly.

As of patch 6.85:


Fireblast has a fixed damage scaling of 55 additional damage / level after L1.

Ignite, on the other hand, increases in damage faster than Fireblast, and each subsequent level adds more damage than the previous level-up.

Ignite is also more efficient damage per mana, at all levels.

This leads to the idea that maximizing Ignite first actually boosts your damage slightly.

If you look at the damage including Multicast, you get the following average damage:

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Strong 1v1 Lane Heroes

The following heroes are strong solo-lane against another hero 1v1.

See also:  List of Solo Offlaners (also called Suicide Laners)

Strong Solo Laners:

a) are unlikely to die 1v1
b) may be able to get kills 1v1 with no level advantage
c) have strong harass and/or strong escape

• Batrider
• Beastmaster
• Bloodseeker
• Brewmaster
• Clinkz
• Clockwerk
• Dragon Knight
• Ember Spirit
• Invoker
• Mirana
• Nature's Prophet
• Nightstalker
• Obsidian Destroyer
• Phoenix
• Puck
• Queen of Pain
• Razor
• Slark
• Templar Assassin
• Timbersaw
• Viper
• Weaver

The following heroes are SOMEWHAT good against other heroes 1v1, and could be put against another such hero 1v1.

These heroes have some of the traits above, or some of the following:

1. Health Regen (passive or active)
2. Speed boost abilities that aren't outright escapes (e.g. Slardar Sprint)
3. Spammable abilities (with which to get CS, harass, or potentially get a kill)
4. One or more dangerous nukes
5. Ability to control the lane (superior right-click, long attack range, etc)
6. Ability to zone out an opponent (Plague Wards, for example)

• Ancient Apparition
• Bane
• Beastmaster
• Bounty Hunter
• Broodmother
• Centaur
• Dazzle
• Death Prophet
• Doom
• Enigma
• Huskar
• Jakiro
• Juggernaut
• Kunkka
• Lich
• Lina
• Lion
• Lone Druid
• Luna
• Lyncan
• Magnus
• Naga Siren
• Necrophos
• Nyx
• Ogre Magi
• Phantom Assassin
• Pudge
• Rubick
• Shadow Demon
• Skywrath Mage
• Slardar
• Sniper
• Storm Spirit
• Tinker
• Venomancer
• Warlock
• Windranger
• Zeus

Note that some of the "typical" mids have fallen out of favor in one patch or another, but are usually still considered "mid heroes".  In pubs and in unusual drafts, they may still take on other roles.

Mid Heroes:

Typical Mids:

• Brewmaster
• Death Prophet
• Dragon Knight
• Drow Ranger
• Ember Spirit
• Invoker
• Magnus
• Night Stalker
• Outworld Destroyer
• Puck
• Pudge
• Queen of Pain (QoP)
• Razor
• Shadowfiend
• Storm Spirit
• Tinker
• Viper

Unusual Mids:

Carries:  Kunkka, Sven, Phantom Assassin, Faceless Void, Luna

Gankers/Semi-Carries:  Vengeful Spirit, Shadow Demon, Venomancer

Nukers: Skywrath Mage, Lion, Lina, Nyx, Zeus

Big L6 Ults:  Tidehunter, Lich, Beastmaster, Enigma, Magnus, Shadow Shaman, Io

Pushers:  Jakiro, Pugna, Venomancer, Leshrac

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