The recent patch included many fixes and optimizations, buffs to Aluna, and other relatively minor balance changes. Geometer's Bane, Torturer, and neutral creeps all received notable changes. And Unicorn Rampage, winner of the Community Alt Avatar contest, is available in the store.

(Optimizations have no effect on gameplay, so they were omitted from this changelog.)

Version 2.0.18

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- Reverted creep stacking mechanism to allow for 2 stacks (3 camps total)
* The change was mistakenly patched into the retail client. We are, however, considering such a change as part of a package of changes aimed at shifting the focus of play away from funneling all of a team's resources into one carry.

Version 2.0.17

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- New Alternate Avatar for Rampage: Unicorn Rampage!
* Community Alt Avatar Contest Winner, suggested by Kalium.

- Added a Channeling Bar for heroes with channeling abilities

- Ancient creeps now have 5.5 Magic Armor
* The Dragon Master no longer has Magic Immune, but has 10 Magic Armor

- Fixed shop item tooltips not showing bonuses from modifiers (e.g. Logger's Hatchet, Mystic Vestments)
- Changed the logic of neutral creeps to only use their abilities when there are a number of visible enemy player controlled units instead of just enemy units around them
* This means that they will not use their abilities on lane creeps

- Added order disjoint to creeps that Ophelia (and Whispering Helm) gains control of so they don't mess with other controlled units actions
- Fixed up some of the stringtables
- Fixed an issue that could cause creeps to skip towers very occasionally (when dragged away from the lane at strange angles)

Kongor
- Can no longer be attacked from outside of his lair even with Savage Mace
- Fixed his lair to clean up the places you could attack him from outside

== Items ==

- The following items' Attack effects will no longer propagate to illusions
* Icebrand
* Frostburn
* Shieldbreaker
* Frostwolf's Skull
* Nullfire Blade

Assassin's Shroud
- Fixed it so that it procs when other projectile-based attack modifiers (Harkon's Blade/Arachna/Vindicator) are used

Brutalizer
- Fixed Brutalizer so that it doesn't waste Bubbles' Take Cover

Doombringer
- Cleaned up some scripting

Frostwolf Skull
- Fixed it so it won't make buildings glow blue

Geometer's Bane
- Recipe cost reduced from 1200 to 800

Halberd
- Fixed it so the damage popup shows above the target, not the attacking hero
- Made it nonlethal against allied units when Puppet Show'd

Homecoming Stone
- Fixed an issue where if you sold your Homecoming Stone while channeling, it'll leave a state that lasts until you die/next teleport is used

Ring of the Teacher
- Made its toggle not interrupt channeling

Savage Mace
- Fixed Savage Mace to not own Bubbles' Take Cover

Void Talisman
- Anyone under the effect of Void Talisman can now be attacked and all attacks except for Magic-based ones are negated

== Heroes ==

Aluna
- Deja Vu
* Unitwalking & shadow slow moved to regular form
* Boosted Deja Vu will now cause Aluna to slow any units she runs through (in addition to shadow also slowing)
- Emerald Red
* Manacost lowered from 150 to 75/100/125
* Now uses only 1 charge on use instead of all charges
* Added 0.5 sec cd to skill

Andromeda
- Units hit by her stun will now animate properly after it wears off
- Made her Dimensional Link toggle not interrupt channeling and work on invulnerable units

Arachna
- Made her Precision toggle not interrupt channeling and work on invulnerable units

Armadon
- Touched up the scripting on his Armordillo

Chipper
- Sawblade Showdown cooldown increased from 50 to 65 seconds

Chronos
- Fixed his Curse of Ages to work with Bubbles' Take Cover
- Fixed enemy units play idle animation after being Stunned

Dampeer
- Made his Vampiric Flight impact the main target when he is 60 units away instead of on top of them
* This stops him being inside of someone when he has unitwalking
- His aura will now affect invulnerable allies correctly

Devourer
- Guttling Hook will no longer grab people on the way back

Empath
- Fixed her Essence Link so it successfully heals someone you are inside if they are moving quickly (Magmus stun, etc)

Fayde
- Fixed the interation between Reflection and things like Harkon's Blade
- Tweaked the scripting slightly

Flint Beastwood
- Fixed his Hollowpoint Shells to work with Bubbles' Take Cover

Gauntlet
- Gauntlet Blast will now dispel targets before the damage is dealt

Gladiator
- Call to Arms will no longer deal damage to dead (or just rezzed) people who died under it's effects

Hammerstorm
- Made his Mighty Swing toggle not interrupt channeling

Jeraziah
- Made his Righteous Aura toggle not interrupt channeling

Kraken
- Fixed Splash to interact with Unbreakable correctly

Legionnaire
- Terrifying Charge bonus speed from 100/150/200/250 to 100/150/200/500
- Fixed a projectile was only for art affecting gameplay in corner cases
- Fixed Taunt so that if enemies are taunted in fog, they will attack Legionnaire

Madman
- +1 second to the cooldown of all levels of Stalk
- Fixed rare super long Barrel Roll

Magebane
- Made his Master of the Mantra toggle not interrupt channeling
- Fixed a damage pop-up bug with Mana Rift
* Now shows the correct pop-up value on the target

Moon Queen
- Made her Lunar Glow toggle not interrupt channeling and working on invulnerable allies

Myrmidon
- Int growth lowered from 3.2 to 2.9
- Wave Form range lowered from 1000 to 850

Pandamonium
- Fixed enemy units play idle animation after being a victim of Face Smash

Pebbles
- Fixed his Chuck to interact with Unbreakable correctly

Pestilence
- Fixed his Gore from triggering Bubbles' Take Cover

Pharaoh
- Fixed Hellfire so it does the correct number of pulses
* Was doing one too few
- Range of the Wall of Mummies pushback/manaburn lowered from 200 to 150

Rampage
- Fixed the Stampede to prevent it from bugging out sometimes and not pushing the enemy
- Fixed his Horned Strike from triggering Bubbles' Take Cover

Scout
- Fixed Marksman Shot to have a correct buffer range (was 100 too short)

Soul Reaper
- Made Withering Pressence toggle not interrupt channeling

Swiftblade
- Can no longer crit from Way of the Sword while using Blade Frenzy

Torturer
- Chain Reaction stun from 2s flat to 1.25/1.5/1.75/2s
- Cleaned up Torment scripting

Tundra
- Made his Cold Shoulder not sometimes put him in a random position relative to the enemy
- Made his Avalanche speed faster to speed up when the push happens

Vindicator
- Made Final Chapter go through invulnerability

Wildsoul
- Made Booboo's deniable percent to 10% from 50%

Witch Slayer
- Fixed a bug that caused him to gain mana even if the target had none

Zephyr
- Cyclones will heal the same amount (30) if they expire or are used
- Fixed Zephyr spawning Cyclones on enemy corpses if he kills stuff while dead

My take:

These patch notes were mostly full of fixes and optimizations, with a few important balance changes scattered throughout.

- Ancient creeps are now more resistant to magic damage, with the Dragon Master's magic immunity removed to compensate for this. Neutral creeps won't use their abilities when just one hero is making a pull. Not a significant change for the average player, but makes it safer for novice players to execute creep-pulling.

- The Geometer's Bane recipe has gone through a series of changes recently (500g -> 1200g -> 800g), now at a middle-ground value that comes at the cost of an illusion nerf. The Geo + Frostwolf combo that has been so popular in the past is moving away from being the ideal build. Though, the Geometer's Bane activation still remains strong for the survivability, pushing power, and other utility that illusions bring. The illusion nerf is also a hit to Sand Wraith, but nothing compared to his recent nerfs.

- Void Talisman got a slight nerf, now useless against magic-based attacks (Harkon's and Myrmidon). It's still a great item against many physical-based heroes.

- Aluna received the most direct buffs this patch. Deja Vu is more powerful in both regular form and boosted form. It's a powerful escape tool, now always giving you unitwalking upon activation. The changes to her ultimate give you more options on which abilities you want to boost. Three red Power Throws within 20 seconds could be pretty devastating.

- Chipper ultimate cooldown raised from 50 to 65 seconds. That's fair, he still has one of the shorter AoE ultimate cooldowns.

- I like the Devourer hook change; it rewards skilled players by making it harder to land.

- Gauntlet's ultimate received a nice buff, making it more damaging against spells like Jeraziah's Protective Charm, Chipper's Focus Buffer, and Accursed's Fire Shield.

- Legionnaire's Terrifying Charge now always gives him max movement speed at Rank 4 again. I approve.

- Madman's Stalk is now on a 7-second cooldown at max rank. This makes him less mobile and leaves him unstealthed for at least 3 seconds (up from 2) if you are spamming Stalk. Madman is both a strong solo and a late-game carry right now; I could see him being tweaked more in the future.

- The minor Myrmidon nerfs don't affect him too much; his Weed Field and Magic Carp abilities remain the same and he'll stay a strong tri-lane supporter. He'll have slightly less mana, but his spells are already cheap.

- Pharaoh's Wall of Mummies manaburn was lowered from 200 to 150. This hurts him a bit in the early stages of the game, but he remains one of the few great 1v2 or 1v3 heroes.

- Torturer became a very powerful tri-lane hero after the realignment patch, having a 2-second stun at Level 1. It's back to a fair number now, making him a bit more dependent on levels.

- The creep stacking change that was implemented by mistake (oops) would have a huge effect on the meta-game if it is ever added in the future. We've already seen an increase in carries like Puppet Master with Alchemist Bones, rather than the typical Runed Axe carry. Could gank or push teams be the future of competitive HoN?

Links
forums.heroesofnewerth.com - 2.0.17 Patch Notes thread