League of Legends Vs. Dota 2

A big update has hit Dota 2 test client, and will hit the Dota 2 servers sometime today! The new update includes two new heroes, Earth Spirit and Ember Spirit. Valve has also implimented a coaching tool for players to teach and learn Dota 2 gameplay as well as new vanity item options. Now you can craft and socket vanity items in the Dota 2 client to customize and create items you want. There are also a slew of new items and chests available. Last but not least, the Halloween event that had Dota 2 players crying over its abscence is here! Sure it's half a month late, but "Volvo gave Diretide ༼ つ ◕◡◕ ༽つ" Valve had expressed earlier that they hadn't understood the full scale of how important Diretide was to the community. They had faced heckling and downright abuse from the community because they had no communication with the community and didn't launch an event similar to last year's. This patch is sure to calm the community. Valve did a great job!

Here are hero spotlights for Earth Spirit and Ember Spirit!

KILL IT WITH FIRE! If you love legs, you'll love these ladies. In this Face-Off we delve into the mechanics of two arachnids: Elise from League of Legends and Broodmother from Dota 2. Let's compare the abilities of these two creepy-crawly characters. (Below you can find Elise and Broodmother's detailed abilities for reference)

Passive: Elise's passive Spider Swarm is similar to Broodmother's spiderlings' passive Spawn Spiderite. Broodmother's spiderlings, on attack, put a debuff on enemy units which spawns a spiderite when the enemy unit dies. The spiderites are weaker versions of Broodmother's spiderlings. The effectiveness of Elise's passive depends on if she is played correctly, while Broodmother's spiderling passive's effectiveness depends on the player's ability to achieve as many last hits with her spiderlings as possible.

Q Ability: Elise's first ability Neurotoxin/Venomous Bite is a nuke single target spell that scales with her ability power. This makes the spell scale very well late game as Elise builds up her AP. With a short cooldown, Neurotoxin/Venomous Bite is powerful damage output great for ganking and targeting down priority champions in team fights. Broodmother's ability, Spawn Spiderlings deals damage, then spawns a spiderling(s) if the enemy died within 2 seconds of the attack. Spawn Spiderlings doesn't scale hugely in damage but it's a skill that Broodmother really wants to spam on cooldown (on creeps or heroes) to accumulate as many spiderlings as possible. These spiderlings are powerful in numbers and are great for pushing towers, killing enemies, or soloing Roshan.

W Ability: Elise's second ability, Volatile Spiderling, offers great burst damage in an AOE. This ability also scales with her AP, strengthening her late game. A great mechanic of this skill is that the spider locks on to an enemy, making it very very tough to dodge by the enemy team. Her spider form ability Skittering Frenzy is very similar to Broodmother's ultimate, with the lifesteal and potential for more damage, although the lifesteal is not nearly as substantial. Broodmother's second ability, Spin Web, allows her to place a web on any terrain an freely walk across it; this includes trees and ledges. She is also invisible while on her webs and has increased movement. This mechanic is extremely useful in ganking as well as escaping, and it makes Broodmother tough to lane against, even if she is solo laning.

E Ability: Elise's third abilities are focused on movement and survivability. Her human form ability, Cocoon, stuns an enemy for a short period, and her spider form ability, Rappel, makes her climb in the air, making her untargetable, then descends on either an enemy or the location she ascended from. This ability is extremely useful in any fight, allowing her to avoid damage and also giving her a great chase mechanic. Rappel makes spider form's melee range more manageable. Broodmother's third ability, Incapacitating Bite, is a passive attack modifier that slows her enemies and increases their miss chance on attacks. This ability compliments Broodmother's fast movement speed upon her webs, making her very difficult to escape from once she hunts her prey.

R Ability: Elise's ultimate ability Spider Form/Human Form is a toggle that allows her to switch forms and ability sets. This makes Elise a very versatile champion with 7 abilities (not including her passive) instead of 4. Her spider form makes her melee, but also makes her deal more damage. Broodmother's ultimate Insatiable Hunger temporarily increases her damage and gives her lifesteal. This gives Broodmother durability while chasing down enemies and makes her extremely strong while taking down neutral units and enemy towers.

Overall, Elise is a very AP centered champion, focusing on the strength of her abilities rather than her right-click damage. Elise is very versatile. She is a very strong jungler, and offers high damage and some utility in team fights. She is an asset in any team composition she plays in. Broodmother is a very strong pusher/solo lane hero, but she also offers high damage and a useful slow in team fights as well. Elise and Broodmother have very different play styles, but both can drastically change the outcome of the game based on how well they are played. Which do you think makes the bigger impact?

Who won this Face-Off?
	Elise
	Broodmother

Elise

Mage/Fighter

Spider Swarm
(Passive) When Elise's Human Form spells hit an enemy, she readies a Spiderling. While Elise is in Spider Form, she summons Spiderlings to attack nearby foes. The maximum number of Spiderlings increases with Spider Form's level.

Neurotoxin (Human Form)
Active: Launches a blast of corrosive poison at a target enemy, dealing magic damage equal to a base amount plus 8% (+3% per 100 AP) of target's current health, Damage is capped against monsters.
Magic Damage: 40 / 80 / 120 / 160 / 200
Max Damage vs. Monsters: 60 / 120 / 180 / 240 / 300

Venomous Bite (Spider Form)
Active: Lunges at a target enemy with a poisonous bite, dealing magic damage equal to a base amount plus 8% (+3% per 100 AP) of target's missing health. Damage is capped against monsters.
Magic Damage: 60 / 110 / 160 / 210 / 260
Max Damage Vs. Monsters: 60 / 120 / 180 / 240 / 300

Volitile Spiderling (Human Form)
Active: Summons a venom-gorged Spiderling that moves to the target location and explodes, dealing magic damage to nearby enemies when it nears an enemy unit or after 3 seconds. If the Spiderling does not hit an enemy before reaching the target location, it will re-target itself and chase down a nearby enemy, prioritizing champions. The Spiderling's movement speed increases as it gets closer to target.
Magic Damage: 75 / 125 / 175 / 225 / 275 (+80% AP)

Skittering Frenzy (Spider Form)
Passive: Spiderlings gain a bonus attack speed. Spiderling Attack Speed: 5 / 10 / 15 / 20 / 25%
Active: Increases the attack speed of Elise and her Spiderlings for 3 seconds. While active, Elise heals 4 (+4% AP) health when she or her spiderlings attack.
Attack Speed: 60 / 80 / 100 / 120 / 140%

Cocoon (Human Form)
Active: Elise fires a web in a line that stuns the first enemy hit for 1.5 seconds, also revealing them for 1 second.

Rappel (Spider Form):
Active (On Enemy Cast): Elise and her Spiderlings lift up into the air, becoming untargetable for 1 second and revealing nearby enemy targets for the duration. She then descends upon the target enemy.
Active (On Ground Cast): Elise and her Spiderlings lift up into the air, becoming untargetable for up to 2 seconds and revealing nearby enemy targets for the duration. During that time she can cast Rappel again to descend upon a nearby enemy. If no enemy is targeted within 2 seconds, she will descend at her original location.

Spider Form/Human Form
Toggle: Elise transforms into a menacing spider, summoning her readied Spiderlings and granting access to arachnid abilities. While in Spider Form, Elise becomes melee and loses 425 range, deals bonus magic damage with her autoattacks and gains 10 movement speed.
On-Hit Magic Damage: 10 / 20 / 30 / 40 (+30% AP) Spiderlings deal physical damage and                            take 25% less damage from multi-target abilities.
                           Health: 80 + (10 x level)
                           Attack Speed: 0.665
                           Movement Speed: 370 Elise begins with one rank in Spider Form / Human Form and can                            increase it at levels 6, 11 and 16.
                           Maximum Number of Spiderlings: 2 / 3 / 4 / 5
                           Spiderling Attack Damage: 10 / 20 / 30 / 40 (+ 10% AP)
                           Spiderling Amor: 30 / 50 / 70 / 90
                           Spiderling Magic Resist: 50 / 70 / 90 / 110

Broodmother

Pusher/Carry/Escape

Spawn Spiderlings
Broodmother injects her young into an enemy unit, dealing damage. The spiderlings will hatch if the target is killed while under this influence.
Damage: 75/150/225/300
Count: 1/2/3/4

Spin Web
Throws out a web that renders Broodmother invisible in its vicinity, while also boosting regeneration, and granting a passive movement speed increase.
Radius: 900
Maximum Webs: 2/4/6/8
Bonus Health Regeneration: 2/4/6/8
Bonus Movement Speed: 20%/25%/30%/35%

Incapacitating Bite
Broodmother's venom cripples enemy units, causing her attacks to slow, as well as giving the affected unit a chance to miss its attacks. Incapacitating Bite is a Unique Attack Modifier, and does not stack with other Unique Attack Modifiers.
Duration: 2
Miss Chance: 30%/40%/50%/60%
Move Slow: 10%/20%/30%/40%

Insatiable Hunger
A violent lust for vital fluids increases Broodmother's attack damage and gives her a vampiric attack.
Bonus Damage: 60/80/100
Lifesteal: 40%/60%/80%
Duration: 14