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PC Gamer has posted a new article about S2 Games' upcoming version 2.0 release for the Heroes of Newerth multiplayer strategy game. The update will include a new Casual gameplay mode, a new map, an in-game store, a map editor, and a streamlined interface.

Casual Mode

The biggest change is the new gameplay mode “casual” (which is replacing the current Easy Mode). The developers describe Easy Mode as a “bastardization of the core gameplay” that was so different that it didn’t prepare players for Normal Mode. They told us that they felt that Easy Mode made heroes progress too fast, gave too much gold income per tick, and made towers insignificant. Players who focused on Easy Mode found that their skills did not translate well into the differently-paced, more competitive world of Normal Mode.

With Casual Mode, S2 Games hope to make HoN more accessible, faster to play, and less punishing, while still cultivating skills in players skills that are easily transfered over to Normal Mode. To accomplish this, Casual Mode will have the following features:

Last hit kill denials do not deny experience points.
More gold is rewarded for actions like last hit, hero kills, assists, and taking down towers (but gold ticks remain identical to Normal Mode).
No gold is lost on death. Players can try riskier tactics such as running past towers to get a last hit on a Hero and not have the reward be canceled out by dying.
Less random damage/reward ranges to make the game less reliant on luck, and more reliant on skill, to deal max damage.
Players will need less experience points to level up compared to Normal Mode, until the player reaches mid-level. Once players hit mid-level for their heroes, the experience points required to increase their level will be similar to Normal Mode.

PC Gamer: Heroes Of Newerth 2.0 Details

S2Games

Heroes Of Newerth

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