I was shocked when I logged in to the Test Realm forums yesterday and found an update post. I was even more shocked when I saw the massive list of changes inside, including yet another new hero, Al’Zahar, The Prophet of the Void.

I’ll start with the new hero, if only because he’s the easiest to cover.

Summon Voidling (Passive): After casting 5 spells, Al’Zahar summons a Voidling to engage enemy units for 21 seconds. Voidlings grow after 7 seconds (+50% Damage/Armor), and Frenzy after 14 seconds (+100% Attack Speed).

Call of the Void: Al’Zahar opens up two portals to the void, After a short delay, power erupts from the voids, dealing damage and silencing all enemies hit.

Null Zone: Al’Zahar creates a zone which deals the greater between a flat damage and a % of the target’s max health.

Malefic Visions: Al’Zahar infects his target’s mind with cruel visions of their demise, dealing damage each second. If the target dies while afflicted by the visions, they pass on to a nearby enemy unit and restore mana to Al’Zahar.

Nether Grasp: Al’Zahar grips his target in an engulfing void of energy, dealing damage each second.

I’m actually pretty excited about this guy. It’s nice to see someone that finally sounds like a pure caster, and a strong caster at that. AOE silence is great, especially if you have someone like Amumu or Shen to hold your targets in place, and his Voidlings plus the Malefic Visions will help you farm like mad. From the sound of things he’ll be a mix between Enigma and Atropos from DotA. The language for his ult even uses the word “grip,” (Atropos’ ult is called Fiend’s Grip). I’ll get you some more impressions once I have a chance to get into a game. As you might have guessed, the TR is swamped – so full you can’t even look at the practice game list.

I was going to try to cover all the other changes here, but there are so many that it would be eternal. For now, I’m off to see my sister’s baccalaureate graduation. I’ll update more when I get back.