Year Beast (2015)

Nian, the Year Beast is an event creep that was created for the New Bloom Festival 2015 event. It has two color variations, one for the, and one for the.

Behavior

 * The Year Beast behaves like, and uses the same AI as bots.
 * In terms of mechanics, the Year Beast is counted as a hero.

Command Abilities
Players can command the Year Beast to perform these abilities by spending Ability Points. Cooldowns are triggered whenever any team member activates an ability. Active abilities can be used even when the Year Beast is dead.

Upgradeable Abilities

 * The Year Beast can be upgraded at the 10 and 20 minutes mark with Ability Points.
 * There are three upgrade paths available.
 * Each player selects their own upgrade path for a total of five upgrades.
 * Multiple instances of the same upgrade path come with independent proc chances and cooldowns.
 * Players cannot control upgraded abilities, the Year Beast will use them automatically.

Combat Path

 * Stacking bonuses: Multiple instances of Combat Path have independent chances to proc Bash, and independent cooldowns for Berserker's Call, Spiked Carapace, and Greater Hex.

Speed Path

 * Stacking bonuses: Multiple instances of Speed Path have independent cooldowns for Stampede, and independent chances to proc Refresher Aura.

Support Path

 * Stacking bonuses: Multiple instances of Support Path have independent cooldowns for, , and Resurrection Aura.

Trivia

 * Nian is a mythical beast that appears at Chinese New Year in Chinese folklore.