Heroes of Newerth is now free-to-play, operating under a new model designed to both expand the HoN community and enhance the gameplay for its existing dedicated fan base. The game mechanics and style of play will remain intact; however, existing player accounts and new accounts will be separated to create a smooth transition as novice players enter the game.

Heroes of Newerth (HoN) is a a session-based, multiplayer, Action-RPG heavily inspired by the popular Warcraft 3 mod, Defense of the Ancients (DotA), but with vast improvements in graphics and gameplay.

In Heroes of Newerth, two teams of up to five players each take on the role of a special Hero unit. With the assistance of AI-controlled armies, each team sets out with the sole objective of destroying the other team's base. As a match progresses, players can earn experience and gold which can be used to upgrade skills or purchase items to make their character more powerful. The team-oriented design of HoN coupled with unprecedented in-game Voice-Over-IP controls and Clan Support allow for an incredibly deep, tactical team-based experience.

There are now three account types under the new free-to-play model:

Basic – The standard, free account new players will receive upon sign up.
Verified – Basic accounts that have been upgraded through a show of commitment to their account, by either purchasing Goblin Coins or surpassing a certain threshold of play time.
Legacy – Paid user accounts that existed prior to the free-to-play model. These accounts receive a lifetime of free access to all HoN heroes and are able to play in Verified Only games, to ensure that experts and beginners are separated. Legacy accounts can no longer be purchased.

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"We strongly advise players to use components closer to the recommended system requirements. While the game will function with these minimum requirements it will have significantly poorer performance than the recommended requirements."

Windows System Specs:

Minimum:
Processor - 2.2GHz Pentium 4 / AMD 2400+ or faster
RAM - 1GB of RAM
Video Card - GeForce 5 and ATI 9800 w/ 128 MB VRAM
Windows 2000, Windows XP, Windows Vista, Windows 7
Network Connection Required

Recommended:
Processor - 2.0GHz Core 2 Duo / AMD 3500+ or faster
RAM - 1.5GB or higher
Video Card - 256MB Geforce 7800+ or Radeon X1900+
Network Connection Required (Broadband)

View the full changelog here.

To learn more about HoN or to create an account, visit http://www.heroesofnewerth.com/f2p_create.php.

HoN is available for Windows, OSX, and Linux. Please select the client you would like to download.