The public test realm for Heroes of the Storm received a new patch today, and brought some significant gameplay updates with it. Here's a selection of some of the details that stand out the most.

New Battleground - Towers of Doom

This Battleground is going to introduce something completely new to the game. In it, players cannot actually attack the Core. Instead, they'll need to capture Altars that activate periodically to deal the damage for them.

In-game UI Changes

• In-Game Score Screen
  • The XP column on the in-game Score Screen has been removed.
  • The Takedown column on the in-game Score Screen (TAB) has been split into two new columns: Kills and Assists.
    • Kills can be earned by scoring the final blow on an enemy Hero.
    • Assists function in much the same way that Takedowns did in previous versions of the game. Any ally that is nearby when an enemy Hero is slain will receive an Assist for that kill.
• Minimap
  • The minimap will now visually indicate when allied Heroes are using Hearthstone to return to the Hall of Storms.
    • Additionally, a chat message will be displayed whenever an ally activates Hearthstone.

Gameplay Changes

Scaling Changes

• Health and damage scaling for all Heroes, Battleground Events, Minions, and Mercenaries has been changed from flat, additive values to values that are multiplicative by percentage.
• A large portion of Heroes’ total scaling amounts, which were previously gained over the course of a game, have been added to their base values.
• Respawn timers have been increased for levels 1 – 10.

Attack Speed Slows

• Attack speed slows now apply only to Heroes and Summons.

Tooltips

• Several tooltips that lacked specific details regarding delays, charges gained, etc., have been updated with exact details.

Zeratul and Leoric Changes

Zeratul

• Focused Attack (Talent) removed
• New Talent (Level 4): Master Warp-Blade
  • Every 3rd consecutive Basic Attack against the same Hero deals 100% bonus damage

Leoric

Drain Hope (W)

• Cooldown decreased from 12 to 11 seconds
• If Leoric is stunned while casting Drain Hope, the stun will no longer cancel the Ability and the missile will continue to travel
• Damage dealt and Health gained reduced from 25% to 20%
• Damage and healing now increase over time as a flat value

Those are some of the biggest changes, but there's plenty more. Check out the full post here!