The differences been other MOBAs and Heroes of the Storm are numerous and today we're going to explore exactly what they are before you jump into the Nexus. It's important to know exactly what these differences are, otherwise you're going to be in a huge world of hurt. The follow five differences are what every potential Heroes of the Storm player should know of when coming from League of Legends, DotA 2, or generally any other MOBA. 

No Items & No Gold 

There are no items or gold in the game, well, there is gold but it's used after the match. There is no point in returning to base except to heal or defend. Speaking of, like most MOBAs, HotS does include the free ability to go back at any time. 

Heroes level together and while leveling they're given the effective stats and abilities. Talents often replace specific purchases you'd make in other MOBA's, along with the active skill you would normally bring along. 

Additionally, all starting abilities are unlocked at the start (Q - W - E) with your ultimate ( R ) coming at level 10. Heroes have to be "leveled up" in order to unlock all of their talents, but this is essentially a few games before you have full access. 

Mana / HP Regen Greatly Increase and No Potions 

There are no potions in HotS, instead there are healing fountains next to each fort. These provide early game healing and are generally destroyed by late game, when HP and mana regen is high enough that their need has long gone. Mana and HP Regen are generally higher than other MOBAs. 

Lanes Are Not Completely Open 

This is one of the major features, each lane is gated with various gates, towers, and forts. The towers and forts have limited ammo to fire and slowly regenerate ammo after combat. The gates are one way and only allow the allied team to pass through. 

On the other hand, the gates and towers are not some kind of insta-kill behemoths that require an entire team to take down. Ranged specialists usually are great at poking and bashing these obstacles down and a lot of map features are designed around quickly eliminating them as a threat. 

Map Objectives are Important 

On each map there is a "quest" if you will, either collecting dubloons and turning them in, collecting seeds, collecting soul energy, or charging shrines. No matter the objective, they're important, because they give you the massive siege breaking mechanic that lets you power through their gates, towers, and forts and make it to their core. 

In order to win on any map, there is an almost necessary need to get to the objective before the other team. You can still overcome a few Dragon Knights thrown your way early game, but there does reach that point where they've done it enough times that you're facing catapults and an empty base while they have everything up still. 

Everyone Levels Together 

One of the really miserable things in a traditional MOBA is having that one person be underleveled. With Heroes, that worry is gone, because everyone levels as a team. XP is universal, across all characters on a team, so someone who spends the entire game farming XP is helping the entire team, not just themselves, and helps everyone benefit off of some of the more odd behaviors players have. 

Additional Differences 

Team comp is way different, a junglerer isn't viable as the camps don't respawn fast enough for someone to just always go into the "jungle." Any assassin can clear most any camp that's at their level of difficulty. 

Healers are more damage than healing, support is odd in that it helps support other heroes, but isn't compromised of pure support. A Malfurion can and will melt your face off just as much as any other character if you're not careful. 

When you clear a camp, the creeps will attack your enemy and possibly drop resources depending on the map you're on. 

When someone leaves the game, the A.I. will take over and follow the player who last requested assistance (pinging themselves). The A.I. is generally smart enough to not get itself farmed, but isn't as skilled as a regular player obviously.