by Lewis Burnell on Mar 22, 2016
Heroes of the Storm has been missing several key things since it launched and it looks like this update is intended to not only deliver them, but a huge amount of other things as well. With a new Battleground available for Custom Games, Hero Bans, a new draft screen, a new Hero, reworks to a handful of existing Heroes as well as changes to artwork, sound and balance, there's very little this patch doesn't do. Although I'm super excited for the new Hero (he looks and sounds amazing) I'm more interested in the reworks to Tychus, Sylvanas, Kael'thas, Illidan and Gazlowe. Tychus has instantly jumped to being a tank-destroyer and it looks like his kit will absolutely destroy Cho'gall and double tank compositions, while Sylvanas and her new Possession Ultimate looks particularly exciting, especially with its range. As for Gazlowe, there's already signs that he has the potential to be even more annoying. Where Illidan is concerned, I need to get some real hands-on time with him to understand his new kit and to see how it plays out. On paper it looks brilliant, especially this talent: New Talent (Level 16): Fiery Brand - Every fourth consecutive Basic Attack against the same enemy Hero deals damage equal to 6% of the target’s maximum Health.
As for drafting, the entire drafting screen is getting a makeover and you'll be able to quickly access your favorite Heroes. In addition, the player with the highest matchmaking rating will get to choose both bans. There's also some new requirements for entering Hero League (ranked) matches.
You can view all the patch notes below and I'll be sure to update our Tier List and guides when it lands:
Free-to-Play Hero Rotation on PTR
A number of Heroes have received significant Talent changes with today’s patch. In order to help increase the volume of playtesting that these Heroes receive, we’ve expanded the Public Test Realm’s Free-to-Play Hero Rotation to include the following Heroes: Gazlowe (Talent re-work) Illidan (Talent re-work) Kael’thas (Talent re-work) Sylvanas (Talent re-work) Tychus (Talent re-work) Anub’arak Malfurion Tyrael Valla Rehgar (Requires Player Level 5) Sgt. Hammer (Requires Player Level 7) Chen (Requires Player Level 12) Li-Ming (Requires Player Level 15)Lost Cavern, a new Battleground featuring just one lane —and a whole lot of team fighting— is now available for playexclusively in Custom Games!
Lost Cavern has no Mercenary Camps, and just one objective: Battle through the opposing Fort, Keep, and Core to claim victory. Players cannot use Hearthstone and will not heal at the allied Hall of Storms. Corridors on either side of the lane contain neutral Regeneration Globes, which will respawn regularly throughout the game. Check out our recent blog to learn more about Lost Cavern.Dehaka, Primal Pack Leader, has been added to Heroes of the Storm and is now available for play! Read on for a brief overview of his Abilities.
Mount
Brushstalker (Z) You cannot use Mounts. Instead, you may burrow to any bush or vent on the Battleground. 40 second cooldown.Trait
Essence Collection (D) You collect 10 Essence per Hero Takedown, and 2 per enemy Minion killed nearby, storing up to a maximum of 50 Essence. Activate to consume all stored Essence and regenerate Health over the next 5 seconds for each stack consumed. Can be cast during Drag and Burrow.Basic Abilities
Drag (Q) Lash out with your tongue, dealing light damage to the first enemy hit, and dragging them with you for 1.75 seconds. Dark Swarm (W) Over the next three seconds, you gain the ability to move through units and deal damage in an area around yourself. Deals double damage to Heroes. Can be cast during Drag and Burrow. Burrow (E) Burrow into the ground, entering Stasis and becoming Invulnerable for 2 seconds.Heroic Abilities
Isolation (R) Launch biomass that deals damage, silences, and slows the first enemy Hero it hits by 30% for 3 seconds. For the next 6 seconds, the affected enemy loses sight of allied Heroes, and has greatly reduced vision. Adaptation (R) After a 5 second delay, 60% of all damage taken during this time will be returned to you as Health.General
Display Settings Heroes of the Storm now supports most 'ultrawide' 21:9 monitor resolutions. Hero Select The Ready, Skins, Mount, Abilities, and Talents buttons on Hero Select have received additional visual polish. Game Start Notification If Heroes of the Storm is minimized, it will now automatically become the focus window when loading is finished and a match is about to begin. If Heroes of the Storm is not the focus window (via ALT + TAB), it will now blink in the taskbar when loading is finished.Ranked Play
Bans have arrived! Hero bans have been added to draft mode for both Hero and Team League games. All Ranked games will use the “Mid Ban” method during drafts, which features two ban rounds per team —one round before hero picks begin, and a second halfway through the draft. The player with the highest matchmaking rating on each team will be automatically selected to issue bans. Players selected to issue bans can be identified by a new crown icon, which will appear over the Hero portrait, and animates during each team’s turn to ban. Whichever team wins the coin toss before drafting begins will receive first ban and first pick. The team that loses the coin toss will ban first during the second ban round. Each team will have 45 seconds to ban a Hero during the first round, and 30 seconds during the second Ban round. If no Hero is banned or highlighted before time expires, the ban will be skipped. If a Hero is highlighted when time expires, that hero will be automatically banned. Hero pick timers have been reduced from 45 to 30 seconds, but pick order has not been changed. Updated Ranked Requirements Minimum Player Level requirements have been removed from ranked play, meaning that players no longer need to reach Level 30 in order to participate in Hero or Team League games. Due to the addition of bans, Ranked play now requires that players have access to at least 14 Heroes who have reached Level 5 or higher in order to participate. Weekly free-to-play rotation Heroes that have reached Level 5 or higher now count toward the minimum Hero requirement, and can also be selected for play in ranked games. Those who have received penalties for leaving games will no longer be prevented from participating in Team League games —be sure to choose Team League allies carefully!Draft Lobby
The Draft Lobby has received an overhaul and additional visual polish. Upon entering a draft lobby, the upcoming Battleground’s name and art will be prominently displayed on screen, along with an audible callout. The draft lobby has received updated background art. Animated Hero models will now be displayed for each pick and ban. Draft lobbies now feature animated Hero portraits. Glow animations have been added to player slots, which will more clearly indicate who will be picking or banning during each turn. Skin selections will now be visible on Hero models and in portraits in the draft lobby. Hero Selection has been visually reworked A “Favorites” bar has been added in order to help players more easily find and select their most preferred Heroes during the draft phase. To select Favorites, navigate to the Hero Collection tab in the Player Profile, and then drag and drop up to 8 Heroes into the new favorites bar at the top of the screen. If no favorites have been manually selected, the Favorites bar will be automatically filled with the player’s 8 highest-level Heroes Click the new “Browse All” Heroes button to open a much larger Hero select pane, which features up to 48 heroes per page. Heroes can now be sorted by role, and a search bar has been added which can be used to find heroes by name, universe, and other keywords.
Custom Games
Several ban methods have been added for Custom Game Draft Lobbies Change the Lobby Mode to Draft, and then use the new Ban Mode dropdown to choose which of the following ban methods to use during the upcoming draft: Not Using Bans: Heroes cannot be banned in this mode. One ban: One ban round prior to Hero picks. Two bans: Two ban rounds that alternate teams before Hero picks begin. Mid Ban: Two ban rounds. One round before Hero picks begin, and another halfway through the draft. After selecting a Ban Mode, the Lobby Host may click the crown icons found on each player slot to designate which players on each team will issue Hero bans.In-Game UI
Hero Portrait Players can now right-click through the in-game Hero Portrait. Death Recaps Death Recap notifications will now be displayed on the left side of the screen upon being killed. These notifications briefly summarize the cause of death, list the player’s killer, and the source of damage that scored the killing blow. Click the notification to open a detailed Death Recap on the in-game Score Screen. Players may view their most recent detailed Death Recap at any time by clicking the “Show the last Death Recap” button added near the bottom of the in-game Score Screen (TAB). Detailed Death Recaps will display a graph of the player’s remaining Health over time, as well as all sources of incoming damage and healing, during the final moments leading to death. The top three sources of incoming damage will appear at the top of the detailed Death Recap, along with the percentage of total damage dealt by each. Score Screen The Show Talents/Show Stats buttons on the in-game Score Screen (TAB) have been replaced by three new buttons on the in-game score screen: Stats, Talents, and Show Last Death RecapHotkeys
Hotkey settings can now be accessed directly from the Main Menu by pressing Escape and clicking the new Hotkey button. Hotkey Profiles A new “Show in Folder” button has been added next to the Selected Profile dropdown, which can be used to find Hotkey Settings files. These files can be shared with friends or transferred to other Heroes accounts. Multiple Hotkey Profiles can be created, but only the profile that is currently in use will be cloud saved. A cloud saved Hotkey Profile will be available for use when logged into the same Heroes of the Storm account while using a different computer. Basic Hotkeys Talent hotkeys have been moved from the Advanced tab to the Basic tab. Hotkeys on the Basic tab can now be rebound to mouse buttons. Players can now rebind the hotkey for queuing commands using the new dropdown menu at the top of the Basic Hotkeys menu. The queue commands hotkey will default to Shift, but can also be changed to Ctrl, Alt, or None. Advanced Hotkeys Hotkeys for self-casting Abilities can now be rebound under the new “Hero Abilities (Self Cast)” category. Hotkeys for overriding Quick Cast settings can now be set under the new “Hero Abilities (Quick Cast)” and “Hero Abilities (Quick Cast On Release)” categories. Quick Cast for Individual Abilities Quick Cast Settings have been moved to the Hotkeys menu from the Mouse and Keyboard menu. Quick Cast settings can now be modified for each Hero, including Abilities, Activated Talents, and Basic Attacks. Open the Options Menu (ESC), click the Hotkeys button, and then select Quick Cast Settings from the list on the left. Use the new dropdown menu under the “Per Ability Quick Cast Settings” header to switch among Heroes, or Battleground Objectives such as the Dragon Knight and Garden Terror. After selecting a Hero, use the dropdown lists on the right side of the screen to change quick cast settings for that Hero’s Abilities and Activated Talents. Most Abilities can be set to Off, On, On Release, or Use Global Setting Quick Cast Settings for Abilities and Activated Talents that are already cast instantly cannot be changed. Instant Abilities that are not targeted no longer follow the player’s Global Quick Cast setting, and will now be cast immediately on pressing down the associated hotkey, instead. Abilities and Talents that are shared across multiple Heroes, such as Basic Attack and Cleanse, will also use shared Quick Cast settings for those Abilities and Talents. Those who prefer to use the same Quick Cast setting for most actions may still do so using the “Global Settings” dropdown at the top of the Quick Cast Settings menu.Hero Abilities and Talents
Many Heroes have received updated Ability and Talent button art. All generic Talents have received updated button art All remaining Talents that modify the same Ability and coexist on the same Talent tier have received new color tints to help players more easily tell them apart at a glance The following Hero Abilities and Talents have received additional visual polish: Azmodan — General of Hell (D) Cho — Consuming Blaze (W), Molten Block (Talent) Gall — Shove (Talent), Psychotic Break (Talent) Gazlowe — Rock It! Turret (Q), Xplodium Charge (E), Goblin Fusion (Talent) The following Heroes have received updated visual effects for Abilities and Talents that have been reworked in today’s patch: Gazlowe Kael’thasSkins
Rehgar’s Ghost Wolf form will now more closely match his Skins and Skin Variations in-game.Bundles
New Bundles have been added for a limited time! Mecha Dehaka Bundle Sovereign Fiends Bundle Ultimate Sovereign Fiends BundleHeroes
Dehaka has been added to the in-game ShopSkins
New Skins Master Dehaka Mecha DehakaGeneral
Sound effects will now play during the following events when Heroes of the Storm is running in the background —even if the “Play in Background” Sound option is disabled: Game is found while queued for matchmaking Countdown begins prior to loading into a game Loading has finished and the game is about to begin Game has begun Draft Mode: Player has 10 seconds remaining to pick a Hero Draft Mode: Player’s Hero pick timer has expired Draft Mode: Countdown begins after Drafting is finished, prior to loading into a gameHeroes
New voiceover lines have been added for Li-Ming, who will now call out her own kill streaks.AFK Detection
Players who are not present at the start of a game will now be more quickly removed.Hero Movement Interaction Unification
Several Abilities have been changed in an effort to unify their usage. The following Abilities can now be used to move to invulnerable units: Kerrigan — Ravage (Q) Illidan — Dive (Q) The following Abilities can now be used to travel to objects created by an enemy, such as Sgt. Hammer’s Spider Mines: Kerrigan — Ravage (Q) Lunara — Leaping Strike (R) Illidan — Dive (Q) Kharazim — Radiant Dash (Q) Chen — Flying Kick (Q)On-Hit Effects
Effects applied when Basic Attacks strike the target will no longer be applied if evasion causes the Basic Attack to miss.“On My Way” Ping Pathing Lines
Allied "On My Way" pings will now display lines on the minimap that show the projected path of travel.Dragon Shire
Dragon Knight Now immune to Attack Speed slows applied by attacks from enemy Forts and Keeps Savage Charge (W) Targets punted by Savage Charge will no longer be stunned after landingGarden of Terror
Garden Terror (Player Controlled) Basic Attack damage reduced by 15% Basic Attacks now deal 50% damage to nearby non-Heroic enemies Basic Attacks now instantly kill Minions Overgrowth (W) No longer affects Minions or Mercenaries No longer deals damage to Structures Garden Terror now deals 100% bonus damage to Structures disabled by Overgrowth Maximum duration increased from 15 to 25 seconds Cooldown increased from 15 to 25 seconds Health increased by 100%Arcane Power
Duration increased from 5 to 10 secondsBlock
Damage reduction increased from 50% to 75%Dampen Magic
This Talent has been redesigned Dampen Magic charges now cause all incoming Ability Damage to be reduced by 50% for 1 secondVampiric Assault
Has been renamed to Vigorous AssaultVampiric Strike
Has been renamed to Vigorous StrikesIllidan Talents
LEVEL (TIER) 1 (1) Immolation (W) Battered Assault (W) Unending Hatred — 4 (2) Rapid Chase (Q) Friend or Foe (Q) Unbound (W) — 7 (3) Reflexive Block (Q) Thirsting Blade (Trait) Hunter's Onslaught (Trait) — 10 (4) Metamorphosis (R) The Hunt (R) — — 13 (5) Nimble Defender (W) Elusive Strike (E) Sixth Sense (E) — 16 (6) Marked for Death (Q) Fiery Brand Blades of Azzinoth (W) — 20 (7) Demonic Form (R) Nowhere to Hide (R) Nexus Blades Bolt of the StormWhite text indicates a NEW Talent Blue text indicates a MOVED Talent
Kael'thas Talents
LEVEL (TIER) 1 (1) Convection (Q) Fel Infusion (Trait) Mana Addict — 4 (2) Nether Wind (E) Energy Roil (E) Mana Tap (Trait) — 7 (3) Burned Flesh (Q) Gravity Crush (E) Sunfire Enchantment (Trait) — 10 (4) Phoenix (R) Pyroblast (R) — — 13 (5) Pyromaniac (W) Backdraft (W) Fission Bomb (W) — 16 (6) Fury of the Sunwell (Q) Sun King’s Fury (W) Twin Spheres (Trait) — 20 (7) Rebirth (R) Presence of Mind (R) Master of Flames (W) Arcane Power White text indicates a NEW Talent Blue text indicates a MOVED TalentTychus Talents
LEVEL (TIER) 1 (1) Shrug it Off (E) Press the Advantage (E) Dash (E) Combat Tactician (E) 4 (2) In the Rhythm (Trait) Fully Loaded (Trait) The Bigger They Are… (Trait) Master Assassin 7 (3) Quarterback (W) Concussion Grenade (W) Relentless Soldier — 10 (4) Commandeer Odin (R) Drakken Laser Drill (R) — — 13 (5) That’s the Stuff! Neosteel Coating Spray ‘n’ Pray (Q) — 16 (6) Titan Grenade (W) Lead Rain (Q) Armor Piercing Rounds (Q) — 20 (7) Big Red Button (R) Focusing Diodes (R) Sizzlin’ Attacks Bob and Weave (E)White text indicates a NEW Talent Blue text indicates a MOVED Talent
Gazlowe Talents
LEVEL (TIER) 1 (1) Extra TNT (E) Scrap-o-Matic Smelter (Trait) Break it down! (Trait) Regeneration Master 4 (2) Clockwerk Steam Fists (Q) ARK Reaktor (E) Reduce, Reuse, Recycle (Trait) Mercenary Lord 7 (3) Rock-It! Turret XL (Q) Engine Gunk (Q) Hyperfocus Coils (W) — 10 (4) Robo-Goblin (R) Grav-O-Bomb 3000 (R) — — 13 (5) Turret Storage (Q) EZ-PZ Dimensional Ripper (W) X-Tra Large Bombs (E) Sprint 16 (6) Superior Schematics (Q) Goblin Fusion (W) Kwik Release Charge (E) — 20 (7) Mecha-Lord (R) Miniature Black Hole (R) Firin’ Mah Lazorz (W) It’s Raining ScrapWhite text indicates a NEW Talent Blue text indicates a MOVED Talent
Sylvanas Talents
LEVEL (TIER) 1 (1) Overflowing Quiver (Q) Paralysis (Trait) Mercenary Queen — 4 (2) Withering Barrage (Q) With the Wind (Q) Lost Soul (W) — 7 (3) Barbed Shot (Q) Unstable Poison (Trait) Possession — 10 (4) Wailing Arrow (R) Mind Control (R) — — 13 (5) Life Drain (W) Windrunner (E) Will of the Forsaken Spell Shield 16 (6) Evasive Fire (Q) Cold Embrace (W) Overwhelming Affliction Remorseless 20 (7) Deafening Blast (R) Dark Lady's Call (R) Fury of the Storm Bolt of the StormWhite text indicates a NEW Talent Blue text indicates a MOVED Talent
General
Heroes of the Storm will no longer override the operating system’s mouse sensitivity settings. Fixed an extremely rare issue that could cause the same Hero to appear twice on the same team during Ranked games. Custom games that contained all A.I. players and human observers will no longer cause rejoin prompts to display after exiting the game. Corrected several typos and tooltip errors across several aspects of the game. Fixed an issue that caused the vision granted by some projectiles to appear off-center.Art
The visual effects for Nova’s Precision Strike should now animate more smoothly. Fixed an issue that could cause Nova and Tychus to stand while mounted.Battlegrounds
Successfully turning in enough Gems to summon Webweavers on Tomb of the Spider Queen will now properly interrupt other players who were also channeling at that time. A.I. players on Towers of Doom will now better avoid enemy Core defenses. Exiting the Tunnel on Towers of Doom will no longer prevent Heroes from automatically attacking enemies near the Tunnel exit.Heroes and Talents
Fixed a bug affecting Stitches and The Butcher that could cause performance issues under certain circumstances. Fixed an issue that could prevent Rehgar’s Feral Lunge from properly connecting with enemies who were running in the opposite direction. Regeneration Globes will now properly grant healing and Regeneration Master stacks when collected as a Shield expires. Fixed an issue which caused several Heroes’ Trait icons to appear greyed-out at all times. Floating combat text for Artanis’ Twin Blades is now properly colored orange after learning the Zealot Charge Talent. Block stacks granted by Brightwing’s Pixie Dust will now last the full 4 second duration listed in the Ability’s description. Cho’gall will now be Healed for the proper amount for Basic Attacks against affected by Consuming Blaze after learning Cho’s Fuel for the Flame and Fire Eater Talents. Fixed an issue that could allow Cho to repeatedly cast Surging Fist under certain circumstances. E.T.C. can no longer change the direction of Powerslide while trapped by Zeratul’s Void Prison. Gall will no longer count as a secondary target for Li Li’s Healing Brew with the Two for One Talent. Fixed an issue affecting Greymane’s Gilnean Cocktail, which caused a slight delay between the Ability’s damage and graphic effects after taking the Draught Overflow Talent. After learning the Perfect Aim Talent, Greymane’s Gilnean Cocktail will now properly refund Mana when an enemy Hero is struck by the far edge of the Ability’s explosion. Jaina’s Basic Attacks will now properly refund Mana after learning the Arcane Intellect Talent. Li-Ming’s Arcane Orb can no longer hit the Sandstorm created by the Boss on Sky Temple. Lunara's Leaping Strike will now fire appropriately when cast at the same moment as the target enters a line-of-sight blocker. The player will no longer lose control of Lt. Morales if she is killed immediately after casting Medivac Dropship. Enemy Minions that have been picked up by Nazeebo’s Gargantuan will now be killed when the Gargantuan expires. Fixed an issue that prevented Nova from entering Stealth when activating the Ghost Protocol Talent while affected by damage over time effects. The visual effects for Tassadar’s Dimensional Shift will now properly display if it is cast after breaking the Stealth effect applied by Tyrande’s Shadowstalk. Xul’s Skeletal Mages now properly prioritize Heroes, Dragon Knights, and Garden Terrors over enemy Minions. Clicking Reset Talents in Try Mode will no longer cause Zagara’s Hunter Killer to deal reduced damage.Sound
Captain Blackheart will no longer skip numbers during the countdown at the start of a game. Li-Ming will now properly play death sounds when killed.User Interface
A dark smudge has been removed from the background art on the main loading screen. Fixed an issue that could cause a player to be dropped from the Draft Lobby. Using the middle mouse button to drag scroll will no longer occasionally cause the screen to jump in an undesired direction. Clicking empty item slots in the Shop’s Featured tab will no longer cause an error message to display. Sending Whisper messages to another player should no longer result in an “INVALID” error message. Clicking the “Mute Player” button on in-game Score Screen while that player is disconnected will no longer cause the Mute Player button to disappear. Fixed an issue in which the filter buttons on the Hero Select screen could become unclickable when running the game in 4:3 and 5:4 resolutions.