Heroes of the Storm PTR Patch Notes: August 10th

The August 10th updated to the PTR brought with it a bevy of changes. This includes the ability to purchase real money items on the PTR (they will transfer over to live), as well as rewarding all Diablo III players with the Diablo Hero permanently. Read on for other significant changes.

New Battleground

The new battleground, Infernal Shrines, is now up for testing.

This three-lane Battleground features three Infernal Shrines that will periodically gather power. Only one Shrine will gather power at any given time, and either team can activate it to unleash its might. Once activated, the Shrine’s Guardians will pour forth in waves to defend it. The first team to kill 30 Guardians will summon a devastating Punisher to fight for their cause. A Punisher is a powerful boss that will attack down the lane that corresponds with the Shrine it was summoned from. Punishers will hunt down any nearby enemy Heroes that cross its path, and can spawn with one of three deadly affixes: Arcane – The Punisher summons beams of arcane energy which rotate in a circular motion, and deal massive damage to enemy targets they pass through. Frozen – The Punisher calls forth frigid ice shards, which explode after a short delay, dealing damage and freezing enemies in place for a short time. Mortar – The Punisher launches a stream of firebombs high into the air, which explode and deal damage to any enemies they strike upon landing.

 

New Hero

Along with the Infernal Shrines, the new Monk Hero, Kharazim, was revealed at Gamescom. We now have a full breakdown of his abilities:

Trait

Pick Your Trait Learn Transcendence, Iron Fists, or Insight using the Talents panel to select your Trait. Transcendence Every third Basic Attack heals the lowest nearby allied Hero. Iron Fists Every third Basic Attack deals 100% bonus damage. Insight Every third Basic Attack restores Mana.

Basic Abilities

Radiant Dash (Q) Jump to an ally or enemy. Enemies are immediately hit with a Basic Attack. Stores up to two charges. 12 second cooldown per charge. Breath of Heaven (W) Heal nearby allied Heroes, granting them a 10% Movement Speed bonus for 3 seconds. Deadly Reach (E) Your next Basic Attack increases your Attack Speed and Attack Range by 100% for 2 seconds.

Heroic Abilities

Seven-Sided Strike (R) Become Invulnerable, striking 7 times over 2 seconds in a large area. Each strike deals 7% of the target’s maximum Health as damage, and prioritizes the Hero with the highest remaining Health. Divine Palm (R) Protect an allied Hero from death. The next source of fatal damage within 3 seconds is prevented, and the target is instead healed for a large amount.

 

There are a lot of other important changes, including UI improvements, changes to Ranked play, changing the way certain Talents work, and even increasing the cooldown on Bolt of the Storm (that last one seemed like just a matter of time.) Of course, we also have some Hero adjustments.

Some of the most notable things here are a nerf to Water Elemental's burst, a slight re-work of Kael'Thas to encourage different play styles, and small buffs to under-powered Heroes such as Raynor and Sgt. Hammer.

Of course, there are a fair number of bug fixes as well. To see the full list, as well as the other changes coming to the PTR not listed here, check out the official site.

 

Source/Image credit: Battle.net