Bug Fixes

• Calldown: MULE updated to use level-based scaling.

• Fixed an issue that caused Abathur's Ultimate Evolution Spell Power to not be granted to Ultimate Evolution Sand Echo Sand Blasts.

• Fixed an issue that caused Pylons created by Ultimate Evolution clones of Probius to not be destroyed when the Ultimate Evolution expires.

• Fixed an issue that caused traps created by Ultimate Evolution clones of Junkrat to only be removed when Abathur dies.

• Soma Transference updated to heal the target for its amount as a singular combined effect.

Bug Fixes

• Ultimate Evolution no longer plays quest progress visual effects.

• Volatile Mutation no longer displays an empty icon in the Death Recap.

Bug Fixes

• Evolve Monstrosity Stacks are now a Heroic Quest. Players will now be able to see how many stacks the Monstrosity has on the scoreboard, and when it has full stacks, it will display a quest complete indicator.
• Toxic Nest is no longer triggered by Invulnerable enemies.

Hero Updates

Abilities

• Locust Strain [Trait]
  • Locust damage will no longer display as a critical against Structures. The damage bonus remains unaltered.
• Stab [Q]
  • Stab no longer reveals the area around the target and will now only reveal the target itself for 2 seconds.
• Spike Burst [W]
  • Spike Burst will now reveal the effected area for 0.75 seconds.

Bug Fixes

• Fixed an issue that caused Envenomed Nest's Armor reduction to not be removed by Stasis or Invulnerability.
• Fixed an issue that caused Adrenal Overload to not apply to channeled Basic Attacks.
• Fixed an issue that caused Bombard Strain Locusts to not deal bonus damage to enemy Structures.
• Fixed an issue that caused Monstrosity to gain more than intended damage from Minion kills.
• Toxic Nest will no longer reveal attackers to Abathur during the Arming phase.

• Fixed an issue that caused Sharpened Blades to gain quest progress from Hallucination Heroes (Nova Holo Decoys, Samuro Mirror Images, Abathur Ultimate Evolutions).

Bug Fixes

• Fixed an issue that caused Evolutionary Link's Shield to also be created on the previous target of Ultimate Evolution while Ultimate Evolution is active. Undocumented

• Fixed an issue that caused Ultimate Evolutions of Lost Vikings talents when cloning a Viking who had selected select talents.

• Fixed an issue that prevented the Monstrositty from using the Force Move command.

Bug Fixes

• Fixed an issue where Control Points could be contested by Hallucinations while in Stasis or Stopped Undocumented

Hero Updates

Abilities

• Locust Strain [Trait]
  • Bonus damage to enemy Structures reduced from 50% to 25%.

Talents

• Level 4
  • Prolific Dispersal [W]
    • No longer increases the range of Toxic Nest.
    • Additional functionality: Increase the duration of Toxic Nest by 45 seconds.

Developer Comment: To curb some of the frustrating gameplay where Abathur can continuously backdoor enemy Keeps, we're reducing some of the buffs we gave to Locust Strain, as well as changing the functionality of Prolific Dispersal. While Abathur players can still do this strategy, it will be more difficult to pull off, as Abathur will have to travel to a more central location on the map to plant a Toxic Nest for vision to burrow into the enemy base.

Hero Updates

Abilities

• Locust Strain [Trait]
  • Locust Health increased from 316 to 350.
  • Additional functionality: Locusts deal 50% bonus damage to enemy Structures.

Talents

• Level 1
  • Envenomed Nest [W]
    • Additional functionality: Enemy Heroes who are hit by Toxic Nests have their Armor reduced by 10 for 4 seconds.
  • Reinforced Carapace [E]
    • Shield amount increased from 30% to 40%.
• Level 16
  • Volatile Mutation [R]
    • Healing increased from 75% to 100% of damage dealt.
• Level 20
  • Evolutionary Link [R1]
    • Shield amount Increased from 25% to 35% maximum Health.

Developer Comment: In addition to buffing underperforming talents, we're experimenting with giving Locusts a larger presence in Abathur's kit. If left unattended, they will now do increased damage to Structures, which will reward good Abathur players who pay close attention to their position on the map and the state of the game.

Bug Fixes

• Abathur's Symbiote Experience Globe collection range increased from 0 to 1.5 Undocumented

Bug Fixes

• Fixed an issue where Orphea's Eternal Feast would continue bouncing if an Abathur Ultimate Evolution clone expired in the area

Hero Updates

Abilities

• Locust Strain (Trait)
  • Damage increased from 40 to 46
• Carapace (E)
  • Shield amount reduced from 157 to 150

Talents

• Level 1
  • Reinforced Carapace (E)
    • Bonus Shielding reduced from 40% to 30%
  • Survival Instincts (Trait)
    • Bonus Health increased from 60% to 100%
• Level 4
  • Prolific Dispersal
    • Additional Functionality: Now also increases the range of Toxic Nest by 30%
• Level 13
  • Bombard Strain (Trait)
    • Duration bonus increased from 50% to 75%
• Level 16
  • Volatile Mutation (Heroic)
    • Healing increased from 50% to 75% of the damage dealt

Developer Comment: Abathur has been performing fairly well since his rework. However, his non-Carapace related talents could use some love compared to other options. We're giving Abathur some buffs to play styles that focus more on controlling the map and taking some power out of Carapace to compensate.

Hero Updates

Abilities

• Carapace (E)
  • Cooldown reduced from 12 to 6 seconds
  • Duration reduced from 8 to 6 seconds
  • Additional functionality:
    • Shield now persists after Symbiote ends
  • Additional functionality:
    • Shield now Heals allied Heroes for 22 Health per second while Carapace is active
    • This heal now also has an initial application of 22 Health when Carapace is cast
• Locust Strain (Trait)
  • Duration reduced from 25 to 16 seconds
  • Damage increased from 34 to 40
• Evolve Monstrosity (R)
  • No longer takes 50% reduced damage from non-Heroic enemies
  • Now shows a warning indicator showing where it is going to burrow to
  • Additional Functionality:
    • Now has the ability to Deep Tunnel to a visible location every 80 seconds
    • The Monstrosity can now be healed by Carapace

Talents

• Level 1
  • Regenerative Microbes (E)
    • Removed
  • New Talent: Reinforced Carapace (E)
    • Increase the Shield amount of Carapace by 40%
  • Survival Instincts (Trait)
    • No longer increases Locust duration
    • Additional functionality:
      • Increase Locust attack damage by 40%
• Level 4
  • Ballistospores (Trait)
    • Removed
  • Sustained Carapace (E)
    • Removed
  • Needlespine (Q)
    • Moved from Level 7
• Level 7
  • Calldown: MULE (Active)
    • Healing per second reduced from 100 to 90
• Level 13
  • Assault Strain (Trait)
    • Removed
  • Bombard Strain (Trait)
    • No longer increases Locust attack damage
    • Additional functionality:
      • Increase the duration of Locusts by 50%
• Level 16
  • Volatile Mutation (R)
    • Additional functionality:
      • Damage dealt by Volatile Mutation against enemy Heroes heals the host for 50% of the damage dealt
• Level 20
  • Evolutionary Link (R)
    • Additional functionality:
      • Increase the duration of Ultimate Evolution by 50%
  • Evolution Complete (R)
    • No longer gives the Monstrosity the ability to Deep Tunnel
    • New functionality:
      • Now increases the Monstrosity's Basic Attack damage by 100%

Developer Comment: For a long time Abathur has had a unique place in Heroes, being a powerful force at high level play while having a relatively low win-rate across the board. These changes are meant to spruce up his talents while streamlining his gameplay and introducing more counter-play to the hero. Carapace, particularly with the Sustained Carapace talent, created some awkward gameplay where it was much more efficient to use Symbiote on cooldown, even when the desire was to stay on one target, due to the cooldown refresh that it gave Carapace. In order to clean this up, Sustained Carapace is baseline and the cooldown of Carapace has been reduced, so Abathur no longer has to continuously remove Carapace to be efficient. In addition, Abathur's Locusts are now more potent, but they last for a shorter duration, meaning Abathur players will be more rewarded for positioning themselves aggressively and punished when they overextend too much.

Hero Updates

Abilities

• Evolve Monstrosity (R)
  • Health increased from 1000 to 1350
  • Basic Attack damage increased from 73 to 85
  • Health bonus per minion killed reduced from 5 to 2%
  • Damage bonus per minion killed reduced from 5 to 2%

Developer Comment: We discovered an issue with Evolve Monstrosity where its damage scaling was incorrect. To fix the bug, we would have massively increased its Basic Attack damage once it was fully stacked, which is already fairly high. Instead, we are taking this opportunity to re-tune the Monstrosity so that it is not quite so powerful once fully stacked, but is stronger right away, which should be an overall buff in most use cases.

Hero Updates

Talents

• Level 1
  • Regenerative Microbes (E)
    • Healing reduced from 68 to 62

Developer Comment: Regenerative Microbes is dominating Abathur's Level 1 talent tier, as well as causing issues at the pro level of play. We are taking a look at Abathur to see what improvements can be made, but wanted to get this change out sooner rather than later while we iterate on him.

Bug Fixes

• Kharazim: Can now Radiant Dash to all allied units, including Mercenaries, Creep Tumors, and Toxic Nests.

Bug Fixes

• Abathur: Fixed an issue preventing Monstrosity from gaining damage when nearby enemy minions die.

Bug Fixes

• Abathur: Fixed an issue causing Abathur's Monstosity to fail to gain damage when nearby enemy Minions are slain.

Design & Gameplay

• Abathur: Allied and enemy Symbiote hosts will now display a crown icon above their portraits on the Minimap.

Bug Fixes

• Abathur: Removed an excess visual effect that could appear after casting Symbiote on a Monstrosity while using the Xenotech Abathur skin.

• Abathur: Symbiote now correctly creates a crown icon above an allied target's minimap portrait.

• Abathur: Ultimate Evolution clones of Lil' Ragnaros will now use the correct death model when the Ability expires or the clone is destroyed.

Bug Fixes

• Garrosh: Casting Into the Fray on Abathur now correctly interrupts Symbiote Channeling.

Bug Fixes

• Abathur: Fixed an issue causing Spike Burst’s visual effects to appear much larger than intended when cast while targeting a Mercenary with Symbiote.

• Abathur: The number of Minions Absorbed stacks no longer appear inconsistent in the Buff bar after Abathur dies while a Monstrosity is active.

Bug Fixes

• Abathur: Monstrosities will no longer deal area of effect damage on death if Abathur hasn’t learned the Volatile Mutation Talent.

Bug Fixes

• Abathur: Locusts will now correctly retain their selected skins during Ultimate Evolution.

Hero Updates

Abilities

• Spawn Locust (Trait)
  • Health increased from 288 to 316

Talents

• Level 1
  • Survival Instincts (Trait)
    • Bonus Health decreased from 50% to 40%
• Level 7
  • Calldown: MULE (Active)
    • No longer refills Structure ammo

Bug Fixes

• Abathur: Attempting to cast Toxic Next in an area that is already densely populated by existing Nests will no longer consume a charge without placing a new Toxic Nest.

• Abathur: Casting Ultimate Evolution on Jaina will no longer cause Abathur’s Calldown: MULE Talent icon to permanently switch to the icon for Improved Ice Block.

Hero Updates

Abilities

• Spike Burst (W)
  • Damage increased from 116 to 120
• Ultimate Evolution (R)
  • Cooldown increased from 50 to 70 seconds

Hero Updates

Miscellaneous

• Deep Tunnel (Z) will now go on a 10 second cooldown when interrupted by enemy or allied abilities, including self-cancelling.
• Deep Tunnel (Z) now has an allied chat announcement upon activation.

Bug Fixes

• Abathur: Can now correctly cast Symbiote on an allied Nova’s Holo Decoys.

• Abathur: Locusts will now assist Heroes who are attacking a Mercenary Camp rather than immediately traveling to a lane.

• Basic Attacks: Splash and Cleave damage will now correctly reveal targets who are hit while inside Bushes and Vents.

Bug Fixes

• Abathur: Fixed an issue in which Networked Carapace provided a lower than intended Shield amount.

• Abathur: Secondary Shields granted by Networked Carapace will no longer benefit from Sustained Carapace.

Bug Fixes

• Abathur: Fixed an issue in which Networked Carapace provided a lower than intended Shield amount.

• Abathur: Secondary Shields granted by Networked Carapace will no longer benefit from Sustained Carapace.

Bug Fixes

• Abathur: Heroes can no longer push a player-controlled Monstrosity by walking into it.

Design & Gameplay

Hero Radii

• The radius of many heroes in the game have been adjusted to better match their actual model size.
  • Increased Radius - Abathur, ETC, Gul'dan, Baleog, Muradin, Misha, Sgt. Hammer, Thrall, Uther, Varian, Zagara
  • Decreased Radius - Li Li, Tracer, Valeera

Bug Fixes

• Valeera & Abathur - Fixed an issue that caused Heroes affected by Abathur’s Symbiote to fail to trigger Valeera’s Assassinate talent.

Hero Updates

Abilities

• Stab (Q)
  • Damage increased from 113 to 119
• Spike Burst (W)
  • Damage increased from 111 to 116
• Carapace (E)
  • Shield amount increased from 150 to 157

Bug Fixes

• Kharazim: Air Ally will now properly reveal Creep Tumors and Toxic Nests.

• Scouting Drone: Will now properly reveal Creep Tumors and Toxic Nests.

Bug Fixes

• Cursed Hollow: Attempting to gather a Tribute using a cloned Hero, such as Mirror Image or Ultimate Evolution, will no longer prevent players from gathering that Tribute.

Bug Fixes

• Abathur: Fixed an issue that caused the cooldown for Toxic Nest to be reset whenever Symbiote expired.

Hero Updates

Abilities

• Toxic Nest (W)
  • Abathur is now locked out of casting Toxic Nest for .5 seconds after exiting Symbiote

Bug Fixes

• Abathur: Fixed an issue causing Abathur’s Ultimate Evolution clones to deal damage to nearby enemies on expiration without learning the Volatile Mutation talent.

Bug Fixes

• Abathur: Monstrosity can no longer push Minions or captured Mercenaries by walking into them.

• Calldown: MULE: Will now properly acquire a new repair target if the Structure it is actively repairing is destroyed.

Bug Fixes

• Brightwing: Phase Shield now properly applies a Shield to targets under the effect of Abathur’s Symbiote.

Bug Fixes

• Abathur: The Sustained Carapace Talent’s simple tooltip now properly indicates that the Talent increases the Shield amount.

Hero Updates

Abilities

• Symbiote (Q)
  • Symbiote will now be paused if the allied target enters a Stasis effect or if Tracer uses her Recall ability
  • Symbiote can still be cancelled in these situations, but no Symbiote Abilities can be used

Talents

• Level 1
  • Regenerative Microbes (E)
    • Heal changed to “over 4 seconds” instead of the full duration of Carapace
    • Heal amount changed from 31 to 68 Health per Second
• Level 4
  • Ballistospores (W)
    • Toxic Nest duration increased from 20% to 25%
  • Sustained Carapace (E)
    • Now increases the Carapace Shield amount by 40% instead of increasing the duration by 50%
• Level 7
  • Networked Carapace (E)
    • Now also applies an untalented Carapace Shield to all nearby allied Heroes
  • Vile Nest (W)
    • Decreased the slow duration from 3 to 2.5 seconds
• Level 13
  • Assault Strain (Trait)
    • Increased explosion damage from 68 to 102
  • Spatial Efficiency (Q)
    • Now also lowers the cooldown of Stab from 3 to 2.5 seconds in addition to its current functionality
• Level 16
  • Adrenaline Boost (E)
    • Movement Speed boost duration increased from 3 to 3.5 seconds
  • Volatile Mutation (R)
    • Increased pulse damage from 114 to 137
• Level 20
  • Evolution Complete (R)
    • Monstrosity Deep Tunnel cooldown reduced to 25 seconds from 30
  • Evolutionary Link (R)
    • Ultimate Evolution Shield increased from 20% of maximum Health to 25%

Developer Comments: As part of our ongoing process to improve our talent system, we are doing a pass on all heroes in the game to increase the health of their talent trees. We know that there are a fair number of talents that feel like they are either mandatory or insignificant, and this is our first pass on putting in fixes. These fixes take many forms, and can range from simply buffing or nerfing numbers to changing functionality. We’re excited to keep our heroes feeling fresh, and you can look forward to additional changes to more of our heroes in upcoming patches.

Bug Fixes

• Falstad: Will no longer be struck by ground-level objects, such as Abathur’s Toxic Nests, while using Flight.

• Infernal Shrines: Punishers will no longer prefer to attack non-Heroic enemies that are affected by Abathur’s Symbiote over enemy Heroes.

Bug Fixes

• Abathur: Fixed an issue that allowed Evolve Monstosity to pick up coins and gems, which were then permanently lost upon death.

• Abathur: You can no longer use Hearthstone to port back to base while channeling Ultimate Evolution.

Bug Fixes

• Abathur can no longer cast Hearthstone while channeling Ultimate Evolution.

Bug Fixes

• Fixed an issue that could cause Abathur and Gall players to be flagged as AFK if they did not move from the starting area, despite issuing commands to their Heroes.

Hero Updates

• Evolve Monstrosity (R)
  • Maximum Minion stacks increased from 30 to 40.
  • Health increased from 931 (+4% per level) to 1000 (+4% per level).

Developer Comments: We want to make some basic improvements to a lot of the lesser-picked/lower win-rate Heroic Abilities. Most of these are pretty simple changes to make them more enticing, like adding more damage, reducing cooldowns, or lowering Mana costs. We realize that the primary use case for Abilities like Li Li’s Water Dragon or E.T.C.’s Stage Dive is not damage, but having more of it might help them feel more effective. We’re trying to do something a little bit different with Brightwing’s Emerald Wind and Malfurion’s Twilight Dream by compensating for some of the Support capability you miss out on by picking these Heroics. We’re excited to see how these go! In Thrall’s case, Sundering was a little too strong, so we’re reducing its stun duration.

Hero Updates

• Ultimate Evolution (R)
  • Will now inherit Kharazim's Trait

Hero Updates

• Symbiote (Q)
  • Carapace (E)
    • Shield amount increased from 137 (+4% per level) to 150 (+4% per level)
• Toxic Nest (W)
  • Vile Nest (Talent)
    • Slow amount decreased from 50% to 40%
    • Slow duration reduced from 4 to 3 seconds

Developer Comments: It’s extremely difficult bartering with a space slug. Abathur refuses to allow us to nerf devolve him without also buffing evolving him. In exchange for lowering the overbearing slow amount and duration of Vile Nest, he has gladly accepted a baseline increase to his Carapace Shielding.

Bug Fixes

• Abathur players will no longer become locked out of casting Abilities if Symbiote is cast at the same moment that Abathur is killed.

Bug Fixes

• Towers will now properly fire Ammo provided by an allied Calldown: MULE immediately after 2 Ammo has been restored.

Hero Updates

• Symbiote (Q)
  • Stab (Q)
    • Damage increased from 108 (+4% per level) to 113 (+4% per level)
  • Spike Burst (W)
    • Damage increased from 106 (+4% per level) to 111 (+4% per level)

Developer Comments: Buffs. Acceptable.

Bug Fixes

• Abathur players will no longer become stuck in Symbiote mode if the Symbiote target is displaced by a respawning Bell Tower on Towers of Doom.

Bug Fixes

• Abathur can no longer capture objectives at his body’s location while using Ultimate Evolution.

• Abathur’s Adrenal Overload Talent now properly increases Monstrosity’s attack speed while it is under the effects of Symbiote.

• Ultimate Evolution Clones and Monstrosities will now properly receive the benefits of Abathur’s Volatile Mutation Talent if it is selected after a Summon is already active.

Bug Fixes

• Fixed an issue preventing Abathur’s Toxic Nests from dealing splash damage.

Bug Fixes

• Fixed a rare issue with Abathur’s Monstrosity losing its AI in high latency situations.

Hero Updates

• Locust Strain (Trait)
  • Locusts will no longer spawn as soon as the game begins, and will now wait until the first Minion wave spawns
• Evolve Monstrosity (R)
  • Pressing R with a Monstrosity active will now automatically cast Symbiote on the Monstrosity and move your camera to its position

Developer Comments: Abathur’s initial Locust would previously sit idle until Minions spawned. This change will allow Abathur to get in position before the first Locust spawns at the start of a game.

Bug Fixes

• A Sgt. Hammer clone created by Abathur’s Ultimate Evolution will no longer be granted the Napalm Strike Heroic Ability after entering Siege Mode.

• Abathur will no longer receive Takedown credit after casting Symbiote on an allied Leoric that is then killed by the enemy team.

• Abathur will now properly receive Takedown credit after dealing the killing blow to Leoric.

• Abathur's Hivemind Symbiote will no longer persist on Leoric after he enters Undying form.

• The Butcher will no longer stop his Ruthless Onslaught charge if Abathur's Ultimate Evolution clone charges the target first.

Bug Fixes

• Abathur’s Toxic Nests will no longer provide larger than intended areas of vision.

Design & Gameplay

Ability Power Gains

Developer Comments: This change was aimed at removing odd gameplay where a Nazeebo player may actually want to sacrifice his or her Gargantuan for a more powerful one. This occurred if players kept a summon alive for a very long time and gained Ability Power via Talents, like Gathering Power, as this increase in Ability Power was not passed onto the Summon. Short term summons or persistent effects will still take a snapshot of your current Ability Power at the time they are cast, and apply the bonus for the complete duration of the effect.

• To clarify the rules for temporary Ability Power gains, the following rules have been added:
  • For permanent or very long duration pets or persistent effects, their damage and maximum Health will now update dynamically when Ability Power is modified. This includes:
    • Abathur's Monstrosity
    • Nazeebo's Gargantuan (with the Humongoid Talent)
  • For short duration pets or persistent effects, their damage and maximum Health should snapshot based upon the Ability Power of the character when they are cast. This includes:
    • Jaina's Water Elemental
    • Sgt. Hammer's Blunt Force Gun
    • Tychus' Drakken Laser Drill

Hero Updates

Developer Comments: We’ve tuned up some of his weaker talent picks to make them more viable. We really like the level 20 Hivemind talent, but it can feel clunky to use as when allies move out of range, you have to decide whether to cancel and recast it, or stay focused on only a single target. With these changes, Hivemind will be much more fluid to play with and consistent in its effectiveness.

• Volatile Mutation (Talent)
  • Damage increased from 36 (+7 per level) to 50 (+10 per level)
  • Damage radius increased by 20%
• Locust Strain (Trait)
  • Survival Instincts (Talent)
    • Locust Health bonus increased from 30% to 50%
• Symbiote (Q)
  • Carapace (E)
    • Regenerative Microbes (Talent)
      • Healing per second increased from 7 (+2 per level) to 9 (+3 per level)
  • Hivemind (Talent)
    • Now searches for a new Hivemind target every second, rather than only on the first cast
    • The secondary Symbiote target’s Stab and Spike Burst deal half their normal damage, and Carapace grants half its normal Shield amount
• Toxic Nest (W)
  • Cooldown reduced from 12 to 10 seconds
  • Envenomed Nest (Talent)
    • Bonus damage increased from 50% to 75%
• Ultimate Evolution (R) Undocumented
  • Cooldown reduced from 70 to 50 seconds

Bug Fixes

• Abathur’s Evolve Monstrosity cooldown will no longer begin counting down when Abathur is killed while a Monstrosity remains alive.

• Abathur’s Stab and Spike Burst Abilities will now deal the proper amount of damage to Promoted Minions.

• After learning the Evolution Complete Talent, Abathur’s Monstrosity will no longer retain some of the Minions Absorbed stacks earned by a previous Monstrosity.

• Casting Abathur’s Ultimate Evolution on Tyrael just as Tyrael is killed will now properly place Ultimate Evolution on a reduced cooldown.

• Fixed an issue that could allow Abathur to become permanently invulnerable under certain circumstances.

Bug Fixes

• Abathur will no longer receive the death overlay, nor be automatically teleported back to the allied Hall of Storms, after an Ultimate Evolution Murky clone is killed.

Hero Updates

• Symbiote (Q)
  • Carapace (E)
    • Networked Carapace (Talent)
      • Carapace now always Shields nearby Minions and Mercenaries, regardless of Symbiote’s target

Bug Fixes

• Abathur's Toxic Nests once again display activation and expiration timers.

• Uther’s Holy Radiance will now properly damage Abathur’s Toxic Nests and Zagara’s Creep Tumors.

Bug Fixes

• Fixed an issue affecting Abathur's Deep Tunnel.

• Fixed an issue which caused Abathur's Symbiote Abilities to retain their cooldowns after switching Symbiote targets.

Hero Updates

• Locust Strain (Trait)
  • Bombard Locusts (Talent)
    • Bombard Strain Locust attack range reduced by 30%
• Symbiote (Q)
  • Stab (Q)
    • Damage increased from 44 (+9 per level) to 46 (+9.5 per level)

Bug Fixes

• Abathur’s Bombard Strain Talent will no longer increase Locust Health.

Hero Updates

• Toxic Nest (W)
  • Envenomed Nest (Talent)
    • Damage increased from 30% to 50%
  • Prolific Dispersal (Talent)
    • Now also reduces the cooldown of Toxic Nest by 2 seconds
  • Vile Nest (Talent)
    • Slow increased from 40% to 50%
• Evolve Monstrosity (R)
  • The Monstrosity now persists until it is killed.
• Ultimate Evolution (R)
  • Cooldown reduced from 80 to 70 seconds
  • Duration reduced from 30 to 20 seconds
  • Clones now gain 20% Ability Power, 20% Basic Attack Damage, and 10% Movement Speed.

Bug Fixes

• Locusts spawned by Abathur after learning the Bombard Strain Talent have had their attack speed increased so that it is consistent with normal Locusts.

Design & Gameplay

General

• Abathur's Ultimate Evolution clones, Murky, and The Lost Vikings’ deaths are now represented in 0.25 increments on score screens, as killing them awards 25% of the normal XP amount earned by killing another hero.

Talents

Calldown: MULE

• Multiple M.U.L.E.s can no longer repair the same structure.
• Duration reduced from 60 to 40 seconds; Cooldown remains 60 seconds
• M.U.L.E.s now restore ammunition more quickly.
• M.U.L.E. Health is now 140 (+43 per level), rather than remaining at 500 Health for the duration of the match.

Hero Updates

• Evolve Monstrosity (R)
  • Minion Stack bonus increased from 4% to 5% Health and Damage.
  • Monstrosity Health increased from 600 (+60 per level) to 600 (+72 per level).
  • Monstrosity now takes 50% less damage from Minions and Structures.

Bug Fixes

• Abathur’s Hivemind Talent can no longer benefit the Dragon Knight or player-controlled Garden Terrors.

• Fixed an issue in which Abathur could become permanently stuck in Symbiote form under very specific circumstances.

• Players will no longer permanently lose control of Abathur if he is killed immediately after the Ultimate Evolution Heroic Ability expires (Hotfixed on January 22).

• The Bombard Strain Talent for Abathur’s Locust Strain Trait now appropriately lists a 66% damage bonus for Locusts in its tooltip.

• Visual effects for Abathur’s Deep Tunnel are no longer visible through line of sight blockers for opponents when Symbiote is cancelled.

Talents

Calldown: MULE

• MULE intelligence has been increased!
  • MULEs now prioritize repairing Structures over replenishing ammunition (if a building has ammunition, its ammunition will still be replenished while it is being repaired.)
  • MULEs will now prioritize Town Halls and Towers, then Gates and Moonwells, and then Walls.
• If two Structures with equal priority are in range of the MULE’s placement, it will begin repairing the one it was dropped closer to.
• After all Structures in range are healed, a MULE will then prioritize based on their need for ammunition.

Hero Updates

• Abathur has received a major overhaul.
• New Ability (R): Evolve Monstrosity
  • Turn an allied Minion or Locust into a Monstrosity for 60 seconds.
  • When enemy Minions near the Monstrosity die, it gains 4% Health and 4% Basic Attack damage, stacking up to 30 times.
  • Using Symbiote on the Monstrosity allows Abathur to control it, in addition to Symbiote’s normal benefits.
  • New Talent (Level 16): Volatile Mutation
    • Ultimate Evolution clones and Monstrosities deal damage to nearby enemies every 3 seconds, as well as when they die.
  • New Talent (Level 20): Evolution Complete
    • Increases the Monstrosity’s duration by 50%, and the Monstrosity gains the Ability to Deep Tunnel to any visible location every 30 seconds.
• Locust Strain (Trait)
  • Eradicate Minions (Talent) removed
  • Combat Adaptation (Talent) removed
  • Assault Locust (Talent)
    • Explosion damage reduced from 60 (+12 per level) to 50 (+5 per level)
  • Survival Instincts (Talent)
    • In addition to the 30% bonus to Locust Health, Locusts now last an additional 10 seconds.
  • New Talent (Level 20): Locust Nest
    • Activate to create a nest that periodically spawns Locusts. Only one Locust Nest can be active at a time.
• Symbiote (Q)
  • No longer has a timed duration.
  • Barbed Spines (Talent) removed
  • Pressurized Glands (Talent) moved from Level 4 to Level 1
  • Regenerative Microbes (Talent) moved from Level 7 to Level 1
  • New Talent (Level 4): Sustained Carapace
    • Increases the duration of Symbiote’s Carapace (E) by 50%, and allows it to persist after Symbiote ends.
  • New Talent (Level 4): Adrenal Overload
    • Symbiote’s host gains 25% increased Attack Speed.
  • New Talent (Level 7): Networked Carapace
    • Using Symbiote’s Carapace (E) on a Minion or Mercenary also applies Carapace to all nearby allied Minions and Mercenaries.
  • New Talent (Level 13): Soma Transference
    • Symbiote’s Spike Burst (W) heals the host per enemy Hero hit.
  • New Talent (Level 20): Hivemind
    • Casting Symbiote now creates an additional Symbiote on a nearby allied Hero. This Symbiote mimics the commands of the first. If the second host moves too far away, it is destroyed.
  • Needlespine (Talent)
    • Now increases Stab’s range and damage by 20%.
  • Stab (Q)
    • Damage reduced from 44 (+13 per level) to 44 (+9 per level)
• Toxic Nest (W)
  • Prolific Dispersal (Talent) moved from Level 13 to Level 4
  • Ballistospores (Talent)
    • Now also increases Toxic Nest duration by 25%, in addition to granting unlimited placement range.
• Ultimate Evolution (R)
  • Ultimate Evolution clones no longer inherit the host’s Heroic Ability.
  • Ultimate Evolution clones now provide a small amount of XP when they are killed.
  • Cooldown reduced from 120 to 80 Seconds
  • Evolution Master (Talent) removed
  • New Talent (Level 20): Evolutionary Link
    • As long as an Ultimate Evolution clone is alive, Ultimate Evolution’s original target gains a Shield equal to 20% of their maximum Health that refreshes every 5 seconds.

Bug Fixes

• Abathur’s Symbiote is no longer visible when near the edge of the Fog of War.

• Casting Abathur’s Ultimate Evolution on a target affected by the Garden Terror’s Spore Queen’s Curse no longer causes a plant model to persist on the clone.

Hero Updates

• Toxic Nest (W)
  • Vile Nest (Talent)
    • Slow duration increased from 2 to 4 seconds
    • Slow amount reduced from 50% to 40%
• Ultimate Evolution (R)
  • Cooldown no longer starts immediately after casting, and instead begins once the cloned Hero expires or is killed.

Bug Fixes

• Abathur's Ultimate Evolution now properly applies a 15 second cool-up, rather than 30 seconds, to Heroic Abilities learned after Ultimate Evolution is cast.

• Fixed an issue which caused Abathur's Toxic Nests to deal exponential damage if multiple units were present in the mine-triggering area.

• Graphic effects for Ultimate Evolution Anub'arak’s Locust Swarm will no longer also display at Abathur's original location.

Bug Fixes

• Abathur can now properly channel Cursed Hollow Tributes, as well as enter and exit the Haunted Mines after Ultimate Evolution expires.

• Abathur will now inherit the skin and color variations of allies he copies with Ultimate Evolution

Bug Fixes

• Abathur can now properly turn in Doubloons that were collected while using Ultimate Evolution after the ability expires.

• Corrected an exploit in which Abathur could use Ultimate Evolution to duplicate Doubloons.

Bug Fixes

• A Tyrande cloned by Abathur’s Ultimate Evolution Heroic Ability can now appropriately cast Light of Elune on the original Tyrande.

• A Zagara clone created by Abathur’s Ultimate Evolution Heroic Ability that is also inside a Nydus Worm will now appropriately appear at the location where her last Nydus Worm is killed.

• Attempting to cast Abathur’s Ultimate Evolution Heroic Ability on a Hero that is over unpathable terrain no longer causes the Ability to fail.

• Corrected an issue that could cause uncloaked objects to appear on a cloaked Hero that was cloned by Abathur’s Ultimate Evolution Heroic Ability.

• Nova’s Triple Tap Heroic Ability can now properly be blocked by the Dragon Knight, the Garden Terror, and Hero clones created by Abathur’s Ultimate Evolution.

• The Calldown: MULE Talent can no longer be cast at locations in which the player does not have vision.

Hero Updates

• Bribe (Talent) has been removed.
• Symbiote (Q)
  • Stab (Q)
    • New Talent (Level 4): Barbed Spines
      • Stab deals an additional 20% damage.
  • Spike Burst (W)
    • New Talent (Level 1): Eradicate Minions
      • Spike Burst deals an additional 50% damage to non-Heroic targets.

Bug Fixes

• Abathur's Symbiote overhead graphic effect is no longer visible through Line of Sight blockers. Abathur’s Symbiote abilities can no longer continue to be cast when a Hero under the effects of Symbiote becomes trapped by Zagara’s Devouring Maw Heroic Ability.

Hero Updates

• Toxic Nest
  • Swarm Nest (Talent)
    • Has been renamed to Locust Swarm
• Ultimate Evolution
  • Abathur is now vulnerable during Ultimate Evolution’s casting time
  • A graphic has been added which indicates where Abathur will reappear when Ultimate Evolution expires.

Bug Fixes

• Abathur will no longer become untargetable upon casting Symbiote on an allied Hero.

• Abathur’s Toxic Nests no longer create Scrap for Gazlowe when they are destroyed.

• Kerrigan clones created by Abathur’s Ultimate Evolution Heroic Ability will now correctly gain Shields granted by Kerrigan’s Assimilation Trait.

• Sgt. Hammer clones created by Abathur’s Ultimate Evolution Heroic Ability now receive an appropriate initial cooldown timer on Blunt Force Gun.

Talents

Calldown: MULE

• Changed from target structure to target point
• The MULE now repairs the closest structure when cast. If the structure reaches full health, the MULE will seek out another structure to repair.

Hero Updates

• Symbiote
  • Stab
    • Base damage reduced from 50 to 40
    • Damage gain per level increased from 10 to 13
  • Spike Burst
    • Base damage reduced from 32 to 28
    • Damage gain per level increased from 10 to 12
  • Carapace
    • Base shield amount reduced from 160 to 140
    • Shield amount gain per level increased from 14 to 16
• Toxic Nest
  • Base damage reduced from 40 to 35
  • Damage gain per level increased from 12 to 15

Bug Fixes

• Abathur can no longer hold an objective point on Dragon Shire from the location he was in prior to casting Ultimate Evolution.

• Abathur now properly earns Takedown credit while using Symbiote on an ally that is nearby enemy hero deaths.

• An Illidan clone created by Abathur’s Ultimate Evolution now receives the appropriate Health bonus after casting Metamorphosis.

• Overkill no longer continues to target or damage enemy heroes that Tychus has lost sight of, such as Tassadar using Void Shift, or Abathur casting Ultimate Evolution.

• Placing Abathur’s Toxic Nests within the enemy safe zone no longer causes intermittent game freezes.

• The game camera no longer snaps to Abathur’s location after a cloned Witch Doctor’s Ravenous Spirit expires while Camera Lock is enabled.

Talents

• General
  • Calldown: MULE duration reduced from 90 to 60 seconds.

Bug Fixes

• Calldown: MULE can now be cast when the casting hero is underground on the Haunted Mines.

• Nova’s Triple Tap can no longer be absorbed by Abathur’s Toxic Nests.

• The Grave Golem within the Haunted Mines no longer becomes distracted by Abathur’s Toxic Nests while they are burrowing.

Hero Updates

• Symbiote no longer persists during a killed Hero’s post-death state (Uther/Tyrael)
• Fixed a bug which granted Hero clones created by Ultimate Evolution more Health and damage than intended.