Bug Fixes

• Fixed an issue that caused Enraged Regeneration to display incorrectly in the Death Recap.

Hero Updates

• Fixed an issue that caused Fuel for the Flame to deal damage to targets Evading near the primary Basic Attack target.
• Fixed an issue that caused Fuel for the Flame to deal damage to the primary target while Blinded or if the target is Evading.
• Fixed an issue that caused Cthun's Gift to slow targets while Blinded or if the target is Evading.
• Fixed an issue that caused Consuming Blaze to not interrupt Mounts, Objective Channels, Sleeping on application.
• Fixed an issue that caused Molten Block's damage aura to display as a critical when damage was not increased.
• Fuel for the Flame will no longer always display as a critical.
• Consuming Blaze will now reveal targets hit for 2 seconds.
• Fuel for the Flame icon updated. Undocumented

Bug Fixes

• Fixed an issue that caused Shifting Nether to also teleport an Ultimate Evolution copy of Cho if it was nearby when cast. Undocumented

• Fixed an issue that caused Cho's radius to be increased after casting Surging Fist.

Hero Updates

Talents

• Level 7
  • Enraged Regeneration [Trait]
    • Healing reduction duration reduced from 4 to 2 seconds.

Developer Comment: While we like the somewhat chaotic, raid-boss feel of Enraged Regeneration and its healing debuff, we believe its duration is too long for how often the debuff can be applied to enemies, particularly at later stages of the game due to its synergies with talents like Twilight Nova. Because of this, we're heavily reducing its duration so that enemy Healers have larger windows of opportunity to play around its debuff.

Hero Updates

Talents

• Level 1
  • The Will of Cho [Trait]
    • Moved from Level 20.
    • New functionality: Killing enemy Minions grants 1 stack of The Will of Cho, and Hero Takedowns grant 10 stacks. Gain 1 Armor for every 30 stacks of the Will of Cho, up to a maximum of 10 Armor. This Armor bonus stacks with Ogre Hide.
• Level 4
  • Uppercut [Q]
    • Damage reduced from 7% to 5% maximum Health.
    • Additional functionality: Each Hero hit by Surging Fist reduces its cooldown by 5 seconds.
  • Seared Flesh [Passive]
    • Adjusted functionality: Attack damage bonus is kept when attacking different Heroic targets, and is only lost after 5 seconds or when a non-Heroic enemy is attacked.
• Level 7
  • Power Surge [Q]
    • New functionality: Enemy Heroes who are hit by Surging Fist are Slowed by 30% for 2.5 seconds. Gain 15% Movement Speed while charging Surging Fist and for 2.5 seconds after casting the Ability.
• Level 16
  • Runed Gauntlet [Passive]
    • Cooldown reduction increased from 5% to 6%.
• Level 20
  • Fuel for the Flame [Passive]
    • Moved from Level 1.
    • New functionality: Basic Attacks against enemies cause them to explode, dealing 21 damage to them and 45 damage to nearby enemies. This damage is doubled against enemy Heroes.

Developer Comment: We're making some of Cho's talents more usable and experimenting with moving The Will of Cho to be a Level 1 questing talent. We like the talent, but it was coming online late into the game where he often couldn't get much value out of it. We believe this iteration will give it more use cases, particularly when matched against the other talents on the tier.

Bug Fixes

• Disconnected player replacement A.I. for Gall will no longer become passive.

Hero Updates

Talents

• Level 1
  • Calloused Hide [Trait]
    • New functionality: While under 60% maximum Health, Cho receives 15% additional Movement Speed and healing received.
• Level 7
  • Enraged Regeneration [Trait]
    • New functionality: Each time Cho deals damage to enemy Heroes, he is healed for 60 over 3 seconds. Enemy Heroes hit by Gall's Dread Orb receive 35% less healing for 4 seconds.

Developer Comment: In regards to his trait, we want optimal play for Cho'gall to be to have Gall's Ogre Rage be active most of the time, with emergency switches to Cho's Ogre Hide when he is in danger. There are a few talents on Cho'galls tree that disincentivize this behavior, which we are adjusting now. Calloused Hide in particular was becoming an issue, as players have recently been finding it optimal to stay in Ogre Hide for the entire game, which removes the gameplay around the trait.

Hero Updates

Stats

• Health increased from 2850 to 2950.
• Health Regeneration increased from 5.94 to 6.15.

Talents

• Level 10
  • Upheaval [R2]
    • Cooldown reduced from 60 to 40 seconds.
• Level 20
  • Favor of the Old Gods [R2]
    • Root duration increased from 1.5 to 2 seconds.

Developer Comment: Cho like buffs.

Hero Updates

Abilities

• Surging Fist [Q]
  • Channel time to charge maximum distance reduced from 4 to 2 seconds.

Talents

• Level 1
  • Calloused Hide [Trait]
    • Additional functionality: While Ogre Hide is active, Cho gains 15% Movement Speed.
• Level 7
  • Enraged Regeneration [Trait]
    • Additional functionality: While Gall's Ogre Rage is active, enemy Heroes who are hit by Gall's Dread Orb have their Healing reduced by 35% for 4 seconds.
• Level 13
  • Twilight Veil [Active]
    • Armor bonus increased from 100% to 200%.

Developer Comment: It's been awhile since our Old God worshipping Ogre has had some love, so we're both buffing up some of Cho's weaker talents as well as reducing the time that Surging Fist needs to be channeled in order to get a significant charge. This should help make Cho's Q build more viable as well as allow him to better reposition himself during teamfights.

Hero Updates

Stats

• Health increased from 2750 to 2850
• Health Regeneration increased from 5.7 to 5.9

Talents

• Level 7
  • Power Surge (Q)
    • Cooldown reduction increased from 4 to 5 seconds
• Level 13
  • Surging Dash (Q)
    • Moved from Level 16
  • Twilight Veil (Active)
    • Moved from Level 16
    • Duration increased from 2 to 4 seconds
  • Molten Block (Active)
    • Moved from Level 16
• Level 16
  • Frenzied Fists (Q)
    • Moved from Level 13
  • Runic Feedback (E)
    • Moved from Level 13
  • Runed Gauntlet (Passive)
    • Moved from Level 13
    • Adjusted functionality:
      • Cooldown reduction changed from .75 seconds to 5% of Cho and Gall's Heroic abilities

Developer Comment: Since our last round of nerfs, Cho'gall has fallen off a little more than we would like. In Cho's particular case, we feel that his survivability takes a particularly hard hit once the enemy team has access to Heroic abilities which are reliably able to shut him down. To help with this, we're moving his defensive talent tier from Level 16 to 13 in order to shorten the window of time that the enemy team has to take advantage of this particular weakness.

Hero Updates

Stats

• Maximum Health reduced from 2950 to 2750
• Health regeneration reduced from 6.15 to 5.73

Hero Updates

Talents

• Level 16
  • Twilight Veil (Active) Undocumented
    • Activatable armor bonus decreased from 200% to 100%

Bug Fixes

• Stasis/Time Stop: Fixed an issue where player created terrain could move Heroes affected by Stasis or Time Stop.

Hero Updates

Talents

• Level 16
  • Surging Dash (Q)
    • No longer grants Cho Unstoppable

Bug Fixes

• Cho: Entering a Stasis effect, like Zeratul’s Void Prison, while Surging Fist is charging no longer places Surging Fist on full cooldown.

Bug Fixes

• Gall: Shove can no longer be cast while Cho is being pulled by Stitches’ Hook.

Hero Updates

Abilities

• Ogre Hide (D) Undocumented
  • It should now be more apparent when Ogre Hide (D) is active.

Bug Fixes

• Cho: Rune Bomb’s area of effect indicator will no longer visually shrink if Cho’gall was affected by the Shrink Ray Talent while casting Rune Bomb.

Bug Fixes

• Cho: Twilight Hammer will now deal damage to Murky’s Pufferfish.

Hero Updates

Stats

• Basic Attack damage increased from 120 to 130
• Cho’s Basic Attacks now refresh Consuming Blaze

Abilities

• Consuming Blaze (W)
  • Healing amount increased from 30 to 40
  • Basic Attack reapplication on Heroes now extends to non-Heroic targets
• Upheaval (R)
  • Damage increased from 100 to 175

Talents

• Level 1
  • Fuel for the Flame (W)
    • Minion quest reward increased from .2 to .3% amount healed
    • Hero quest reward increased from 2 to 3% amount healed
• Level 13
  • Runed Gauntlet (Passive)
    • Heroic Cooldown Reduction per Basic Attack increased from .5 to .75 seconds

Developer Comments: We have been actively reading the feedback for our friendly Ogre and cross-referencing it with our internal statistics. We are seeing great talent diversity and are happy with the new design, but feel that we can inject a bit more power into the duo. Today’s changes are focused on increasing Cho’s self-sustain and injecting a bit more damage into both ogres.

Hero Updates

Stats

• Maximum Base Health reduced from 3528 to 2950
• Health Regen reduced from 7.35 to 6.15

Abilities

• Surging Fist (Q)
  • Cooldown reduced from 13 to 12 seconds.
    • Lowered maximum dash range from 12 to 10
    • Reduced full charge up duration from 8 to 4 seconds.
    • Times out after 5 seconds.
• Consuming Blaze (W)
  • New functionality:
    • Ignite all nearby enemies for 5 seconds, dealing 30 damage per second and instantly healing Cho for 30 Health per target hit.
    • Attacks against ignited Heroes reapply the debuff (instant heal + refresh dot duration).
• Rune Bomb (E)
  • Rune Bomb now continues its full path regardless of when or if Gall decides to detonate it.
• Two-Headed Ogre (D)
  • Removed
• New Trait: Ogre Hide (D)
  • While active Cho gains 25 Armor.
  • 5 Second cooldown.
  • Effect is removed if Gall activates Ogre Rage.
• Hammer of Twilight (R)
  • Damage reduced from 156.25 to 150

Talents

• Level 1
  • Surging Dash (Q)
    • Removed
  • Blazing Bulwark (W)
    • Removed
  • Fuel for the Flame (W)
    • New functionality:
      • !Quest: Kills empower Consuming Blaze’s Heal
      • !Reward: Every 5 Minions killed near Cho increases the heal of Consuming Blaze by 1%
      • !Reward: Every Hero killed near Cho increases the heal of Consuming Blaze by 2%
  • New Talent: Consuming Fire (W)
    • Consuming Blaze’s heal is increased by 150% against Heroic targets.
  • New talent: Calloused Hide (D)
    • Increase all healing received by Cho by 15% while Ogre Hide is active.
• Level 4
  • Runed Gauntlet (E)
    • Moved to Level 13
    • New functionality:
      • Basic Attacks against Heroes decrease the Cooldown of both your and Gall’s Heroic Abilities by .5 seconds.
  • Seared Flesh (Passive)
    • New functionality:
      • Each consecutive Basic Attack against an enemy Hero deals 20% more damage. Up to a 60% bonus.
      • This bonus lasts 5 seconds or until a different unit is attacked.
  • New Talent: Uppercut (Q)
    • If Surging Dash hits an enemy Hero, it also deals 7% of their max health in damage.
• Level 7
  • Fire Eater (W)
    • Removed
  • I AM Hurrying! (Passive)
    • Removed
  • Power Surge (Q)
    • New functionality:
      • Each enemy Hero hit reduces the cooldown of Surging Fist by 4 seconds.
  • New Talent: Firestarter (W)
    • Reduce the cooldown of Consuming Blaze by 3 seconds.
    • Basic Attacks against Heroes reduce the cooldown of Consuming Blaze by an additional 1 second.
  • New Talent: Enraged Regeneration (D)
    • Cho’s Health Regeneration is increased by 200% while Ogre Rage is active.
• Level 13
  • Surge of Stamina (Q)
    • Removed
  • Molten Block (Active)
    • Moved to Level 16
  • Runic Feedback (E)
    • New functionality:
      • Gall’s Runic Blast reduces the cooldown of Rune Bomb by 1 second for every enemy hit. This bonus is doubled against Heroes.
• Level 16
  • Crippling Blow (Q)
    • Removed
  • Frenzied Fists (Q)
    • Moved to Level 13
    • New functionality:
      • Gain 75% attack speed for 5 seconds after using Surging Fist.
  • Twilight Veil (W)
    • New functionality:
      • Activate to triple the effect of Ogre Hide for 2 seconds (25 to 75 Armor). 30 second cooldown
      • If cast while Ogre Rage is active, instantly swap to Ogre Hide.
  • Surging Dash (Q)
    • New functionality:
      • Cho gains 150 Health per second and is unstoppable while Surging Dash is channeled.
• Level 20
  • Favor of the Old Gods (R)
    • New functionality:
      • Upheaval roots all Heroes hit for 1.5 seconds
  • The Will of Gall (Passive)
    • Removed (from Cho)
  • New Talent: The Will of Cho (Trait)
    • Every takedown permanently increases the Armor of Ogre Hide by 2.
  • New Talent: Hour of Twilight (Passive)
    • Cho’gall’s death timer is reduced by 50%​

Developer Comment: When we were first told about the new event “Two Heads are Better Than One,” we immediately set to work on giving Cho'gall's talent trees a much-needed face-lift. A lot of our Warriors were getting Armor updates in this patch, and originally Cho'gall was no exception. After playing with a generic form of it internally, we realized we had a once-in-a-Nexus opportunity to do something very different and seized the moment. The foundation of the Cho'gall rework revolves around their new Traits, Ogre Hide and Ogre Rage, which are the keys to success with the Hero. The destructive potential of Cho'gall should be greater than ever, but you will have to make sure both heads are working together in order to maximize your damage output while keeping yourself alive long enough to keep doing it.

• (!) indicates a Questing Talent.
• Italic text indicates a NEW Talent.
• Bold text indicates a MOVED Talent.

Bug Fixes

• Damage Reduction: When two damage reduction effects, such as Resistant (25%) and Hardened Shield (75%), are simultaneously applied to a Hero, the larger effect will no longer be overridden by the lesser effect.

Hero Updates

Talents

• Level 13
  • Surge of Stamina (Q)
    • New functionality:
      • Using Surging Fist grants Resistant, reducing all damage taken by 25% for 3 seconds. Reduces the cooldown of Surging Fist by 4 seconds if it hits an enemy Hero.

Developer Comments: We’re removing the majority of our old Relentless- like Talents from the game, because we found that it wasn’t clear to the enemy team what was happening. Reducing the duration on very short disabling effects to begin with was hard to notice, and typically felt like a bug when it did happen. In some cases, we’re replacing these Talents with Hero specific ones that more clearly convey what’s happening, while fitting the gameplay of the Hero.

Hero Updates

Talents

• Level 7
  • I AM Hurrying! (Z)
    • Duration increased from 1.5 to 2 seconds
• Level 13
  • Runic Feedback (E)
    • Cooldown reduction increased from 1 to 1.25 seconds

Hero Updates

Abilities

• Upheaval (R)
  • Increased damage from 50 to 100

Talents

• Level 1
  • Surging Dash (Q)
    • Increased speed and range bonuses from 25% to 50%

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

• Cho'gall: Runic Blast’s traveling and end-point area of effect indicators will now display appropriately for Gall, and will no longer display for Cho.

Bug Fixes

• Cho'Gall: Shadow Bolt Volley can no longer be canceled by right clicking.

Bug Fixes

• Gall’s Shove can no longer be used while Cho’gall is Rooted.

Bug Fixes

• Stacks of Block granted by Artanis’ Reactive Parry and Cho’s Blazing Bulwark Talents now properly reduce incoming damage from enemy Basic Attacks by 50%.

Bug Fixes

• 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.

Bug Fixes

• Gall will no longer be separated from Cho after manually exiting a Dragon Knight or Garden Terror.

Hero Updates

• I AM Hurrying! (Talent) moved from Level 13 to Level 7
  • Duration of Gall’s Hurry Up, Oaf! (Z) increased from 1 to 1.5 seconds
• Surging Fist (Q)
  • Frenzied Fists (Talent) moved from Level 7 to Level 16
    • Attack Speed bonus increased from 50% to 100%
    • Now lasts for 4 seconds instead of the next two Basic Attacks
  • Surge of Stamina (Talent) redesigned and moved from Level 16 to Level 13
    • Surging Fist now grants 50% Relentless for 5 seconds
• Consuming Blaze (W)
  • Seared Flesh (Talent) redesigned and no longer tied to Consuming Blaze
    • Every third consecutive Basic Attack against the same target deals 75% bonus damage

Developer Comments: Similar to Gall, a few months of data have given us a good idea about which of Cho’s Talents are under and over performing. We have made some balance changes and Talent swaps to help these issues.

Bug Fixes

• Fixed a bug that could prevent Gall from receiving the Will of Gall activated Talent if Cho selected the Talent while channeling to enter Lt. Morales’ Medivac.

Hero Updates

• Basic Attack damage increased from 110 to 120
• Base Health increased from 3360 to 3528
• Base Health Regeneration increased from 7 to 7.35 per second

Developer Comments: Cho’gall’s win rate has been trending up since his release, but it is still a bit lower than we’d like. We have plans to improve Cho’gall with Talent changes in the future, but we wanted to give him a small buff before then.

Bug Fixes

• Fixed an issue that could cause Brightwing’s Phase Shield to be applied to Cho'Gall inconsistently.

• Fixed an issue which could allow Cho'gall to regenerate Health after using Consuming Blaze on certain destructible objects.

Bug Fixes

• Gall will no longer be automatically teleported back to the allied Hall of Storms if an enemy Garden Terror is killed while the allied Cho is piloting a Garden Terror.

• Gall’s Abilities will no longer become unresponsive if he is attempting to cast an Ability when Cho is punted out of the opposing Hall of Storms.

• The opposing team's Cho’gall can no longer be pinged through the Fog of War.

New Hero

Cho’gall has been added to Heroes of the Storm! This unique and powerful ogre is two Heroes in one body, requiring that two players team up and queue together as Cho and Gall.

Cho is a Warrior of unmatched might who charges fist-first into battle, controlling movement and Basic Attacks. While Gall cannot move on his own, he is a formidable Assassin armed with a devastating set of dark spells. Read on for a brief overview of their Abilities.

Trait

• Two-Headed
  • Gall is permanently attached to you, going where you go.

Basic Abilities

• Surging Fist (Q)
  • Wind up for at least 1 second, temporarily slowing yourself, then reactivate to charge in a direction. Enemies in your path are knocked aside and take damage.
• Consuming Blaze (W)
  • Ignite nearby enemies, dealing damage over 4 seconds. If this hits an enemy, gain Health over 4 seconds.
• Rune Bomb (E)
  • Roll a bomb that damages enemies in its path. Gall can use Runic Blast (E) to detonate it, dealing damage in an area.

Heroic Abilities

• Hammer of Twilight (R)
  • Passively increases Basic Attack damage by 25%. Activate to swing the Hammer, which deals damage, pushes enemies away, and stuns them for 0.75 seconds.
• Upheaval (R)
  • After 1 second, pull enemies toward your location, slowing them by 25% for 3 seconds and dealing a small amount of damage.