Hero Updates

Talents

• Level 7
  • Second Wind [Passive]
    • Added a health threshold indicator.

Bug Fixes

• Fixed an issue that caused Mortal Strike to display floating text multiple times.

Hero Updates

Talents

• Level 20
  • Master at Arms [R2]
    • Master at Arms will now reveal targets hit for 2 seconds.
    • Master at Arms will now reveal the effect area for 0.75 seconds.

Bug Fixes

• Fixed an issue that caused Second Wind to display as uncastable.
• Fixed an issue that caused Twin Blades of Fury's Attack Speed bonuses to stack multiplicatively with other Attack Speed bonuses and maluses.
• Fixed an issue that caused Juggernaut to be capable of activating on-death effects multiple times on enemies.

Hero Updates

Abilities

• Heroic Strike [Trait]
  • Cooldown reduction from Basic Attacks increased from 2 to 3 seconds.

Talents

• Level 1
  • Lion's Maw [Q]
    • Damage bonus per stack increased from 6 to 7.
• Level 4
  • Colossus Smash [R2]
    • Damage increased from 160 to 185.
    • Armor reduction increased from 20 to 25.

Developer Comment: The change to Heroic Strike is a mild buff to both Taunt and Colossus Smash Varians, which we'd like to see more often.

Bug Fixes

• Corrected Varian's Physical Damage against Shielded Heroes with Shattering Throw and Twin Blades.

• Resolved issues when the attacker is Blinded or the enemy is Evading with:
  • Uther's Hammer of the Lightbringer
  • Valeera's Slice and Dice and Rupture
  • Varian's Heroic Strike
  • Whitemane's Saintly Greatstaff and Scarlet Wrath
  • Zeratul's Master Warp-Blade, Psionic Strength, Shadow Hunter, and Unwavering Pressure
  • Zul'jin's Grievous Throw , Eye of Zul'jin, and Let the Killing Begin

Hero Updates

Stats

• Health increased from 2116 to 2220.
• Health Regeneration increased from 4.41 to 4.63.

Talents

• Level 1
  • Lion's Maw [Q]
    • Damage bonus increased from 5 to 6 per stack.
  • High King's Quest [Passive]
    • Regeneration Globe collection requirement for quest completion reduced from 20 to 15.
• Level 20
  • Demoralizing Shout [Active]
    • Cooldown reduced from 25 to 20 seconds.

Developer Comment: Despite some other recent buffs, Varian is still a bit behind other heroes in regards to his general power level. Since this is true for all 3 ways to build him, we're giving him a pretty decent Health buff as well as buffing up a few of his talents to help him out.

Hero Updates

Talents

• Level 20
  • Frenzy [R3]
    • No longer increases Varian's Attack Speed by 15%.
    • Additional functionality: Increase the damage of Heroic Strike by 25%.

Developer Comment: We weren't super happy with the power of Frenzy's buff, as well as that it asked Varian players to learn a new Basic Attack cadence after being used to one speed the whole game. Instead, we're turning the Attack Speed bonus into a bonus to his damage over time by buffing Heroic Strike instead.

Hero Updates

Talents

• Level 1
  • Overpower [W]
    • Bonus damage increased from 30% to 40%.
• Level 4
  • Taunt [R1]
    • Health and Health Regeneration bonuses increased from 30% to 40%.
  • Twin Blades of Fury [R3]
    • Base Attack Damage reduction increased from 20% to 25%.
• Level 7
  • Lionheart [Q]
    • Healing bonus increased from 50% to 75%.
• Level 16
  • Banner of Stormwind [Active]
    • Cooldown reduced from 45 to 25 seconds.
  • Banner of Dalaran [Active]
    • Cooldown reduced from 45 to 25 seconds.
• Level 20
  • Glory to the Alliance [Passive]
    • Banner cooldown reduction changed from 20 seconds to 50%.

Developer Comment: Twin Blades is outperforming compared to other options, so we're slightly reducing its power and increasing the power of Taunt to incentivize Varian players to try tanking for their team more often. We're also buffing a slew of under-used talents which should give Varian players more options to consider when deciding how to build the hero.

Bug Fixes

• Varian's Banner of Ironforge now correctly displays the plus-Healing UI when augmented with Glory to the Alliance.

Hero Updates

Abilities

• Parry (W)
  • Mana cost increased from 20 to 30

Talents

• Level 1
  • Lion's Maw (Q)
    • Damage bonus per hit increased from 4 to 5
    • Enemy Heroes hit required for quest completion reduced from 30 to 25
  • High King's Quest (Passive)
    • Damage bonus upon quest completion reduced from 45 to 30

Developer Comment: In addition to bringing Varian's Mana costs in line, we are slightly increasing the power of Lion's Maw and reducing the power of High King's Quest. Currently High King's Quest is outperforming other options on the tier, and is the go-to talent when going Twin Blades, which we are also seeing perform a little too well at the lower to mid-levels of play.

Developer Comment: As we promised in the past, we took a look at the overall Mana tension of all the Heroes in the game. We also have some philosophies about Mana that we want to keep going forward. They are:

1. Mana should be a meaningful part of the game, particularly in the early stages when wave clear is at a higher premium. We believe that as the game progresses, Mana tension should become less important as Heroes gain more base Mana and the game's focus shifts to team fighting.
2. Mana tension doesn't have to be the same for every Hero, but every Hero should feel it to some degree, otherwise it serves no purpose.
3. We like that some talents heavily mitigate Mana tension.

When we took a look at Mana tension in the game, we saw that, overall, things are in a fairly healthy spot, but could be fine-tuned and improved upon. We like the tension that the heroes who are closer to the middle of the spectrum have, with some examples being Malfurion, Tychus, and E.T.C. Our goal with these changes is to bring the outliers closer to the center. We are open to your feedback going forward if you think that the game needs to be stricter or more lenient in this area, or if you believe there are any outliers that we missed.

Bug Fixes

• Varian: Colossus Smash now moves Varian to a valid landing location, rather than placing him within a space that's already occupied by the target.

Bug Fixes

• Shields: Talents that deal damage versus Shields, such as Varian's Shattering Throw, no longer also deal damage to the target's Health.

Design & Gameplay

Armor

• Baseline Armor has been removed from a number of Heroes. Please see the specific changes to individual Heroes below.

Developer Comment: We have experimented with baseline Armor on some of our Heroes for some time, but we've decided to remove this functionality for now. The problem with it that we've found over time is that baseline Armor was difficult to communicate visually. It therefore ended up being a largely hidden power that didn't have any major changes on gameplay. Going forward, we'll prefer to make Armor—and other mechanics that are effective against Heroes and damage types—more interesting when they are tied to game mechanics. To clarify, while we are removing baseline Armor from Heroes, we still like Armor that is tied to a window of time or has an obvious display on the Hero when it is active. Some examples include Greymane in Worgen form and Cho'gall's Ogre hide.

Hero Updates

Stats

• Health increased from 1,924 to 2,116.
• Health Regeneration increased from 4.001 to 4.406.

Abilities

• Taunt (R)
  • Passive Armor bonus removed
  • Passive maximum Health bonus increased from 25% to 30%.

Hero Updates

Stats

• Health increased from 1850 to 1924.
• Health Regeneration increased from 3.8554 to 4.0078.

Abilities

• Taunt (R)
  • Bonus Health and Health Regeneration reduced from 30% to 25%.

Bug Fixes

• Varian: Learning Colossus Smash no longer reduces Varian’s Health Regeneration by more than the intended 10%.

Design & Gameplay

Shields

• Armor will now mitigate bonus damage dealt to Shields by effects like Varian's Shattering Throw and Kel'Thuzad's Strip Shields.

Hero Updates

Stats

• Health reduced from 2322 to 1850.
• Health Regeneration reduced from 4.8375 to 3.8542.
• Health scaling increased from 3% to 4% per level.
• Basic Attack damage reduced from 91 to 74.
• Basic Attack damage scaling increased from 3.5% to 4%.

Abilities

• Heroic Strike (Trait)
  • Damage reduced from 140 to 125.
  • Damage scaling increased from 3.5% to 4% per level.
• Lion’s Fang (Q)
  • Added functionality:
    • Hitting an enemy heals Varian for 35 (+4% per level), increased to 140 against Heroes.
• Parry (W)
  • Cooldown increased 8 to 10 seconds.
  • Mana cost increased from 15 to 20.

Talents

• Level 1
  • Overpower (W)
    • Damage bonus increased from 20% to 30%.
• Level 4
  • Taunt (R)
    • Moved from level 10.
  • Colossus Smash (R)
    • Moved from level 10.
    • Armor reduction decreased from 25 to 20.
  • Twin Blades of Fury (R)
    • Moved from level 10.
• Level 7
  • New Talent: Lionheart (Q)
    • Increases Lion’s Fang healing for damage dealt to Heroes by 50%.
  • Victory Rush (Passive)
    • Healing reduced from 400 to 350.
    • Cooldown reduced from 60 to 30 seconds.
    • Cooldown reduction granted per nearby Minion or Monster death reduced from 15 to 10 seconds.
  • Live by the Sword (W)
    • Removed.
• Level 10
  • Shield Wall (W)
    • Moved from level 4.
    • Now also reduces Parry’s cooldown by 5 seconds, but removes 1 charge.
  • Warbringer (E)
    • Moved from level 4
    • Now also allows Varian to charge to allied Heroes.
• Level 20
  • Demoralizing Shout (Active)
    • Damage reduction increased from 25% to 40%.

Developer Comment: We're making a simple change to Varian by moving his Heroic Abilities to Level 4, but this will have large impact on the way he feels during a game. By allowing Varian to get his Heroic Ability earlier, he can fulfill the role his team needs before one team develops a significant lead over the other. This increase in Varian’s early-game power justifies reducing some of the overwhelming power he gains after level 10, and creates a more even experience for Varian and his opponents throughout a game.

Bug Fixes

• Movement Abilities: Certain movement-based Abilities, like Greymane’s Dark Flight or Chen’s Flying Kick, will no longer fail to move the Hero toward a target currently affected by Varian’s Taunt or Garrosh’s Warlord’s Challenge.

Bug Fixes

• Varian: Will once again leap toward his Colossus Smash target.

Bug Fixes

• Varian: The cooldown for Victory Rush will now be properly reduced when nearby Monsters are killed.

Hero Updates

Stats

• Basic Attack damage increased from 87 to 91

Talents

• Level 1
  • Overpower (W)
    • Reduced the damage bonus after Parrying a Basic Attack from 25 to 20%
  • High King’s Quest (Passive)
    • Increased the Basic Attack damage bonus from completing all 3 quests from 30 to 45
• Level 4
  • Warbringer (E)
    • Added functionality:
      • Now also reduces the Mana cost of Charge by 50%
• Level 7
  • Live by the Sword (W)
    • Increased the amount of parried Basic Attacks needed to reduce the cooldown of Parry from 2 to 4

Bug Fixes

• Varian: After learning Second Wind, Varian will now correctly earn bonus Healing for bonus damage dealt by Shattering Throw against a Shielded target.

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

• Varian - The sound effect associated with the Iron Forge Banner will no longer play globally.

Hero Updates

Stats

• Base Health increased from 2150 to 2322
• Base Health Regeneration increased from 4.48 to 4.84

Abilities

• Taunt (R)
  • Health bonus reduced from 40 to 30%

Talents

• Level 4
  • Warbringer (E)
    • No longer increases the slow amount of Charge
    • Cooldown reduction increased from 6 to 8 seconds
• Level 13
  • Juggernaut (E)
    • Damage reduced from 5 to 4% of a Hero’s maximum Health

Developer Comments: We think pushing the cooldown of Charge after taking Warbringer from 6 to 4 will push it further into the hyper-mobile style of gameplay that we want. We removed the additional slow since it didn’t add much to actual gameplay (most people didn’t move when they were slowed). Now Warbringer Varians will be zipping around the battlefield applying slows at a high frequency. By increasing Varian’s base Health but lowering Taunt’s Health bonus, Twin Blades and Colossus Smash will have about 8% more Health through the game, while Taunt will only have a little more Health before 10.

Hero Updates

Abilities

• Taunt (R)
  • Health gain reduced from +60% to +40%
  • Now also grants 15 Armor

Talents

• Level 16
  • Banner of Ironforge (Active)
    • Armor granted reduced from 25 to 20

Bug Fixes

• Varian: The cooldown for Victory Rush will no longer be reduced when nearby enemy Structures are destroyed.

Hero Updates

Abilities

• Charge (E)
  • Cooldown reduced from 14 to 12 seconds
• Colossus Smash (R)
  • Damage bonus increased from 75 to 100%
• Twin Blades of Fury (R)
  • Basic Attack damage penalty reduced from 25 to 20%

Talents

• Level 4
  • Warbringer (E)
    • Now increases Charge's slow from 75% to 85%, instead of adding a stun
• Level 13
  • Juggernaut (E)
    • Damage reduced from 6% to 5% of the target's maximum Health.

Developer Comments: The frequency and power of a ranged point click stun was too powerful from Warbringer. While it may have been “balanced” in terms of winrate, its potency wasn’t healthy or fun for opponents. It didn’t offer many options for opponents that were stunned and then Taunted for over 2 seconds, greatly increasing the reliability of other abilities (like Sulfuras Smash). By making Warbringer a massive slow instead of a stun, it allows enemies to use abilities to defend themselves (or forces a Varian to use Taunt early, greatly reducing the duration of his opening crowd control). We’ve shifted more of the power of Warbringer over into the mobility aspect to compensate (since Warbringer makes Charge a 6 second cooldown now). The other part of these changes is providing some buffs to the Assassin focused Heroics to bring them up to par with Taunt, so that Varian can frequently opt into any of the Heroic choices to really fulfill the multi-class Hero fantasy that makes him unique.

Hero Updates

Talents

• Level 13
  • Banner of Stormwind (Active)
    • Moved to level 16
  • Banner of Ironforge (Active)
    • Moved to level 16
  • Banner of Dalaran (Active)
    • Moved to level 16
• Level 16
  • Juggernaut (E)
    • Moved to level 13
  • Mortal Strike (Trait)
    • Moved to level 13
  • Shattering Throw (Active)
    • Moved to level 13

Developer Comments: We like that Mortal Strike and Shattering Throw are great counter options for certain team compositions, but thought they came just a little too late to draft Varian specifically for them.

Hero Updates

Talents

• Level 1
  • Overpower (W)
    • Added functionality:
      • Can now trigger multiple times per Parry
      • Now also increases the damage of the next Heroic Strike by 25%

Developer Comments: These simple changes should allow Varian players to "live the dream" and get multiple Overpower triggers more often, particularly when combined with Live by the Sword or Twin Blades of Fury. We want Overpower to allow Varian to gain a lot of value when used at just the right time, and found even the best cases of the old Talent design didn't compare to the other options on the tier. By also allowing it to increase the damage of Heroic Strike baseline, we think it will an additional vector that will make it an enticing option for all 3 builds..

Bug Fixes

• Varian: Can no longer be selected through Autoselect – Support.

Hero Updates

Abilities

• Charge (E)
  • Cooldown reduced from 16 to 14 seconds
  • Mana cost reduced from 50 to 45

Talents

• Level 4
  • Warbringer (E)
    • Cooldown reduction decreased from 8 to 6 seconds

Hero Updates

Abilities

• Lion's Fang (Q)
  • Mana cost reduced from 60 to 50
  • Slow amount increased from 30 to 35%
• Parry (W)
  • Cooldown reduced from 10 to 8 seconds
• Heroic Strike (Trait)
  • Bonus damage changed from Physical to Spell
  • No longer heals from Second Wind, and now benefits from Ability Power
• Taunt (R) Undocumented
  • Health bonus increased from 50 to 60%
  • Mana cost reduced from 40 to 20
  • No longer reduces Varian's Basic Attack Speed
  • Health regeneration now increased by 60%
• Colossus Smash (R) Undocumented
  • Health regeneration now decreased by 10%

Talents

• Level 1
  • Lion's Maw (Q)
    • Slow increased from 40 to 50%
• Level 4
  • Warbringer (E)
    • Cooldown reduction decreased from 10 to 8 seconds
• Level 7
  • Live by the Sword (W)
    • Duration bonus increased from 20 to 40%
    • Cooldown reduction decreased from 3 to 2 seconds
• Level 20
  • Vigilance (R)
    • Cooldown reduction increased from .75 to 1 second per Heroic Basic Attack

Developer Comments: Varian has had a solid release into the Nexus. We think one of the most important things about our first multi-class character is that all 6 "builds" are close in power level, and right now Twin Blades and Warbringer are a little higher than the rest. These changes are designed to nerf Warbringer's point and click stun frequency, increase the power of Shield Wall by reducing the cooldown of Parry, greatly increase the statistical bonuses of Taunt, and reduce some of the synergy between Second Wind and Twin Blades of Fury that was creating so many problems for teams without a good counter to Basic Attacks. We've done a mix of baseline buffs and Talent nerfs to hopefully keep Varian's overall balance close to where we intended.

New Hero

Few would have expected that the gladiator known only as Lo’Gosh was in truth the missing ruler of Stormwind, Varian Wrynn. Now the High King of the Alliance, his every action shapes the destiny of Azeroth itself.

Trait

• Heroic Strike
  • Every 18 seconds, Varian’s next Basic Attack deals bonus damage. Each Basic Attack reduces this cooldown by 2 seconds.

Basic Abilities

• Lion’s Fang (Q)
  • Launch a shockwave that travels in a straight line, dealing damage and slowing enemies by 30% for 1.5 seconds.
• Parry (W)
  • Parry all incoming Basic Attacks for 1.25 seconds, reducing their damage by 100%.
• Charge (E)
  • Charge to the target enemy, dealing light damage and slowing them by 75% for 1 second.

Heroic Abilities

• Taunt (R)
  • Force the target enemy Hero to attack Varian for 1.25 seconds.
  • Passive: Maximum Health increased by 50%.
  • Passive: Attack speed reduced by 25%.
• Colossus Smash (R)
  • Smash the target enemy, dealing damage and making them Vulnerable for 3 seconds.
  • Passive: Base Attack Damage increased by 75%.
  • Passive: Maximum Health reduced by 10%.
• Twin Blades of Fury (Passive)
  • Basic Attacks reduce Heroic Strike’s cooldown by 9 seconds, and increase Varian’s movement speed by 30% for 2 seconds.
  • Passive: Attack speed increased by 100%.
  • Passive: Base Attack Damage decreased by 25%.

Hero Updates

Abilities

• Taunt (R)
  • Cooldown reduced from 25 to 16 seconds
• Colossus Smash (R)
  • Damage reduced from 187 to 160

Talents

• Level 20
  • Vigilance (R)
    • Cooldown reduction decreased from 1 to .75 seconds per Basic Attack

Bug Fixes

• Varian: Fixed an issue which prevented the Basic Attack damage bonus offered by the High King's Quest talent from being properly modified after learning the Colossus Smash or Twin Blades of Fury talents.