Heroes of the Storm 2.0 Launch Notes - April 25, 2017

Heroes of the Storm 2.0 contains all-new progression and rewards systems, a wealth of new cosmetic items, new Hero customization options, and much, much more. Take a moment to check out everything arriving in today's update, and then log in to join us as we kick off a new era for Heroes of the Storm.

Heroes of the Storm 2.0

Mega Bundles: Get 20 FREE Heroes!

• Starting with the launch of Heroes 2.0 in each region, and lasting until May 22, 2017, players may permanently unlock 1 of 4 Mega Bundles.
• Each Mega Bundle contains 20 Heroes and has its own theme: Assassin, Flex, Support & Specialist, and Tanks & Bruisers.
  • All players who log in between April 25 and May 22 will receive 100 Gems, which can be used to permanently unlock 1 Mega Bundle of their choice.
  • Choose wisely! Once a Mega Bundle has been unlocked, the other three will become unavailable.
• Explore each Mega Bundle and take our quiz to find out which one is right for you.

Nexus Challenge 2.0

• Starting with the launch of Heroes 2.0, and lasting until May 22, all players will receive the Nexus Challenge 2.0 quest chain.
• Each quest will offer epic in-game rewards in both Heroes of the Storm and Overwatch to players who complete Heroes of the Storm games while partied with a friend!
• A new quest will begin each week during the Nexus Challenge 2.0 event.
  • Only one Nexus Challenge 2.0 quest will activate in players’ Quest Logs at any given time.
  • Subsequent quests will not appear until their start dates have passed, and all of the player’s previous Nexus Challenge 2.0 quests have been completed.
  • For example: Players who wait until the final day of the event to begin their Nexus Challenge 2.0 quests (not recommended!) can still complete all four quests, but must do so one at a time.
• Learn about each quest below, check out our Nexus Challenge 2.0 page for more details, and be sure to complete your quests before May 22, 2017.
  • Quest 1: Starts during the week of April 24
    • Complete 5 games with a friend in Versus A.I., Quick Match, Unranked, or Ranked.
    • Overwatch Rewards: Oni Genji Skin, Portrait, and Spray.
    • Heroes Rewards: Orochi Hovercycle Mount, Oni Genji Banner, Portrait, and Spray.
  • Quest 2: Starts during the week of May 1
    • Complete 5 more games with a friend in Quick Match, Unranked, or Ranked.
    • Overwatch Rewards: Officer D.Va Skin.
    • Heroes Rewards: Busan Police Hovercycle Mount.
  • Quest 3: Starts during the week of May 8
    • Complete 5 more games with a friend in Quick Match, Unranked, or Ranked.
    • Overwatch Rewards: Officer D.Va Portrait and Spray.
    • Heroes Rewards: Overwatch Nexagon Mount, Officer D.Va Banner, Portrait, and Spray.
  • Quest 4: Starts during the week of May 15
    • Complete 5 more games with a friend in Quick Match, Unranked, or Ranked.
    • Overwatch Rewards: 10 Loot Boxes.
    • Heroes Rewards: 10 Loot Chests (one of which is Rare).

Veteran Loot Chest Rewards

• All players who completed at least one Heroes of the Storm match prior to the release of Heroes 2.0 will receive a number of Loot Chests based on their converted Player Levels in the new progression system.
  • The most dedicated players will receive a few "Veteran" Loot Chests, which are a unique reward created for the launch of Heroes 2.0. Each Veteran Chest guarantees at least one Legendary item, and contains 5 Nexus Coins, rather than 4.
  • Additionally, all players who reached Player Level 40 prior to the release of Heroes 2.0 will receive a 30 Day Stimpack, which will activate as soon as Heroes of the Storm 2.0 goes live in each region.

Player Level	Rewards
Completed at least 1 Heroes match	5 Loot Chests
Every 10 Player Levels	+1 Epic Loot Chest (55 maximum)
Every 100 Player Levels	+1 Veteran Loot Chest (10 maximum)

General

New PC Minimum Specifications

• The minimum system specifications required to play Heroes of the Storm have been updated:
  • Minimum CPU
    • Intel® Core™ 2 Duo E6600
    • AMD® Phenom™ X4
  • Minimum GPU
    • NVIDIA® GeForce® 8600 GT
    • ATI® Radeon™ HD 4650
    • Intel® HD Graphics 3000 (no change)
• Please Note: Minimum specifications on Mac have not changed.

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New Hero: Genji

Once the carefree youngest scion of the Shimada clan, Genji was cut down by his own brother for refusing to take part in their illegal ventures. Grafted into a cyborg body by Overwatch, Genji walks his own path as one who fights for what’s right.

Trait

• Cyber Agility (D)
  • Activate to jump to the target area.

Basic Abilities

• Shuriken (Q)
  • Throw 3 Shuriken in a spread pattern, each damaging the first enemy it hits.
  • Stores up to 3 charges. Shuriken’s cooldown replenishes all charges at the same time.
• Deflect (W)
  • Become Protected for 1.25 seconds. Any damage blocked during this period causes Genji to throw a Kunai toward the nearest enemy, prioritizing Heroes and dealing damage.
• Swift Strike (E)
  • Dash forward, dealing damage to all enemies in a line. Enemy Heroes who die within 2 seconds after being hit by Swift Strike cause the cooldown and Mana cost to be refunded.

Heroic Abilities

• Dragonblade (R)
  • Unleash the Dragonblade for 8 seconds. While active, Dragonblade can be reactivated to lunge forward and slash in a huge arc. If any enemy Heroes are killed within 2 seconds after being hit by Dragonblade, Swift Strike’s cooldown is reset.
• X-Strike (R)
  • Perform 2 perpendicular slashes that deal damage and ignite after 1.25 seconds, dealing additional damage to enemies in their area of effect.

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New Battleground: Hanamura

Objectives

• Protected Cores
  • Both Cores are protected by a barrier that cannot be attacked by Heroes.
  • Payloads must be escorted across the Battleground in order to deal damage to the enemy Core.
• Escort Payloads
  • The first set of Payloads spawn for each team after 2:30 into the match, and additional waves will periodically spawn throughout the rest of the game.
  • Stand near an allied payload to escort it. The more allies who are present to escort a payload, the faster it will move. This effect caps at 3 nearby allies.
  • Payloads that haven’t been escorted for a period of time will begin to slowly move backward.
• Empowered Payloads
  • Destroying enemy Forts will cause the next allied Payload to deal additional damage when it arrives at its destination.
  • Destroying enemy Keeps will cause Sappers to spawn with allied Minion waves, which will fire on the Core upon reaching the end of their lanes.
  • Deal a total of 7 damage the opposing Core to claim victory!

Mercenary Camps

• Three types of Mercenary Camps exist on Hanamura, and captured Mercenaries will not travel down a lane to attack enemies.
  • Instead, captured Mercenary Camps will each award one of three consumable power-ups.
  • Right-click a power-up to collect it, and then use the “Map Mechanic Ability” hotkey (Default: F) to activate it.
• Recon Camp
  • Reward: Dragon Spirits
    • Release 3 Dragon Spirits that seek out enemy Heroes, who are then revealed for 5 seconds. Dragon Spirits are destroyed after finding enemy Heroes or after 10 seconds.
• Fortification Camp
  • Reward: Turret
    • Place a Turret on the ground or on your team’s payload.
• Support Camp
  • Reward: Healing Pulse
    • Restore 35% Health and 23% Mana to you and your allies over 15 seconds.
• Mega Enforcer
  • Defeat the Mega Enforcer found at the center of Hanamura to fire 1 shot on the opposing Core.

Reduced Battleground Pool

• The pool of Battlegrounds available in matchmaking game modes has been reduced until the week of May 15, 2017.
• The following 6 Battlegrounds are currently available via matchmaking:
  • Hanamura
  • Braxis Holdout
  • Cursed Hollow
  • Infernal Shrines
  • Sky Temple
  • Towers of Doom
• ​​This has been done in order to help players find games on the newest Battleground, Hanamura, more often. Additionally, this should help newer players acclimate to Heroes of the Storm more easily, without forcing them to learn all 13 Battlegrounds at once.
• ​After May 15, the Battleground pool will be updated, but will remain reduced for several more weeks.

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Progression System

Player Progression Updates

• Player level progression is no longer capped at 40.
• Existing Hero levels have been converted to match new XP requirements without loss of Hero level.
• Player level is now the sum of all Hero levels earned beyond 1.
  • Example: If you have 5 heroes at level 5, your player level will be 20.
• Player progression badges in the Profile, Score Screen, and Quest Log will display the player’s current level up to 99.
  • Player progression badge art will receive more decoration every 25 player levels.
  • Every 100 player levels, the level displayed in the progression badge will reset, and the badge will upgrade with even more ornate artwork.
• The Basic Portrait Border no longer displays the player’s current level.
  • Instead, the Basic Portrait Border will update every 100 levels with new art that matches the player’s progression badge.
• Players can still view their total player level by checking their profiles, or by hovering the cursor over their portraits in the game’s menus.

Hero Progression Updates

• Individual Hero levels are no longer capped at 20.
• Every time players gain a Hero level their player level will increase accordingly.

Hero Level XP Requirements

• XP requirements have been slightly increased during the first few Hero levels.
  • This should make early levels feel more meaningful by limiting cases where a Hero could gain multiple levels after a single game.
  • Low level Heroes will not lose any levels after transitioning to these new XP requirements.
    • Example: A Hero who had progressed 50% into level 3 prior to release will not be adjusted down to level 2 in the new system. Instead, that Hero will remain at level 3 with 50% of the XP needed to get to level 4.
• XP requirements have been significantly reduced during later Hero levels.
  • This will decrease the amount of play time needed to progress through higher Hero levels by approximately 75 – 80% for the average player.
  • As a result, Heroes who were above level 5 in the previous system will gain one or more Hero levels.
    • Example: Heroes who were level 10 should adjust to approximately Level 15 in the new progression system. A former level 20 Hero will convert to about level 54.

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Progression Rewards and New Items

Loot Chests

• Loot Chests are a new way to unlock cosmetic items and other rewards in Heroes of the Storm, and players will now receive a Loot Chest every time they level-up!
  • Open Loot Chests, or purchase new ones, by heading to the new Loot screen added to the top navigation bar in the game’s menus.
• Each Loot Chest will award 4 randomized items of varying rarity: Common, Rare, Epic, or Legendary.
  • Click on an available Loot Chest to open it, revealing 4 Nexus Coins, which will shimmer and glow with a color that matches the rarity of their items.
  • Click each coin to unveil the treasures they hide.
• There are currently 4 different types of Loot Chests: basic Loot Chests, Rare, Epic, and Hero-specific.
  • While all Loot Chests may drop items of any rarity, Rare and Epic Loot Chests are guaranteed to contain at least one item that matches that chest’s rarity level, or higher.
  • Hero-specific Loot Chests are guaranteed to contain at least one item associated with that Hero.
• Re-Roll Loot Chest Rewards
  • The items awarded by a Loot Chest can be re-rolled using Gold.
    • Each Loot Chest can be re-rolled up to 3 times.
    • The first re-roll costs 250 Gold, and the price increases by 250 per additional re-roll on the same Chest.
  • Upon confirming a re-roll, that Loot Chest’s original contents will be permanently discarded, and replaced by a new set of 4 randomized Nexus Coins. Re-roll carefully!

Loot Chest Rewards and New Items

• Loot Chest rewards may include Heroes, Mounts, Skins, Stimpacks, and many new items being introduced with Heroes of the Storm 2.0:
• ​New Legendary Skin: Prime Evil Diablo
  • Prime Evil Diablo has joined the Nexus as a new Legendary Skin.
• Announcers
  • Replace many in-game announcements with voiceover from one of a variety of Heroes.
  • Hero Announcers will call out takedowns, kill streaks, destroyed structures, and much more.
• Voice Lines
  • Equip a line of dialogue from the selected Hero and play it in-game for all nearby players in a match to hear.
  • Voice lines can be played at any time while alive. Default hotkey: I
  • All Heroes will start with one “Nexus” Voice Line unlocked and automatically selected for use in-game.
• Banners
  • Automatically plant a stylized flag upon destroying Keeps and Forts, capturing Merc Camps, or completing Battleground Objectives.
  • All Heroes will start with one “Nexus” Banner unlocked and automatically selected for use in-game.
• Sprays
  • Tag the terrain with unique icons and artwork that are visible to all players in a match.
  • One Spray per Hero can exist on the terrain at any given time, and will last approximately 8 seconds. Default hotkey: T
  • All Heroes will start with one “Nexus” Spray unlocked and automatically selected for use in-game.
• Emoji Packs
  • A massive collection of stylized and Hero-specific chat icons have been added, and can be used during in and out-of-game messages.
  • Each Emoji Pack contains 5 Emojis.
  • View all available Emojis by clicking the new Emoji button added to the out-of-game Chat bar.
    • Up to 10 Emojis can be set as Favorites. Right-click Emojis to add or remove them from Favorites.
    • Use Favorites during a match by clicking the heart button added to the right side of the in-game Chat bar.
  • Players’ Emojis will automatically convert to match the Heroes they are currently using, so long as they own that Hero’s Emoji Packs.
    • This will occur in-game, as well as after choosing a Hero during Hero Select or in Draft Lobbies.
• Portraits
  • Many new Portraits, featuring unique artwork and a variety of art styles, have been added to the game.
• Shards
  • Shards are a new crafting material that can be used to Forge unowned cosmetic items.
    • ​All cosmetic items that can be found in Loot Chests can be Forged, and all Forgeable items can be found in your Collection.
  • Varying amounts of Shards can appear as Loot Chest drops.
  • Any duplicate items received in a Loot Chest will automatically fragment into Shards.

Revamped Progression Rewards

• Player Level Progression Rewards
  • Certain progression milestones will award Loot Chests of different rarities:
    • Loot Chest: Every player level that does not award a Rare or Epic Loot Chest.
    • Rare Loot Chest: Every 5 player levels.
    • Epic Loot Chest: Every 25 player levels.
  • The level requirements to unlock Free Hero Rotation slots have been adjusted:
    • Slots 1 – 10: Are still immediately available at player level 1.
    • Slots 11 – 14: Now unlock at player levels 5, 10, 15, and 20, respectively.
  • Players will earn additional rewards upon reaching the following levels:
    • Player level 5: 1,000 Gems
      • This Gem reward will be granted retroactively to existing players who reached level 5 in the previous progression system.​
    • Player level 10: 7 Day Stimpack
    • Every 25 player levels: 150 Gems
    • Gems are a new currency introduced with the arrival of Heroes of the Storm 2.0. Learn more about them by clicking here.
• Hero Level Progression Rewards
  • Hero progression rewards have also received significant changes, and can be earned at the following milestones:
    • Hero level 5: Hero Portrait
    • Hero level 15: Master Hero Portrait
    • Every 5 Hero levels: 500 Gold
    • Every 10 Hero levels: Hero-specific Loot Chest
      • Hero-specific Loot Chests are guaranteed to drop at least one item that’s usable by the Hero who earned it.

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Collection

Introducing Your Collection

• The Heroes of the Storm in-game Shop has been transformed into your Collection, which is the central location where players can browse through the Heroes and cosmetic items they own, and unlock the ones they don’t.
• Switch among item categories using the row of tabs found along the top of your Collection screen.
  • Hover the cursor over an item to use the purchasing options available for that item, or to Forge it using Shards. Click Heroes, Skins, Mounts, and Banners to view them in more detail.
  • Use the dropdown menus found on each category page to filter items by owned, unowned, release date, and more. Enter keywords in the Search bar to find specific items.
  • The Bundles tab has been removed, and all available Bundles will now appear on your Collection’s Featured tab.
• ​Upon receiving previously unowned items in a Loot Chest, the total number of new items added to your Collection will be displayed on the Collection button in the top navigation bar.
  • Additional new item notifications will appear on each category tab in your Collection where a new item can be found, as well as on the sub-category buttons found on the left side of each category page.
  • Clear new item notifications by right-clicking the associated category and sub-category buttons in your Collection, and then selecting “Mark items as seen.”
  • Alternatively, navigate to each new item manually and hover the cursor over them to clear the notification for that item.

New Currency: Gems

• Gems have replaced real money as the primary currency in Heroes of the Storm.
  • Gems can be used to purchase Heroes, Bundles, Loot Chests, Stimpacks, and Featured Items.
  • Additional Gems can be purchased using real money in the Gem Shop.
    • Enter the Gem Shop by clicking the “+” button found next to the Gem counter added to the top navigation bar in the game’s menus.

Existing Currency: Gold

• Gold can be used to purchase Heroes and Loot Chest re-rolls.
• Gold will still be awarded through Hero progression, as well as upon completing matches, Daily Quests, and Heroes Brawls.

New Crafting Material: Shards

• As mentioned previously, Shards are a new crafting material that can be collected and used to Forge cosmetic items, including: Skins, Mounts, Announcers, Banners, Emoji packs, Sprays, Portraits, and Voice Lines.
  • Varying amounts of Shards can appear as Loot Chest drops.
  • Any duplicate items received in a Loot Chest will automatically fragment into Shards.​

New Items

• The items listed below have been added to the Collection, and will be available for Gem purchase for a limited time.
• New Skins
  • Genji
    • Oni Genji, Vengeful Oni Genji, Moss Oni Genji
  • Auriel
    • Sakura Auriel, Spring Sakura Auriel, Scarlet Sakura Auriel
  • Zarya
    • Cyberdemon Zarya, Indigo Cyberdemon Zarya, Cyborgdemon Zarya

• New Bundles and Skin Packs

  • Genji Heroic Bundle
  • Sakura Auriel Skin Pack
  • Cyberdemon Zarya Skin Pack ​ Skin and Mount Changes

• Skin Variations, Mount Variations, and Master Skins have been reclassified as individual items.

  • Players can receive these items as Loot Chest drops, or Forge them using Shards, but they are no longer unlocked via Hero progression.
  • Players who owned any Skins, Master Skins, and Mounts prior to Heroes of the Storm 2.0 will still be able to use them after release.
    • In addition to the base version of those Skins and Mounts, players will also permanently receive both of those items’ variations —whether or not they had previously unlocked them through progression.
• Featured and New Items
  • In addition to Forging Skins and Mounts using Shards, or finding them in Loot Chests, a number of Featured Skins and Mounts will be available for Gem purchase in the Collection.
    • To keep things fresh, the list of Featured Skins and Mounts will rotate on a regular basis.
  • Many newly released Skins and Mounts will also be purchasable using Gems for several weeks following their arrival to the Nexus.
  • Much like new Heroes receive a Gold price reduction once they’ve been in the Nexus for a few weeks, new Skins and Mounts that are unlockable using Gems start at a higher than normal Shard price. These items will receive a Shard price reduction a few weeks after they are added to the game.
    • New items that are only unlockable via Loot Chests and Forging (such as a new version of an existing Skin) will not start at a higher Shard price, or receive a Shard price reduction.
• ​Seasonal Items
  • Some existing holiday-themed Skins and Mounts, including Winter Veil, Hallow’s End, Lunar Festival, and other seasonal items, will only be unlockable during in-game events for those holidays.
    • Unlock seasonal and holiday-themed items during their associated in-game events via Loot Chest drops, or by forging them with Shards.

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User Interface

General

• Keep track of Gem, Gold, and Shard totals using the counters that have been added next to the Party Panel at the top of the screen.
• The Stimpack, First Win of the Day, and XP Bonus indicators have been moved beneath the Player Portrait in the upper-right corner of the screen.
• Attack Move Target Point
  • Attack Move Target Point has been added to the Gameplay Options menu.
    • If enabled, attack move (default: A + Left-Click) concentrates on the closest enemy to the target point.
    • If disabled, attack move concentrates on the closest enemy to your Hero.
• Quest Log
  • A Progression section has been added to the bottom of the Quest Log, which will display upcoming progression system rewards.
  • Clicking the Progression section of the Quest Log will open the Progression tab or Hero Detail page in the Player Profile, depending on which type of reward was displayed.

Loadouts

• Loadouts offer the ability to customize which Skins, Mounts, Banners, Sprays, Voice Lines, and Announcers each Hero will use in-game.
• A new “Loadout” button has replaced the “Skins” and “Mounts” buttons in the lower left corner of the Hero Select screen and Draft Lobbies.
  • Click the Loadout button to bring up the customization window, and then use the row of item category buttons at the top to choose which gear to equip in the selected loadout.
    • Use the dropdown menu beneath the row of category buttons to filter by owned and unowned items, or enter keywords in the Search bar to find specific items.
    • Items that have not yet been unlocked can be Forged directly from the Loadout window using Shards.
  • The items that are currently equipped in the selected Loadout will be displayed at the center of the screen above the Ready button.
• Up to 3 Loadouts can be set per Hero, and they are automatically saved whenever a change is made.
  • Switch among a Hero’s Loadouts using the dropdown menu in the upper-left corner of the customization window.
  • Enter a name for each loadout using the text bar at the top of the customization window.

Player Profile

• The Player Profile has been reworked and received additional visual polish.
• Profile navigation has moved to the top of the window, and each Profile tab has changed in the following ways:
  • Summary
    • The number of Most Played Heroes displayed has increased from 3 to 4.
    • A number of new statistics, as well as award and reward information, will now be displayed in the bottom half of the window.
    • Current player level, and Ranked play badges have moved to the right side of the window.
    • The chart detailing the number of games played per Hero role can be found in the lower-right corner.
  • Progression
    • Current player level, and the 3 Heroes who are closest to leveling-up, will now be displayed at the center of the Progression tab.
    • Upcoming progression rewards will populate along the left-side of the window.
  • Roster (Formerly: “Hero Collection”)
    • All available Heroes, and their current Hero level progress, are visible on this tab.
    • Click a Hero to view additional statistics and upcoming Hero progression rewards. Buttons have also been added for the Collection and Try Mode.
    • Favorite Heroes and a number of new statistics can now be found on the right side of the window.
  • Match History
    • Has received additional visual polish.
  • Statistics
    • Use this tab to view a number of new Hero statistics, Battleground win-rates, and a variety of other performance data.
  • Portrait
    • This tab has been removed from the Profile.
    • Players can now select their Portraits and Portrait Borders using the Portraits category in the Collection.

Mastery Taunts

• Issuing an in-game Taunt using a Hero who has reached level 15 or higher will now display unique “mastery” visual effects.
  • The Hero will also play its taunt animation and voiceover.
  • Issue an in-game Taunt using the radial emote menu (default: X), by pressing the Taunt hotkey (default: J), or by typing “/Taunt” into chat.
• Additional Hero Mastery Taunts will be added to the game in future patches, unlocking at levels 25, 50, 75, and 100.
• Read our recent blog on Mastery Taunts for more information.

Heroes Brawl

• Completing matches in Heroes Brawl will now award Hero XP.
  • In cases where multiple Heroes are used during the same Heroes Brawl, the total XP earned will be divided evenly among them.
• Completing the weekly Heroes Brawl quest will now award a Loot Chest, rather than a Portrait and Gold.

In-Game U.I.

• The in-game Chat box has been slightly lowered to provide more visibility in the center of the screen.
• Expression Wheel
  • An Expression Wheel has been added, which can be used to quickly drop a Spray, play a Voice Line, as well as issue Dance and Taunt commands, in-game.
    • Press “X” to bring up the Expression Wheel, and then drag the cursor in the direction of the desired expression.
    • The Voice Line and Spray that are available in-game can be set using the Loadout button during Hero Select, as detailed above.

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Art

General

• The Loading Screen displayed upon launching the game client has received new art!
• Visual effects that indicate Movement Speed bonuses have received updates.
• Sprays have received additional polish that should help them feel more integrated with battleground environments.

Heroes, Abilities, and Talents

• Tassadar: Nullification (Talent) has received updated visual effects.

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Battlegrounds

Layout Adjustments

• The following Battlegrounds have each received a number of minor layout improvements in order to alleviate certain areas that could create awkward gameplay moments.
  • Sky Temple
  • Cursed Hollow
  • Dragon Shire
  • Garden of Terror
• These changes generally consist of small adjustments to the terrain, and some areas of brush have been pruned or removed.
• Battleground art has been updated to match the areas where these changes were made.

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Heroes

Assassin	Specialist	Support	Warrior
Valeera	Probius	Auriel	Anub'arak
		Brightwing
		Uther

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Assassin

Valeera

Abilities

• Eviscerate (E)
  • Damage reduced from 100 to 85 per combo point

Talents

• Level 13
  • Death from Above (Q)
    • ​Teleport range reduced from 7 to 6
• Level 20
  • Coldblood (E)
    • Removed

Developer Comment: In an effort to reduce the frustration of playing against Valeera, we're reducing her burst damage potential. Especially in Quick Match when counter picking isn't an option, the ability for a stealth assassin with disabling effects and high burst damage isn't fun or healthy for the game, so we're toning it down some.

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Specialist

Probius

Abilities

• Photon Cannon (E)
  • Can now be self-cast

Return

Support

Auriel

Abilities

• Resurrect (R)
  • New Functionality
    • Increased cooldown from 70 to 120 seconds
    • Reduced channel time from 3 to 0.5 seconds
    • Added a 5 second delay between finishing the cast and the Hero coming back to life

Talents

• Level 20
  • Light Speed (R)
    • New Functionality
      • Removed the increased Health upon reviving
      • Now causes the cooldown of Resurrect to recharge 100% faster while previous target is alive

Return

Brightwing

Abilities

• Soothing Mist (Trait)
  • Now displays a range ring around Brightwing that conveys the radius of her heal. This is only visible to Brightwing.

Return

Uther

Stats

• Removed passive Armor
• Base maximum Health increased from 2054 to 2156
• Health Regeneration increased from 4.28 to 4.49

Abilities

• Holy Light (Q)
  • Healing amount reduced from 427 to 380
  • Now also heals Uther for 190 if cast on an ally
• Holy Radiance (W)
  • Healing amount reduced from 219 to 160 (now matches damage)
  • Mana cost reduced from 65 to 60
• Eternal Devotion (Trait)
  • Added Functionality:
    • When Uther heals anyone with a Basic Ability, they gain 25 Armor for 2 seconds. This effect does not stack with itself.

Talents

• Level 1
  • Conjurer’s Pursuit (Passive)
    • Removed
  • Wave of Light (W)
    • No longer has a cap on the Mana return and Cooldown Reduction amounts
    • Now grants the benefits when enemy Heroes are damaged
    • Increased the amount of Mana returned from 8 to 10
    • Added a quest component:
      • !Quest: Heal or damage 60 Heroes with Holy Radiance
      • !Reward: Increase the duration of Eternal Devotion’s Armor effect to 3 seconds
  • Hammer of the Lightbringer (E)
    • New functionality:
      • Uther’s Basic Attacks restore 1.5% of his maximum Mana
      • !Quest: Hit 75 enemy Heroes with Basic Attacks
      • !Reward: Basic Attacks also reduce the cooldown of Hammer of Justice by 1 second
  • Fist of Justice (E)
    • Removed
  • (New) Silver Touch (Q)
    • !Quest: Reduce damage taken from Heroes using Eternal Devotion's Armor effect
    • !Reward: After reducing 40 sources of Hero damage, reduce the Mana cost of Holy Light by 20
    • !Reward: After reducing 80 sources of Hero damage, reduce the Mana cost of Holy Light by an additional 20 and increase the cast range by 50%
• Level 4
  • Beacon of Light (Q)
    • Moved to level 16
    • New functionality:
      • While below 50% Health, Uther receives 200% more self-healing when healing others with Holy Light
  • Boundless Conviction (W)
    • Removed
  • Protective Shield (Active)
    • Removed
  • (New) Pursuit of Justice (E)
    • Casting Hammer of Justice increases Uther's Movement Speed by 20% for 3 seconds
• Level 7
  • Burden of Guilt (E)
    • Removed
  • Holy Fire (Passive)
    • Moved to level 4
    • Damage reduced from 18 to 16 per second
  • Cleanse (Active)
    • Removed
  • (New) Armor of Faith (Trait)
    • Holy Light recharges 100% faster for 6 seconds when Uther is Stunned, Rooted, or Silenced
  • (New) Guardian of Ancient Kings (Trait)
    • Healing a Stunned, Rooted, or Silenced Hero with a Basic Ability increases the Armor bonus of Eternal Devotion from 25 to 75
  • (New) Hand of Protection (Active)
    • Activate to make target ally Unstoppable for 1 second. Cannot be cast on yourself. 90 second cooldown. Basic Attack reduce this cooldown by 5 seconds.
• Level 13
  • Blessed Champion (Q)
    • Healing from Basic Attacks reduced from 20% to 15% of Holy Light, but is calculated from the combined total of Holy Light’s Ally and self heal
  • Holy Shock (Q)
    • Moved to level 4
    • No longer increases the value of Uther’s next Holy Light, but instead refunds 45 Mana when cast on an enemy
      • Holy Shock still heals Uther for 200 if cast on an enemy
  • Shrink Ray (Active)
    • Removed
  • (New) Well Met (E)
    • Hammer of Justice also reduces enemy Hero Movement Speed by 25% and damage by 25% for 3 seconds
• Level 16
  • Hardened Focus (Passive)
    • Removed
  • Righteous Defense (Q)
    • Removed
  • Gathering Radiance (W)
    • Removed
  • (New) Tyr's Deliverance (W)
    • Hitting an allied Hero with Holy Radiance increases their healing received by 40% for 6 seconds
• Level 20
  • (New) Divine Protection (Trait)
    • Eternal Devotion's Armor can now stack twice. Each new application will refresh the duration of both armor effects

Developer Comment: With Uther’s rework, we want to play up his ability to be a disruptive frontline presence, keep his role as an anti-burst Healer, but maintain the weakness of not having great sustained healing. By making Holy Light always heal Uther, he doesn’t mind as much when he takes damage from being up there. Having his abilities apply Armor is a great way to make him an effective support against teams with predictable damage, while having lower healing per second compared to the other supports. Ideally, you’ll pick Uther when your team could use a stronger frontline, when your opponents are very reliant on disabling effects, or when the enemy team has predictable incoming damage.

LEVEL (TIER)		Uther Talents
1 (1)	(!) Silver Touch (Q)	(!) Wave of Light (W)	(!) Hammer of the Lightbringer (E)
4 (2)	Holy Shock (Q)	Pursuit of Justice (E)	Holy Fire (Passive)
7 (3)	Armor of Faith (Q)	Guardian of Ancient Kings (Trait)	Hand of Protection (Active)
10 (4)	Divine Shield	Divine Storm	—	—
13 (5)	Blessed Champion (Q)	Well Met (E)	Spell Shield (Passive)
16 (6)	Beacon of Light (Q)	Tyr's Deliverance (W)	Benediction (Active)
20 (7)	Bulwark of Light (R)	Divine Hurricane (R)	Redemption (Passive)	Divine Protection (Passive)

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

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Warrior

Anub'arak

Abilities

• Burrow Charge (E)
  • Hovering over this ability will now show the range indicator for distance traveled, as well as the area affected when he emerges from burrow
• Locust Swarm (R)
  • A range indicator will now appear to Anub’arak while Locust Swarm is active

Talents

• Level 13
  • Urticating Spines (W)
    • Hovering over the ability button after selecting this talent will now show a range indicator

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Bug Fixes

General

• Mac: Launching Heroes of the Storm using the Mac 10.12 OS will no longer adjust the player’s mouse acceleration setting.

Battlegrounds

• Battlefield of Eternity: Fixed a rare issue in which an Immortal could be awarded to the wrong team if both Immortals were killed at nearly the same time.
• Haunted Mines: The terrain surrounding Sapper Merc Camps will now correctly block vision of the camp.
• Haunted Mines: Leoric will no longer fail to respawn properly after being killed via damage dealt by a nearby spawning Grave Golem.
• Tomb of the Spider Queen: Webweavers will no longer become distracted by Summoned units.
• Try Mode: The Complete Quests button will now correctly set Zul’jin’s You Want Axe quest to 120 attacks, rather than 500.
• Try Mode: The Reset Talents button will now correctly remove bonus Hungering Arrow strikes earned by previously completing the Puncturing Arrow quest.
• Try Mode: Tassadar’s Oracle cooldown will now be correctly reduced by 15 seconds when completing the Mental Acuity quest via the Complete Quests button.

Art

• Cyber Ram: Fixed an issue in which the Cyber Ram’s hind legs appeared slanted.
• Gazlowe: Restored missing visual effects during Gazlowe’s transformation into Robo-Goblin form.
• Greymane: Restored missing visual effects during Go for the Throat.
• Rexxar: Misha, Focus! now uses the same Ability icon in-game as it does on Rexxar’s detail page in the Collection.
• Valla: Strafe visual effects will no longer continue to play after the Ability expires.
• Varian: Will no longer appear scaled-down on the Ranked Play screen.
• Xul: Will no longer appear offset on the Ranked Play screen.

Heroes, Abilities, and Talents

• Quest Talents: Fixed a bug that caused quest talents that track every second to ping continuously. They will now only ping every 5 seconds as intended.
• Regeneration Globes: Will now play an animation upon expiration rather than suddenly disappearing.
• Spell Shield: Toggling Spell Shield will no longer cancel an active Hearthstone channel.
• Abathur: Heroes can no longer push a player-controlled Monstrosity by walking into it.
• Auriel: Detainment Strike will now correctly stun enemies who collide with corners of terrain.
• Auriel: Fixed an issue that could cause Resurrect’s revive message to appear on the MVP screen.
• Chen: Freshest Ingredients will no longer grant 3 Health Regeneration stacks for Regeneration Globes collected during Storm, Earth Fire.
• Diablo: Fixed an issue preventing Diablo from using Basic Attacks against his Overpower target if Overpower was interrupted by Zeratul’s Void Prison.
• Cho: Twilight Hammer will now deal damage to Murky’s Pufferfish.
• Gall: Fixed an issue that could cause Gall to use his base skin on the MVP screen despite using an alternate skin during the match.
• Gazlowe: Can now correctly issue commands to active Rock-It! Turrets while dead.
• Illidan: Fixed an issue that could cause Illidan to respawn at his death location if he cast Sweeping Strikes in the same moment that he was killed.
• Murky: Can no longer call down a Nuke during Safety Bubble on Warhead Junction.
• Nazeebo: Corpse Spiders will no longer prioritize Kharazim’s Air Ally or Lúcio’s Boombox over enemy Heroes.
• Probius: Pylons and Photon Cannons will no longer be affected by Power Overflowing when Probius is not inside a Pylon’s Power Field.
• Samuro: Way of Illusion will no longer continue to generate quest progress icons after its quest is complete.
• Tassadar: Prismatic Link will no longer cause Basic Attacks to continue to hit the tertiary target if the primary and secondary targets move out of range of one another.
• The Butcher: Victuals will no longer stop functioning after completing Fresh Meat’s quest.
• The Butcher: Butcher’s Brand visual effects will no longer persist on a Punisher until it is killed.
• The Butcher: Will now properly receive Healing for Basic Attack damage dealt to a Punisher affected by Butcher’s Brand.
• The Lost Vikings: Fixed an issue causing Olaf to begin attacking the nearest enemy after using Charge, rather than the intended target.
• Tracer: After using Blink, Tracer will now correctly continue to walk in the direction she was originally moving prior to the cast.
• Tyrael: Fixed an issue that could cause Archangel’s Wrath to immediately explode on death, and prevent Tyrael from respawning.
• Varian: After learning Second Wind, Varian will now correctly earn bonus Healing for bonus damage dealt by Shattering Throw against a Shielded target.
• Zagara: Damage dealt by Hunter Killer and Roach summons will no longer be reduced by Armor.
• Zeratul: A revealed icon will no longer appear above enemies hit by Rending Cleave.
• Zul’jin: Taz'dingo! Will now correctly prevent Zul’jin from dying when cast at the same moment that he would have taken fatal damage.

Sound

• E.T.C.: Enemies affected by a Mosh Pit that was cast from inside of a bush or vent will now correctly hear the Ability’s sound effects.

User Interface

• Hotkeys: Control group hotkeys in the default Standard for Lefties profile now correctly mirror the Standard profile, with the first slot bound to the 7 key.
• Heroes Brawl: Brawls that only require completion of 2 matches will no longer state that 3 matches are needed in order to earn rewards.
• Kill Feed: The Kill Feed will no longer display blank portraits for Heroes who are killed by an Immortal while the Immortals are dueling on Battlefield of Eternity.

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