Heroes of the Storm Balance Patch Notes - March 29, 2022

Official Patch Notes v 2.55.2

Heroes of the Storm has just been updated with Hero balance changes! Read on for details.

Heroes

TANK BRUISER HEALER MELEE ASSASSIN RANGED ASSASSIN
Anub'arak Artanis Alexstrasza Alarak Cassia
Johanna Thrall Rehgar Chromie
Varian Whitemane Gul'dan
Sgt. Hammer

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Tank

Anub'arak

Talents

  • Level 1
    • Nerubian Armor [W]
      • Spell Armor increased from 20 to 25.
  • Level 7
    • Subterranean Shield [E]
      • Shield increased from 345 to 400.
  • Level 13
    • Urticating Spines [W]
      • Damage increased from 80 to 90.
    • Acid Drenched Mandibles [Passive]
      • Damage bonus increased from 70% to 80%.
      • Duration increased from 3 to 4 seconds.
  • Level 20
    • Cryptweave [R2]
      • Damage over time increased from 50 to 60.

Developer Comment: These talents weren't quite matching up against the potential of a horde of beetles.

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Johanna

Talents

  • Level 1
    • Zealous Glare [E]
      • Bonus damage reduced from 125% to 75%.
  • Level 13
    • Roar [Q]
      • Maximum Punish damage bonus reduced from 175% to 150%.
    • Blessed Hammer [Active]
      • Basic Ability cooldown reduction reduced from 3 to 2.5 seconds.
  • Level 20
    • Heaven's Fury [R1]
      • Maximum targets hit per barrage increased from 4 to 6.
      • Cooldown reduction per bolt reduced from 2 to 1 second.
      • Damage reduced from 68 to 50.

Developer Comment: Johanna is dealing too much damage, so we're partially reverting some of her recent buffs. We're also taking this opportunity to alter how Heaven's Fury functions. Heaven's Fury previously fired 8 barrages of bolts, hitting up to 2 enemies and up to 2 allies with each barrage. We're increasing both enemies and allies hit up to 3 while lowering its cooldown reduction to further differentiate good and great casts of Falling Sword.

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Bruiser

Artanis

Stats

  • Health reduced from 2525 to 2490.
  • Health regeneration reduced from 5.26 to 5.19.

Abilities

  • Shield Overload [Trait]
    • Shield reduced from 385 to 365.

Talents

  • Level 4
    • Shield Surge [Trait]
      • Shield bonus increased from 75% to 80%.

Developer Comment: Artanis has slowly gained the crowns of both our most popular and most winning Bruiser, so he gets a nerf.

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Thrall

Stats

  • Health increased from 1876 to 1896.
  • Health regeneration increased from 3.91 to 3.95.

Talents

  • Level 20
    • Elemental Momentum [Passive]
      • Cooldown reduction against Heroes increased from doubled to tripled.

Developer Comment: Thrall is very close to being a competitive choice, but all his builds are just barely lagging behind.

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Varian

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.

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Healer

Alexstrasza

Abilities

  • Gift of Life [Q]
    • Additional functionality: [Passive] Alexstrasza's Health regeneration is increased by 150%.

Talents

  • Level 16
    • Tough Love [Q]
      • Changed functionality: Gift of Life grants its target 10 Armor for 2.5 seconds, increased to 30 Armor while Alexstrasza is above 75% Health.
    • Overprotective [W]
      • Shield duration increased from 3 to 6 seconds.
    • Draconic Discipline [D]
      • Additional functionality: Increase Dragonqueen's Basic Attack healing by 50%.

Developer Comment: Alexstrasza usually lingers among the lowest win rates for our Healers. We're adding some baseline regeneration to keep her healthier than before when sacrificing her health for healing. Also, we're giving some oomph to her level 16 talents.

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Rehgar

Stats

  • Health reduced from 1935 to 1900.
  • Health regeneration reduced from 4.03 to 3.96.

Abilities

  • Purge [D]
    • Cooldown increased from 45 to 60 seconds.

Talents

  • Level 1
    • Colossal Totem [E]
      • Bonus Totem Health reduced from 50% to 25%.
  • Level 4
    • Earthliving Enchant [Q]
      • Healing reduced from 200 to 160.
  • Level 7
    • Grounded Totem [E]
      • Attack Speed reduction reduced from 30% to 25%.
    • Purification [D]
      • Purge's cooldown reduction increased from 10 to 15 seconds.
  • Level 16
    • Earthgrasp Totem [E]
      • Damage reduced from 145 to 115.

Developer Comment: Rehgar's most powerful talents are still a cut above their competition but they're not required for Rehgar to be a dominate force. We're again cutting his base Health, and now targeting Purge's cooldown, to lower his overall power.

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Whitemane

Abilities

  • Desperate Plea [Q]
    • Mana cost reduced from 45 to 40.
    • Mana cost increase per Desperation reduced from 45 to 40.
  • Zeal [D]
    • Armor reduction reduced from 25 to 15.

Talents

  • Level 7
    • Intercession [Active]
      • Cast range increased from 7 to 7.5.
      • Removed functionality: No longer gain a stack of Desperation.
  • Level 16
    • Radiance [Q]
      • Changed functionality: Radiance's heal now re-applies Zeal, resetting its duration.
      • No longer affects Whitemane's Armor.
    • Shared Punishment [W]
      • Chaining damage increased from 70% to 100% of Inquisition's damage.
    • Harsh Discipline [E]
      • Additional functionality: Reduce Inquisition's cooldown by 2 seconds.

Developer Comment: Similar to Alexstrasza, Whitemane has often struggled to compete with other Healers. We're hoping these baseline changes smooth out her early game experience.

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Melee Assassin

Alarak

Talents

  • Level 1
    • Ruthless Momentum [W]
      • Cooldown recharge bonus increased from 75% to 100%.
  • Level 4
    • Negatively Charged [E]
      • Damage bonus per stack increased from 4% to 5%.
  • Level 16
    • Lightning Barrage [E]
      • Free cast duration increased from 2 to 3 seconds.

Developer Comment: We're happy with the success Alarak players are finding with Discord Strike and melee talents, but his other builds have slightly fallen behind.

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Ranged Assassin

Cassia

Stats

  • Weapon damage increased from 120 to 122.

Talents

  • Level 1
    • Charged Strikes [Passive]
      • Damage bonus increased from 15% to 20%.
  • Level 4
    • Ring of the Leech [Passive]
      • Healing increased from 15% to 20%.
  • Level 7
    • Seraph's Hymn [W]
      • Cooldown reduction increased from 1.5 to 2 seconds.
  • Level 16
    • Martial Law [Passive]
      • Additional functionality: Requirement for damage bonus is also met if target is Blinded.

Developer Comment: Cassia's Basic Attack build requires a riskier playstyle, and players are not viewing the danger as worth it, so we're increasing the build's payoff across the board.

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Chromie

Talents

  • Level 8
    • Slowing Sands [R1]
      • Slowing Sands is no longer able to be picked in ARAM games.

Developer Comment: We're removing Slowing Sands from ARAM as it can be frustrating to handle with less space to move.

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Gul'dan

Talents

  • Level 4
    • Improved Life Tap [D]
      • Mana restored increased from 35% to 40%.
    • Consume Soul [Active]
      • Cooldown reduced from 30 to 25 seconds.
      • Maximum charges increased from 2 to 3.
  • Level 7
    • Bound by Shadow [Q]
      • Cooldown reduction increased from 1.5 to 1.75 seconds.
  • Level 13
    • Fel Armor [Q]
      • Spell Armor increased from 40 to 50.
    • Dark Bargain [Passive]
      • Health bonus increased from 30% to 40%.
    • Healthstone [Active]
      • Cooldown reduced from 60 to 45 seconds.
  • Level 16
    • Rampant Hellfire [Q]
      • Damage bonus per stack increased from 10% to 12%.
    • Ruinous Affliction [E]
      • Third hit damage increased from 233 to 268.

Developer Comment: Gul'dan's prominence is primarily tied to the strength of his Drain Life build. We don't view this build as out of bounds, so we're bringing both Fel Flame and Corruption up to par.

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Sgt. Hammer

Talents

  • Level 1
    • Ambush [D]
      • Bonus damage increased from 100% to 125%.
    • Advanced Artillery [D]
      • Splash damage increased from 50% to 60%.
    • Maelstrom Rounds [Active]
      • Cooldown reduced from 100 to 80 seconds.
  • Level 7
    • Hover Siege Mode [D]
      • Move speed increased from 40% to 50%.
    • Graduating Range [D]
      • Time between increased range reduced from 2 to 1.5 seconds.
  • Level 20
    • Shrapnel Mines [Q]
      • Maximum Armor reduction increased from 30 to 50.
    • Ultra Capacitors [D]
      • Attack Speed per stack increased from 5% to 10%.
      • Maximum Attack Speed increased from 40% to 60%.

Developer Comment: Sgt. Hammer has decent talent parity, so we're just increasing the power of some keystone talents to further separate the different builds' identities.

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Bug Fixes

Heroes

  • Rehgar
    • Colossal and Ground Totem talents are appended in the correct order in Earthbind Totem's advanced tooltip.

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