Patch Summary
Returning from a break? Can't recall that one patch that introduced huge gameplay changes? Let Patch Summaries be your guide to recent (and not-so-recent) patch changes.
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2024-08-12
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2024-05-21
Gameplay
Quickcast settings, duration indicators, and buff bar updates for various heroes
Heroes Affected
- Alarak, Ana, Anduin, Artanis, Arthas, Auriel, Blaze, Butcher, Chromie, D.Va, Deathwing, Deckard, Dehaka, E.T.C., Gall, Garrosh, Gul'dan, Hanzo, Hogger, Johanna, Junkrat, Li-Ming, Lucio, Lunara, Malfurion, Mal'Ganis, Medivh, Muradin, Murky, Orphea, Qhira, Ragnaros, Rehgar, Samuro, Stitches, Stukov, The Lost Vikings, Tracer, Tychus, Tyrande, Uther, Valeera, Varian, Whitemane, Xul, Yrel, Zeratul, Zul'jin
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2024-02-06
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2023-11-16
Gameplay
Enemy reveal changes: abilities that cleave and splash will reveal the area, while abilities that bounce require targets to be visible
Heroes Affected
- Abathur, Alarak, Alexstrasza, Ana, Anduin, Anub'arak, Artanis, Arthas, Auriel, Azmodan, Blaze, Brightwing, Butcher, Cassia, Chen, Cho, D.Va, Deckard, Dehaka, Diablo, Falstad, Fenix, Gall, Garrosh, Genji, Hogger, Illidan, Imperius, Jaina, Johanna, Junkrat, Kael'thas, Kel'Thuzad, Kerrigan, Leoric, Li Li, Lunara, Maiev, Malfurion, Mal'Ganis, Malthael, Mei, Muradin, Murky, Nova, Orphea, Qhira, Ragnaros, Raynor, Rexxar, Samuro, Sgt. Hammer, Stitches, Stukov, Sylvanas, Tassadar, The Lost Vikings, Thrall, Tracer, Tychus, Tyrael, Tyrande, Uther, Valeera, Valla, Varian, Whitemane, Xul, Yrel, Zagara, Zarya, Zeratul, Zul'jin
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2022-03-29
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2022-02-01
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2021-12-07
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2021-09-27
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2021-08-20
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2021-07-20
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2021-06-15
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2021-05-18
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2021-03-02
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2021-01-19
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2020-12-01
Gameplay
Nexus Anomaly - Gladiator's Medallion: Removed, "it wasn't a clear enough win for us to keep it going forward"
Nexus Anomalies over, for now: "we will not be doing seasonal Nexus Anomalies going forward. We will, however, continue to iterate and pursue other ways to improve Heroes of the Storm"
Play Mode
Storm League: "When queued as a party...now looks for matches based solely on the highest player's MMR"
Heroes Affected
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2020-11-04
Battleground
Warhead Junction: "Sewage Tunnels have been added to the top and bottom of the Battleground", extra watchtower added below mid
Heroes Affected
-
2020-10-07
Gameplay
"Tower, Fort, and Keep damage to enemy Heroes increased by 10%"
Healing Fountains: "Health and Shield values swapped. The Shield value now accounts for 75% of the total Health"
Heroes Affected
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2020-09-08
Gameplay
Nexus Anomaly - Gladiator's Medallion: "can be activated to become Unstoppable for 1 second...300 second cooldown"
Play Mode
ARAM: "we're replacing Heroes Brawl mode with the new ARAM - All Random All Mid mode"
Heroes Affected
Reworks
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2020-08-19
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2020-07-15
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2020-06-23
Gameplay
Nexus Anomaly - Structures: "we are removing both the negative Armor debuff that front towers used to provide and also reverting their aggro systems to no longer prioritize Heroes who attack other Heroes in their range. Forts, Keeps, and the Core will still prioritize enemy Heroes who attack other Heroes"
Nexus Anomaly - Climate Phenomena: "Each battleground has a specific type of weather event that will occur every 4 minutes, with the first event starting at the beginning of the match. Each weather event lasts for 2 minutes before clearing up"
Play Mode
Storm League: Gold rewards removed starting 2020 Season 3, reward mount returning 2020 Season 3"which will be awarded after winning 50 games in Ranked Play"
Heroes Affected
Reworks
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2020-06-03
Gameplay
"Tower, Fort, and Keep damage to enemy Heroes reduced by 10%. Maximum Armor reduction from Structures reduced from -40 to -20."
Heroes Affected
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2020-05-06
Gameplay
"Tower, Fort, and Keep structure damage reduced by 10%"
Self-damage, DoT effects, and Burning Rage-like talents "will no longer cause structures to focus Heroes"
Heroes Affected
- Alarak, Anduin, Artanis, Brightwing, Cassia, Chromie, Deathwing, Deckard, Dehaka, Imperius, Jaina, Li-Ming, Orphea, Probius, Ragnaros, Tassadar, Tracer, Xul
Reworks
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2020-04-14
Gameplay
Nexus Anomaly - Structure Defense and Core Abilities: attacking enemy Heroes beneath Structures will cause Structures to switch focus to Heroes; new "themed abilities to non-ARAM Battleground Cores"
Experience Globes: pickup radius increased
Heroes Affected
Reworks
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2020-03-11
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2020-02-12
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2020-01-22
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2019-12-16
Gameplay
Unstoppable: "Gaining Unstoppable now prevents and removes Blinds"
Experience Globes: are now immediately collectible and will be automatically collected from Minions killed by Hero Abilities or Basic Attacks
Heroes Affected
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2019-12-03
Gameplay
Nexus Anomaly - Experience Globes: "Minions no longer give Experience by killing them, but instead drop an Experience Globe that must be collected"
Heroes Affected
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2019-11-22
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2019-10-15
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2019-09-24
Battleground
Heroes Affected
Reworks
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2019-08-28
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2019-08-06
Play Mode
Storm League: "Ranked Points are now directly mapped to a player's Storm League MMR"
Storm League: placement matches "reduced from 10 to 3"; "Promotion and Demotion games have been removed"
Storm League: "A Ranked Seasonal Questline is now available to players...and must be completed in order to be eligible for both the Ranked Seasonal Rewards and the Grand Master Leaderboards"
Heroes Affected
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2019-07-10
Play Mode
Brawl: Sgt. Hammer removed from ARAM Brawls
Heroes Affected
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2019-06-18
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2019-05-22
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2019-04-30
Battleground
Infernal Shrines: Frozen Punisher can now disable Structures, Mortar Punisher mortar damage increased ~28%
Volskaya Foundry: Triglav Protector updated to "shift...the vehicles power out of its team fight potential, and into its pushing power (particularly in the early game)"
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2019-04-17
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2019-03-26
Play Mode
Storm League: "Hero League and Team League have been merged into a single ranked queue"
Storm League: "Players can choose their preferred roles in the Ranked menu"
Storm League: Players "more than 2 leagues apart" will no longer be able to queue together (except parties of 5)
Heroes Affected
Armor: "maximum negative Armor has been increased from -25 to -75"
Hero Roles: changed from Warrior, Assassin, Support, Specialist to Tank, Bruiser, Support, Healer, Melee Assassin and Ranged Assassin
- Chromie, Lucio, Lunara
Reworks
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2019-02-27
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2019-02-12
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2019-01-23
Heroes Affected
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2019-01-08
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2018-12-19
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2018-12-11
11
Gameplay
Fort and Keep XP: "removed all Experience earned from destroying a Fort or Keep...now provide[s] your team with a stacking 20% increase in Passively-earned Experience"
XP changes: Passive XP increased 15%, destroying Towers gives 50% less XP, defeating defending Mercenaries gives 100% more XP
Catapults: "when a team destroys a Fort, they'll now gain a Catapult in every 3rd Minion wave"; catapult damage, splash size, range, and health will scale over time
Mercenaries: Bosses and major camps on Hanamura and Volskaya now flagged as Elite; "Elite Mercenary Camps are Unstoppable & Unbribable"
Radius reductions for most heroes "to improve visual clarity when many heroes are on-screen"
Battleground
Volskaya Foundry: "Channelling to enter the Triglav Protector is no longer interrupted by damage"
Heroes Affected
Armor changes: "the game will apply only the highest (or lowest) amount of Armor to a Hero at any given time" (i.e. Armor does not stack additively)
- Anub'arak, Butcher, Chen, Cho, Diablo, E.T.C., Fenix, Gazlowe, Lt. Morales, Nova, Raynor, Rexxar, Stitches, Sylvanas, Tassadar, Tyrael, Uther, Valeera, Zul'jin
Reworks
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2018-11-28
Play Mode
QM: "will now prioritize creating teams with at least one Warrior, Support, and Ranged Assassin"
QM: "players who queue...using roles that are in short supply will receive 50% bonus experience"
Heroes Affected
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2018-11-13
General
Stimpacks renamed Boosts with additional functionality: "all players will receive 5% bump in experience for each player in their match who had an active Boost"
Heroes Affected
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2018-10-31
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2018-10-16
Heroes Affected
Support Abilities: "the vast majority" no longer affect Minions or Mercenaries; exceptions that still work on Minions: Morales-Q, Rehgar-Q, Tyrael-W, Uther-W, Tassadar-Q
Ana: "Healing Dart will now pierce targets at full Health"
- Alexstrasza, Ana, Brightwing, Li Li, Rehgar, Tyrande, Uther
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2018-10-10
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2018-09-25
10
Play Mode
Team League: "now supports all party sizes, including solo players"
Heroes Affected
Reworks
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2018-09-19
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2018-09-04
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2018-08-22
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2018-08-07
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2018-07-25
Heroes Affected
Sgt. Hammer: BFG (R) "no longer deals damage to enemy Structures"
Malfurion: lvl 13 Iceblock talent removed
Cho: lvl 16 Surging Fist "no longer grants Cho Unstoppable"
- Alarak, Artanis, Azmodan, Blaze, Cho, Deckard, Diablo, Fenix, Genji, Hanzo, Kael'thas, Malfurion, Murky, Raynor, Sgt. Hammer, Tracer, Yrel
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2018-07-10
9
Play Mode
Third Ban: "a third Hero ban has been added to draft modes", with two bans during the initial ban phase.
"The number of level 5+ Heroes required to participate in Hero League has been increased from 14 to 16"
Rank decay added for inactive players, new players will "no longer be seeded into placement matches higher than Gold 5", players on an extended break from HL "will no longer be re-seeded into placement matches based on their performance in other modes"
Battleground
Mercenaries: "Heroes can no longer Heal, Shield, or target allied Mercenaries with Abilities unless an Ability specifically states that Mercenaries are valid targets"
Alterac Pass: Cavalry "damage bonus...is now a flat 10%, and no longer scales with each completed event"; Boss attack speed reduced 30%, damage increased 30%
Braxis Holdout: Baseline zerg wave significantly buffed, total beacon capture time increased from 30 seconds to 37.5 seconds, Structure damage to zerg increased by 75%
Heroes Affected
Reworks
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2018-07-03
Battleground
Alterac Pass: Cavalry base damage and Health reduced by ~20%, damage and Health scaling increased ~20%, "no longer gain additional Armor for nearby Heroes"; Generals base Health reduced but scales over time
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2018-06-27
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2018-06-12
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2018-06-06
Battleground
Structures: outer Tower experience distributed to other Structures "in an effort to keep teams closer in levels for a little while longer"
Heroes Affected
"Baseline Armor has been removed from a number of Heroes": Anub'arak, Arthas, Johanna, Varian
Zagara: scaling of Abilities adjusted to "reduce her early-game laning presence...[and] buff her late-game teamfight capability"
- Anub'arak, Arthas, Auriel, Brightwing, Cassia, Diablo, Fenix, Garrosh, Genji, Johanna, Kael'thas, Lunara, Maiev, Stukov, Varian, Zagara
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2018-05-22
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2018-05-09
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2018-04-24
UI/Hotkey
Draft lobbies now use 2D portraits instead of animated 3D models to make Heroes "easier to differentiate from one another at a glance"
Battleground
Warhead Junction: Boss no longer burrows, launched Slime Pods explode "on impact and no longer spawn Podlings", Pods can now damage Structures
Heroes Affected
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2018-04-11
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2018-03-27
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2018-03-21
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2018-03-06
8
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2018-02-21
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2018-02-09
Heroes Affected
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2018-02-06
Gameplay
Target Info Panels: left-clicking a friendly or enemy target opens a panel with the "unit's gameplay stats in real time"
Battleground Objective Counters: visual indicators have been added when "count is high enough to complete a turn-in"
Battleground
Volskaya Foundry: Healing pulse is now a totem that's placed, Turrets can be placed instantly
Volskaya Foundry: Triglav Protector gets 10 Armor, 10% health increase, 25% increased damage if both seats filled; Rocket Fist (W) structure debuff increased from 2 to 4 seconds, Gatling Cannon (W) travels 50% faster and fires immediately
Heroes Affected
Reworks
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2018-01-24
Heroes Affected
- Blaze, Brightwing, Hanzo, Sgt. Hammer, Sonya, Sylvanas, Tyrande, Valeera, Xul
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2018-01-16
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2018-01-09
Battleground
Regen Globes: healing reduced 23%, mana regen reduced 10%
Gate, Fort, and Keep damage increased 33% vs "Minions, Mercenaries, Monsters, and Heroes"; Keep health increased 6%
Mercenary updates: Hellbats and Warhead Junction boss have health and early-game scaling reduced, late-game scaling increased; Knight camp spell armor now equal between defender and laner
Towers of Doom: Altar respawn increased 20 seconds
Battlefield of Eternity: first immortal spawn and swap events are now fixed; first spawn will be "Heaven South, Hell North", first swap will be "Heaven East, Hell West"
Heroes Affected
Reworks
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2017-12-20
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2017-12-12
7
Gameplay
Camera height: "In-game Camera height has been significantly increased in order to provide more visibility of the battlefield"
Stealth reworked: stealth heroes now display outlines, become completely invisible when immobile for 1.5 seconds
Play Mode
Performance-based matchmaking: "takes individual player performance into account when determining MMR gains and losses"; Five days later, Performance based matchmaking was disabled due to unrelated "issue[s] affecting placement matchmaking ratings"
Battleground
Early game and laning changes: Ammo removed from towers, Forts and Keeps reveal Stealth, regen globes "switch from allied to neutral after 3 seconds", most Battleground objective timers have been altered, Mercenaries updated with special abilities
Heroes Affected
Reworks
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2017-11-29
Heroes Affected
Support nerfs: changes to supports to "[try] to move away from the "double healer" team compositions that we are seeing so commonly"
- Alexstrasza, Ana, Auriel, Brightwing, Johanna, Kharazim, Li Li, Lt. Morales, Lucio, Malfurion, Rehgar, Sgt. Hammer, Sonya, Stukov, Tassadar, Tychus, Tyrande, Uther, Zul'jin
Reworks
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2017-11-14
UI/Hotkey
Talent Tier Advantage Callouts: chat messages will automatically appear when one team has level 10 or 20 advantage, and when both teams reach 10 and 20
Heroes Affected
Reworks
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2017-11-01
Heroes Affected
Kharazim: "25% Movement Speed on the third punch" added to every trait option
Muradin: Heavy Impact (E) talent changed from stun to 80% slow
Azmodan: General of Hell (D) "No longer grants additional Minion & Mercenary Health"
- Azmodan, Garrosh, Junkrat, Kharazim, Leoric, Muradin, Nova, Raynor, Samuro, Stukov, Sylvanas, Thrall, Tychus, Valeera, Valla, Zagara, Zeratul, Zul'jin
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2017-10-17
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2017-10-11
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2017-09-26
Battleground
All vehicles (i.e. Dragon Knight, Garden Terror, Triglav Protector) are now Unstoppable
Hanamura & Volskaya: Support camp is no longer Bribeable, Merc camp items no longer require channel time
Infernal Shrines, Battlefield of Eternity, & Volskaya siege Mercs: base damage and scaling increased by 50%, early game Health decreased, "no longer...affected by displacements effects"
Dragon Shire: Dragon Knight base Health reduced, move speed reduced 20%
Heroes Affected
Reworks
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2017-09-20
Heroes Affected
- Brightwing, Butcher, Cassia, Chen, Chromie, Dehaka, Garrosh, Kel'Thuzad, Leoric, Lt. Morales, Stukov, Thrall, Tyrande
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2017-09-05
6
Play Mode
"Players with high matchmaking ratings (MMR) can now place as high as 1,000 points into Master League."
Heroes Affected
Reworks
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2017-08-23
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2017-08-08
Play Mode
QM: "will now prefer not to make mirror matches"; AI: will have no mirror matches
UI/Hotkey
Chat box can now be moved, Hero names replaced with Hero icons
Armor buff/debuffs "have been added next to Hero healthbars"
"Ability cooldown indicators near your mouse cursor [have] been added"
Battleground
Hanamura: "temporarily removed from all game modes except Custom Games in order to undergo changes"
Dragon Shire: Dragon Knight deals double damage to Minions, increased base health, increased base Ability damage; changes were added in the Stukov patch
Heroes Affected
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2017-07-26
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2017-07-11
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2017-06-28
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2017-06-13
5
Gameplay
Bolt of the Storm range reduced, removed from several heroes
Mastery Taunts have been re-enabled, and special mastery taunts added at hero levels 25, 50, 75, 100
Play Mode
All Battleground's are now available in AI, QM and UD; HL and TL will still feature a map rotation
TL matchmaking now allows players to wait "indefinitely" for a good match
UI/Hotkey
Force move added to "move to the target point without attacking any units on the way"
You can now Shift+click items in your collection to link them in chat
Heroes Affected
Reworks
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2017-05-31
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2017-05-16
Gameplay
Battleground rotations introduced: 9 Battlegrounds will be available in matchmaking game modes with "three rotations per [ranked] season"
"Hearthstone (B) will no longer automatically snap the camera back to the allied Hall of Storms unless Camera Lock is enabled"
Heroes Affected
Reworks
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2017-05-10
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2017-04-25
UI/Hotkey
Heroes of the Storm 2.0 launches with new player progression, Loot Chests, emojis, sprays, and Mastery Taunts
Heroes Affected
Reworks
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2017-04-20
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2017-04-04
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2017-03-28
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2017-03-14
4
Gameplay
Scaling based on elapsed time of abilities implemented for Li-Ming, Tyrande
Play Mode
QM: changes to matchmaking for "role-flexing" Heroes
UI/Hotkey
Major UI updates: On Fire effects return, party frames added to top bar, kill feed added to left side of screen
Heroes Affected
Several Warriors receive base Armor: Johanna gets Physical Armor, Tyrael gets Spell Armor, Varian gets Armor with Taunt Heroic, Cho gets Armor on trait
- Anub'arak, Artanis, Arthas, Azmodan, Cho, Gall, Gazlowe, Illidan, Johanna, Kerrigan, Li-Ming, Lucio, Raynor, Tyrael, Tyrande, Varian, Zarya, Zul'jin
Reworks
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2017-02-27
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2017-02-14
Battleground
Minions will now leash at a shorter range
Heroes Affected
Greymane gets a new Heroic, Cursed Bullet, replacing Marked for the Kill
- Abathur, Butcher, Falstad, Greymane, Lt. Morales, Lucio, Muradin, Murky, Nazeebo, Ragnaros, Rexxar, Tassadar, Thrall, Valeera, Varian, Zarya, Zul'jin
Reworks
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2017-01-27
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2017-01-24
Play Mode
Sandbox custom games added: Cursed Hollow map with "cheats menu" to configure settings like Game Speed, Damage Dealt/Taken, and Infinite Mana
Try Mode gets Complete Quests and Select Ally buttons
UI/Hotkey
Ping more often: "Players may now ping up to 5 times over 4 seconds, rather than 3 times over 3 seconds"
Heroes Affected
Reworks
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2017-01-06
-
2017-01-04
Gameplay
Armor system introduced on: Greymane, Arthas, Anub'arak
Play Mode
Tournament Draft added for Custom Games: "allows players to swap their Hero Picks at-will at the end of a draft"
Battleground
Haunted Mines: "Attack Damage scaling for summoned Grave Golems" increased
Heroes Affected
-
2016-12-20
-
2016-12-14
3
Play Mode
Ranked: HL is now solo queue only; TL expanded to "2, 3, and 5-player parties"
TL: will use "First Come, First Serve (FCFS) during Draft Mode" for 2 and 3 player parties; additionally, 2 and 3 player parties must be "ranked within one league of one another"
Ranked Leagues: Silver and Gold "will now contain similar amounts of players"; Diamond will now have "about half the number of players than the previous season"
Leaver penalties added for Unranked Draft and TL: players with active penalties "can no longer queue for Unranked Draft or Team League games"
Brawl: Healing Fountains made Invulnerable for select Brawls (Blackheart's Revenge, Garden Arena, Punisher Arena, Temple Arena)
UI/Hotkey
SHIFT+click a Hero or role "to add a link to that Hero or Role in the chat"; also works by typing Hero or role in square brackets (Ex: [Jaina])
Skip button added to MVP screen, and you can now press TAB to "view the in-game Score Screen for that match"
Battleground
Reworked Haunted Mines has returned! Additional mine entrances, new Mercenaries, new layout to underground mines, and Grave Golems "switch lanes each time they are summoned"
Warhead Junction: Nuke damage reduced and Nukes now scale at flat rate
Heroes Affected
Reworks
-
2016-12-06
-
2016-11-15
Gameplay
Changes to Stealth: Scouting Drone now reveals, but revealing does not affect talents that proc when leaving Stealth
Seasoned Marksman now uncapped and with increased attack speed activatable
Damage Mitigation and Vulnerable changes: damage buffs and debuffs stack additively, with caps of +75% damage reduction and +25% damage amplification
Play Mode
QM/AI: Preferred role option for auto-select added
New Brawl, Blackheart's Revenge, added
Battleground
Blinds now half duration on Dragon Knight, Garden Terror
Heroes Affected
- Abathur, Alarak, Artanis, Falstad, Greymane, Illidan, Kharazim, Leoric, Lt. Morales, Malfurion, Medivh, Nova, Raynor, Samuro, Sgt. Hammer, Sylvanas, Tassadar, Thrall, Tyrande, Varian, Xul, Zeratul
Reworks
-
2016-11-10
-
2016-10-25
Heroes Affected
-
2016-10-18
Play Mode
Heroes Brawl mode added
Changes to XP bonuses for playing with friends; first win of the day XP and gold bonus added
UI/Hotkey
"Hover the cursor over the VS icon found in the top-center of the screen to display the amount of XP earned by each team from various sources, including: Takedowns, Mercenaries, Structures, and more."
MVP screen gets Exit button, adjustments made to several Commendations
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2016-10-12
-
2016-09-27
Battleground
Braxis Holdout: reduced zerg early and mid game damage/scaling
Heroes Affected
Baseline changes: Chromie gets added range on Sand Blast and Dragon's Breath, E.T.C. gets Powerslide range, Malfurion gets CD reduction on trait
Tychus gets Resistant on Odin heroic
- Alarak, Anub'arak, Butcher, Chen, Chromie, E.T.C., Gul'dan, Kharazim, Li Li, Li-Ming, Malfurion, Nazeebo, Tychus, Valla
Reworks
-
2016-09-13
2
Gameplay
Mount movement speed decreased from 40% to 30%
Regen globe despawn reduced from 8 to 6 seconds; Mercenary spawn times changed
Imposing Presence gets activatable function; Spell Shield now toggleable to control when you'd like to reduce ability damage
Relentless talent removed from most Heroes; Bribe talent removed from some Heroes, made Hero-specific for others
Play Mode
Ranked changes to promotion and demotion matches; points in excess of division cap are stored until results of promo match, then applied
Quest changes for Draft modes: "Any Hero selected...will now count toward progression of any role or universe-specific Daily Quest"
HL Grandmaster players have been reduced from 500 to 200
Try Mode gets Boss camp, can now change enemy hero and/or game speed
UI/Hotkey
MVP system added: "Five players will receive awards for their in-game performance and individual achievements" at end of each game
Heroes Affected
Baseline changes: Johanna gets partial Knight Takes Pawn baseline; Muradin gets partial Reverberation baseline
- Anub'arak, Azmodan, Brightwing, Butcher, Cho, Diablo, E.T.C., Falstad, Greymane, Johanna, Kharazim, Leoric, Li Li, Lt. Morales, Malfurion, Muradin, Murky, Nazeebo, Nova, Raynor, Rehgar, Sgt. Hammer, Sonya, Stitches, Sylvanas, Thrall, Tychus, Uther, Valla, Zagara, Zeratul
Reworks
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2016-08-24
-
2016-08-09
-
2016-07-27
-
2016-07-12
Gameplay
Health sustain changes: regen globes grant more health/mana, longer cooldowns on healing wells
Minion Buffs: Lane Minions "now deal an additional 50% damage to Structures"
Catapults will not acquire a new target after fixating until the target is destroyed or the Catapult is killed
Relentless talent more narrowly defined as only stuns, slows, and roots; Executioner bonus damage applied "to anything attacked after the effect is triggered"
Healing wells now displayed on mini-map as a '+' icon
Play Mode
QM: Bonus XP for auto select when "system detects lengthy queue times for one or more Heroes"
Gameplay tips will now display on loading screens when entering a match
Rejoin is now optional for Training, Single Player Versus AI, and Custom Games
Battleground
Garden Terrors now deal more damage to Structures
Heroes Affected
Baseline changes: Jaina gets 3 waves of Blizzard baseline; Stitches gets Helping Hand baseline
Many changes from devs "doing a pass on all heroes...to increase the health of their talent trees"
- Abathur, Arthas, Azmodan, Brightwing, Butcher, Chen, Cho, Dehaka, Diablo, E.T.C., Falstad, Gall, Gazlowe, Greymane, Jaina, Kael'thas, Kerrigan, Kharazim, Leoric, Lunara, Medivh, Muradin, Murky, Nazeebo, Nova, Raynor, Sgt. Hammer, Sonya, Stitches, Sylvanas, The Lost Vikings, Tracer, Tychus, Tyrael, Uther, Valla, Xul, Zagara, Zeratul
Reworks
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2016-06-29
-
2016-06-21
-
2016-06-14
1
Play Mode
HL switched to tiers instead of 50 Ranks: "There are seven League Tiers in total: Bronze, Silver, Gold, Platinum, Diamond, Master, and Grand Master"
Unranked Draft mode added: "There will be no party size restrictions in this new game mode"
MMR Seeding: first timers in HL Season 1 and Unranked Draft will seed from QM MMR; future HL seasons will seed from Unranked Draft MMR; Team League uses HL MMR to seed
Heroes Affected
-
2016-06-02
Heroes Affected
-
2016-05-17
Gameplay
Stun, root, and polymorph duration nerfs for most heroes
Several generic level 1 talents changed to Quest Talents (Conjurer's, Regen, Seasoned); Quest talents hard-capped, but give completion bonus
Executioner talent reworked: "increases Basic Attack damage by 30% for 3 seconds after hitting a Stunned, Slowed, or Rooted target with a Basic Attack"
Battle Momentum has been made Hero-specific, and now only applies to Basic Ability cooldowns
"25% of a Healing Well’s maximum Health has been converted into a Shield. Shield Regeneration delay of 8 seconds"
Play Mode
HL matchmaking update for "extremely high MMR's"
Heroes Affected
- Anub'arak, Artanis, Arthas, Brightwing, Chen, Diablo, Falstad, Gazlowe, Greymane, Jaina, Johanna, Kael'thas, Kerrigan, Leoric, Li Li, Li-Ming, Lt. Morales, Malfurion, Muradin, Nazeebo, Raynor, Rehgar, Rexxar, Sgt. Hammer, Sonya, Stitches, Tassadar, The Lost Vikings, Thrall, Tyrael, Tyrande, Uther, Valla, Xul, Zagara, Zeratul
Reworks
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2016-05-04
Heroes Affected
-
2016-04-27
-
2016-04-19
Play Mode
QM "matchmaking system will now account for each player's Hero level in order to better define match quality"
UI/Hotkey
"Mute Player Pings button has been added to the in-game Score Screen (TAB)"
Hotkeys: "Hold Position Hotkey (Default: H) now also functions as a Hold Fire command" and "/Taunt and /Dance hotkey settings default to Numpad 1 and 2"
Battleground
Towers of Doom: "Events in which three Altars spawn at once will now only occur twice per game, during the first and fifth Altar events"
Heroes Affected
-
2016-04-12
-
2016-03-29
Gameplay
Block: "Damage reduction increased from 50% to 75%"; Dampen Magic redesigned to reduce Ability Damage by 50% for 1 second
Play Mode
Bans added to HL and TL
Ranked requirements updated: account level 30 no longer needed, need access to 14 heroes over level 5 to queue, free week heroes can now also be selected
Draft Lobby re-worked to show hero models, favorites bar
UI/Hotkey
Death recaps added: "briefly summarize the cause of death, list the player's killer, and the source of damage that scored the killing blow."
Hotkeys update to set Quick Cast for Individual Abilities
"All generic Talents have received updated button art; All remaining Talents that modify the same Ability and coexist on the same Talent tier have received new color tints"
Battleground
Garden Terror's Overgrowth no longer deals damage to Structures, Minions, or Mercenaries; Dragon Knight immune to Attack Speed slows from Forts and Keeps
Heroes Affected
- Abathur, Arthas, Azmodan, Brightwing, Butcher, Chen, Diablo, E.T.C., Falstad, Gall, Gazlowe, Greymane, Illidan, Jaina, Johanna, Kael'thas, Kerrigan, Kharazim, Leoric, Li Li, Lunara, Muradin, Murky, Nazeebo, Raynor, Rehgar, Rexxar, Sgt. Hammer, Sonya, Stitches, Sylvanas, The Lost Vikings, Thrall, Tychus, Tyrael, Uther, Valla, Xul, Zagara, Zeratul
Reworks
-
2016-03-16
-
2016-03-09
-
2016-03-01
-
2016-02-17
-
2016-02-10
-
2016-02-02
Gameplay
Structure Buffs: structures now deal 50% bonus damage to Heroes, can no longer be made Vulnerable
Battleground-specific creatures are now universally defined as "Monsters," changes how they work with certain talents
UI/Hotkey
Killstreak flames removed
Floating combat text reworked to be more visually apparent
Updates to talent icons for similar icons on same tier
Ping Spam Reduction: "Reduced the frequency at which players can issue pings before they become unable to issue additional pings for a period of time"
Heroes Affected
- Abathur, Anub'arak, Artanis, Arthas, Azmodan, Butcher, Cho, Diablo, E.T.C., Falstad, Gall, Gazlowe, Illidan, Jaina, Johanna, Kerrigan, Kharazim, Leoric, Lt. Morales, Lunara, Malfurion, Muradin, Murky, Nazeebo, Nova, Raynor, Rehgar, Rexxar, Sgt. Hammer, Sonya, Stitches, Sylvanas, The Lost Vikings, Thrall, Tychus, Tyrande, Uther, Valla, Zagara, Zeratul
Reworks
-
2016-01-27
Heroes Affected
Buffs to under-picked Heroics: "increase the impact that some Heroic Abilities have at the moment they are cast"
Muradin's Avatar has mini-stuns removed
- Arthas, Brightwing, E.T.C., Falstad, Greymane, Johanna, Kharazim, Lt. Morales, Malfurion, Muradin, Rehgar, Sgt. Hammer, Uther
-
2016-01-20
Gameplay
Cleanse reworked: "Target ally now becomes Unstoppable for 1 second. Cannot be self-cast"
General
First smaller balance update to be released
Heroes Affected
-
2016-01-12
General
Cho'gall Buddy Brawl has ended; Cho'gall now available for purchase from the in-game Shop
-
2015-12-15
Play Mode
QM rule added to matchmaker "prevents teams that do not have a Warrior hero from being matched with teams that do have a Warrior"
Players in Custom Game lobbies can now create a clickable link and share it in chat channels
UI/Hotkey
Loading Screens will now only display portrait borders that are relevant to each play mode
Party Indicator Icons have been added to indicate which players queued together
Heroes Affected
-
2015-12-08
Gameplay
Talent gating removed: "players will now have access to all Hero Talents regardless of their account levels"
General
Recruit a Friend introduced: recruiter can get mount, recruitees can get two heroes free
Free-to-play weekly Hero Rotation has been expanded from 7 to 10 free Hero slots
-
2015-11-17
Gameplay
Scaling changes: "A large portion of Heroes' total scaling amounts, which were previously gained over the course of a game, have been added to their base values."
"Respawn timers have been increased for levels 1 - 10"
Play Mode
HL: 2-player parties will always select heroes simultaneously (for Cho'gall)
General
Replays from this patch and later "will remain viewable after future patches are released"
UI/Hotkey
UI Score-Screen: Takedowns replaced with Kills and Assists
Battleground
Haunted Mines map removed from matchmaking queues
Heroes Affected
-
2015-10-20
Play Mode
HL: AFK and leaver penalties for failing to select hero before timer expires
Matchmaker max queue time increased from 360 to 600 seconds
Heroes Affected
-
2015-10-06
Play Mode
Try Mode updated with merc camps and toggles for level, talents, cooldowns and ally
UI/Hotkey
Loading screens now show player names, portrait, and selected hero
Visual effects added when targeted by structures
End of game surveys added
Battleground
Battlefield of Eternity: increased late-game scaling for immortals
Garden Terror's Overgrowth now disables enemy Core
Sky Temple: triple active Temple events will no longer occur
Infernal Shrines: Skeletal Defenders needed to summon Punisher increased from 30 to 40
Heroes Affected
-
2015-09-08
Play Mode
HL: now limited to parties of two or fewer
General
"Players who are frequently reported for Abusive Chat will be given a Silence Penalty": first penalty is 24 hours, successive penalties double in duration
Heroes Affected
-
2015-08-18
Gameplay
Cleanse reworked: "No longer makes the target Unstoppable for 1 second. Now adds Relentless to the target for 2 seconds (50% shorter CC duration)"
Many other tweaks to generic talents, including Focused Attacks "only trigger when hitting Heroes"
"Clarify the rules for temporary Ability Power gains": dynamic updates for some, snapshots for others
Play Mode
HL & TL: ranks reset (MMR not reset), and 20 placement matches needed to receive initial ranking
HL: "now limited to a maximum party size of four players"
TL: "ability to create a named team has been removed"
General
Dynamic Bundles added for 3+ items bundled: "price will be automatically reduced if the player already owns one or more of the items"
Battleground
Tomb of the Spider Queen: increased scaling for late-game Webweavers
Heroes Affected
- Abathur, Anub'arak, Arthas, Azmodan, Brightwing, Butcher, Chen, Diablo, E.T.C., Falstad, Gazlowe, Illidan, Jaina, Johanna, Kael'thas, Kerrigan, Kharazim, Leoric, Li Li, Malfurion, Muradin, Murky, Nazeebo, Nova, Raynor, Rehgar, Sgt. Hammer, Sonya, Stitches, Sylvanas, Tassadar, The Lost Vikings, Thrall, Tychus, Tyrael, Tyrande, Uther, Valla, Zagara, Zeratul
-
2015-06-30
Gameplay
Tweaks to most generic talents, including Spell Shield "duration increased from 2 to 3 seconds"
Heroes Affected
See Developer Insights for more details on reworks and balance changes
- Abathur, Anub'arak, Arthas, Azmodan, Brightwing, Butcher, Chen, Diablo, E.T.C., Falstad, Gazlowe, Illidan, Jaina, Johanna, Kael'thas, Kerrigan, Li Li, Malfurion, Muradin, Murky, Nazeebo, Nova, Raynor, Rehgar, Sgt. Hammer, Sonya, Stitches, Sylvanas, Tassadar, The Lost Vikings, Thrall, Tychus, Tyrael, Tyrande, Uther, Valla, Zagara, Zeratul
Reworks
-
2015-06-02
General
"Heroes of the Storm has officially launched!"
-
2015-05-12
Gameplay
Generic talent updates, including Focused Attack "bonus to Basic Attack damage increased from 50% to 75%" and Follow Through "bonus to Basic Attack damage increased from 25% to 40%"
Heroes Affected
- Abathur, Anub'arak, Azmodan, Brightwing, Chen, Diablo, E.T.C., Gazlowe, Illidan, Kael'thas, Kerrigan, Li Li, Malfurion, Muradin, Murky, Nazeebo, Nova, Raynor, Rehgar, Sgt. Hammer, Sonya, Sylvanas, Tassadar, The Lost Vikings, Thrall, Tychus, Tyrande, Uther, Zagara, Zeratul
Reworks
-
2015-03-24
Gameplay
Structure health changes: "Gate, Tower, Town Hall, and Wall Health reduced by approximately 10%"
Generic talent tweaks, including Healing Ward "duration increased from 10 to 15 seconds...heal amount reduced from 3% to 2% of max Health per second"
Play Mode
"Initial implementation for Team League...has been added to the game"
Heroes Affected
- Abathur, Anub'arak, Azmodan, Brightwing, Diablo, E.T.C., Falstad, Illidan, Jaina, Kerrigan, Li Li, Malfurion, Murky, Nazeebo, Raynor, Sgt. Hammer, Sonya, Stitches, Sylvanas, Tassadar, The Lost Vikings, Thrall, Tychus, Tyrael, Tyrande, Uther, Valla, Zeratul
Reworks
-
2015-02-10
Gameplay
Generic level 20 talents added: Nexus Blades, Nexus Frenzy, Hardened Shield, Fury of the Storm; Rewind moved to 20
Heroes Affected
- Abathur, Anub'arak, Arthas, Azmodan, Brightwing, Chen, Diablo, E.T.C., Falstad, Gazlowe, Illidan, Jaina, Kerrigan, Malfurion, Muradin, Murky, Nazeebo, Nova, Raynor, Rehgar, Sgt. Hammer, Sonya, Stitches, Tassadar, The Lost Vikings, Thrall, Tychus, Tyrael, Tyrande, Uther, Valla, Zagara, Zeratul
Reworks
-
2015-01-13
Gameplay
Resurgence of the Storm talent removed from the game
Play Mode
"Initial implementation for Hero League, the first Ranked Play mode in Heroes of the Storm, has been added to the game"
General
Weekly sales of three items added to in-game Shop
Heroes Affected
- Abathur, Anub'arak, Arthas, Azmodan, Brightwing, Chen, E.T.C., Falstad, Gazlowe, Illidan, Jaina, Kerrigan, Li Li, Malfurion, Muradin, Nazeebo, Nova, Raynor, Sgt. Hammer, Sonya, Stitches, Tassadar, Tychus, Tyrael, Tyrande, Uther, Valla, Zagara
Reworks
-
2014-12-02
Gameplay
Many generic talent changes, including Rewind rework: "now refreshes all Basic Ability cooldowns rather than reducing them by 10 seconds"
UI/Hotkey
"Line skillshots can no longer be self-cast using the Alt key"
Heroes Affected
-
2014-10-07
Gameplay
"The Core now regenerates Shields after it has not taken damage for 8 seconds, rather than 10 seconds"
General
"Initial implementation for the Heroes of the Storm Replay System has been added."
Battleground
Knight Mercenary updates: "The Healer Mercenary no longer heals other Mercenaries or Minions, and now casts a damaging Arcane Bolt on enemies instead"
Heroes Affected
Reworks
-
2014-09-10
Gameplay
Seasoned Marksman: "No longer requires last hits to gain stacks"
Battleground
"Health regeneration when Siege Giants are out of combat for 8 or more seconds has been removed"
Heroes Affected
-
2014-07-23
Gameplay
"Artifacts have been added to Heroes of the Storm"; One week later, Artifacts were removed on August 1
Many generic talents moved levels or removed, new generic talents added: Seasoned Marksman, Conjurer's Pursuit, Scouting Drone, Gathering Power
Heroes Affected
-
2014-06-25
Gameplay
Underdog Bonus added: "A team that is behind in levels - the 'underdog' - now earns bonus XP whenever an enemy hero is killed, while a team that is ahead in levels receives reduced XP for killing enemy heroes"
Heroes Affected
"All Heroes now have flat Attack Speeds that no longer scale with level"
- Abathur, Arthas, Brightwing, Diablo, E.T.C., Falstad, Gazlowe, Illidan, Kerrigan, Li Li, Malfurion, Muradin, Murky, Nazeebo, Raynor, Sgt. Hammer, Sonya, Stitches, Tassadar, Tychus, Tyrael, Valla, Zagara, Zeratul
Reworks
-
2014-05-22
Gameplay
"Mount speed has been increased from 20% to 40% and mounts no longer gain speed per level"
"The team level cap has been increased from 25 to 30"
UI/Hotkey
"A Quick Cast option has been added and can be accessed in the Gameplay Options menu"
Battleground
Cursed Hollow: "to reduce the snowballing on this Battleground the Curse no longer reduces building health by 50% when the Curse is active"
Heroes Affected
- Abathur, Arthas, Brightwing, Diablo, Falstad, Gazlowe, Illidan, Kerrigan, Li Li, Malfurion, Muradin, Murky, Nazeebo, Nova, Raynor, Sgt. Hammer, Sonya, Stitches, Tassadar, Tychus, Tyrael, Tyrande, Uther, Valla, Zeratul
Reworks
-
2014-04-15