EPT
Welcome to our continued coverage of Heroes of the Storm. Just three weeks ago, Blizzard released a major patch that overhauled a few heroes and overall changed how the game was played. After extensive playtesting, we’re here to bring you our thoughts on the changes the game has gone through. This is part 1, where we’ll address roughly half of the stuff Blizzard has changed. You can find the patch notes here.
Non-Hero Changes
There’s a lot of text in this patch and much of it can be glossed over. One of the biggest changes - adding a whole new hero - is a single line of text, while other huge sections are about how they made the maps prettier. We cover the important ones here.
One of the most evident changes, even if not incredibly important, is that the graphics on low settings have been made much prettier. As someone who plays on low quality, it makes the game easier on the eyes, and if anything, performance on low settings has increased. There’s also a swathe of UI changes. First and foremost, they've changed the way talents now work - you need to press ctrl to bring up the talent menu, decreasing the opportunity for “oops, I misclicked and leveled first aid” by quite a bit. The way ability icons are displayed is vastly improved - with their size increased they’re a lot easier to see, and I imagine to click in an emergency. The minimap swapped sides, and was made much larger. The new minimap is very nice, a *lot* easier to see, and very good at displaying information. That said, its size and the fact that it is borderless can lead to some really frustrating misclicks that wind up with your hero turning around into five heroes and exploding. Things like team level and map specific mechanics displays have been shuffled around, and once we got used to them, their positions and sizes seem far superior.
Also a cause of happiness is the addition of an automated method of getting rid of afkers, and a system to reconnect when a hero inevitably crashes. This is an immense help, as many, many games have been ruined by the lack of these two features. The changes to matchmaking are nice as they yield better parties, but not nearly as relevant as the the fact that we can *finally* reconnect to games. Also encouraging is the fact that these changes suggest Blizzard might be working on a way to deal with griefers, an occasional thorn in matches.
Mount speed has been set to a fixed 40% increase, rather than starting at 20% and increasing every level. Other than helping with chases, this is not a huge deal. Another thing that isn't a huge deal is that the maps have received new voice overs. We are highly disappointed and outraged that the previously fantastic voice acting of Dragon Shire was replaced with a mediocre replacement, and we hope Blizzard will address this further in future patches. Furthermore, the pirate became even more annoying if possible. These are not great changes, even though the other changes to the maps are fantastic.
Cursed Hollow had the power of curse reduced, which all things considered is a good thing. It no longer halves building HP during its duration, which makes it less frustrating to deal with. Haunted Mines was upgraded, and it’s a much better map now. The two watch towers make the time when the mines are closed much more dynamic, and highly encourage a dichotomy between laning and securing objectives. The upgrade to Dragon Knight, causing him to scale better, also contributes to making that objective much more important, where before at later levels it could be ignored.
But now to the change everyone really cares about: Nova’s triple tap bug got fixed! Oh, also hero changes:
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Hero Changes
Abathur
Symbiote
- Stab
- Base damage reduced from 50 to 40
- Damage gain per level increased from 10 to 13
- Base damage reduced from 32 to 28
- Damage gain per level increased from 10 to 12
- Base shield amount reduced from 160 to 140
- Shield amount gain per level increased from 14 to 16
- Base damage reduced from 40 to 35
- Damage gain per level increased from 12 to 15
So what do these changes mean? For one, it's a relief that they’re so minor, because it means GMarshal won’t have to scrap his entire Abathur guide (coming soon(™)). This represents a fairly minor nerf to Abathur's early game power, but greatly helps his scaling into the mid to late game. Seeing as Abathur previously felt quite weak in the period between level 4 and getting his heroic ability, and was underwhelming after getting the heroic ability while it wasn’t cast, this is a good change. Maybe GMarshal will actually win games with him now.
Change Severity: 2/10 Illidans - it won’t change how the hero is played at all, but will remedy some weaknesses.
Change Rating: 9/10 Murkies - no new second ult means we cannot in good conscience award this a 10.
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Brightwing
- Base damage (inner/outer) reduced from 90/45 to 70/35
- Damage (inner/outer) increase per level reduced from 24/12 to 18/9
- Damage bonus reduced from 50% to 33%
Brightwing got nerfed. Again. Which is fair, as Brightwing was one of the strongest heroes prior to the patch. His incredible damage, global teleport, and free healing made him a fantastic pick in every situation, especially considering his heal is a passive ability. There was basically no situation in which you would not want a Brightwing on your team. Heck, if you could, you’d take 5. These nerfs will probably help mitigate his power, although it seems like he will still remain an extremely strong hero. Of course, with how annoying his voice is, it is a necessity that he have something to compel players to play him. Kadaver insists that this is “cute”, rather than the equivalent of taking a cheese grater to the ear.
Change Severity: 3/10 Illidans - the numbers nerfs are pretty strong but won't change his playstyle.
Change Rating: 10/10 Murkies - an all around good change.
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Diablo
- Now pierces enemies by default
This is a step in the right direction to try and make Diablo better. It fails to address Diablo’s biggest issue, however, that having a lot of hitpoints but dealing no damage is no fun. You don’t feel like the Lord of Terror when your only use is to soak damage with an underwhelming fire stomp that does very little. Grabbing and slamming enemies is fun, but we’d really love to see Diablo get a rework of some sort that would make him feel scarier, or at least more useful. Perhaps by increasing the damage of fire stomp greatly but making it easier to dodge, or upgrading its damage the closer you are to Diablo? This is a step in the right direction though.
Change Severity: 1/10 Illidans - still no real incentive to pick Diablo over Stitches.
Change Rating: 5/10 Murkies - good change, but not enough.
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Falstad
- Now displays an indicator which makes Falstad’s landing spot visible to all players
This is a minor but positive change. It avoids the old “Faldstad teleports in and kills you before you can react” thing that sometimes happened. Faldstadt has strong chasing abilities so it makes sense to give the poor opponent some notification of what’s coming so they can panic. If you play Dota 2, imagine for a second how annoying it would be if Nature's Prophet did not have the animation showing where he’s teleporting to.
Change Severity: 2/10 Illidans - minimal, but relevant.
Change Rating: 10/10 Murkies - it makes a strong ability more fair, and leaves a mostly balanced hero intact. Good change.
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Gazlowe
Death Lazor
- Deth Lazor stages increased from 3 to 4.
- Stage 4 has the same range as stage 3, but deals an additional 50% damage.
Xplodium Charge
- Xplodium Charge deals 10% more damage for each enemy target hit by the explosion. This damage bonus caps at 100%.
These changes do not seem that impactful. The new level 16 talent is very underwhelming compared to the available alternatives. The ability to charge the beam for more damage isn't really a big deal when charging to level 3 in a teamfight is already difficult, and getting more turrets or higher range turrets feels like it would always be a superior choice. It is arguably a good choice for jungling, but at level 16, Gazlowe already destroys mercenary camps in short order, so it is hard to see a situation in which this would be a good pick up. It might be better in a teamfight lineup, but the long charge time really hurts.
The new level 1 talent is interesting. It could work well in a team focused lineup with a team that also has void prison or orbital strike or something of the sort. It could also be useful for pushing. However, overall it feels really situational, and the upgrade that gives more mana for scrap is probably better in most situations. That said, Extra TNT could certainly be picked, so it seems like a solid addition as it gives Gazlowe more choices in his build.
Change Severity: 1/10 Illidans - not going to change how the hero is played at all, although these talents may have their place in a very specific build.
Change Rating: 4/10 Murlocs - these aren't the most thrilling changes ever. Functional but boring.
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Li Li
Healing Brew
Cloud Serpent
- Mana cost reduced from 65 to 40
- Cooldown reduced from 16 to 8 seconds
- uration decreased from 12 to 10 seconds
- Base damage reduced from 22 to 20
- Base damage reduced from 22 to 20
- Duration extension reduced from 100% to 50%
Blinding Wind
- Base damage reduced from 50 to 40
- Base damage reduced from 50 to 40
- Now slows targets hit by 40% for 3 seconds
- Search radius increased from 9 to 12
- Base damage reduced from 310 to 260
- Damage gain per level reduced from 60 to 25
This is a strong buff to Li Li, a hero that was already a strong healer. Healing Brew self targeting means that focusing Li Li is no longer nearly as much an option as it used to be, although it's nice that it doesn’t restore mana. It seems like it may be a little too strong of a buff, although the change hasn’t made her popularity spike as hard as we expected for whatever reason.
Cloud Serpent got buffed overall, but it remains an extremely underwhelming ability. It feels like an ability that needs to be reworked or modified in some way, as the “serpent” does not really *do* anything. It’s neither exciting nor particularly useful, and would be *much* cooler if it gave the ally bestowed with it some kind of bonus ability.
Blinding Wind getting buffed isn’t a huge deal. It makes Li Li slightly more annoying to deal with, but her biggest contribution to the team is still her healing. Water Dragon’s changes are much more relevant, with its damage being massively reduced. Water Dragon was already a weak alternative to Jug’s massive healing, and swapping damage for a slow hasn’t done anything to make Water Dragon appealing.
Change Severity: 6/10 Illidans - self healing is a big deal that makes Li Li significantly less squishy. Water Dragon getting changed is also significant, but whether or not it's an improvement is very debatable.
Change Rating: 6/10 Murlocs - it is good that Cloud Serpent is being addressed somehow, although it needs a bigger change. The Water Dragon change is a little bewildering, and the healing buff is also a big deal, but none of these are amazing or sorely needed.
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Muradin
Muradin has received significant Talent changes:
- Skullcracker (Talent) has moved from level 1 to 4
- Third Wind (Talent) Talent has moved from level 4 to 13
Stormbolt
- Infused Hammer (Talent)
- Mana refund increased from 50% to 75%
- Sledgehammer
- Damage to structures and minions increased from 200% to 400%, and now also destroys 4 tower ammunition
- This Talent no longer stuns structures
Thunderclap
- New Talent (Level 1): Reverberation
- Thunderclap now slows enemy attack speeds by 33%
- Thunderclap heals 1% of Muradin’s maximum Health for each target hit
- Thunderclap deals 300% damage if only one target is hit
Dwarf Toss
Haymaker
These changes are interesting as we felt that Muradin could use some buffs. Reworking his talents makes sense, but we don’t see these changes as really altering the way the hero is played. Muradin’s greatest strength is still in the fact that he has good damage and disables for a warrior, with Storm Hammer being really powerful. At level 1 there is no reason to take any ability other than Perfect Storm, which permanently increases the damage of Storm Hammer for every time it hits an enemy hero. The only way that is going to change is if the alternative level 1 talents are buffed, or if Perfect Storm is severely nerfed. Thunderclap slowing attack speed for 33% seems good, but it doesn’t have *nearly* the same impact as Perfect Storm. We don't necessarily desire those changes, but it would be nice to have a *choice* at level 1. It's good to see the mana costs for his abilities drop, considering that Muradin’s abilities are very spammable.
It was a good decision to move Skull Cracker from level 4 to level 1. It may actually be picked now, as having a stun proc every 4 attacks is insanely good against heroes that have channelled abilities as well as for chasing. Sledgehammer’s buff at level 4 makes it worth considering in a pushing lineup, although talents that increase your damage to buildings generally feel really underwhelming. Landing Momentum getting moved to level 7 is not a huge deal as it is a pretty weak talent that feels like it would get crowded out by better options at any level. At level 4 it at least felt like it competed with the other choices; at level 7 almost every other option is better. Battle Momentum also falls into this trap; while it offers disruption capabilities, Burning Attacks gives you damage, Piercing Bolt maximises your nuke damage, and Block helps against heavy physical damage lineups. I can not really see a situation in which Battle Momentum would be superior to these options, when the ability to leap already serves as a fantastic escape and chasing mechanism.
His level 13 talents have had the greatest number of additions, and it is a little hard to determine if it actually made a difference as none of the choices stand out as amazing. Healing Static is certainly better than Third Wind for healing over time, but Third Wind is more immediately relevant in combat. Thunderstrike is very situational, and seems like it’d only be an option if one on one combat is a thing you need to worry about. Spell Shield and Burning Rage are both good at what they do (helping to protect against burst damage and adding dps to pushes/teamfights, respectively), and Dwarf Launch feels like it would almost always be a solid choice unless you need another of the situational talents. 13 is a very solid level for Muradin as it offers interesting decisions. I suppose we can live with less than amazing choices if they offer interesting decision making.
Level 16 remains untouched, and much like level 13 offers an interesting interplay of options. The Haymaker distance buff is nice, but anyone who has played Warcraft 3 knows that Avatar is the only right choice. It's nice to know that Haymaker offers a way to throw an opponent out of a fight though, even though picking it is tantamount to sacrilege.
Change Severity: 3/10 Illidans - neither a buff nor a nerf; this will not fundamentally alter Muradin’s viability or playstyle.
Change Rating: 8/10 Murlocs - I like it. It's nice to see the talents getting reshuffled to offer more interesting choices, even if they aren't quite where they need to be yet.
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Witch Doctor
Death Ritual (Trait)
Gargantuan
- Gargantuan takes 50% reduced damage from structures
- Causes the Gargantuan to remain until it is killed
Ravenous Souls
These changes are a straight up buff to Witch Doctor, a hero who could frankly use them. Death Ritual was hardly noticeable last patch, so hopefully doubling its effects helps to make it more useful. I suspect it is not enough, however, and that to make it useful would result in something too “snowbally” for Blizzard's design goals. Death Ritual has the potential to be interesting, but I’ve never seen it as especially good. The buffs to his ults are also very very welcome. Ravenous Souls not keeping up with the enemy was a huge source of frustration and mandated landing a Zombie Wall or some other disable first. With its speed buffed, it becomes a very solid ultimate that hits like a truck. The Gargantuan buff brings it up to Ravenous Spirit levels of utility, except more push than teamfight oriented, which makes the choice between talents very real and difficult.
Change Severity: 4/10 Illidans - This makes WD's ultimates, which were already pretty good, better. I’d expect him to be a more solid pick now.
Change Rating: 9/10 Murlocs - I don’t think these changes fixed Death Ritual, but overall this is great for WD.
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Arthas
Frostmourne Hungers (Trait) has been changed:
- Supporting Talents have been reworked
Frost Strike (Q) and its supporting Talents have been removed.
New Ability (Q): Death Coil
- New Talent (Level 1): Death Touch
- Death Coil will instantly kill minions
- Death Coil deals 20% more damage for each 10% of health Arthas is missing
- Death Coil will now always heal Arthas. If Death Coil is used to heal Arthas, the amount healed is increased by 50%
Frozen Tempest
- Remorseless Winter Talent previously did this and has been removed
- Mana cost per second increased from 8 to 10
- Biting Cold (Talent) is now accessible at level 13 instead of 16
Army of the Dead
Sindragosa
- Search width increased from 5 to 8
- Damage gained per level increased from 10 to 15
Rune Tap (Talent)
Arthas has gone through a lot of radical changes this patch, which given his earlier state is a good thing. The changes are overall good and make Arthas much more playable. The new Frostmourne Hungers combines well with Frozen Tempest, as it gives Arthas more sustainability due to how the aura burns through mana. The 100% damage bonus is really appreciated, as Arthas doesn't exactly output a ton of damage. It also means that remembering to use this ability will be a key distinction between being a good Arthas and a mediocre Arthas.
Frost Strike was removed with Death Coil added in its place. Frost Strike was never a good ability, while Death Coil is better, more versatile, and even flavourful. For anyone who has played WC3, you probably remember this ability fondly. It works pretty much the same here, with the ability to heal Arthas and damage enemies. It’s a fantastic nuke, especially if talented correctly. The fact that Arthas can use it to self heal is icing on the cake, as it really keeps with Arthas’s whole theme of surviving through teamfights to hinder enemies with his frost aura while being an unkillable nuisance. With a 9 second cooldown on Death Coil, it can be cast often in a teamfight, and Embrace Death and Immortal Coil are both really powerful upgrades for it.
Frozen Tempest received an upgrade and now applies a very strong movespeed debuff to its opponents, which is a *huge* deal. It means that if an opponent is losing a long teamfight, attempts to disengage are more likely to result in death. The damage on top of it is also quite respectable, which means Arthas is an extremely tempting target in a teamfight. However, with his massive sustain thanks to Death Coil and huge HP pool, it is easier said than done to kill him. Really, adding the movespeed debuff helps Arthas a ton, as enemies who commit to fighting must either win or die. With the upgrade, the mana cost increase is understandably needed.
Both Sindragosa's shiny buffs as well as the increased cooldown on Army of the Dead help to make Sindragosa worth considering, as it deals a fair bit more damage in a wider radius. However, Army might still edge ahead when picking between them, as Arthas is a hero who at its core is meant to be really hard to kill.
Overall, these changes are good for Arthas, making him fantastic in teamfights and overall a lot more playable. We’ll miss his stun, but Death Coil fits him so much better
Change Severity: 9/10 Illidans - a huge rework and a lot of buffs. This is a big deal, almost on the same magnitude as the Illidan changes.
Change Rating: 10/10 Murlocs - at first I wasn’t convinced, but the changes fit Arthas quite well, and he’s a hero that needed a buff. Death Coil also really appeals to the WC3 fan in me, so points for style.
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Illidan
New Trait: Betrayer’s Thirst
- Basic attacks now heal for 30% of damage dealt
- Betrayer’s Thirst can be activated to double the cooldown reduction from basic attacks for 5 seconds
- 25 second cooldown
New Ability (Q): Dive
- Illidan’s next basic attack on the Dive target deals 100% additional damage
- Illidan gains 20% movement speed for 2 seconds after casting Dive
- Dive can now be cast on allies
- Increases Dive cast range by 30%
New Ability (W): Sweeping Strike
- Increases the Sweeping Strike’s basic attack damage bonus from 25% to 40%
- Increases the range of Sweeping Strike by 20%
- Sweeping Strike causes Illidan to burn nearby enemies for a few seconds
- Illidan ignores all collision while using Sweeping Strikes
- Illidan can store up to 2 charges of Sweeping Strike.
New Ability (E): Evasion
- Evasion also grants a shield that lasts for 5 seconds
- Illidan takes 50% reduced damage from abilities while Evasion is active.
Metamorphosis
- Illidan remains in Demonic Form until killed
- Allows Illidan to mount while in Demonic Form
- Attack speed of Demonic Form is increased from 20% to 30%
The Hunt
- Cast range becomes global, and the acceleration of The Hunt is greatly increased
Illidan has basically been reworked from the ground up and is now a whole new hero. Considering how lacklustre the old Illidan was, this is not a bad thing. This section could have easily read “threw out all of Illidan's abilities and gave him new ones”. So, let's take this bit by bit and see how Neo-Illidan stacks up.
Let's begin with the attack speed change. On the surface it seems like a heavy nerf to the hero, but his base attack speed is already quite high, and some of his abilities would become insane with his old attack speed. This would particularly affect the new Betrayer’s Thirst, an utterly absurd Trait with 20% lifesteal and cooldown reduction on autoattack. Most heroes would need two talents to get more limited versions of this, but not Illidan. This really latches on to the flavour of the hero - an ultra fast duelist that destroys enemies one on one. Furthermore, if Illidan manfights, this could conceivably allow him to cast his Heroic Ability twice in one fight, which is *awesome*. Overall, Betrayer’s Thirst is a much cooler and useful ability than the old “Mark Your Target” ability, which never really felt great. This ability feels like a straight up bonus, while Mark felt like something you had to use expertly to be effective at all. This is a fantastic change.
Dive is basically a better version of the old Lunge and it feels amazing. Previously, you would have to mark the target and chase them to flip over them, but no more! Illidan now chases down the target and jumps in front of them, nuking and slowing them. The nuke aspect doesn't deal an immense amount of damage but it has the right feel for what you’d expect out of Illidan, while the slow makes this one of the best chasing abilities in the game. Overall, this is an immensely satisfying replacement for the old Lunge.
Next up, losing Crescent Sweep for Sweeping Strike is a really good upgrade. Crescent Sweep always felt like the dumb mandatory “AoEish ability you need to get off to do cool stuff”, while Sweeping Strike is an ability that is great for escaping and chasing, while being able to initiate in a pinch. It goes very well with Dive, allowing Illidan to Dive on an enemy, burst them, and then Sweeping Strike to either catch them before they flee or disengage if he’s losing. This mobility combo gives Illidan the feel of an agile hunter, a predator closing in on its prey, before destroying it. Illidan is now even more mobile than Zeratul - good luck nailing him down without stuns or powerful chasing abilities.
Evasion gives Illidan more time to deal his continuous damage by making him harder to kill, obviously. Evading all basic attacks for two seconds is huge, especially with the ability to reduce Evasion's cooldown thanks to Betrayer's Thirst. While Illidan is still relatively fragile, Evasion helps him survive in teamfights where his previous squishiness would have him blow up instantly. The combination of these three abilities in the hands of a skilled player make Illidan downright terrifying.
While none of his ultimates were replaced, and Hunt actually received a nerf, the changes to his other abilities now make choosing between the two talents a very interesting decision. Hunt makes initiating and chasing a lot easier, which is fantastic when combined with heroes that can grant vision at a distance. On the other hand, Metamorphosis is also really awesome, with the extra HP and ability to nuke an area in a teamfight being extremely handy to have. When previously choosing between these two talents, Metamorphosis was the clear winner (Hunting someone would more likely result in your own death). Now, however, it is a very difficult choice. I personally prefer Metamorphosis, but that’s possibly the nostalgia speaking.
This brings us to the last point that requires addressing when speaking about Illidan: the boatload of new talents to go with the new abilities! All the level 1 talents now seem quite good, apart from Regeneration Master. Both Spar for Blood and Demonic Life-Force offer greater sustain, albeit in different ways. However, none of the level 4 talents are particularly exciting. While Immolation seems the coolest, Additional Reach or Marked for Death are probably the best bet, as more range on a chasing ability is always a good thing, and Marked for Death is still a significant dps boost.
Of the level 7 talents, First Aid is still rubbish and should be avoided at all costs (even if the AI likes picking it). The choice between Ultimate Duelist, Lingering Evasion, and Rapid Chase is actually interesting, as it dictates what direction Illidan is planning to go. Duelist is best for teamfights, Evasion is really good for survivability, and Rapid Chase makes catching fleeing enemies even easier. It seems Blizzard is quite good at consistently offering a good variety of choices for level 7 talents, even if they occasionally miss the mark at other levels.
All the level 13 talents feel awesome, and I can see an argument for picking any of them in a specific build. Giant Killer is a fantastic DPS upgrade on a hero that relies on basic attacks to kill. Increasing the range on Dive make a good initiation tool even better, but needs to be balanced against the potential of being able to use Dive on allies, making it into an escape too. Endless Bounds competes directly with Betrayer’s Ally (the ability that lets you Dive on allies) as it turns Sweeping Strike basically into a blink and makes escaping with Illidan much easier. Of the two, Endless Bounds seems the stronger general choice, while Betrayer’s Ally is probably more situational. Spell Evasion is a fantastic upgrade to Evasion and is highly recommended if Illidan needs help coping with massive amounts of magic damage.
Level 16 is not as exciting as the other levels. Stoneskin is a poor choice in almost every situation. On the surface Betrayer's Attrition seems kind of lacklustre, as none of Illidan's abilities are massive nukes, although it has potential with their low cooldowns and Betrayer's Thirst. Executioner’s damage bonus is useful when combined with the reliable slow from Dive, and two charges of Sweep make Illidan even more slippery and better at chasing. Blood for Blood's slow and 15% lifesteal seem really good on paper but is counterbalanced by the 60 second cooldown, although Betrayer's Thirst helps to mitigate that. Overall, either Executioner or Blood for Blood seem like the best choices, depending on whether you need sustain or damage. Blood for Blood is certainly more versatile, but a 40% damage boost is hard to pass up.
Not taking the ultimate upgrade at level 20 is unforgivable. The Hunt with global range is terrifying for any enemies trying to merc alone, and it allows Illidan to show up to every teamfight. There is really no reason not to take it. Permanent Metamorphosis is really cool, and far superior to cleaving attacks or blink with an insanely high cooldown. Not really much of a choice in almost every game.
Overall these changes are wonderful. Illidan is now an agile, deft, and terrifying hunter that stalks his prey uncompromisingly. The fragility of the hero meshes so well with the mobility abilities, and make Illidan a fun hero to play. There’s no more tedious “mark thing so my abilities do stuff”; now you actually get to stalk the enemy heroes and destroy them, no matter how they try to run.
They will never be prepared.
Change Severity :10/10 Illidans - Illidan basically got rebuilt from the ground up, so much so that he’s the metric we’re using for change this patch.
Change Rating: 10/10 Murlocs - this is a fantastic change, making Illidan much more flavourful and just outright better
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