heroes Kel'Thuzad Patch Notes: Sep 5

[Stan 5,240]

The latest Heroes of the Storm update brings a new Hero, balance changes, new skins and other changes to the Nexus!

The long-awaited reworks for Chromie, Jaina, Leoric and Lt. Morales along with new skins (Dreadlord Jaina, Death Knight Sonya etc.) and the Kel'Thuzad event are all contained in the latest patch. Full patch notes can be found below.

Blizzard (Source)

General

New Special Event: Obey the Call

• Slay heroes in Kel’Thuzad’s name to earn in-game rewards before the event concludes on September 25, 2017!
  • Each quest in this four-part chain must be completed in order, and only one quest will be active at any given time.
  • Games played in Versus A.I., Quick Match, Unranked, and Ranked modes all count toward quest progress.
  • Games played during the Acolyte, Necromancer, and Lich Lord quests must be won in order to earn takedown credit.
• Quests and Rewards
  • Ghoul: Play a game with Kel’Thuzad present on either team.
    • Reward: Ghoul Portrait
  • Acolyte: Achieve 30 takedowns in winning games.
    • Reward: Acolyte Portrait
  • Necromancer: Achieve 60 takedowns in winning games.
    • Rewards: Necromancer Portrait and Necromancer’s Blight Spray
  • The Lich Lord: Achieve 90 takedowns in winning games.
    • Rewards: Kel’Thuzad Portrait and Naxxramas Warcrest Banner

Ranked Play

• 2017 Ranked Season 3
  • Once today’s patch arrives to the live version of Heroes of the Storm, 2017 Ranked Season 2 will officially come to a close, and Season 3 will begin!
  • League standings will be reset and all players will need to play through 10 Placement Matches in order to receive their new starting ranks in Hero and Team Leagues for 2017 Season 3.
  • The matchmaking system’s certainty level in all players’ matchmaking ratings will once again be loosened in order to make it a little easier to move up and down the rankings during initial matches this season.
• Placement Matches
  • Players with high matchmaking ratings (MMR) can now place as high as 1,000 points into Master League.
• Grandmaster League
  • Promotions into Grandmaster League will now occur 2 weeks after a new Ranked Season begins.

New Hero: Kel'Thuzad

Kel'Thuzad has faithfully served the Lich King both in life and after death. Reanimated as the Archlich of the Scourge and given domain of the Dread Necropolis, Naxxramas, Kel’Thuzad remains Arthas’s most trusted advisor and master of the cold dark.

Trait

• Master of the Cold Dark
  • Quest: Gain 1 Blight every time a Hero is Rooted by Frost Nova or hit by Chains of Kel'Thuzad.
  • Reward: After gaining 15 Blight, the cooldown of all Basic Abilities is reduced by 2 seconds.
  • Reward: After gaining 30 Blight, gain 75% Spell Power.

Basic Abilities

• Death and Decay (Q)
  • After 0.5 seconds, launch an orb that explodes upon hitting an enemy, dealing damage to enemies in the area. The explosion leaves behind a pool of decay that lasts 2 seconds, dealing damage every 0.5 seconds to enemies.
• Frost Nova (W)
  • Create a nova that explodes after 1 second, dealing damage to enemies inside and Slowing them by 35% for 2.5 seconds. Enemies in the center are Rooted for 1 second.
• Chains of Kel'Thuzad (E)
  • Launch a chain, dealing damage to the first enemy Hero or Structure hit. For 4 seconds after hitting an enemy, Chains can be reactivated to launch to an additional enemy, pulling both enemies together and Stunning them for 0.5 seconds.

Heroic Abilities

• Frost Blast (R)
  • Launch a meteor of ice at an enemy Hero. Upon impact, the meteor deals damage to its target and damages enemies in the area. All enemies hit by Frozen Tomb are Rooted for 1.5 seconds.
• Shadow Fissure (R)
  • Create a fissure anywhere on the Battleground that explodes after 1.5 seconds, dealing  damage to enemies in its area.

Art

General

• Heroes of the Storm has received new loading screen art to celebrate Kel’Thuzad’s arrival to the Nexus.

Heroes, Abilities, and Talents

• Talent: Cleanse and similar Talents have received updated effects in order to increase visual clarity.
• Nazeebo: The Jar and Spiders spawned by Corpse Spiders have received updated effects in order to increase visual clarity.
• Alarak: The size of the indicator that appears above Rite of Rak'shir’s target has been reduced.
• The following Heroes have received updated art to coincide with Talent changes:
  • Jaina
  • Leoric
  • Lt. Morales

Quest System Updates

• Visual effects that appear around a Hero upon completing a Talent or Ability Quest have been updated to make them more visually apparent.
• The following Heroes have updated art to coincide with quest system updates:
  • Chromie
  • Jaina

User Interface

Quest System Updates

• A quest column has been added to the Talents tab on the in-game Score Screen.
  • Baseline quests, such as Kel’Thuzad’s Master of the Cold Dark or Nazeebo’s Voodoo Ritual, will appear in this column and quest progress will be visible to all players in the match.
• Notifications will now appear in the in-game Event Log (AKA Kill Feed) whenever a player completes a quest or reaches an important quest milestone.
• Quest resets will now appear next to the portrait of the slain enemy in the Event Log.
  • Ex: Flamestrike’s icon art will appear next to Kael’thas’ portrait in the Event Log if he is killed prior to completing the Convection quest.
• Upon completing a quest, a personal notification will now display for the player at the top center of the screen stating the name of the completed quest.

Battlegrounds

Ranked Battleground Rotation Update

• Added to Rotation
  • Infernal Shrines
  • Tomb of the Spider Queen
• Removed from Rotation
  • Towers of Doom
  • Warhead Junction
  • Garden of Terror
• The full Ranked Battleground Rotation is now as follows:
  • Battlefield of Eternity
  • Blackheart's Bay
  • Braxis Holdout
  • Cursed Hollow
  • Dragon Shire
  • Infernal Shrines
  • Sky Temple
  • Tomb of the Spider Queen
• As a reminder, Hanamura has been temporarily removed from all play modes except Custom Games in order to undergo changes. As a result, the new rotation will feature 8 Battlegrounds, rather than 9.

Heroes

Assassin

Chromie

Abilities

• Sand Blast (Q)
  • Scaling reduced from 4% to 2% per level.
  • Damage reduced from 400 to 300.
  • !Quest added:  
    • Hit 80 Heroes with Sand Blast. Hitting with consecutive casts counts as 2 hits.
  • !Rewards:  
    • Increase Sand Blast damage by 5 for each Hero hit.
    • After hitting 80 Heroes, Sand Blast leaves an Echo behind.  The next time Sand Blast is cast, the Echo also casts an untalented Sand Blast that deals 40% damage.

Talents

• Level 1
  • (New) Mounting Sand (Q)
    • If Chromie hits with a third consecutive Sand Blast, it counts as hitting 3 Heroes.
  • Compounding Aether (Q)
    • Removed
• Level 2
  • (New) Timely Surprise (E)
    • Sand Blast and Dragon's Breath's cooldowns are reset when Time Trap is triggered.
• Level 11
  • (New) Here and There (Active)
    • Activate to have Chromie swap places with her Sand Blast Echo.  30 second cooldown.
  • Reaching Through Time (Q + W)
    • Removed
• Level 18
  • Past and Future Me (Q)
    • Removed.
  • Piercing Sands (Q)
    • Moved from Level 2.
    • Adjusted Functionality:
      • Sand Blast now pierces targets, dealing damage to any additional Heroes hit.
  • Loophole (R)
    • Removed.
  • (New) Stuck in a Loop (R)
    • Temporal Loop teleports the target a second time after the first completes.

Jaina

Abilities

• Frostbite (Trait)
  • !Quest added:
    • Deal 15,000 damage to Chilled enemy Heroes
  • !Reward: Gain the Improved Ice Block ability
    • Improved Ice Block: Activate to place Jaina in Stasis and gain Invulnerability for 2.5 seconds.  When this effect expires, nearby enemies are Chilled.  40 second cooldown
• Summon Water Elemental (R)
  • Cooldown reduced from 80 to 60 seconds
  • Mana cost reduced from 75 to 60

Talents

• Level 1
  • Conjurer’s Pursuit (Passive)
    • Removed
  • (New) Fingers of Frost (Passive)
    • Gathering Regen Globes increases your Mana Regeneration by .1 per second, up to 2 per second.  Reward: After gathering 20 Regeneration Globes, the damage bonus of Frostbite is increased by 10%.
• Level 7
  • Frostbitten (Passive)
    • Removed
  • Ice Floes (E)
    • New Functionality:
      • Doubles the width of Cone of Cold.  Hitting Chilled enemy Heroes with Cone of Cold reduces its cooldown by 2.5 seconds, up to a 5 second maximum reduction.
  • (New) Icefury Wand (Passive)
    • Your basic attacks against Chilled targets deal 75% bonus damage and reduce the cooldown of Blizzard by 1 second.
• Level 20
  • Improved Ice Block (Active)
    • Removed
  • Arcane Power (Active)
    • Removed
  • (New) Ice Blink (Active)
    • Activate to teleport a short distance and Chill nearby enemies.  60 second cooldown.
  • Cold Snap (R)
    • Now also reduces the cooldown of Ring of Frost by 10 seconds per enemy Hero hit.
  • Deep Chill (Trait)
    • Moved from Level 1
      • New Functionality:
        • Frostbite’s slow amount now stacks a second time, slowing enemy Heroes by up to 40%.

LEVEL (TIER)	JAINA TALENTS
1 (1)	Winter's Reach (Q)	Lingering Chill (Trait)	(!) Fingers of Frost (Passive)
4 (2)	Frost Shards (Q)	Arcane Intellect (Trait)	Frost Armor (Passive)
7 (3)	Ice Floes (E)	Ice Lance (Q)	Icefury Wand (Passive)
10 (4)	Summon Water Elemental	Ring of Frost	—	—
13 (5)	Storm Front (W)	Ice Barrier (Trait)	Ice Veins (Active)
16 (6)	Snowstorm (W)	Northern Exposure (E)	Numbing Blast (E)
20 (7)	Cold Snap (R)	Wintermute (R)	Ice Blink (Active)	Deep Chill (Trait)

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

Support

Lt. Morales

Miscellaneous

• Morales now uses Energy to fuel her Healing Beam. All other abilities are free to cast.
  • Morales can hold up to 100 Energy.

Abilities

• Caduceus Reactor (Trait)
  • New Functionality:
    • While channeling Healing Beam, Morales heals herself for 2% of her maximum life per second.
• Healing Beam (Q)
  • Channeling Healing Beam costs 6 Energy per second
  • Morales generates 6 Energy per second after not channeling Healing Beam for 3 seconds.
  • Healing amount reduced from 96 to 90
• Safeguard (W)
  • Cooldown reduced from 15 seconds to 12 seconds
• Displacement Grenade (E)
  • A visual indicator for the detonation area is now visible to Lt. Morales.
• Stim Drone (R)
  • Cast time reduced from 1 second to .5 seconds
• Medivac Dropship (R)
  • Takeoff minimum delay reduced from 4 seconds to 3 seconds
  • Health reduced from 1593 to 956

Talents

• Level 1
  • Feedback Loop (W)
    • Removed
  • Scouting Drove (Active)
    • Removed
  • Clear! (E)
    • Moved from Level 7
    • New Functionality:
      • !Quest: Hit Heroes with Displacement Grenade.
      • !Reward: After hitting 15 Heroes, Displacement Grenade’s cooldown is reduced from 12 seconds to 8 seconds.
      • !Reward: After hitting 30 Heroes, Displacement Grenade’s area is increased by 25%.
  • (New) Caduceus Feedback (Passive)
    • Basic Attacks generate 1 Energy, increased to 4 against Heroes.
  • (New) Life Support (W)
    • Gain 2 Energy each time Safeguard prevents damage, to a maximum of 20 Energy per cast.
• Level 4
  • Bioshield (Q)
    • Removed
  • Automated Block (Passive)
    • Removed
  • Infused Grenade (E)
    • Removed
  • Trauma Trigger (Passive)
    • Moved from Level 1
    • Cooldown Increased to 60 Seconds
    • New Functionality:
      • Gain 30 Armor for 3 seconds after taking damage while under 40% life.
  • (New) Cellular Reactor (Active)
    • Consume 30 Energy to heal 40% of maximum life over 4 seconds.
  • (New) Blast Shield (E)
    • Hitting a Hero with Displacement Grenade grants Lt Morales 2 Energy and a shield equal to 8% of her maximum health, stacking up to 5 times.
• Level 7
  • Calldown: MULE (Active)
    • Removed
  • Cleanse (Active)
    • Removed
  • (New) Physical Therapy (W)
    • Casting Safeguard removes all Slows from the target. When a slow is removed this way, the cooldown of Safeguard is reduced by 4 seconds.
  • (New) Vanadium Plating (W)
    • Safeguard grants an additional 25 Armor while the bearer is Stunned and its duration does not decay.
  • Prolonged Safeguard (W)
    • Moved from Level 1
    • New Functionality:
      • Increase Safeguard duration by 50%.
• Level 13
  • Intensive Care (Q)
    • Removed
  • Couples Therapy (Q)
    • Removed
  • Preventative Care (Q)
    • Removed
  • Spell Shield (Active)
    • Removed
  • (New) EMP Grenade (Q)
    • Displacement Grenade deals increased damage to shields and additional damage over 2 seconds.
  • System Shock (E)
    • Moved from Level 16
    • New Functionality:
      • Heroes hit by Displacement Grenade have their damage reduced by 30% for 4 seconds.
  • Second Opinion (E)
    • Moved from Level 16
    • New Functionality:
      • If Displacement Grenade hits 2 or more Heroes, its cooldown is reduced to 1 second.
• Level 16
  • (New) Extended Care (Q)
    • Increases the range of Healing Beam by 40%.
  • (New) First Responder (Q)
    • If you have more than 70 energy, your Healing Beam heals for 25% more.
  • Shield Sequencer (W)
    • New Functionality:
      • Safeguard gains an additional charge.
• Level 20
  • Transfusion (R)
    • Removed
  • Medbay (R)
    • Removed
  • Caduceus Reactor 2.0 (Trait)
    • New Functionality:
      • Increases the healing of Caduceus Reactor from 2% to 6%.
  • Storm Shield
    • Removed
  • (New) Hyperactivity (R)
    • Reduces the cooldown of Stim Drone from 90 seconds to 45 seconds and increases the movement speed bonus from 25 to 50%.
  • (New) Safe Zone (R)
    • Heroes are Protected from damage for 2 seconds after unloading from Medivac Dropship.
  • (New) Reinforcements (Active)
    • Reduces the cooldown of Medivac Dropship from 60 to 30 seconds.
    • Activate to call down a Medivac at your Hall of Storms that only allies can enter. Activate again to order the Dropship to travel to the original cast location and unload its cargo. 30 second cooldown. Shares a cooldown with Medivac Dropship.

LEVEL (TIER)	LT. MORALES TALENTS
1 (1)	Caduceus Feedback (Passive)	Life Support (W)	Clear! (E)
4 (2)	Cellular Reactor (Active)	Trauma Trigger (Passive)	Blast Shield (E)
7 (3)	Physical Therapy (W)	Vanadium Plating (W)	Prolonged Safeguard (W)
10 (4)	Medivac Dropship	Stim Drone	—	—
13 (5)	EMP Grenade (Q)	System Shock (E)	Second Opinion (E)
16 (6)	Extended Care (Q)	First Responder (Q)	Shield Sequencer (W)
20 (7)	Hyperactivity (R)	Safe Zone (R)	Reinforcements (Active)	Caduceus Reactor 2.0 (Trait)

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

Warrior

Leoric

Stats

• Basic Attack Damage reduced from 150 to 105
  • New functionality – Wrath of the Bone King
    • Leoric's first two Basic Attacks cleave for 100% damage. His third Basic Attack deals 100% additional damage to his main target

Abilities

• Skeletal Swing (Q)
  • No longer deals bonus damage to non-Heroic targets
  • Cooldown increased from 8 to 14 seconds
  • Mana Cost increased from 50 to 80
  • Damage increased from 125 to 150
  • Additional Functionality:
    • If Skeletal Swing hits a Hero, refund 50% of the Cooldown and Mana Cost
• Drain Hope (W)
  • Lowered damage and healing from 25% to 20% of the target’s maximum Health
• Drain Essence (W)
  • Lowered healing from 12.5% to 10% of target’s maximum Health
  • Lowered cooldown from 11 to 9 seconds
• Entomb (R)
  • Cooldown increased from 50 to 75 seconds
  • Mana cost increased from 75 to 90
• March of the Black King (R)
  • Cooldown reduced from 80 to 50 seconds
  • Mana cost reduced from 100 to 75
  • Damage increased from 183 to 250
  • Heal increased from 7% to 12%

Talents

• Level 1
  • Mana Thirst (Q)
    • Removed
  • Block (Passive)
    • Removed
  • Reanimation (Trait)
    • Removed
  • Fealty Unto Death (Passive)
    • Moved from Level 4
  • Consume Vitality (Q)
    • Moved from Level 16
    • New Functionality:
      • Lowers the Cooldown of Skeletal Swing by 2 seconds
      • Heroes hit by Skeletal Swing heal Leoric for 4% of his maximum health
      • No longer adds any additional effect while in Undying form
  • Ossein Renewal (Active)
    • Moved from Level 7
    • New Functionality:
      • Activate to heal Leoric for 30% of his maximum Health over 5 seconds. Regeneration Globes lower the Cooldown of this ability by 20 seconds. 120 second cooldown.
• Level 4
  • Ghastly Reach (Q)
    • Moved from Level 7
  • Paralyzing Rage (Q)
    • Moved from Level 7
  • (New) Kneel, Peasants! (Q)
    • Increase the damage of Skeletal Swing to Minions and Mercenaries by 75%
• Level 7
  • Drain Momentum (W)
    • Moved from Level 13
    • No longer grants a movement speed bonus (removes the self-slow)
    • Added Functionality:
      • If Drain Hope lasts the full duration, gain 30% movement speed for 4 seconds
  • Lingering Apparition (E)
    • Removed
  • Willing Vessel (W)
    • Moved from Level 4
    • Drain Hope’s healing is increased from 20% to 25% of the target’s maximum Health
    • Added Functionality:
      • If Drain Hope lasts the full duration, immediately heal for an additional 5% of your max health
• Level 13
  • Burning Rage (Passive)
    • Removed
  • Spell Shield (Active)
    • Removed
  • Unyielding Despair (W)
    • Moved from Level 16
    • Cooldown reduction per second Drain Hope is active decreased from 1 to .5 seconds
    • Added Functionality:
      • If you complete a full duration Drain Hope, lower its Cooldown by an additional 3 seconds
  • Hardened Bones (W)
    • Moved from Level 4
    • New Functionality:
      • Leoric gains 20 Armor while Drain Hope is active. If Drain Hope lasts the full duration, the Armor remains for 3 seconds
  • (New) Ominous Wraith (E)
    • Wraith Walk lasts 100% longer and lowers the damage of all enemy Heroes passed through by 50% for 4 seconds
• Level 16
  • Renewed Swing (Q)
    • Removed
  • Imposing Presence (Active)
    • Removed
  • Royal Focus (E)
    • Moved from Level 4
    • New Functionality:
      • Increase the damage of your next Skeletal Swing by 50% after using Wraith Walk. Every enemy Hero hit with Skeletal Swing lowers the Cooldown of Wraith Walk by 7 seconds
  • Crushing Hope (W)
    • Moved from Level 13
    • Bonus damage dealt by a full duration Drain Hope increased from 10 to 15% of target’s maximum Health
  • (New) Mithril Mace (Passive)
    • Gain 20% Attack Speed
    • !Quest – Kill Minions and Heroes
    • For every 10 Minions or 1 Hero kill, increase your Attack Speed by an additional 3%, up to a maximum bonus of 30%
• Level 20
  • Hardened Shield (Active)
    • Removed
  • Buried Alive (R)
    • Added Functionality:
      • Enemies inside the Entomb are silenced. The duration of Entomb is lowered from 4 to 3 seconds
  • Death March (R)
    • New Functionality:
      • The attached Drain Hopes are now gain all talent bonuses
  • Spectral Leech (Passive)
    • Leoric’s Basic Attacks deal an additional 2.5% of the targets max HP and heals Leoric for twice that amount
  • (New) Burning Despair (Passive)
    • Deal 40 damage in an area around yourself. Double the damage and area of effect while Drain Hope is active.
  • (New) Shroud of the Dead King (Active)
    • Activate to become Protected for 3 seconds. 75 second cooldown.

LEVEL (TIER)	LEORIC TALENTS
1 (1)	Consume Vitality (Q)	Fealty Unto Death (Trait)	Ossein Renewal (Active)
4 (2)	Ghastly Reach (Q)	Paralyzing Rage (Q)	Kneel, Peasants! (Q)
7 (3)	Willing Vessel (W)	Drain Momentum (W)	Hopelessness (W)
10 (4)	Entomb	March of the Black King	—	—
13 (5)	Unyielding Despair (W)	Hardened Bones (W)	Ominous Wraith (E)
16 (6)	Crushing Hope (W)	Royal Focus (E)	(!) Mithril Mace (Passive)
20 (7)	Buried Alive (R)	Death March (R)	Spectral Leech (Passive)	Burning Despair (Passive)	Shroud of the Dead King (Active)

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

Collection

New Bundles – The following new Bundles and Skin Packs are available for a limited time!

• Court of the Archlich Bundle
• Kel’Thuzad Heroic Bundle
• Star Lich Kel’Thuzad Skin Pack
• Purple Rage Bundle

New Skins

• Kel’Thuzad
  • Archlich Kel’Thuzad
  • Blightlord Kel’Thuzad
  • Northrend Kel’Thuzad
  • Scourge Kel’Thuzad
  • Star Lich Kel’Thuzad
    • Eternal Star Lich Kel’Thuzad
    • Frost Star Lich Kel’Thuzad
    • Hunter Star Lich Kel’Thuzad
    • Neutron Star Lich Kel’Thuzad

• Jaina
  • Dreadlord Jaina
    • Abyssal Dreadlord Jaina
    • Blighted Dreadlord Jaina
    • Saronite Dreadlord Jaina
    • Unholy Dreadlord Jaina
  • Theramore Jaina
    • Citrine Theramore Jaina
    • Emerald Theramore Jaina
    • Midnight Theramore Jaina
    • Ruby Theramore Jaina
    • Theramore Sorceress Jaina
• Sonya
  • Death Knight Sonya
    • Blighted Death Knight Sonya
    • Unholy Death Knight Sonya
    • Black Knight Sonya
    • Naxxramas Knight Sonya
  • Deathbringer Sonya
    • Abyssal Deathbringer Sonya
    • Plagued Deathbringer Sonya
    • Sanguine Deathbringer Sonya
    • Ymirjar Deathbringer Sonya
• Zagara
  • Crypt Queen Zagara
    • Abyssal Crypt Queen Zagara
    • Blighted Crypt Queen Zagara
    • Saronite Crypt Queen Zagara
    • Sillithus Crypt Queen Zagara
    • Unholy Crypt Queen Zagara
• Alarak
  • Amethyst Highlord Alarak
• Gul’dan
  • Wretched Shadow Council Gul'dan
• Kerrigan
  • Fighting Cheerleader Kerrigan
  • Heartbreaker Cheerleader Kerrigan
• Li-Ming
  • Sapphire Volleyball Li-Ming
• Malfurion
  • Exiled Druid of the Flame Malfurion
• Medivh
  • Magus Medivh the Green
• Raynor
  • Amphibious Commander Raynor
• Probius
  • Terran Probius Red One
  • Terran Probius X1
• Samuro
  • Genius Monkey King Samuro
• Tyrande
  • Virtuous Blood Elf Tyrande
• Valla
  • Lavender Deputy Valla
• Zul’jin
  • Coral Warbringer Zul'jin
  • Desert Warbringer Zul'jin

Mounts

• The following Mounts have been awarded to players who reached Platinum in Hero League or Bronze in Team League during 2017 Ranked Season 2:
  • Earthbreaker Grizzly
  • Dreambreaker Grizzly
  • Netherbreaker Grizzly
• The following Mounts have been awarded to players who reached Master or higher in Hero League or Team League during 2017 Ranked Season 2:
  • Epic Earthbreaker Grizzly
  • Epic Dreambreaker Grizzly
  • Epic Netherbreaker Grizzly

Bug Fixes

General

• Fixed a number of typo and tooltip errors across several aspects of the game.

Battlegrounds

• Boss: Captured Bosses will now correctly use their area of effect Abilities when attacking down a lane.
• Haunted Mines: Fixed an issue that could cause Heroes to become Invulnerable for a fraction of a second while entering or exiting the Mines.
• Try Mode: Sentinel will now correctly gain bonus damage after completing the Ranger Talent’s quest using the Complete Quests button.

Heroes, Abilities, and Talents

• Stasis: Fixed an issue in which cooldowns for self-cast Stasis effects, such as Ice Block, or Chromie’s Time Out, would not count down until respawn if the Hero was killed immediately after that Stasis effect concluded.
• Arthas: After learning the Shattered Armor Talent, Heroes rooted by Frost Presence’s quest reward will now correctly have their Armor reduced.
• Azmodan: Manually clicking the All Shall Burn Ability will no longer cause a framerate drop.
• Chen: Will no longer gain multiple Freshest Ingredient stacks when collecting a single Regeneration Globe if multiple allied Heroes are nearby.
• Chen: Medivh’s Ley Line Seal can no longer cause Chen and his Storm, Earth, Fire Spirits to exist at the same time.
• Cho: Rune Bomb’s area of effect indicator will no longer visually shrink if Cho’gall was affected by the Shrink Ray Talent while casting Rune Bomb.
• D.Va: Fixed an issue that could cause D.Va to become unresponsive when entering the Dragon Knight or Garden Terror after using Lt. Morales’ Medivac.
• Garrosh: Intimidation will no longer slow non-Heroic enemies’ attack speeds.
• Garrosh: Fixed an issue that could cause Wrecking Ball to fail to throw a target but go on a full cooldown.
• Greymane: Can now correctly cast Go for the Throat a second time after using the Ability to kill D.Va’s Mech.
• Muradin: Haymaker will now properly knock back and damage secondary targets in its path.
• Muradin: Fixed an issue that caused Muradin’s abilities to cast quickly and without animations if queued up during Dwarf Toss.
• Li-Ming: Learning the Zei’s Vengeance and Arcane Orbit Talents will no longer cause Arcane Orb to deal reduced damage at close-range.
• Lt. Morales: Medivac UI will no longer persist on-screen when entering the Medivac as it is destroyed.
• Samuro: Switching places with a Mirror Image will no longer cancel queued commands.
• Samuro: Clicking a control group to select a Mirror Image after learning Illusion Master will no longer cancel active Move Commands being carried out by that Image.
• Stitches: Hook will now cancel abilities that can be channeled while moving, such as Azmodan’s All Shall Burn.
• The Butcher: Floating Combat Text will now correctly display Crit damage dealt by Basic Attacks benefitting from the Brutal Strike Talent.

Sound

• Stukov: Massive Shove’s sound effects will no longer persist after the target is killed or collides with terrain.

User Interface

• Draft Mode: Fixed an issue preventing players from selecting the Lunar Rooster Mount in Draft Lobbies. 

[Valhalen 1,484]

So I assume there were no changes between the PTR and Live Patch notes?

9 minutes ago, Stan said:

The Butcher: Floating Combat Text will now correctly display Crit damage dealt by Basic Attacks benefitting from the Brutal Strike Talent.

I really like this, by the way.

[SteveFrost 97]

23 minutes ago, Valhalen said:

So I assume there were no changes between the PTR and Live Patch notes?

When you don't see any orange text yeah, that's the case

[Plergoth 277]

They need to leave a good map like Towers of Doom in the competitive rotation permanently and stop leaving shitty, horrible from launch ones like Blackheart's Bay for several rotations. No one likes you! Fuck off! 

[Valhalen 1,484]

3 minutes ago, Plergoth said:

They need to leave a good map like Towers of Doom in the competitive rotation permanently and stop leaving shitty, horrible from launch ones like Blackheart's Bay for several rotations. No one likes you! Fuck off! 

I actually like Blackheart's Bay. Not my favorite, but it is really fun to gank people when they're about to turn in the doubloons.

[Laragon 269]

I can't believe they are leaving medic and leoric as is... They are so incredibly strong now.

[Plergoth 277]

Just now, Valhalen said:

I actually like Blackheart's Bay. Not my favorite, but it is really fun to gank people when they're about to turn in the doubloons.

It's atrocious to the point where I don't even want to see it pop up during casual play, because the design of the map goes against everything else they set out to do in the game. Other maps such as Tomb and Garden have issues with snowballing, but BHB seems to be unique in the way that it locks your team into being forced to make horrible decisions such as fighting a level down because otherwise the opponent will take the camps, take the coins, get 10 first and then continue to decimate for the rest of the game because the map has very little comeback unless they make mistakes if they hold most of the coins. Further up in ELO it starts getting a little more common to not turn in early if they hold a level and overall map advantage so that the first turn in starts hitting keeps after destroying the last fort, and then turn in again and by that point, the enemy team is basically hoping to be on level 16 talents before you've hit 20 for the slimmest chance to win and that's a best case scenario.

I groaned when Warhead Junction turned out to be more of the same; fighting the map mechanics more than I am my opponent. 

[Fliits 112]

Kel'Thuzad, Archlich of Naxxramas, esteemed Lich Lord of the Plaguelands, Commander of the Dread Necropolis, Master and Founder of the Cult of the Damned, formerly of the Council of Six, Creator of the Abomination, Summoner of Archimonde the Defiler, Betrayer of Humanity, Hearthstone Enthusiast, and Majordomo to the Lich King is here! Rejoice! For the Scourge!

[Valks 2,375]

8 hours ago, Laragon said:

I can't believe they are leaving medic and leoric as is... They are so incredibly strong now.

It's going to be an insane combo until it gets changed.

[Laragon 269]

11 hours ago, Blainie said:

It's going to be an insane combo until it gets changed.

Not even a combo, just individually strong. Especially medic it's just a numbers tweek. Mainly lower the energy bar (or use it faster) because now it's sustain for like 16+ seconds under full pressure. Most team fights should be over before all CD come back up more than twice. It's crazy how hard she can sustain and then the energy bar is ALWAYS full by even the next lane rotation.

I like her change in theory, grenades became dangerous to use, so did safe guard unless the target was full blow up combo, so at least those are not usable abilities again and worth the hassle. The energy bar sustain just needs examined.

[Valhalen 1,484]

1 minute ago, Laragon said:

Not even a combo, just individually strong. Especially medic it's just a numbers tweek. Mainly lower the energy bar (or use it faster) because now it's sustain for like 16+ seconds under full pressure. Most team fights should be over before all CD come back up more than twice. It's crazy how hard she can sustain and then the energy bar is ALWAYS full by even the next lane rotation.

I like her change in theory, grenades became dangerous to use, so did safe guard unless the target was full blow up combo, so at least those are not usable abilities again and worth the hassle. The energy bar sustain just needs examined.

I'm pretty sure they will nerf her. Blizzard doesn't like healers that excel too well.

[Plergoth 277]

Initial thoughts on the changes so far, regarding Leoric, Morales and Jaina (not played Chromie or Kel) 

Morales changes feel decent at first glance, she feels a lot more vulnerable while isolated as Cadaecus Reactor won't heal her up like Muradin's Second Wind anymore, but can see where people are coming from in regards to her healing being extremely strong in regards to energy bar consumption. I imagine they'll introduce some sort of ramp up if they change her. The grenade builds / talents are annoying in how much value you get personally from them, but knocking away heroes from your team who are trying to lock them down or trade with them isn't good play to be encouraging in casual modes especially. I actually think she's more boring to play now than she was before, and that's saying something. Removing extra talents such as Cleanse and making her more linear to play (anchor someone with beam, /dance, take talents for Safeguard or extra healing as required, /dance again). Honestly, Lili has more depth to her. 

Leoric is a beast, and coincidentally, has amazing synergy with Morales. I think the talent tiers are a bit inconsistent across these reworks though; he has so many talents to pick at 20 I'm left wondering why they didn't make more of an effort to add quests related to Drain Hope, because that's one of the primary reasons you would want to draft a Leoric in the first place, and Burning Despair simply comes at a very late stage in the game to be getting real value from (unless you made a Drain Hope build, but his AA and mace is so strong right now...). 

Jaina feels amazing from what I played, and getting both quests done the power spike is real. The mana issues she had are all but gone, but i feel like I'm still picking the same talents on various tiers, particularly on 4 where you have something like the armour talent that is simply outdated by this point. Icefury could potentially be a bit overtuned, but at least I don't think it adds to the Icy Barrier shields at 13, otherwise it would be broken ^^' 



 

[Valks 2,375]

3 hours ago, Laragon said:

Not even a combo, just individually strong. Especially medic it's just a numbers tweek. Mainly lower the energy bar (or use it faster) because now it's sustain for like 16+ seconds under full pressure. Most team fights should be over before all CD come back up more than twice. It's crazy how hard she can sustain and then the energy bar is ALWAYS full by even the next lane rotation.

Thing is, with the changes to Leoric's March ult, it just means that he can absolutely obliterate teams with Morales on him. It's essentially an invincible bulldozer that, with the level 20 talent especially, will not only decimate on damage, but keep him topped off constantly at full HP.

[SteveFrost 97]

4 hours ago, Blainie said:

Thing is, with the changes to Leoric's March ult, it just means that he can absolutely obliterate teams with Morales on him. It's essentially an invincible bulldozer that, with the level 20 talent especially, will not only decimate on damage, but keep him topped off constantly at full HP.

ALLLLLLLLLLL shall SUFFERRRRRR

[Caldyrvan 377]

Can we expect the Kel'Thuzad nerf patch notes soon? 

[Laragon 269]

14 hours ago, Caldyrvan said:

Can we expect the Kel'Thuzad nerf patch notes soon? 

Tired of the glacial spike 1 shot combo already? Not like they could have ever noticed that on the PTR and made number changes to any of these things.... *sarcasm*

Why did they even bother with the PTR this time if they weren't going to even look at it.

[Razah 1]

I was surprised to see how squishy Kel'thuzad is. His AA range feels pretty short, so you get punished early on for mispositioning.
The damage is insane once you stacked the passive, I think there will be coming a nerf to that. He is sick at punishing inattentive enemies who overextend or just position themselves badly. Basically anything that stands in the middle of your Frost Nova when you reach 10, dies. Inevitably. But what really annoys me the most is how easy talents make landing the combo. The chain mechanic is really really cool but hard to pull off. But that's fine, Armor of the Archlich provides you with some PBAoE, but more importantly a nice slow for setting up your kills. Sometimes it might even result in some unexpected "Thank you for chasing Kel'thuzad"- kills for your team. Same with Frozen Touch, it adds some very good AoE damage, a AoE slow (which means once again easier combo), is basically free and has a low learning curve. Glacial Spike (in regards to pure damage) on the other hand demands a really good overview over the fight and requires you to hit the chains perfectly. I do have problems getting used to the pillar, but why would I bother, I have Frozen Touch that does the work for me.

Edited September 7, 2017 by Razah

[Caldyrvan 377]

Well, nothing new. I was always wondering what the PTR is good for. The new heroes are always (or most of the time) stronger than they should be. This is already obvious on the PTR, no idea why they bring them live like this.

[Valhalen 1,484]

20 hours ago, Caldyrvan said:

Well, nothing new. I was always wondering what the PTR is good for. The new heroes are always (or most of the time) stronger than they should be. This is already obvious on the PTR, no idea why they bring them live like this.

That's the Blizzard move for you. They release OP Heroes, so everyone buys them, then proceed to nerf. They have been doing that since forever.

But I agree with you that Kel'Thuzad needs a nerf. He way too strong. HotS usually is not a game where a single Hero can carry the team, but in this case KT is.

Edited September 8, 2017 by Valhalen

[Valks 2,375]

On 9/8/2017 at 1:12 PM, Valhalen said:

That's the Blizzard move for you. They release OP Heroes, so everyone buys them, then proceed to nerf. They have been doing that since forever.

But I agree with you that Kel'Thuzad needs a nerf. He way too strong. HotS usually is not a game where a single Hero can carry the team, but in this case KT is.

I feel like as soon as a hero allows you to be confident in a 1vX scenario, things need to change. I currently have no fears of entering a fight that is 1v2, 1v3, because I know that if I land a multi-root, the fight is back to a 1v1 or even over. Root, Q, Ult, Chain them in and dead. As soon as that level 16 talent lands, the fight is over.

[Valhalen 1,484]

34 minutes ago, Blainie said:

I feel like as soon as a hero allows you to be confident in a 1vX scenario, things need to change. I currently have no fears of entering a fight that is 1v2, 1v3, because I know that if I land a multi-root, the fight is back to a 1v1 or even over. Root, Q, Ult, Chain them in and dead. As soon as that level 16 talent lands, the fight is over.

He can duel/harass most characters in the roster if the player is cautious (and if he has a strong frontline, it is impossible to reach him). I know that it takes time to adjust accordingly to fight him since he is a new Hero, but some of his talents are way too strong. Might of the Scourge, for example, is completely broken in maps like Dragon Shire and Garden of Terror, since it counts when you hit a Hero controlling the Dragon Knight/Garden Terror, therefore resets over and over again.

I don't want to see him nerfed to oblivion (that is never fun), but at least tuned a bit. Or just buff the shit out of rest of the cast, haha.

Edited September 11, 2017 by Valhalen

[Valks 2,375]

On 9/11/2017 at 0:15 PM, Valhalen said:

I don't want to see him nerfed to oblivion (that is never fun), but at least tuned a bit. Or just buff the shit out of rest of the cast, haha.

I think they need to be very specific in the way that they nerf him. If they blanket nerf him, he will just become terrible. He needs to have a very specific part of his style nerfed and then allow the rest to stay as is. Remove the consistent damage, maintain the burst or the other way round. Praying they don't nerf both.

[Caldyrvan 377]

And they should reduce the radius of his AoE a bit or at least fix it that the actual radius is a little bit larger than you can see.

Edited September 14, 2017 by Caldyrvan

[Valks 2,375]

7 hours ago, Caldyrvan said:

And they should reduce the radius of his AoE a bit or at least fix it that the actual radius is a little bit larger than you can see.

Yeah, the centre of his W is especially odd. It definitely catches people that aren't in it. I've just hit level 15 on KT, so I've played a fair few games with him, and it just keeps happening in every game.

[Valhalen 1,484]

10 hours ago, Blainie said:

I think they need to be very specific in the way that they nerf him. If they blanket nerf him, he will just become terrible. He needs to have a very specific part of his style nerfed and then allow the rest to stay as is. Remove the consistent damage, maintain the burst or the other way round. Praying they don't nerf both.

Maybe decreasing the range of Chains of Kel'Thuzad a bit would be good, among other things. The range of that thing is absurd.

P.S. New episode of WTF Moments is out, btw.

Edited September 14, 2017 by Valhalen