heroes Developer Update Q/A Roundup

[Stan 5,240]

Game Director Alan Dabiri and Lead Designer Matt Cooper sat down with Kevin Johnson to chat about what's coming to Heroes of the Storm in 2018.

Content in 2018

• Expect a more linear release anatomy in 2018. Hero reworks, new battlegrounds and skins will be spread out. The Tyrael rework that dropped with MECHA skins was really successful and stood on its own, independently from the Blaze release.

Hero Reworks

• Two standalone Hero reworks are coming soon!
  • First up is Medivh. It's a really fun character to rework.
    • They want to have The Master's Touch baseline, because it's core to his playstyle. 
    • Force of Will will also heal a bit.
  • The next Hero is Sonya. While Blizzard likes her playstyle, they want to take a look at talents that do not get picked often. No major tweaks are planned for the Hero.
    •  Shattered Ground now drastically increase how far the splash is, making it great for harassing players in lane.
• A lot of different variables come into play when picking Heroes for reworks - talents, two viable Heroics, current place in the meta, etc. It all comes down to a Hero's kit.
• Lunara is another character they're looking at. They've heard a lot of feedback about her Wisp.
• They want to start releasing mini spotlights for Hero reworks to talk about changes for visibility, because they want to support standalone Hero reworks as much as they can.

Hanamura & Battlegrounds

• The team is still hard at work with Hanamura.
  • They are testing out the map to have a single neutral payload that's spawning in the center of the battleground.
  • The payload now deals directly damage to Structures, and the Core can be attacked.
• No major reworks are planned for other battlegrounds, just some small tweaks.

Full Video

 

[PrivateJoker 27]

Master's touch being baseline makes me incredibly happy. Now that you can start stacking it up right away, you get credit for all the hits you land in those fights that break out in mid at the start. Should be SOOO much easier to complete the quest before fights actually get dangerous for medivh, in the later game.

[Valhalen 1,484]

Sonya rework. FINALLY. May they give her a viable Seism Slam build.

[ZeroFPS 6]

No words on lil jimmy or vikings :(

[Fliits 112]

YES! YES! YES! YES! YES! YES! YES! YES! YES! YES! YES! YES! YES! YES! YES! YES! YES! YES! YES! YES! YES! YES! YES! 

The Medivh rework, the Sonya rework, the Hanamura rework, the fact they're actually informing the community of their development plans and THE GODDAMN MEDIVH REWORK.

[Dejo93 1,023]

Kinda sad we won't ve getting a Raynor rework, but Medivh getting some love is good. I mean , he has 36% wintate so it's kinda obvious. As for Sonya, just remove Mercenary Lord, since it's such an outdated talent

[Undeath 67]

I don't think I get the whole point of the interview. They recorded the clip only to say what had already been not news, and to announce a couple of reworks, which they never really did before?

Why? There are a number of issues well worth discussing, like garbage matchmaking, or the ones brought up by Oxygen in his articles on this forum.

I was hoping to hear something substantial in this video and I heard nothing I didn't know. FeelsBadMan.

Edited February 26, 2018 by Jonar

[Slam 40]

all of this sound interesting / promising !

[SteveFrost 97]

I saw the video on youtube on Sunday. Needless to say how disappointed I was. Medivh should require some work, both gameplay and lore wise they didn't do him much justice imho, Sonya seems mostly ok, I don't understand why a rework, just some light touches would be ok if she's too overtuned right now. But Jimmy? You know, that iconic character whom has become a laughing stock and a meme here, with a kit and talent tree dating back to B.C. ? Comments section was full about Jimmy and I wasn't surprised at all. Apparently, they don't know what priorities mean or how to set them. Hail Jimmy Raynor, the glorified lane minion forever and ever

There are other heroes who should come first too imho like Kerrigan and TLV, but no.. these 2 and afterwards, Lunara... (who also is mostly ok, doesn't need much)

[Valhalen 1,484]

4 hours ago, Dejo93 said:

Kinda sad we won't ve getting a Raynor rework, but Medivh getting some love is good. I mean , he has 36% wintate so it's kinda obvious. As for Sonya, just remove Mercenary Lord, since it's such an outdated talent

She needs an overall tweak in her talent tree to allow more build diversity. I just want a godamn Seismic Slam Build that can be used in the competitive setting.

16 minutes ago, SteveFrost said:

I saw the video on youtube on Sunday. Needless to say how disappointed I was. Medivh should require some work, both gameplay and lore wise they didn't do him much justice imho, Sonya seems mostly ok, I don't understand why a rework, just some light touches would be ok if she's too overtuned right now. But Jimmy? You know, that iconic character whom has become a laughing stock and a meme here, with a kit and talent tree dating back to B.C. ? Comments section was full about Jimmy and I wasn't surprised at all. Apparently, they don't know what priorities mean or how to set them. Hail Jimmy Raynor, the glorified lane minion forever and ever

There are other heroes who should come first too imho like Kerrigan and TLV, but no.. these 2 and afterwards, Lunara... (who also is mostly ok, doesn't need much)

Blizzard did state at last year's BlizzCon that they have plans to rework Raynor and The Lost Vikings. The problem is WHEN.

[SteveFrost 97]

23 minutes ago, Valhalen said:

Blizzard did state at last year's BlizzCon that they have plans to rework Raynor and The Lost Vikings. The problem is WHEN.

Kinda missed on that Blizzcon or fuzzy on the details, can't remember. I'm hoping they're delaying Jimmy cause it is gonna be a big one, he really needs a big one (from the ground up) but I really don't know...:/ It's been way too long he's been in that state.

[Oxygen 446]

6 hours ago, Jonar said:

I don't think I get the whole point of the interview. They recorded the clip only to say what had already been not news, and to announce a couple of reworks, which they never really did before?

Why? There are a number of issues well worth discussing, like garbage matchmaking, or the ones brought up by Oxygen in his articles on this forum.

I was hoping to hear something substantial in this video and I heard nothing I didn't know. FeelsBadMan.

I may be slightly biased (I wouldn't bring up issues I didn't feel weren't important), but I felt exactly the same, and ended up stopping the video midway out of frustration. The whole thing comes off as throwing players a bone after months of radio silence. BlizzCon was disappointing development wise, and this video either shows how disconnected they are with the game's state, or how little they wish to discuss the real problems, perhaps in an attempt to cover something. Regardless, we're probably past the point of no return now, in that what we have is what we get, and no "real" improvement will ever be made besides releases and reworks (though not Raynor). Sad.

[Valhalen 1,484]

14 minutes ago, Oxygen said:

I may be slightly biased (I wouldn't bring up issues I didn't feel weren't important), but I felt exactly the same, and ended up stopping the video midway out of frustration. The whole thing comes off as throwing players a bone after months of radio silence. BlizzCon was disappointing development wise, and this video either shows how disconnected they are with the game's state, or how little they wish to discuss the real problems, perhaps in an attempt to cover something. Regardless, we're probably past the point of no return now, in that what we have is what we get, and no "real" improvement will ever be made besides releases and reworks (though not Raynor). Sad.

Well, they clearly have their own agenda. Sadly I think they will fulfill whatever it's on the works before they try to actually listen to the playerbase and fix the most batantly issues the game is facing (such as the many many bugs that has been plaguing HotS since its launch).

[SleepySheepy 41]

22 minutes ago, Valhalen said:

Well, they clearly have their own agenda. Sadly I think they will fulfill whatever it's on the works before they try to actually listen to the playerbase and fix the most batantly issues the game is facing (such as the many many bugs that has been plaguing HotS since its launch).

Many bugs? Which? Besides occasional noticeable bug that gets patched, game is fairly clean.

[Valhalen 1,484]

24 minutes ago, SleepySheepy said:

Many bugs? Which? Besides occasional noticeable bug that gets patched, game is fairly clean.

Just to name a few:

• The bug where the game changes your character for no reason.
• The bug where you can get queued into another region if one of the party members get disconnected mid-match; the only way to fix this bug is disbanding and remaking the party.
• The Hanzo movement glitch that hasn't been patched yet.
• A very rare instance where Zagara gets stuck in Nydus Network.
• Sudden FPS drops for no apparent reason.
• Daily Quests that don't complete even if you fulfill their requirements.
• Graphic glitches regarding Zagara's Creep Tumor in certain stages (this bug has been on since 2.0).
• Voice Lines changing in your Loadout randomly.
• D.Va getting stuck (they fixed some of the instances where this can happen, but still does in other instances).
• A very rare instance where you do not get a Loot Chest from any normal sources (level ups or Brawls).

Edited February 26, 2018 by Valhalen

[SleepySheepy 41]

9 minutes ago, Valhalen said:

Just to name a few:

• The bug where the game changes your character for no reason.

How does that even work? When you die during game it changes or?

• The bug where you can get queued into another region if one of the party members get disconnected mid-match; the only way to fix this bug is disbanding and remaking the party.

That's annoying.

• The Hanzo movement glitch that hasn't been patched yet.

Haven't heard of that one, but I know of when you use Q and get under the effect of Stasis, you can't stop Q-ing.
Hanzo is relatively new, I'll forgive them that for now.

• A very rare instance where Zagara gets stuck in Nydus Network.

Very rare as you said. That being said, does anyone know what happens if Zagara is in Nydus and before she leaves all Creeps and Nyduses are gone?

• Sudden FPS drops for no apparent reason.

No comment on that, only that I recently had issue with first game (only) and it was due to Windows Defender.

• Daily Quests that don't complete even if you fulfill their requirements.

Never seen that. I play Unranked most of the time, so it's only matter of playing that many games and I don't watch it closely, since it's always over when I'm done.

• Graphic glitches regarding Zagara's Creep Tumor in certain stages (this bug has been on since 2.0).

You mean that when Creep is shown on the map, but it's no longer there? That's annoying for the team that doesn't have Zagara, they can't tell if it's actually still there.

• Voice Lines changing in your Loadout randomly.

Interesting, I remember there was something similar to this before. Still, for me it's a minor, not game breaking or annoying.

• D.Va getting stuck (they fixed some of the instances where this can happen, but still does in other instances).

Haven't seen, but is game breaking.

Sorry for disgusting response style.

Edited February 26, 2018 by SleepySheepy
Excuse

[Valhalen 1,484]

10 minutes ago, SleepySheepy said:

Sorry for disgusting response style.

I'll do my best. Just to make it easier to understand, your questions will be marked as BLUE and my answers as YELLOW.

10 minutes ago, SleepySheepy said:

Just to name a few:

• The bug where the game changes your character for no reason.

How does that even work? When you die during game it changes or?

It happens when you start the match. You'll be using a different character instead of the one you picked.

• The bug where you can get queued into another region if one of the party members get disconnected mid-match; the only way to fix this bug is disbanding and remaking the party.

That's annoying.

Yep. This happens since the Alpha days and they STILL haven't fixed it.

• The Hanzo movement glitch that hasn't been patched yet.

Haven't heard of that one, but I know of when you use Q and get under the effect of Stasis, you can't stop Q-ing. Hanzo is relatively new, I'll forgive them that for now.

Yes, that is one of them. The other one is that Storm Bow glitches your movement so you can't drag-move for the rest of the game, only through clicks. Sure, he is a relatively new Hero, but this is a glitch serious enough that should be fixed ASAP.

• A very rare instance where Zagara gets stuck in Nydus Network.

Very rare as you said. That being said, does anyone know what happens if Zagara is in Nydus and before she leaves all Creeps and Nyduses are gone?

She simply can't get out of her Nydus or teleport to different one. The Nydus has to either despawn or be destroyed.

• Sudden FPS drops for no apparent reason.

No comment on that, only that I recently had issue with first game (only) and it was due to Windows Defender.

• Daily Quests that don't complete even if you fulfill their requirements.

Never seen that. I play Unranked most of the time, so it's only matter of playing that many games and I don't watch it closely, since it's always over when I'm done.

• Graphic glitches regarding Zagara's Creep Tumor in certain stages (this bug has been on since 2.0).

You mean that when Creep is shown on the map, but it's no longer there? That's annoying for the team that doesn't have Zagara, they can't tell if it's actually still there.

No, it causes the floor to flash and distort a little when you pass through certain angles near the Tumors. Not game-breaking, but certainly a nuisance.

• Voice Lines changing in your Loadout randomly.

Interesting, I remember there was something similar to this before. Still, for me it's a minor, not game breaking or annoying.

• D.Va getting stuck (they fixed some of the instances where this can happen, but still does in other instances).

Haven't seen, but is game breaking.

Yes, the only way is to destroy her MEKA; in some instances you can't even use Self-Destruct even if the bar is filled.

 

Edited February 26, 2018 by Valhalen

[Migol 433]

Wish they'd pay some attention to Abathur, poor worm hasn't been the same since they too ults away from his Ultimate Evolution.    And his monstrosity remains a sad joke :/

[Valhalen 1,484]

4 minutes ago, Migol said:

Wish they'd pay some attention to Abathur, poor worm hasn't been the same since they too ults away from his Ultimate Evolution.    And his monstrosity remains a sad joke :/

In my opinion he doesn't need a massive overhaul because he is absurdly powerful in the right hands, but sadly doesn't work in every map. If anything, they do some minor tweaks, such as giving him Locust Nest as a baseline skill for his E key; he is the only character in the game that only has 2 Basic Abilities (well, not counting The Lost Vikings that can only have Basic Abilities through Talents). Maybe with that they could nerf his Locust Strain a bit to compensate, and make a new level 20 talent that allows Abathur to place 2 Locusts Nests at once.

[Dejo93 1,023]

5 hours ago, Valhalen said:

She needs an overall tweak in her talent tree to allow more build diversity. I just want a godamn Seismic Slam Build that can be used in the competitive setting.

Blizzard did state at last year's BlizzCon that they have plans to rework Raynor and The Lost Vikings. The problem is WHEN.

Let's face it: talent diversity always end up in "one build for all situations". Just look at Blaze. He has quite a lot of options , and people always pick the same talents, i.e. Pyromania at 16

[Valhalen 1,484]

1 minute ago, Dejo93 said:

Let's face it: talent diversity always end up in "one build for all situations". Just look at Blaze. He has quite a lot of options , and people always pick the same talents, i.e. Pyromania at 16

Yeah, that may be true for some Heroes... But compared to Sonya, Blaze has a lot more of talent diversity. For instance, Pyromania is not always the best choice; if you're facing a team that has at least 2 powerful "Mages" and not many frontline Heroes, then Juggernaut Plating is the way to go. Yesterday I got a shield of over 2k after absorbing every single ability from Nazeebo using that talent. It was amazing.

I think the only mandatory talents for Blaze are Adhesive Petroleum and Grill and Kill. The rest of his talent tree is very flexible and competitive as the situation demands.

Sonya, on the other hand, is stuck with the same build for every game, pretty much.

[Valhalen 1,484]

18 hours ago, Stan said:

Expect a more linear release anatomy in 2018. Hero reworks, new battlegrounds and skins will be spread out. The Tyrael rework that dropped with MECHA skins was really successful and stood on its own, independently from the Blaze release.

YEP. PTR PATCH NOTES.

 

Edited February 26, 2018 by Valhalen

[Migol 433]

2 hours ago, Valhalen said:

In my opinion he doesn't need a massive overhaul because he is absurdly powerful in the right hands, but sadly doesn't work in every map. If anything, they do some minor tweaks, such as giving him Locust Nest as a baseline skill for his E key; he is the only character in the game that only has 2 Basic Abilities (well, not counting The Lost Vikings that can only have Basic Abilities through Talents). Maybe with that they could nerf his Locust Strain a bit to compensate, and make a new level 20 talent that allows Abathur to place 2 Locusts Nests at once.

That would help, but I don't understand why they don't make the obvious, easy fixes to his Monstrosity ult too; the problem is that without constant attention it'll just suicide down a lane, preventing Abathur from doing his Cap+Mine thing easily.     All it needs to be viable is a "Stay here" command so it can be left alone for a minute (and maybe not show up on the minimap as a giant obvious "kill me!" icon).

Aside from that Abathur is extremely comp specific, it used to be you could play him as a quasi nature's prophet and push lanes by teleporting everywhere and forcing the enemy team to choose to ignore him and take damage or try to hunt him down.    There were even people experimenting with Mine builds at one point.    But successive nerfs to the locusts and the talents have really killed that, it's basically hat build (in very specific circumstances) or he's a dead weight.

[Valhalen 1,484]

9 minutes ago, Migol said:

and maybe not show up on the minimap as a giant obvious "kill me!" icon).

Removing the Monstrosity minimap icon would make it severely broken. If left alone, the Monstrosity can take any lane singlehandedly.

[draugnim 0]

So there is no new hero for this month ? I guess they made this interview because they won't release a new hero for this month .