heroes Yrel Hero Spotlight

[Stan 5,240]

Yrel is joining the Nexus soon and the official spotlight highlighting her back story is now up.

Each of her basic abilities is channeled and gains strength as she charges up to the maximum.

Basic Abilities

[D] Trait [Divine Purpose]

Directly interacts with her basic abilities. When activated, her next basic ability can be cast instantly at maximum charge at no Mana cost. 

[Q] Vindication

After channeling, she releases an explosion of light that damages enemies while healing herself.

[W] Righteous Hammer

Yrel swings the hammer of the Naaru, damaging enemies and knocking them away. The longer she charges, the more damage and knockback distance increase increase. Enemies hit at full strength are stunned for a short period on top of its other effects.

[E] Avenging Wrath

Upon activation, Yrel leaps through the air and upon landing, she slows and damages enemies in the impact area.

Heroc Abilities

[R1] Ardent Defender

Upon activation, a barrier surrounds her that absorbs incoming attacks, mitigating all damage taken for a percentage of the damage dealt. It can be cast while Yrel is channeling her basic abilities.

[R2] Sacred Ground

Purifies the portion of the battleground around Yrel, granting her a large amount of Armor while she remains in the area. The effect benefits Yrel and has no time duration. Instead, it persists until Yrel, or someone forces her out.

After traveling to an Alternate Draenor, the forces of Azeroth saved the acolyte Yrel from the Iron Horde. With their aid, she rose to the rank of Exarch and fought back the demonic invasion of her world. Now, she finds herself where time, space, and dimensions converge: the Nexus. Get all the necessary information and some gameplay tips on our newest Warrior Hero, Yrel, Light of Hope, in this spotlight video!

 

[Valhalen 1,484]

I loved how cute they made her. She looks amazing.

I'm very surprised she is a Warrior. I was expecting an Assassin. But I love it. She will be really strong in Double Warrior compositions, with that defensive bruiser-like kit. It is nice to get another Tank-Support hybrid, as the last one we got was Zarya.

Edited June 4, 2018 by Valhalen

[Dejo93 1,023]

17 minutes ago, Valhalen said:

I loved how cute they made her. She looks amazing.

I'm very surprised she is a Warrior. I was expecting an Assassin. But I love it. She will be really strong in Double Warrior compositions, with that defensive bruiser-like kit. It is nice to get another Tank-Support hybrid, as the last one we got was Zarya.

Her skin though. Love that Harley Quinn vibe :D

[mada7 29]

23 minutes ago, Valhalen said:

I loved how cute they made her. She looks amazing.

I'm very surprised she is a Warrior. I was expecting an Assassin. But I love it. She will be really strong in Double Warrior compositions, with that defensive bruiser-like kit. It is nice to get another Tank-Support hybrid, as the last one we got was Zarya.

I kinda figured she'd be a warrior since we haven't gotten a new one since Blaze (I dont think we're going to see any new specialists with them already in the process of reworking the class system). She seems to me like a mix of Muradin with a reduced version of Dehaka's sustain. I also kept feeling like she's similar to Tyrael but can't quite put my finger on why, maybe the mix of healing and tanking

[Valhalen 1,484]

5 minutes ago, mada7 said:

I kinda figured she'd be a warrior since we haven't gotten a new one since Blaze (I dont think we're going to see any new specialists with them already in the process of reworking the class system). She seems to me like a mix of Muradin with a reduced version of Dehaka's sustain. I also kept feeling like she's similar to Tyrael but can't quite put my finger on why, maybe the mix of healing and tanking

And with a mini Leap and a personal Force of Will 2.0 for a Heroic.

 

Edited June 4, 2018 by Valhalen

[SteveFrost 97]

Man, them wings coming out during Avenging Wrath... makes me kinda sad no one from the Angels doesn't have something like that

[Dejo93 1,023]

4 minutes ago, Valhalen said:

And with a mini Leap and a personal Force of Will 2.0 for a Heroic.

 

I really wish they added some new specialists :( The tower changes really hurt them didn't it?

[mada7 29]

3 minutes ago, Dejo93 said:

I really wish they added some new specialists ? The tower changes really hurt them didn't it?

I dont think we're going to see any more specialists. The rework of classes they claim to be working on seems to not have specialists so no point in making another hero that will need to be drastically reclassified so soon

[Arcling 898]

12 minutes ago, Dejo93 said:

I really wish they added some new specialists ? The tower changes really hurt them didn't it?

Depends on hero and map. Sylvanas is still capable of insane push, even with her trait nerfed.

Yrel looks good, did not expect her to be a full tank, but another one is always a welcome sight.

7 minutes ago, mada7 said:

I dont think we're going to see any more specialists. The rework of classes they claim to be working on seems to not have specialists so no point in making another hero that will need to be drastically reclassified so soon

Yeah, most specialists are going into assassins with good wave clear (there will be several tags), with some exceptions like Medivh, Abathur being moved into support/utility. I think that's good, because it has been a long time since specialist category didn't serve much purpose, it was no longer for siege heroes (and there was too much of an overlap with assassins like Jaina and Kael, who are also good at clearing waves).

Edited June 4, 2018 by Arcling

[ArusVicious 156]

She certainly does not seem overpowered at all. Super glad to see that Blizz learned from Maiev and Fenix. However, she looks fun as hell. Seems vulnerable to stuns due to the charge times, but she also seems quite durable along with having decent peel and CC. I look forward to trying her.

[Drachar 45]

Honestly expected her to be a DPS rather then tank, but her toolkit looks good.

[lChronosl 182]

Interesting kit, it will be fun to play. I wonder for how long can she hold her fully charged abilities, because in the video it seems there is no time limit. Also, can she cancel them somehow?

Bubble Hearth?

Edited June 4, 2018 by lChronosl

[Hanz39 53]

Sacred Ground seems completely useless, an enemy can just stand out of the circle hitting you with all he wants without taking any damage from Yrel since if she exit the circle even once it disappear. Cannot compete even remotely with Ardent Defender that will have 100% pickrate

[lChronosl 182]

49 minutes ago, Hanz39 said:

Sacred Ground seems completely useless, an enemy can just stand out of the circle hitting you with all he wants without taking any damage from Yrel since if she exit the circle even once it disappear. Cannot compete even remotely with Ardent Defender that will have 100% pickrate

That was my first impression as well, but it have some positives: it's good when you have to stay put, such as the new map objectives; it has relative low CD; the 20 upgrade allows you to move it around somewhat. I think if your team has good healing, or if the enemies have little burst, it might be the better choice.

One question, does armor reduce non hero damage? Minions, mercs, towers, summons?

[Valhalen 1,484]

50 minutes ago, Hanz39 said:

Sacred Ground seems completely useless, an enemy can just stand out of the circle hitting you with all he wants without taking any damage from Yrel since if she exit the circle even once it disappear. Cannot compete even remotely with Ardent Defender that will have 100% pickrate

Sacred Ground is definitely strong. 40 armor is A LOT. In maps where you gotta defend stationary objectives (i.e. Sky Temple and Braxis Holdout), she becomes a wall. Pair that with Devotion + Guardian of Ancient Kings and she will be capped at 75 armor easily.

[Hanz39 53]

Even if you have 40 armor doesn't mean you won't die just taking all the damage without doing nothing the whole time, it only affects Yrel also so enemy can easy ignore her and hit the others inside the circle for full dmg, if you want protect yourself isn't better become invincible and heal yourself at the same time when you really need it instead of reduce some damage when you don't need it?

They shoulda have given her a dmg ult instead of 2 defensive ults with one being pratically useless compared to the other

[misi 0]

i love the supposed skins that appear in the video, Auriel as Spirit ,  goblin junkrat and orc johana

[Valhalen 1,484]

Talent list.

It seems her Avenging Wrath build will be absurdly strong; she will be pretty much a Leapquake Barbarian from Diablo III, hopping like a frog constantly in a way that will make Muradin jelly.

Here is how I plan to build this babe:

Level 1 - Light of Khaldor (Q): Increase Vindication's radius by 15%. Vindication's healing is increased by 20% per enemy Hero hit.

Level 4 - Aegis of Light (E): Upon landing, Avenging Wrath grants other nearby allied Heroes 25 Armor for 5 seconds.

Level 7 - Holy Avenger (E): Hitting an enemy Hero with Avenging Wrath at maximum charge reduces its cooldown to 1 second.

Level 10 - Sacred Ground (R2): Yrel sanctifies the ground around her, gaining 40 Armor until she leaves the area.

Level 13 - Repentance (E): Increase Avenging Wrath's Slow by 25% and duration by 0.5 seconds.

Level 16 - Divine Favor (D): Casting a Basic Ability reduces the cooldown of Divine Purpose by 2 seconds.

Level 20 - Hallowed Ground (R2): Casting Avenging Wrath while inside Sacred Ground moves Sacred Ground to Yrel's location upon landing.

I've tested this on the PTR and feels really powerful (and fun), turning her into a very potent Bruiser with ridiculous self-sustain, and perfect for hard-engage / dive compositions. So stuff like Maiev, Sonya and Butcher will be her best friends.

Here is how it works:

• Holy Avenger (7) + Repetance (13) makes Yrel very hard to peel off. She will be able to inflict a Hero with 75% slow for 1.5 seconds, every 2.5 seconds, as Holy Avenger puts Avenging Wrath on a 1 second cooldown.

• Charge Avenging Wrath and leap in the middle of the enemies, then use Sacred Ground, pop Divine Purpose followed by Righteous Hammer and start charging Avenging Wrath again, using Vindication when needed.

• Yrel will be able to reset the CD on Divine Purpose really fast thanks to Divine Favor (16), be able to leap on enemies all the time, and all that while boasting from passive 40 armor granted from Sacred Ground, which will have 100% uptime as she hops around thanks to Hallowed Ground (20). And all that while granting 25 armor to nearby allies through Aegis of Light (4), which has quite a large radius.

Edited June 4, 2018 by Valhalen

[ExorionAether 11]

General HotS player: "Waaaah, that Bubble Hearth is stupid. You can never kill her and then she gets away safely. First Chromie and now this bs!!!"

Smart player: "You know...she will be gone from the fight...so the enemy has no tank...that is almost a victory and as effective as if you would have killed her, you kno---"

General HotS Player: "MUUU KDR!!!!!!!!!"

Aside from that: Dunno what to think of her as of yet. Will wait until she gets on live (as to avoid potential changes of opinion with updates right before she goes away from PTR).

[Yridaa 490]

They used Khadgar's theme while showing off her abilities. Next hero confirmed?

[Morcalivan 86]

That 40 Armour area looks mean for taking objectives. Can't see that lasting too long. 40 Armour is huge to begin with, but as long as needed to secure the objective? Da fk? Though they were trying to move away from those kinds of game breaking things. Would hate to face her on, well, nearly every map out there. The Crowd Control and risk based healing looks cool on a Tank though. But that 40 armour is just dumb.

[Sombra 28]

5 hours ago, ExorionAether said:

General HotS player: "Waaaah, that Bubble Hearth is stupid. You can never kill her and then she gets away safely. First Chromie and now this bs!!!"

Smart player: "You know...she will be gone from the fight...so the enemy has no tank...that is almost a victory and as effective as if you would have killed her, you kno---"

General HotS Player: "MUUU KDR!!!!!!!!!"

Aside from that: Dunno what to think of her as of yet. Will wait until she gets on live (as to avoid potential changes of opinion with updates right before she goes away from PTR).

 

 

Its still dumb...

 

if you put all resources into killing this hero, you have a 4v5 with mostly damaged heroes with all abilitys on cd

 

and if you fight near the enemy core she just comes back full health 10 sec after

 

its not as bs as chromie, cause you need way more gap closers to kill chromie, but it is still not realy fun to play against

[Sombra 28]

Just now, Sombra said:

 

 

Its still dumb...

 

if you put all resources into killing this hero, you have a 4v5 with mostly damaged heroes with all abilitys on cd

 

and if you fight near the enemy core she just comes back full health 10 sec after

 

its not as bs as chromie, cause you need way more gap closers to kill chromie, but it is still not realy fun to play against

She also can get away with realy suicidal plays if the ability is on a low cd,

 

 

[Erathis 53]

1 hour ago, Sombra said:

its not as bs as chromie, cause you need way more gap closers to kill chromie, but it is still not realy fun to play against

I'm not sure why anyone would care about Bubble Hearth...  It's a level 20 ability that has a clear window to interrupt (which is something she's already weak to).  If you take it you're not getting either of her Heroic Improvements (both of which are very nice) nor her 2 second Unstoppable (which helps fight one of her biggest weaknesses).

So to recap:  It comes super late, in the end game when everyone has all the burst/cc they can get (to kill/interrupt during the 1 second channel).  It prevents her from getting three very strong talents from the same tier.  And even if it does work, all it does is prevent her death, which is decent of course but has little utility when it comes to her actual combat ability.

Bye, Bye isn't even that good on Chromie (though for her every talent on that tier is entirely defensive so she isn't giving up a lot) and she at least has the excuse that if she gets jumped on she can't fight effectively and just dies so recalling when it's clear your ability to fight is gone is okay.  Yrel is a melee tank with plenty of peel, sustain, durability, and escape.  It's almost never going to be completely clear that she's in a hopeless situation (unless you do something stupid) so very rarely will she be in an obvious situation where she'll want to hit the button.

Frankly it's a cute skill but I doubt it's going to be picked in any competitive situation.

Edited June 5, 2018 by KSDT

[Abom 31]

HOTS art team is 10/10. Whole vibe feels like old school Blizz artwork

Edited June 5, 2018 by Abom