heroes Heroes of the Storm PTR Patch Notes: September 17th

[Stan 5,240]

The latest Heroes of the Storm content patch is available for playtesting until September 24. Check out the official patch notes for details!

Fall of the King's Crest Event

Fall of the King's Crest is a new event available next week where players can complete up to four different quests to earn themed rewards. We have a new type of Loot Chests that will have a chance to contain new skins.

• Fall of the King's Crest Event Trailer
• Event Overview & Comic TBA

Garden of Terror Revamp

Blizzard also decided to change the objective on Garden of Terror to make a Cursed Hollow & Tomb of the Spider Queen hybrid out of it by removing the day/night cycle and the Garden Terror vehicle.

• Garden of Terror Battleground Rework

Hero Reworks

The patch will hit live servers next week and it's time for two Hero reworks as Brightwing and Kerrigan both received talent overhauls. The patch notes contain detailed information about all new, updated, and removed talents.

• Brightwing Hero Rework Spotlight
• Kerrigan Hero Rework Spotlight

Blizzard (Source)

Our next Heroes of the Storm patch has just hit the Public Test Realm and will be available for playtesting until September 24. As always, if you encounter any bugs during your PTR play sessions, please stop by the PTR Bug Report forum to let us know about your experiences.

NOTE: This patch also includes balance changes for an update that will be hitting the live servers later this week. You can find those notes here.

General

New Event: Fall of King’s Crest

• The Fall of Kings Questline is now available for players. The hunt is on for the generals of the Raven Lord!
• Loot Chests have been replaced with Seasonal Loot chests for the duration of this event.

Battlegrounds

Garden of Terror

• Garden of Terror has received significant gameplay and layout changes. Find out more in the Garden of Terror Spotlight video or on the updated Garden of Terror Battleground site.

Art

Heroes, Abilities, and Talents

• Kerrigan and Brightwing have received some new and updated art to coincide with their gameplay updates.

User Interface

• Mercenary Camp and Banner floating text has received readability improvements.

Heroes

Assassin

Kerrigan

Abilities

• Ravage (Q)
  • Charges increased from 1 to 2
  • Range reduced from 8 to 6
  • Mana cost reduced from 40 to 20
  • Damage reduced from 210 to 130
  • Added functionality:
    • Now also refunds 20 Mana when used on an enemy that dies within 1.5 seconds
• Impaling Blades (W)
  • Damage reduced from 261 to 180
• Primal Grasp (E)
  • Pull damage reduced from 114 to 25
  • Added functionality:
    • 2.5 seconds after using Primal Grasp, Kerrigan damages all nearby enemies for 180 damage
• Summon Ultralisk (R)
  • Splash radius increased from 1.5 to 2
  • The initial cast of Ultralisk is now directional skill shot that causes the Ultralisk to charge in the targeted direction until impacting an enemy Hero. It deals 250 damage and stuns for .5 seconds to the first Hero it hits.
• Assimilation (Trait)
  • Shield amount increased from 10 to 15% of damage dealt

Talents

• Level 1
  • Siphoning Impact (Q)
    • New functionality:
      • Using Ravage on an enemy Hero grants an additional 90 Assimilation Shield
  • Assimilation Mastery (Trait)
    • Moved from level 7
    • No longer increases the duration of Assimilation Shield
    • In addition to increasing Kerrigan’s Health and Mana Regeneration by 100% while Assimilation is active, now also causes Regeneration Globes to grant 40 Assimilation Shield per second while active
  • Fury of the Swarm (Passive)
    • Moved from level 4
    • New functionality:
      • Kerrigan gains 10% more Assimilation Shields from Basic Attacks. Casting Ravage causes Kerrigan’s next 2 Basic Attacks within 3 seconds to splash for 100% damage around the target
  • Sharpened Blades (W)
    • Removed
  • Block (Passive)
    • Removed

• Level 4
  • New Talent - Sharpened Blades (Q)
    • !Quest: Every time an enemy Minion or Hero dies within 1.5 seconds of being damaged by Ravage, increase Ravage's damage by .5 (5 for Heroes), up to 50
    • !Reward: After reaching 50 damage, gain an additional 50 damage
  • New Talent - Kinetic Fulmination (W)
    • Damaging an enemy increases the damage of Kerrigan's next Impaling Blades by 15%. Stacks up to 150%. Lasts 10 seconds.
  • Psionic Pulse (E)
    • New functionality:
      • Primal Grasp deals damage a second time 2.5 seconds after the initial burst
  • Clean Kill (Q)
    • Removed
  • Envenom (Active)
    • Removed
• Level 7
  • New Talent - Queen of Blades (Q)
    • Every time Primal Grasp's pull or explosion hits an enemy Hero, reduce the cooldown of Ravage by 4 seconds
  • New Talent - Boundless Fury (Q)
    • Casting Ravage on an enemy Hero grants a charge of Ravage. Can only occur on each Hero once every 10 seconds
  • Bladed Momentum (Passive)
    • Now only triggers when attacking enemy Heroes
    • Now works with splash damage from Fury of the Swarm
  • Blade Torrent (W)
    • Removed
• Level 13
  • New Talent - Psionic Barrier (E)
    • Kerrigan gains 15 Spell Armor for 4 seconds for every enemy Hero she hits with Primal Grasp's pull or explosion
  • New Talent - Volatile Power (Trait)
    • Increase the base Shield amount gained from Assimilation by 15%, but reduce the duration of Assimilation Shields from 6 to 3 seconds
  • New Talent - Chrysalis (Active)
    • Activate to place Kerrigan in a chrysalis with 550 Health for 5 seconds. Kerrigan regenerates 5% Health per second while inside the chrysalis. 90 second cooldown.
  • Eviscerate (Q)
    • Removed
  • Double Strike (Q)
    • Removed
  • Queen's Rush (Active)
    • Removed
• Level 16
  • New Talent - Mounting Potency (Q)
    • Casting Ravage on an enemy increases Kerrigan's Spell Power by 5% for 4 seconds, stacking up to 40%
  • New Talent - Painful Spikes (W)
    • After stunning an enemy with Impale, Kerrigan deals an additional 75 damage the next 6 times she damages them within the next 5 seconds
  • New Talent - Unbridled Energy (R)
    • When Kerrigan damages a Hero with a Heroic Ability she gains 30% Spell Power for 4 seconds
  • Aggressive Defense (Trait)
    • Removed
  • Essence for Essence (Active)
    • Removed
  • Overdrive (Active)
    • Removed
• Level 20
  • Omegastorm (R)
    • New Functionality:
      • Maelstrom's duration is increased by .125 seconds every time it damages an enemy Hero
  • New Talent - Assimilation Blades (Trait)
    • Damaging an enemy increases Kerrigan's Basic Attack damage by 4%, up to 40%, for 5 seconds
  • Psionic Shift (Active)
    • Shield amount is now doubled when damaging enemy Heroes
  • Nexus Blades (Passive)
    • Removed

Developer Comment: Kerrigan is receiving an update to increase the tactical depth of using her abilities and increase the impact that her Talents have on her playstyle. We've reduced the range on  Ravage but added a second charge so that smart Kerrigan players can use it to maneuver on the battlefield, as well as utilize a lot of her Talents to get the most out of the ability. We've added a secondary explosion to Primal Grasp so that Kerrigan will want to continue to worry about her positioning after her initial engagement occurs, as well as provide the opportunity for new Talent interactions. We've also added a skillshot component to Ultralisk so that the Heroic can feel like it has a big moment when it is first unleashed. Overall, Kerrigan should play mostly the same, but have increased room for mastery and playstyle specific builds.

Support

Brightwing

Abilities

• Arcane Flare (Q)
  • Outer damage from 87 to 75
  • Inner damage from 260 to 180
  • Missile speed increased ~30%
  • Added functionality:
    • If an enemy Hero is hit by the center of Arcane Flare, instantly pulse a free Soothing Mist
• Polymorph (W)
  • Duration from 1.25 to 1.5 seconds
  • Cooldown from 10 to 12 seconds
• Pixie Dust (E)
  • Range from 8 to 7
• Phase Shift (Z)
  • Cooldown from 55 to 60 seconds
  • Added functionality:
    • Heals the target for 20% of their maximum health
• Soothing Mist (D)
  • Heal amount reduced from 115 to 105
  • Added functionality:
    • Activate to instantly pulse a calming wave, clearing all Stun, Root, Slow, and Silence effects from nearby allies
    • 120 second cooldown
• Emerald Wind (R)
  • No longer grants passive healing to Soothing Mist
  • Damage reduced from 303 to 225
  • Cooldown reduced from 60 to 50 seconds

Talents

• Level 1
  • Greater Polymorph (W)
    • Moved from Level 16
    • New functionality:
      • Increase the cast range of Polymorph by 30%. Anytime a nearby enemy Hero is killed, reset the Cooldown of Polymorph
  • Hyper Shift (Z)
    • New functionality:
      • Increase the heal amount of Phase Shift to 30% of targets max Health
      • Every Minion killed near you lowers the cooldown of Phase Shift by 2 seconds
  • Pixie Charm (1)
    • New functionality:
      • Every Minion killed near you grants you a Bribe Stack. Hitting an enemy with the center portion of Arcane Flare grants you 5 Bribe Stacks
• Level 4
  • Manic Pixie (E)
    • Removed
  • Unstable Anomaly (W)
    • New functionality:
      • Increase the slow amount of Polymorph to 40%. When it expires, it explodes dealing 2% of all nearby enemy Heroes max Health in damage
  • Dream Shot (Q)
    • Moved from Level 1
    • New functionality:
      • Increase the range of Arcane Flare by 50%. If it hits an enemy Hero, lower the cooldown to 2 seconds.
  • New Talent – Magic Spit (D)
    • Increase your Basic Attack range by 20%. Attacks against Heroes reduce the cooldown of Soothing Mist’s active by 5 seconds
• Level 7
  • Mistified (D)
    • Removed
  • Cleanse (Active)
    • Removed
  • Phase Shield (Z)
    • Removed
  • Sticky Flare (Q)
    • Moved from Level 13
    • New functionality:
      • Arcane Flare slows Heroes by 20% for 3 seconds, or 40% if hit by the center of Arcane Flare
  • Peekaboo! (Z)
    • Moved from Level 4
    • Added functionality:
      • Also grants the you and your target a temporary health Shield
  • New Talent – Critical Mist (D)
    • If Calming Mist removes a status effect from an ally, instantly heal them for 200
• Level 13
  • Ice Block (Active)
    • Removed
  • Shield Dust (E)
    • Removed
  • Pixie Boost (E)
    • Movement Speed decay duration increased from 1.5 to 3 seconds
    • Movement Speed bonus reduced to 40%
  • New Talent – Safety Dust (E)
    • Increase the duration of Pixie Dust by 1 second. Healing dealt by Brightwing is increased by 25% on targets with Pixie Dust
  • New Talent – Pixie Power (E)
    • Lower the cooldown of Pixie Dust by 3 seconds and increase the Spell Armor it grants to 50
• Level 16
  • Bouncy Dust (E)
    • Removed
  • Hardened Focus (Passive)
    • Removed
  • New Talent – Phase Out (Active)
    • Activate to phase out and become invulnerable for .5 seconds
      • 20 second cooldown
  • New Talent – Hush (Q)
    • Enemy Heroes hit with the center of Arcane Flare are Silenced for 1 second and deal 25% less damage for 3 seconds.
• Level 20
  • Double Wyrmhole (R)
    • Removed
  • Continuous Winds (R)
    • Removed
  • Revitalizing Mist (D)
    • Removed
  • Storm Shield (Active)
    • Removed
  • New Talent – Invisible Friends (R)
    • Blink Heal grants you and the target stealth. They are unrevealable for .5 seconds. While under this effect, they regenerate 20 Health Per Second
  • New Talent – Intensive Winds (R)
    • Lower the cooldown of Emerald Wind to 3 seconds. It now costs 200 Mana
  • New Talent – Faerie Protector (Active)
    • Activate to instantly cast Pixie Dust on all nearby allied Heroes
    • 60 second cooldown
  • New Talent – Speedy Dragon (Passive)
    • Gain 20% permanent movement speed

Developer Comment: Late last year we decided that we wanted to add a fun mini-game to Brightwing utilizing her Arcane Flare as the focal point. As it often happens, while making the initial changes we started diving in deeper and deeper. Nearly a year later, we are excited to showcase a fully updated talent tree alongside some fundamental game-play changes to our resident Faerie Dragon. With a baseline AoE cleanse-type effect and added healing potential to her Arcane Flare, Brightwing should bring some new major play-making abilities to her team.

Collection

New Bundles

• The following new bundles are available for a limited time:
  • Fall of King’s Crest Bundle
  • Spectral Wyrm Alextrasza Skin Pack
  • Spider Warden Maiev Skin Pack
  • Cursed Witch Whitemane Skin Pack
  • Phantom Knight Zarya Skin Pack

New Announcers

• Queen Nightshade
• Blackheart
• Lady of Thorns

New Skins

• Alexstrasza
  • Spectral Wyrm Alexstrasza
  • Infernal Wyrm Alexstrasza
  • Phantom Wyrm Alexstrasza
• Brightwing
  • Spectral Bewitching Brightwing
• Kerrigan
  • Spectral Countess Kerrigan
• Maiev
  • Spider Warden Maiev
  • Forgotten Spider Warden Maiev
  • Night Spider Warden Maiev
• Whitemane
  • Cursed Witch Whitemane
  • Forgotten Witch Whitemane
  • Court Witch Whitemane
• Zarya
  • Phantom Knight Zarya
  • Infernal Knight Zarya
  • Geist Knight Zarya

New Mounts

• Redeemed Tombstone
• Corrupted Tombstone
• Copper Money Pig
• Pumpkin Eye Pad
• Sunny Side Eye Pad

New Portraits, Sprays, and Emojis

• Several new emoji packs and portraits have also been added to the Heroes of the Storm Collection tab.

Bug Fixes

General

• Fixed several confusing or incorrect tooltips across all parts of the game.
• Drag Scroll: Fixed an issue that could occasionally cause the camera to jump in the direction of the cursor when using the drag scroll feature.
• Reconnect: Fixed an issue that could cause players to lose control of their Hero if they reconnect while piloting a vehicle.
• AI: A number of improvements have been made to AI Hero behavior.

Art

• Chromie: Fixed an issue that caused Chromie’s hourglass to go missing during her Hearthstone animation.

Heroes, Abilities, and Talents

• Abathur: Fixed an issue preventing Monstrosity from gaining damage when nearby enemy minions die.
• Alarak & Gazlowe: Fixed an issue that allowed Gazlowe and Alarak to cast charged abilities while time stopped.
• Ana: Fixed an issue that allowed Ana to used Eye of Horus shots between mine levels on Haunted Mines.
• Lúcio: Fixed an issue preventing Lúcio from issuing attack commands while silenced.
• Mephisto: Fixed an issue preventing the Static Barrier talent from granting Mephisto shields if damage was dealt to Shields or Protected Heroes.
• Raynor: Raynor's Raider will now clear attack or move order when entering or exiting the mines on Haunted Mines.
• Stealth: Fixed an issue that prevented Ping markers from being visible on clones if the clones were created after the ping was initiated.

User Interface

• Fixed an issue that caused Garrosh’s Groundbreaker splat to appear under the wrong team color in observer mode.
• Fixed an issue that could cause Heroes to fail to play stun animations and effects if stunned twice in quick succession.
• Lúcio: Fixed an issue causing the UI displaying the number of allies in range of crossfade to stop working after Lúcio exits a vehicle.

Brightwing & Kerrigan talent updates, Garden of Terror battleground revamp, and the Fall of King's Crest event are coming to the Nexus soon!

[Dejo93 1,023]

Oh boy, rule 34 artists will have a field day with these new skins XD

[Valhalen 1,484]

24 minutes ago, Stan said:

Pixie Boost (E)

• Movement Speed decay duration increased from 1.5 to 3 seconds
• Movement Speed bonus reduced to 40%

I think you meant 40% increase, right?

Edited September 17, 2018 by Valhalen

[ArusVicious 156]

Hmm. I wonder if these new skins to Maiev, whitemane and alexstrasza are creatable with shards and able to be found in loot chests. Or are they only purchaseable with gems considering that they already have gem only skins?

Edited September 17, 2018 by Maxkitty

[Kroko23 0]

31 minutes ago, Maxkitty said:

Hmm. I wonder if these new skins to Maiev, whitemane and alexstrasza are creatable with shards and able to be found in loot chests. Or are they only purchaseable with gems considering that they already have gem only skins?

There shard purchasable, but they have event tangs on em like the Halloween season skins last year, so they'll only be available till this event is over.

[ArusVicious 156]

10 minutes ago, Kroko23 said:

There shard purchasable, but they have event tangs on em like the Halloween season skins last year, so they'll only be available till this event is over.

That makes sense. Thanks for confirming!

[Valhalen 1,484]

28 minutes ago, Maxkitty said:

Hmm. I wonder if these new skins to Maiev, whitemane and alexstrasza are creatable with shards and able to be found in loot chests. Or are they only purchaseable with gems considering that they already have gem only skins?

Craftable. Only Hero launch skins since the Alexstrasza patch are gem-only.

Edited September 17, 2018 by Valhalen

[SteveFrost 97]

Wow.. I was prepared for disappointment with Kerrigan rework but this...

Her basic abilities got gutted down HARD in base damages and for a Hero who relies on comboing her abilities not just for damage but pretty much everything, this is terribad in so many ways. Only Ravage can be salvaged out of the bunch. Also, the removal of talents such as Clean Kill, Double Strike, Aggressive Defense and the nerf to Bladed Momentum adds insult to injury-such insult the offenders shoud get permabanned for being toxic.

New talents are...meh at best (only liking the quest and Chrysalis) and in no way make up for the above. Spell power isn't something she can really use, her cooldowns are rather punishing (not to mention she can easily get into mana issues). Unbridled Energy is the only one that actually looks viable in that regard imho. Jumping around like Tigger from Winnie The Pooh may appear and sound fun to try out, but Kerri isn't an initiator (like apparently they're trying to make her) and she's not Lunara either; when she goes in a bit of cc here and a small focus down there and she's a goner before you can blink. It's like they think she's a diver, but she can't just go in and expect to do something (in 1v1 scenarios maybe). Her shield generation plain sucks (worse than untalented Tyrael ally shield, that's why Aggressive Defense was a no-brainer) and even basic attacks from Heroes that aren't basic attackers can easily make it seem like it never existed, she can never expect to survive for long (matter of nanoseconds). 

It may appear I'm wearing blinkers but I'm not; I always try to be objective. I'm just genuinely and majorly disappointed by this cause Kerrigan has such potential as a character. They always say "we try to avoid to drastically change how a Hero's playstyle and feel is before the rework unless it is called for"; well, I believe it's one of those instances. Kerrigan is supposed to be the strongest psionic in the whole universe, not just some knife/stab/slasher psychomaniac, yet her whole psionic profile is at best mostly overlooked (mediocre trait, very few talents and a Heroic that plays on that and not very well). Like you've probably seen me say before, she could have for example a Heroic that temporarily gives her new abilities (so many exciting opportunities) and/or a talent that makes her attacks ranged; she shoots FRIGGIN THUNDERBOLTS from her hands, even does so in the game's opening trailer for the love of God, would've been so cool... She just doesn't feel like Kerri...

P.S. Not even Kerrigan announcer, REEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE

[1know 2]

https://prnt.sc/kvj0wi

;)

[Arcling 898]

46 minutes ago, 1know said:

https://prnt.sc/kvj0wi

?

So now we know what's HotS ticket bonus is going to be. Boar had a matching banner and spray, so I guess this shark won't be different.

Edited September 17, 2018 by Arcling

[lChronosl 182]

New Brighwing looks amazing, some great talent synergies there, and interesting counter options.

New Kerrigan looks ok. Granted I used to play her mostly as a jungler/solo ganker, but the rework looks interesting enough.

Very excited for the new event, only a bit disappointed because in the PTR the legendaries Alex's and Whitemane's skins don't have recolored animations to match the tints. Specially frustrating on purple or red Dragon Form with green fire AA. Can't wait to buy a Blackheart and Queen of Thorns announcer.

[SirSlapzAlot 28]

9 hours ago, Stan said:

Talent – Intensive Winds (R)

• Lower the cooldown of Emerald Wind to 3 seconds. It now costs 200 Mana

This must be typo right? 

[ShadowerDerek 69]

5 minutes ago, SirSlapzAlot said:

This must be typo right? 

No

[Erathis 53]

9 hours ago, SteveFrost said:

I'm just genuinely and majorly disappointed by this cause Kerrigan has such potential as a character. They always say "we try to avoid to drastically change how a Hero's playstyle and feel is before the rework unless it is called for"; well, I believe it's one of those instances. Kerrigan is supposed to be the strongest psionic in the whole universe, not just some knife/stab/slasher psychomaniac, yet her whole psionic profile is at best mostly overlooked (mediocre trait, very few talents and a Heroic that plays on that and not very well). Like you've probably seen me say before, she could have for example a Heroic that temporarily gives her new abilities (so many exciting opportunities) and/or a talent that makes her attacks ranged; she shoots FRIGGIN THUNDERBOLTS from her hands, even does so in the game's opening trailer for the love of God, would've been so cool... She just doesn't feel like Kerri...

While she has plenty of psi abilities in her lore, they didn't choose to focus their gameplay model on that.  This is entirely reasonable IMO!  They already had half a dozen psi characters from Starcraft lined up behind her when they were creating her character.  Instead they chose to focus on her title (Queen of Blades) and the more primal leaping attack zerg style which honestly practically no other characters from Star Craft (or most other games) are going to have.  It's the same reason why Nova (who can use powerful Psi abilities in her lore as well) doesn't have any psi in her hots version.  To differentiate her from other characters.

As for the rework itself, we'll have to try her out.  Her Ravage ability got changed a great deal given all of the talents you can put on it and the number of times you can regain charges.  IMO, her viability hinges on how well that all plays out.  If you can chain Ravages well, get a squishy isolated, ect...  Then maybe she'll do okay.  Even if this flops, Blizzard does keep working on their projects.  If she needs buffs I expect she will get them.  Until I try her out though, I'm not going to write her off just yet.

[Valhalen 1,484]

8 hours ago, SirSlapzAlot said:

This must be typo right? 

Nope. You can pretty much spam it three times in a row if you're at full mana.

[SteveFrost 97]

On 9/18/2018 at 11:34 AM, KSDT said:

While she has plenty of psi abilities in her lore, they didn't choose to focus their gameplay model on that.  This is entirely reasonable IMO!  They already had half a dozen psi characters from Starcraft lined up behind her when they were creating her character.  Instead they chose to focus on her title (Queen of Blades) and the more primal leaping attack zerg style which honestly practically no other characters from Star Craft (or most other games) are going to have.  It's the same reason why Nova (who can use powerful Psi abilities in her lore as well) doesn't have any psi in her hots version.  To differentiate her from other characters.

Ummm, what? Abathur, Zagara, Dehaka. Zerg are very well represented through and through. Kerrigan IS NOT just another Zerg character. She is known for her terrible, awe-inspiring psionic powers. That's why everyone is afraid of her. This is why the Overmind chose her-for her great potential. She was the only known being with "a (whooping) class 12 psi signature" - that was BEFORE she went to Zerus and got infused with primal essence, becoming a hybrid (breaking the scale, unable to be measured anymore). And it is at that point in the timeline specifically that the Nexus took her in. So, her psionics were the focal point of her + her story. Kerrigan without psionics is like Zeratul without stealth, Jaina without frost magic, Muradin without his hammer & axe; ie not Kerrigan. Seeing the opening cinematics where she shoots them force lightnings and then seeing her in-game like a slasher thriller psychomaniac is like playing a demo and when playing the actual game it's nothing like that.

Creating holo decoys is pretty much a showcase of psionic power I believe; no other Ghost does that. Also, the games never focused on Nova for her psionic potential unlike Kerrigan, rather for her ability to infiltrate and her effectiveness in stealth missions and assassinations.

On 9/18/2018 at 11:34 AM, KSDT said:

As for the rework itself, we'll have to try her out.  Her Ravage ability got changed a great deal given all of the talents you can put on it and the number of times you can regain charges.  IMO, her viability hinges on how well that all plays out.  If you can chain Ravages well, get a squishy isolated, ect...  Then maybe she'll do okay.  Even if this flops, Blizzard does keep working on their projects.  If she needs buffs I expect she will get them.  Until I try her out though, I'm not going to write her off just yet.

Like I said, hopping around endlessly may appear and sound cool and funny on paper, but when you sit down and think about it a little, it actually isn't. She isn't a tank initiator or Lunara either. Ravage will have reduced range and now you won't even have the Eviscerate option and no option to use it on allies for a possible escape either from what I know. You'll also be dependant on enemy heroes positioning and presence/proximity of minions. You are still gonna be a squishy, melee assassin with limited mobility and options and a trait that will be next to useless to save you (that's why Aggressive Defense is needed and is the go-to choice), especially with a little cc and focus. She is going to need a team built around her if she's to be relevant and even then it may not be enough.

They better revisit her and rethink their approach, if not before release, sometime in the (hopefully near) future cause this just looks like a rather big nerf and nothing more.

Edited September 19, 2018 by SteveFrost

[Valhalen 1,484]

9 minutes ago, SteveFrost said:

Ummm, what? Abathur, Zagara, Dehaka. Zerg are very well represented through and through. Kerrigan IS NOT just another Zerg character. She is known for her terrible, awe-inspiring psionic powers. That's why everyone is afraid of her. This is why the Overmind chose her-for her great potential. She was the only known being with "a (whooping) class 12 psi signature" - that was BEFORE she went to Zerus and got infused with primal essence, becoming a hybrid (breaking the scale, unable to be measured anymore). And it is at that point in the timeline specifically that the Nexus took her in. So, her psionics were the focal point of her + her story. Kerrigan without psionics is like Zeratul without stealth, Jaina without frost magic, Muradin without his hammer & axe; ie not Kerrigan. Seeing the opening cinematics where she shoots them force lightnings and then seeing her in-game like a slasher thriller psychomaniac is like playing a demo and when playing the actual game it's nothing like that.

Creating holo decoys is pretty much a showcase of psionic power I believe; no other Ghost does that. Also, the games never focused on Nova for her psionic potential unlike Kerrigan, rather for her ability to infiltrate and her effectiveness in stealth missions and assassinations.

I know what you mean. Sadly, I don't think we will ever see a psionic Kerrigan; her gameplay is already too consolidated in the game. Blizzard would never fully rework a character where their gameplay style is changed completely. Sure, they could change Kerrigan into a completely different character (like Andariel? I don't know) and make a new Kerrigan with a focus on the psionic powers. But I highly doubt it.

[Erathis 53]

8 hours ago, SteveFrost said:

Ummm, what? Abathur, Zagara, Dehaka. Zerg are very well represented through and through.

Yes, and none of them have the leaping attack style that Kerrigan does.  Since they were never going to make a Zergling a hero, that style of attack is only going to come from Kerrigan, thus why they made her that way.

8 hours ago, SteveFrost said:

So, her psionics were the focal point of her + her story.

That doesn't really matter from a gameplay perspective.  Having her spam Psi power has her overlapping with other Psi characters they were making at the time (such as Tassadar) and any future ones to come along.  She also has a relatively unique fighting style where a "I'm a super powerful psychic shooting lightning at you" overlaps far too much gameplay with with any number of mage characters.  Going melee was a good step for gameplay diversity.  And as we've seen gameplay trumps lore when it comes to character design.

8 hours ago, SteveFrost said:

Seeing the opening cinematics where she shoots them force lightnings and then seeing her in-game like a slasher thriller psychomaniac is like playing a demo and when playing the actual game it's nothing like that.

I don't know why you keep bringing up the trailer.  It also has flying Tyr and Prime Evil Diablo, neither of which were in the game at launch (and Tyr still can't fly).

8 hours ago, SteveFrost said:

Creating holo decoys is pretty much a showcase of psionic power I believe; no other Ghost does that. Also, the games never focused on Nova for her psionic potential unlike Kerrigan, rather for her ability to infiltrate and her effectiveness in stealth missions and assassinations.

Holo Decoys are not Psi.  They do have a physical presence, both able to take and deal damage.  As such they are more like the Protoss Sentry's ability to create hard-light constructs which have a physical presence as opposed to Psi Hallucinations which do not.  Nova has nothing Psi on her kit at all.  And while her character's story may be about her missions as a ghost in-game (in lore she was a massive Psi powerhouse), she has always had Psi powers in her game representations before this (including seriously "powerful" stuff like Mind Control).  That said, again, the point is, for gameplay purposes she was focused down to only a part of her abilities.

8 hours ago, SteveFrost said:

Like I said, hopping around endlessly may appear and sound cool and funny on paper, but when you sit down and think about it a little, it actually isn't.

Again, it's all well and good you feel that way but I for one plan on trying the character to see how she plays.