heroes 2019 Year in Review

[Stan 5,243]

2019 brought four Hero releases, four Seasonal events, and various improvements to the game, including Hero role expansion, Mastery Rings, Nexus Anomalies, and XP Globes. Join the Heroes team as they look back at 2019 in retrospect!

Blizzard (Source)

2019 was a year full of radical new approaches in Heroes—we experimented with our biggest Hero ever, Deathwing, a new slice of the Nexus’ lore in Qhira, and our very first Nexus Anomaly, Experience Globes, among others. We added game-changing Heroes to the roster—including Imperius and Anduin—and seasonal events offered quests and skins that allowed us to pummel our enemies in style. To top it off, we added both innovative and quality-of-life features to the game, including more accurate roles and descriptions, mastery rings, and the very first multi-hero mount.

Here’s a deeper look at some of our favorite moments from the year.

Hero Releases

Imperius

Starting the year off with a power move, the leader of the Angiris Council and Aspect of Valor Imperius arrived to purge darkness from the Nexus. Imperius valiantly led armies of the High Heavens against the forces of hell, and as a Bruiser, there’s no shaking his resolve nor his constitution. This Archangel was one of the most highly requested Heroes, and his entrance was a beacon of hope to all.

Anduin

The High King of the Alliance, Anduin, made his royal Heroes debut in early 2019. After his father fell to the Burning Legion, he learned that peace must be fought for wherever it is challenged—even in the Nexus.

Qhira

“Justice didn’t come for you—I did.” The Iresian Bounty Hunter Qhira, a Melee Assassin, came for her enemies in the Nexus in summer 2019. Qhira is the second Hero, after Orphea, who is exclusive to Heroes of the Storm. After the Iresian people tore their realm apart in a struggle for power, Qhira escaped with a Chainblade and began her search for survivors. However, if she finds an enemy Hero instead, she’s sure to make quick work of them before escaping with her Grappling Hook.

Deathwing

Announced just before BlizzCon, the dragon of many names shocked the world when he staked his claim on the Nexus at the tail end of 2019. By far the most requested Hero, Deathwing is the first on the roster to be permanently unstoppable and immune to both Crowd Control and allied abilities. He has two forms, Destroyer and World Breaker, which give him access to different abilities—whichever he uses, he rains terror on his foes.

Events

Caldeum Complex

The Heroes 2019 spring event took place in Caldeum Acropolis, a city where all struggle to find their place in a cyberpunk dystopia. In this event, the Azure Dragons and Onyx Turtles gangs, led by Chromie and Kharazim respectively, clash against the Jigoku Cybernetics Corporation and their elite agents over systemic oppression. Caldeum Complex featured a quest chain loaded with rewards, and players had the chance to earn unique skins such as Street Cyborg Kharazim and Techno Vandal Chromie.

Mechastorm II

The evil forces of Xenotech returned in summer 2019 with new skins like Mecha Yrel and Mecha Valla, special event quests, and bundles. This year Xenotech Malthael was at the head of the invasion, but a new generation of young pilots stood valiantly against the mecha Archangel of Death’s chaos and destruction.

The Scarlet Heist

2019’s fall event took place in New Tirisfal City, where the largest criminal empire in the city, headed by Whitemane, was finally set to receive some payback. Players had the chance to go through with Baby-Face Orphea’s, Wiseguy Junkrat’s, and Bama “The Hammer’s” plan to infiltrate Whitemane’s Scarlet Mafia and abscond with their biggest haul yet. With all the drops during this event, it was practically a steal.

Toys Event

2019 reminded us to appreciate the smaller things in life—like fun-sized Heroes, for example. The Toys event returned in the winter with an array of themed collectibles, such as the new skins Tickle Mephisto, Cosmonaut Qhira, Galactic Force Valeera, and more. The event also included Heroes of the Storm’s very first multi-hero mount, the Toy Train.

Features

Hero Role Expansion

As the roster and breadth of mechanics steadily increased, new roles and descriptions were created in the first quarter of 2019 to more closely represent Heroes currently in and coming to the Nexus. The new Hero Roles were: Tank, Bruiser, Support, Healer, Melee Assassin, and Ranged Assassin. (Tag yourself.)

Mastery Rings

As of 2019, reaching level 15 with a Hero means you can unlock the ability to use a Mastery Ring! Mastery Rings came to the game late in the year as a bit of extra flair that displays on a Hero in-game. They are purchasable with gold and upgradable with additional purchases, so the humble-brag progression is ever-present.

Nexus Anomalies and Experience Globes

At the end of 2019 we introduced Experience Globes, our first Nexus Anomaly. Nexus Anomalies are seasonal, major game updates intended to put a spin on the way you play Heroes. Experience Globes are a drop that grant in-game experience. Collecting experience has never been so intuitive and fun!

Toy Train Multi-Hero Mount

The little engine that almost didn’t, really did! The Nexus’ very first multi-hero mount made its arrival at the end of 2019 along with the Toys event. All aboard!

Thank you for being part of another great year of Heroes of the Storm. See you in the Nexus for another year of fun!

Latest Heroes of the Storm News

• Balance Update Patch Notes: January 22nd
• Free-to-Play Hero Rotation: Week of January 21st
• Heroic Deals: Week of January 21st

[Timotheaus 5]

When i read things like this i always imagine Kevin's voice in my head.

[Boothyp 48]

  On 1/23/2020 at 8:03 PM, Stan said:

Collecting experience has never been so intuitive and fun!

 

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Mh, very much a matter of opinion........ Great for melee, bit crap for ranged, especially long ranged.

Also, I can't really notice them most of the time, and tbh I forget after 3 odd years of the normal way......

[Twych 24]

We only got 4 heroes this year but all in all they are 4 of the biggest heroes in years.

-Imperius, one of the last 2 archangels of the Angiris Council (now for Itherael)

-Anduin, one of the most influential characters in WOW period and the face of the Alliance 

-A Nexus original (though Orphea's lore is way better and kit is much less annoying)

-Deathwing

The events were great, Mastery Rings and buying chests give a gold sink for after you own everybody

Role reworks could be a bit more descriptive, like how dota has Pushers and Durable tags 

And XP globes feel janky but hey it's experimental 

 

Also the train is the best thing to happen to this game ever, here's to another year

[darkgreenwax 412]

*cries in Abathur*

[Valhalen 1,484]

People keep saying the game is dying, but looks very much alive to me. We had two of the most requested Heroes added, great new events rather than recycling old ones and a good deal of balance patches.

I'm curious to see what the Heroes Team have in mind for this year. I hope we finally get Baal.

[Arcling 898]

I wonder how many heroes they are going to add this year. Since event has been extended, does it mean we won't see new hero until april? Last year we had Imperius around this time. Also, chances of getting a new map are very low now.

Edited January 24, 2020 by Arcling

[Laragon 269]

  On 1/24/2020 at 12:07 PM, Valhalen said:

People keep saying the game is dying, but looks very much alive to me. We had two of the most requested Heroes added, great new events rather than recycling old ones and a good deal of balance patches.

I'm curious to see what the Heroes Team have in mind for this year. I hope we finally get Baal.

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I'm nearly certain all 4 of these heroes were being worked on before they gutted the dev team. I'll be beyond surprised if you see 4 heroes this year. I wouldn't even be that surprised if there are zero.

[Valhalen 1,484]

  On 1/24/2020 at 4:59 PM, Laragon said:

I'm nearly certain all 4 of these heroes were being worked on before they gutted the dev team. I'll be beyond surprised if you see 4 heroes this year. I wouldn't even be that surprised if there are zero.

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Certainly. The devs said that Deathwing was being worked on for years. I don't want to be this pessimistic, but if we can get at least 2 Heroes this year, I'm ok with that. The current roster is solid, and adding new Heroes for the sake of having more characters would just hurt the game even further; the core philosophy of HotS from the start was to make Heroes with kits or mechanics that felt unique so no Hero plays like the other.

[darkgreenwax 412]

When you think of ALL of the rich characters created from Blizzard's games, and you think of how limited the release of heroes are in this game, it kills me that they release "Nexus" heroes. Quira release broke my heart.

[Morcalivan 86]

  On 1/24/2020 at 11:11 PM, TyZone said:

When you think of ALL of the rich characters created from Blizzard's games, and you think of how limited the release of heroes are in this game, it kills me that they release "Nexus" heroes. Quira release broke my heart.

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Qhira is such a bad decision. Same with Orphea. Pointless. Those mechanics could have been added to something related to their existing heroes and received so much better. What makes it worse is that Qhira was released after they ditched support so now there was even less hero releases for liked characters to be added. Not really optimistic about the game. It's pretty boring at the moment. The XP changes hurt Abathur and the ranged heroes and I played primarily support and ranged. I forget about the xp thing constantly. Barely see the things and they disappear so fast that you are playing so at odds to common sense to make sure you get them.