heroes Heroes of the Storm Balance Update Patch Notes: August 19th

[Stan 5,240]

Blizzard today released a new balance patch for Heroes of the Storm. Read on for more information!

(Source)

Heroes of the Storm has just been updated with Hero balance changes! Read on for details.

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Heroes

TANK	BRUISER	HEALER	MELEE	RANGED
Anub'arak	Chen	Deckard	Illidan	Cassia
Arthas	Deathwing	Tyrande	Qhira	Chromie
Blaze		Uther	Zeratul	Junkrat
E.T.C.				Zul'jin
Mei
Muradin

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Tank

Anub’arak

Talents

• Level 13
  • Burning Rage [Passive]
    • Removed.
  • New Talent: Burning Beetles [Passive]
    • Deal 21 damage every second to nearby enemies. Beetles deal 7 damage to nearby enemies.

Developer Comment: We saw some feedback that Anub’arak’s Burning Rage could be better themed for the hero, and we agreed. We present to you, Burning Beetles!

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Arthas

Base

• Howling Blast [W]
  • Range increased from 8 to 9.

Talents

• Level 1
  • Frost Presence [W]
    • Bonus range to Howling Blast reduced from 30% to 20%.
• Level 20
  • Death's Advance [Active]
    • Is now an E talent.
    • New functionality: Increase Movement Speed by 10%. Frozen Tempest’s maximum Slow and Attack Speed Slow increased from 40% to 60%.

Developer Comment: Howling Blast has been the same for a very long time, almost since the inception of our game. Many things have changed since then, and we believe a range increase is warranted due to how average ranges of various abilities and effects have changed since that time.

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Blaze

Talents

• Level 1
  • Endurance Stimpack [Active]
    • Shield amount increased from 480 to 530.
• Level 4
  • Incinerator Gauntlets [Passive]
    • Bonus damage to Minons, Mercenaries, and Monsters reduced from 70% to 50%.

Developer Comment: While we achieved our previous goal of making Incinerator Gauntlets a powerful PvE option, we overshot a bit and are reducing its power to be more in line with what other Warriors can bring to the table in this area.

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E.T.C.

Talents

• Level 1
  • Guitar Hero [E]
    • Duration bonus increased from .25 to .5 seconds.
    • Healing reduced from 60% to 50% damage dealt.
• Level 4
  • Crowd Surfer [Q]
    • Additional functionality: If Powerslide hits no enemies, then reduce its cooldown by 5 seconds and refund its Mana cost.
• Level 7
  • Hammer-on [Passive]
    • New functionality: While Guitar Solo is active, Basic Attacks deal 30% bonus damage.
• Level 13
  • Encore [W]
    • Additional functionality: Enemy Heroes knocked back by Face Melt or the Amp reduce E.T.C.’s Heroic cooldown by 8%.
• Level 20
  • Crowd Pleaser [R2]
    • No longer reduces the cooldown of Stage Dive.
    • Additional functionality: Increase the Slow amount of Stage Dive by 30%.

Developer Comment: We were a little hesitant to make talent changes to E.T.C. due to how well he has been performing, even though we felt he could use some help in that department. We don’t believe that holding off indefinitely on needed talent improvements just because a Hero is performing well serves our Heroes in the best way over the long term, so we’re making these improvements and will adjust accordingly once we see how they settle.

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Mei

Talents

• Level 4
  • Crystallize [Trait]
    • Armor amount reduced from 50 to 40.
  • Cold Front [E]
    • Cooldown reduction increased from 7 to 8 seconds.
    • Mana return increased from 50 to 70.
• Level 10
  • Avalanche [R1]
    • Cooldown increased from 70 to 90 seconds.
    • Mana cost increased from 70 to 80.
• Level 13
  • Flurry [W]
    • Cooldown refresh rate increased from 75% to 100%.

Developer Comment: We are super happy with where Mei is sitting overall, but wanted to continue tuning some talents to help even things out. While doing so, we also increased the cooldown of Avalanche substantially, as it feels like she has too much up-time on its availability in team fights.

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Muradin

Base

• Storm Bolt [Q]
  • Quest completion also causes Muradin’s Basic Attacks to grant him 3 Mana.

Developer Comment: It was not our intention that Muradin have more Mana tension when his baseline quest for Storm Bolt was completed. Since Muradin already has a decent amount of Mana tension, we felt it was appropriate that this was lessened once he completes his quest.

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Bruiser

Chen

Base

• Breath of Fire [W]
  • DoT damage increased from 55 to 57.

Talents

• Level 1
  • Freshest Ingredients [Trait]
    • Regeneration Globe duration increased from 100% to 150%.
• Level 16
  • Celerity [E]
    • Cooldown reduction increased from 1.5 to 2 seconds.

Developer Comment: We’re giving Chen some small buffs that we believe are warranted to help out his ability to pressure enemies as well as beef up some underperforming talents. We don’t expect these changes to drastically change how he plays, but they should help him perform better in the laning phase and give him some extra power to look forward to in later parts of the game.

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Deathwing

Talents

• Level 1
  • Molten Blood [Trait]
    • Healing increased from .5% to .6% maximum Health.

Developer Comment: This talent change is meant to compensate for our earlier changes to Deathwing where we lowered his Health.

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Healer

Deckard

Talents

• Level 16
  • Safety in Numbers [Trait]
    • Required number of allied Heroes nearby to gain bonuses reduced from 3 to 2.
    • Armor bonus reduced from 15 to 10.

Developer Comment: We want Safety in Numbers to be a more consistent talent to get value out of, so we’re lowering the requirement for Deckard to be near only 2 friendly Heroes instead of 3, and slightly lowering its bonus to compensate.

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Tyrande

Base

• Light of Elune [Q]
  • Healing increased from 255 to 270.

Talents

• Level 13
  • Harsh Moonlight [W]
    • Now applies its Slow and damage reduction to all targets hit, as well as visually shrinking them.
    • Damage reduction reduced from 40% to 35%.
    • Slow amount reduced from 40% to 35%.
  • Ranger's Mark [Trait]
    • Cooldown reduction of Lunar Flare increased from 1.5 to 3 seconds.
• Level 16
  • Empower [W]
    • Now deals bonus damage to all targets hit.

Developer Comment: We’re giving Tyrande a baseline Healing buff as well as making her W build more synergistically powerful. To compensate, we’re slightly reducing Harsh Moonlight’s power, though we still believe it will still be an incredibly strong talent, particularly when paired with Ranger at Level 1.

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Uther

Base

• Health reduced from 2000 to 1975.
• Health Regeneration reduced from 4.17 to 4.11.
• Holy Radiance [W]
  • Cooldown reduced from 12 to 10 seconds.
  • Mana cost reduced from 70 to 55.
  • Healing amount increased from 177 to 194.

Talents

• Level 1
  • Wave of Light [W]
    • Cooldown reduction reduced from 1 to .75 seconds.
• Level 16
  • Beacon of Light [Q]
    • Adjusted functionality: Uther receives 100% bonus self-healing when healing others with Holy Light. This bonus is increased to 200% while he is below 50% Health.
  • Tyr's Deliverance [W]
    • New functionality: Increase the damage and healing of Holy Radiance by 10%. Basic Attacks against enemy Heroes cause Uther’s next cast of Holy Radiance to have its damage and healing increased by an additional 10%, stacking up to 4 times.

Developer Comment: While Uther’s weakness to Poke and persistent AoE damage is intended, we feel he’s a little too sharp in this direction, which too often disincentivizes players from running him as a Healer on his team. We’re making him a bit better in this regard while also improving a couple of his Level 16 talents.

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Melee Assassin

Illidan

Talents

• Level 4
  • Rapid Chase [Q]
    • Additional functionality: Reduce the cooldown of Dive by 1 second when it deals damage to an enemy Hero.
• Level 7
  • Hunter's Onslaught [Trait]
    • Healing increased from 25% to 35% of damage dealt.
• Level 16
  • Fiery Brand [Passive]
    • Attacks required to deal bonus damage reduced from 4 to 3.
    • Damage reduced from 9% to 7% maximum Health.

Developer Comment: We’re making some simple changes to underperforming talents that should make them more competitive.

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Qhira

Talents

• Level 7
  • The Thirst [Q]
    • Adjusted functionality: Carnage heals for 50% of the damage dealt to enemy Heroes. Anytime Carnage damages an enemy Hero, Qhira’s next Basic Attack within 4 seconds against an enemy Hero deals 15% additional damage, stacking up to 10 times.
  • Siphoning Link [E]
    • Additional functionality: Qhira heals for 20% of her damage dealt by Basic Attacks.
• Level 16
  • Lingering Ailment [E]
    • Additional functionality: Enemy Heroes hit by Grappling Hook have their Armor reduced by 15 for 3 seconds.
  • Swing Life Away [E]
    • Cooldown recharge rate increased from 200% to 250%.

Developer Comment: We’re making some simple talent changes that should help Qhira’s tiers be more competitive. Siphoning link in particular should be a lot more attractive now that it provides a bonus that is not reliant on hitting her Revolving Sweep, which is on a fairly long cooldown.

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Zeratul

Talents

• Level 20
  • Unwavering Pressure [W]
    • Adjusted functionality: Remove the Mana cost of Singularity Spike. Basic Attacks against non-Heroic targets reduce the cooldown of Singularity Spike by 1.25 second, and by 2.5 seconds against enemy Heroes.
  • Shadow Stride [Passive]
    • Additional functionality: Casting Vorpal Blade grants Zeratul a Shield that absorbs 260 damage over 3 seconds.

Developer Comment: We missed the mark on our initial changes to Zeratul’s Level 20 talents. We’re beefing them up to be more competitive.

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Ranged Assassin

Cassia

Talents

• Level 7
  • Surge of Light [Trait]
    • Damage reduced from 285 to 250.
• Level 16
  • Power Strike [Q]
    • Additional functionality: Heroes hit by Lightning Fury reduce its cooldown by 1 second.

Developer Comment: While more in-line after the past couple of balance changes, there were still a couple talents we wanted to address. Surge of Light is still slightly over-performing, while Power Strike needed something to give it a bit more punch. Lowering the damage of Surge of Light and giving a small cooldown reduction functionality to Power Strike should shift both talents into a better spot overall.

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Chromie

Talents

• Level 1
  • Deep Breathing [W]
    • New functionality: Quest: Every time Dragon’s Breath hits an enemy Hero, increase its damage by 1.5%, up to 30%. Reward: After hitting 20 Heroes, reduce the cooldown of Dragon’s Breath by 5 seconds and its Mana cost from 65 to 30.
  • Timewalker's Pursuit [Active]
    • New functionality: Gain 15% Spell Power and reduce the arming time of Time Traps by .75 seconds. Activate to reveal the targeted area for 2 seconds. Enemies seen are revealed for 4 seconds. 25-second cooldown.
• Level 5
  • Mobius Loop [W]
    • New functionality: Dragon’s Breath deals 50% bonus damage to enemies hit by its center. Enemy Heroes hit by its center are Slowed by 60% for 1 second.
• Level 8
  • Slowing Sands [R1]
    • Slow amount increased from 7% to 10% per every .25 seconds.
• Level 11
  • Here and There [Active]
    • Teleport range increased from 11 to 20.
• Level 18
  • Unravelling [R1]
    • Spell Armor reduction increased from 5 to 7.
    • Spell Armor maximum stacks reduced from 6 to 5.
    • Additional functionality: Slowing Sands persists for 5 seconds after it is cancelled.

Developer Comment: Once Again the First Time is currently dominating Chromie’s Level 1 talents, which in turn greatly influences which talents Chromie players want to take on later tiers. The primary goal of these changes is to provide compelling, alternative ways to play her that can compete with what the talent currently offers.

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Junkrat

Base

• Basic Attack damage increased from 110 to 120.

Talents

• Level 1
  • Extra-Wound Timers [Q]
    • Bonus damage on final grenade increased from 60% to 80%.
• Level 13
  • Bombs Away [Q]
    • Bonus damage increased from 25% to 30%.
• Level 20
  • I Hate Waiting! [Z]
    • Mount cooldown reduced from 12 to 8 seconds.

Developer Comment: Junkrat has fallen out of the meta a bit, and these changes are intended to help him be more competitive. His Basic Attack buff in particular should help him clear waves more effectively in the early game as well as serve as an extra incentive for players to try taking Bombs Away at Level 13.

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Zul'jin

Talents

• Level 20
  • New Talent: A Surprise For Ya [Passive]
    • Basic Attacks bounce to a nearby enemy for 50% damage, prioritizing enemy Heroes.

Developer Comment: As the talent states, We’ve got a surprise for ya! We’ve added Level 20 Basic Attack talent for Zul’jin that we think will be a fun, compelling option for aggressive players.

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Bug Fixes

Heroes

• Maiev
  • Fixed an issue where Pursuit of Vengeance could gain cooldown reduction when hitting non-Heroic targets.

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[Morcalivan 86]

Uther and Chromie changes are interesting. The W abilities are pretty underplayed.

This may make Uther suck even more in lower skill games though by tricking people into grabbing it, similar to Ana.

I usually use it to prep a target to then bonus heal, so it would be nice to experiment a bit.

Chromie looks like W + Teleport might be useful as a hit and run, maybe double soak?

[lChronosl 182]

No major changes, but I like some of the buffed alternative build options: AA ETC, Owl Tyrande, Armor/Radiance Uther, Q Cassia, W Chromie and AA Qhira.

[gerbercage 15]

chromie still need back last time range and auto time trap due to now more and more mobile enemy. If this game only 1-3 mobile heroes then  is still ok but now 1/3 of heroes are high mobile, Time stop should not affect on own side heroes.

[Apologised 20]

That Deathwing change is a joke right? Like the time they added 12 HP onto Blaze's bunker? Seriously they have massively overnerfed that hero down to a single Fire-Breath Build being the only sorta-kinda viable way to play him now.

The Mei changes, especially to her Trait feel like they'll probably put her to where she should be in terms of power and tank so I'm glad to see that finally locked down. Nothing else got my attention other than some buffs to ETC to encourage the use of Powerslide as an escape and Illidan getting a mild buff to a lvl4 talent that might have interesting synergies later on down the line.

Oh, and some minor inconsequntial tinkering with Anuburak which only caught my eye because I like that sassy beetle.

[Arcling 898]

Agree about Deathwing. he used to be strong when he came out, then in almost every patch he got nerfed. Now it's just too much and there isn't much reason to pick him, with %hp damage heroes still destroying him, while he doesn't have anything to offset this.

Edited August 23, 2020 by Arcling