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

[Staff 1,489]

Blizzard released a balance patch for Heroes of the Storm late at night. Check out the official patch notes for more details!

(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
Blaze	D.Va	Anduin	Kerrigan	Cassia
Mei	Gazlowe	Auriel	Valeera	Fenix
	Hogger	Brightwing		Gul'dan
	Imperius	Deckard		Kael'thas
	Ragnaros	Lucio		Nazeebo
		Stukov		Tychus
				Zul'jin

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Tank

Blaze

Talents

• Level 1
  • Endurance Stimpack [Active]
    • Shield amount increased from 530 to 590.
  • Neural Stimpack [Active]
    • Cooldown reduced from 40 to 30 seconds.
• Level 7
  • Grill and Kill [W]
    • Damage bonus increased from 20% to 35%.
  • Adhesive Petroleum [W]
    • Slow increased from 35% to 40%.
• Level 13
  • Nanomachine Coating [W]
    • Duration increased from 2.5 to 3 seconds.

Developer Comment: While in a relatively good place, many of Blaze's talent tiers have one or two talents that are heavily picked over the third. We're trying to shore up the alternate picks to be more competitive, which should lead to more unique ways to play the Firebat.

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Mei

Base

• Snow Blind [Q]
  • Slow and Blind duration increased from 1.5 to 1.75 seconds.

Talents

• Level 1
  • Heavy Pack [Q]
    • Cooldown reduction increased from .25 to .5 seconds.
    • Additional functionality: Each time Blizzard damages an enemy Hero, gain 3 Mana.
  • Ice Storm [W]
    • Bonus final Stun damage increased from 125% to 150%.
• Level 4
  • Slushball [Q]
    • Bonus damage increased from 50% to 75%.
  • Cold Front [E]
    • Adjusted functionality: Reduce the cooldown of Icing by 4 seconds. If Mei enters her own Blizzard while Icing is active, the cooldown of Icing is reduced by 5 seconds and she gains 80 Mana.
• Level 10
  • Ice Wall [R2]
    • Cooldown reduced from 70 to 50 seconds.
    • Mana cost reduced from 60 to 50.
• Level 13
  • Flurry [W]
    • Cooldown reduction increased from 100% to 125%.

Developer Comment: Mei has a few talent issues and hasn't been seen in the tank meta recently, so we're giving her some buffs, particularly to various talents that aren't seeing as much play as they should.

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Bruiser

D.Va

Base

• Mech Health Reduced from 2250 to 2150.
• Mech Health Regeneration reduced from 4.69 to 4.48.

Talents

• Level 10
  • Bunny Hop [R1]
    • Damage increased from 52 to 70.

Developer Comment: D.Va's a very unique Hero due to her ability to go in and out of her Mech to survive in situations where other Heroes would perish. When she's too tanky, she can be overly frustrating due to having to "die" twice in order for the enemy team to remove her from the map. We think she's a little too beefy in this regard right now, so we're lowering her Mech survivability. We're also buffing Bunny Hop's damage so that it better competes with Micro Missiles.

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Gazlowe

Base

• Xplodium Charge [E]
  • Damage reduced from 155 to 142.

Talents

• Level 10
  • Grav-O-Bomb 3000 [R2]
    • Damage reduced from 235 to 220.
• Level 13
  • Superior Schematics [Q]
    • Bonus range reduced from 50% to 30%.

Developer Comment: Gazlowe is still a little too strong and is seeing an overly high participation rate. To tone down his power we're lowering his Xplodium Charge damage and reducing the power of some of his highest performing talents.

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Hogger

Base

• Health reduced from 2320 to 2260.
• Health Regeneration reduced from 4.83 to 4.71.
• Loot Hoard [D]
  • Meat duration reduced from 5 to 4 seconds.

Talents

• Level 1
  • Journeyman Cooking [W]
    • Healing increased from 6% to 8% maximum Health.
  • On The Prowl [Active]
    • Cooldown reduced from 45 to 40 seconds.
    • Healing per second increased from 6 to 9.
• Level 4
  • Brute Force [Q/D]
    • Bonus for hitting enemy Heroes into terrain increased from 2 to 8.
    • Maximum bonus damage increased from 100 to 125.
  • Aggro Range [E]
    • Bonus Rage against non-Heroic enemies reduced from 1 to .5.
    • Bonus Rage against enemy Heroes reduced from 3 to 2.
• Level 7
  • Seeing Red [Q/E]
    • Attack Speed bonus increased from 25% to 35%.
  • Garbage Fire [Trait]
    • Loot Hoard cooldown reduction reduced from 4 to 2 seconds.
    • Damage reduced from 25 to 23.
• Level 10
  • Hoardapult [R1]
    • Cooldown increased from 50 to 60 seconds.
    • Damage reduced from 140 to 100.
  • Shockwave [R2]
    • Primary Stun duration increased from 1.25 to 1.5 seconds.
    • Primary damage increased from 306 to 335.
    • Secondary damage increased from 210 to 230.
• Level 13
  • Dust Devil [E]
    • Armor bonus when below 50 Rage reduced from 30 to 20.
    • Armor bonus when above 50 Rage reduced from 50 to 40.
  • Pummel [E]
    • Slow duration increased from 1.5 to 2 seconds.
• Level 16
  • Kablooie! [W]
    • Damage bonus increased from 40% to 50%.

Developer Comment: Hogger’s release has been incredibly interesting. He started low, but his win rate has climbed significantly while perception of his potential power also continues to improve. We’re looking to do a mix of buffs and nerfs to him to largely address looming talent issues while also keeping his overall power in check.

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Imperius

Talents

• Level 1
  • Impaling Light [Q]
    • Damage bonus per Valorous Brand reduced from 125% to 75%.
• Level 4
  • Sovereign Armor [E]
    • Armor amount reduced from 25 to 20.
• Level 10
  • Angelic Armaments [R1]
    • Shield amount reduced from 1000 to 850.

Developer Comment: The Angel of Valor was shrugging off enemy damage too easily while dishing out too much of his own, and the other Bruisers were getting jealous.

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Ragnaros

Talents

• Level 1
  • Shifting Meteor [W]
    • Damage bonus per hit increased from 5% to 6%.
• Level 7
  • Molten Power [Passive]
    • New functionality: If Living Meteor hits enemy Heroes at least 5 times, then reduce its cooldown by 7 seconds, and refund 30 Mana.

Developer Comment: We didn't love how Molten Power's strength was offered in an upcoming cast after meeting its conditions. This version should give a more immediate reward, while also being more attractive for solo laners.

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Healer

Anduin

Talents

• Level 20
  • Light of Stormwind [R1]
    • Additional functionality: If Holy Word: Salvation lasts for its full duration, then reduce its cooldown by 60 seconds.
  • Desperate Prayer [Active]
    • Cooldown reduced from 40 to 30 seconds.

Developer Comment: We're experimenting with a change to Light of Stormwind to allow for Anduin to have higher highs when using Holy Word: Salvation to its full potential. When he gets a full cast off he will now have a greatly reduced cooldown, allowing it to be used multiple times in a single fight.

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Auriel

Talents

• Level 4
  • Heavy Burden [E]
    • Adjusted functionality: Detainment Strike Slows enemy Heroes for 20% for 2.5 seconds. Slow and duration doubled on enemies it Stuns.

Developer Comment: Heavy Burden wasn’t keeping Auriel as safe as it should, especially when compared to Repeated Offense, and we want it to be a dependable option.

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Brightwing

Talents

• Level 13
  • Safety Dust [E]
    • Adjusted functionality: Increase Pixie Dust duration by 1 second. Soothing Mist and Blink Heal heal allies with an active Pixie Dust for 75% more.

Developer Comment: We liked how Safety Dust boosted all of Brightwing's healing tools. However, its healing was overflowing when paired with Phase Shift and Hyper Shift, and not in a way we consider exciting. We believe this change keeps the core of what makes Safety Dust fun.

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Deckard

Talents

• Level 20
  • Morenados! [R2]
    • Additional functionality: Adds another charge.

Developer Comment: Gimme more.

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Lucio

Talents

• Level 7
  • Good Vibrations [Q]
    • Shield amount increased from 35 to 38.
  • Boombox [Active]
    • Boombox no longer has a duration.
• Level 10
  • High Five [R2]
    • Cooldown increased from 15 to 20 seconds.
    • Mana cost reduced from 35 to 30.
    • Additional functionality: Heals Lucio for 125 and grants him Unstoppable for 1 second.
• Level 16
  • Up to Eleven [E]
    • No longer an activated ability.
    • Adjusted functionality: Increase the duration of Amp It Up by 1 second.
• Level 20
  • Summer Anthem [Active]
    • Cooldown reduced from 75 to 60 seconds.
    • Additional functionality: Now also affects Lucio.
  • Mixing Fire [R2]
    • No longer increases the duration of Amp It Up by 1 second.
    • Additional functionality: Reduce the cost and cooldown of High Five by 50%.

Developer Comment: We did a pass on Lucio and found some places where we could make his talents more interesting and fun. We're particularly interested to see how our change to High Five working on Lucio helps with his ability to keep both himself and his teammates alive.

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Stukov

Talents

• Level 1
  • Fetid Touch [W]
    • Number of enemy Heroes hit for final quest requirement reduced from 30 to 25.
  • Reactive Ballistospores [W]
    • Cooldown increased from 15 to 25 seconds.
  • Low Blow [E]
    • Health threshold for bonus damage increased from 30% to 50%.
• Level 4
  • Biotic Armor [Q]
    • Armor amount reduced from 15 to 10.
• Level 13
  • It Hungers [E]
    • Number of enemy Hero hits required reduced from 10 to 8.

Developer Comment: Some of Stukov's talents have been too inconsistent to be considered viable, so we're making some small buffs to them in order to increase their competitiveness. We're also reducing the strength of some of his overperforming talents to keep his overall power in check.

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Melee Assassin

Kerrigan

Talents

• Level 7
  • Queen of Blades [Q]
    • Damage bonus increased from 50% to 100%.
    • Ravage cooldown reduction increased from 2 to 3 seconds.

Developer Comment: We were too scared of Queen of Blades being too powerful when we redesigned the talent, so we're tuning it up to better match our original vision. This should enable her to clear waves much more efficiently while also allowing her Ravage to be up much more often.

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Valeera

Base

• Sinister Strike [Q]
  • Energy cost reduced from 30 to 25.

Talents

• Level 4
  • Relentless Strikes [Q]
    • Energy cost reduction reduced from 15 to 10.
• Level 16
  • Thistle Tea [Active]
    • Cooldown reduced from 40 to 20 seconds.
• Level 20
  • Adrenaline Rush [R1]
    • Additional functionality: Smoke Bomb Armor increased from 30 to 60.

Developer Comment: Valeera feels too good to play with a low-cost Sinister Strike. We’re moving some of Relentless Strikes’ benefit baseline and also helping out some weaker talents.

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Ranged Assassin

Cassia

Base

• Basic Attack damage reduced from 125 to 120.
• Lightning Fury [Q]
  • Damage reduced from 165 to 158.
• Fend [E]
  • Damage reduced from 34 to 32.

Developer Comment: Cassia is slightly overperforming at a 53% win rate and is seeing a high amount of participation. We're slightly reducing her baseline numbers to bring her more in line.

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Fenix

Talents

• Level 4
  • Inhibiting Energy [W]
    • No longer requires the primary target to be a Hero to Slow enemies in an area.

Developer Comment: Part of Phase Bomb’s charm is that it deals 100% Splash damage, opening up possibilities for who Fenix targets. This change realigns Inhibiting Energy to that philosophy.

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Gul'dan

Talents

• Level 10
  • Horrify [R1]
    • Horrify can no longer be interrupted and put in a 10-second cooldown if Gul'dan is Stunned while it is being cast.

Developer Comment: We're changing Horrify to no longer be able to be interrupted during its cast. It was never intended to have a long cast time, and due to its unique setup we've had a lot of bug reports over the years due to it being interrupted and being put in a 10-second cooldown, but its sound still going off. This change should fix the issue and get rid of the confusion.

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Kael'thas

Talents

• Level 16
  • Twin Spheres [Trait]
    • Additional functionality: Gain all level 7 talents.

Developer Comment: Empowering abilities is fun, but we feel Twin Spheres struggled to pack the punch it needed to compete as a Level 16 talent. We hope this provides the power it needs while retaining its flexibility in choosing which ability to empower.

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Nazeebo

Talents

• Level 13
  • Guardian Toads [E]
    • Adjusted functionality: Hitting enemy Heroes with Plague of Toads grants 30 Armor for 1.5 seconds, stacking up to 4 seconds.

Developer Comment: Guardian Toads wasn’t beating out Superstition in terms of continuous value, or Ice Block in terms of immediate value. We think this will help it compete while playing more into Plague of Toads gameplay.

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Tychus

Talents

• Level 1
  • Quarterback [W]
    • Bonus damage reduced from 20% to 10%.

Developer Comment: To get people to play W build, we overbuffed Quarterback, so we're scaling back on some of that buff.

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Zul'jin

Talents

• Level 1
  • Recklessness [D]
    • Basic Attack damage bonus reduced from 20% to 15%.
    • Additional functionality: While below 50% Health, Basic Attacks against Heroes grant an additional stack of You Want Axe?.
• Level 7
  • Vicious Assault [Q]
    • Damage bonus increased from 35% to 45%.
• Level 13
  • Lacerate [W]
    • Additional functionality: Slow duration is increased by .5 seconds.
  • Ensnare [Active]
    • Cooldown reduced from 45 to 40 seconds.
    • Additional functionality: If no Heroes are hit, reduce the cooldown to 10 seconds.
• Level 16
  • No Mercy! [Q]
    • Additional functionality: Basic Attacks against enemy Heroes marked with Grievous Throw deal an additional 2% of their maximum Health as damage.

Developer Comment: Light tuning to level out Zul'jin talent tiers gave us an opportunity for some extra love. It's hard to feel Recklessness' benefits as Zul'jin's health lowers so extra quest credit might help it get noticed. The consistency of Eye of Zul'jin was hard to beat at Level 13, so we've targeted these changes to help Lacerate and Ensnare be more reliable. We're comfortable with No Mercy! being a more niche option in response to enemy Hero compositions, but it wasn't as strong as it should be even in those situations.

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Bug Fixes

Heroes

• Murky
  • Wrath of Cod now properly follows DoT rules.
• Tychus
  • Melting Point now properly follows DoT rules.

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[Valhalen 1,484]

Finally some news. I was just asking myself two days ago when they'd drop the next balance patch. A shame we didn't get any new skins for the Christmas Event, though.

[darkgreenwax 412]

as a lvl 110 zul'jin, i'm quite excited to try out the new buffs. while i'm uncertain if i'll deviate from my usual go-to's, an incentive to try out new things is always welcome.

[Valhalen 1,484]

1 hour ago, TyZone said:

as a lvl 110 zul'jin, i'm quite excited to try out the new buffs. while i'm uncertain if i'll deviate from my usual go-to's, an incentive to try out new things is always welcome.

Yeah, Headhunter is too good of a talent once completed, but being able to stack the Trait Quest faster is a massive boon. I've always used Lacerate so I'm happy they're buffing it; personally they could buff it even further.

[darkgreenwax 412]

19 hours ago, Valhalen said:

Yeah, Headhunter is too good of a talent once completed, but being able to stack the Trait Quest faster is a massive boon. I've always used Lacerate so I'm happy they're buffing it; personally they could buff it even further.

I also take Lacerate from time to time, usually when facing several ranged characters that I know will kind of clump in the backline nicely. I still like taking Eye of Zul'jin when I know I'll have to be chasing down someone for a few last hits.

 

Anyway I tried out a few games of the new talents last night in QM with my friend. With the buff to Recklessness, I finished his baseline quest in about 7 minutes, and by level 20 I had about 320 stacks. Of course that would be vastly different in a more drafted format where people know not to get hit by axes, but it was definitely way easier to stack.

 

All that said, one big reason I love Headhunter is the range. Getting the double range boost is what makes ZJ such a killer in team fights without dying himself. I don't have to run to bush-heal as often if I can just maintain 7 range.

 

I hope the HotS team continues to recreate some lesser picked talents, or dead talents, to heroes and create a more vibrant style of choice.

[Valhalen 1,484]

47 minutes ago, TyZone said:

All that said, one big reason I love Headhunter is the range. Getting the double range boost is what makes ZJ such a killer in team fights without dying himself. I don't have to run to bush-heal as often if I can just maintain 7 range.

Yes, definitely! The biggest appeal of Headhunter for me is the range, without a doubt. But I guess Recklessness will be a great alternative whent he opposing team features Abathur, since it is a bit hard to get the kill on him.