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Published on May 16, 2017

Heroes of the Storm Patch Notes — May 16, 2017

Our latest update for the Heroes of the Storm brings a new Hero and a host of balance changes to the Nexus!

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Heroes:

General Updates

Battleground Rotation Update

The pool of Battlegrounds available in matchmaking game modes has increased from 6 to 9, and now includes the following:
- Cursed Hollow
- Sky Temple
- Braxis Holdout
- Hanamura
- Battlefield of Eternity
- Warhead Junction
- Haunted Mines
- Tomb of the Spider Queen
- Infernal Shrines
Initially, we are planning to update the Battleground Rotation 3 times per Ranked Season, and can adjust this frequency, as well as the number of Battlegrounds per rotation, as needed.
Read our recent blog post to learn more about our reasoning behind bringing Battleground Rotations to Heroes of the Storm.

Hero Balance Updates (4)

Nova

Hero Balance Adjustments

Stats Builds Impact

Talent Changes

Level 7

General

Anti-Armor Shells (Passive)
Custom UI has been added to show the cooldown before your next attack

Alarak

Hero Balance Adjustments

Stats Builds Impact

Developer Comment

 ***Your Highlord has returned! Alarak has received a large update that he has deemed “acceptable”, targeted at making him more rewarding for players who take the time to master him.  Baseline changes include reworking his Sadism to be increased upon getting Takedowns and putting bonus damage into his Lightning Surge baseline for hitting enemies in its center beam.  We’re also experimenting with some new talent ideas with Extended Lightning and Chaos Reigns, where players can gain huge benefits for the rarely accomplished feat of hitting 3 enemy Heroes with a single ability. LEVEL (TIER) Alarak Talents 1 (1) Sustaining Power (E) (!) Extended Lightning (E) Ruthless Momentum (Passive) 4 (2) (!) Chaos Reigns (Q) (!) Negatively Charged (E) Show of Force (Passive) 7 (3) Dissonance (W) Hindered Motion (W) Applied Force (W) 10 (4) Deadly Charge Counter-Strike — — 13 (5) Blade of the Highlord (Passive) Pure Malice (Passive) Rite of Rak-Shire (Active) 16 (6) Lethal Onslaught (Q) Lightning Barrage (E) Mocking Strikes (Passive) 20 (7) Counter-Strike (R) Deadly Charge (R) Last Laugh (Active) Hasty Bargain (Active)

Base Abilities & Stats

Sadism (Trait)

New Functionality:
Alarak now gains 3% Sadism per enemy Takedown, up to 30%.  This bonus is lost on Death.
Now also affects self-healing vs. enemy Heroes.

Discord Strike (Q)

Now has Double Cross functionality baseline.
Mana cost reduced from 55 to 45

Lightning Surge (E)

Mana cost reduced from 30 to 25
Damage reduced from 100 to 62
Adjusted Functionality:
Enemies hit by the center of the beam now take 100% bonus damage
Healing is no longer based on the amount of damage done to enemy Heroes
Enemy Heroes hit now heal Alarak for 70 Health

Talent Changes

Level 1

General

Power Conduit (E)
Removed
Without Effort (W)
Removed
Sustaining Power (E)
Bonus Healing increased from 25 to 40%
Extended Lightning (E)
Adjusted functionality:
Reduce the damage bonus of Sadism by 10%. 
!Quest: Hit 5 enemy Heroes with the center portion of Lightning Surge. 
Reward: Increase the range of Lightning Surge by 20%. 
!Quest: Hit 15 Heroes with the center portion of Lightning Surge. 
Reward: Enemy Heroes hit with the center portion of Lightning Surge are slowed by 40% for 2 seconds. 
!Quest: Hit 3 enemy Heroes with the center portion of Lightning Surge in a single cast. 
Reward: Gain 10 Sadism and complete all quests on this talent.

Level 4

New Talent: Ruthless Momentum (Passive)

While above 80% Health, your Basic Abilities cooldown 20% faster.
Double Cross (Q)
Removed
Reckless Strike (Q)
Removed
Cycle of Discord (Q)
Removed
Negatively Charged (E)
New functionality:
Increases the bonus damage from hitting the center portion of Lightning Surge to 150%
Quest: Each time you hit an enemy Hero with the center portion of Lightning Surge, increase the center damage bonus by an additional 3%
Chaos Reigns (Q)
New Functionality:
!Quest: Hit 15 enemy Heroes with Discord Strike. 
Reward: Increase Discord Strike's damage by 60. 
!Quest:  Hit 2 enemy Heroes with Discord Strike in a single cast. 
Reward: Increase Discord Strike's damage by 60. 
!Quest: Hit 3 enemy Heroes with Discord Strike in a single cast. 
Reward: Increase Discord Strike's damage by 60 and complete all quests on this talent.

Level 7

New Talent: Show of Force (Passive)

Hitting an enemy Hero with 3 abilities within 2 seconds causes them to take an additional 70 damage.
Endless Energy (E)
Removed
Thunderstruck (E)
Removed
Dissonance (Q)
No longer reduces Sadism by 10%.
Hindered Motion (W)
No longer reduces Sadism by 10%
Slow amount reduced from 40% to 25%
Applied Force (W)
Added functionality:
Reduce the damage of Sadism by 10% but Telekinesis’s range is increased by 20% and it pushes 20% further.
Psychokinesis (W)
Removed
Pure Malice (Passive)
Sadism bonus reduced from 8% stacking up to 40% max to 6% stacking up to 30% max.
Hasty Bargain can now reduce this Sadism bonus

Level 13

New Talent: Blade of the Highlord (Passive)

Your Basic Attacks against enemy Heroes grant you 6% Sadism for 4 seconds, stacking up to 30%.

New Talent: Rite of Rak’Shir (Active)

Activate to mark an enemy Hero.
Using Discord Strike on your marked target increases your Sadism by 3%
Killing the enemy Hero gives you 6% bonus Sadism and sets the cooldown of Rite of Rak’Shir to 10 seconds
Dying removes all bonuses from this talent
300-second cooldown and duration
Projected Force (W)
Removed
Quick Mind (W)
Removed

Level 16

New Talent: Lethal Onslaught (Q)

For 4 seconds after hitting an enemy hero with Discord Strike, your Basic Attacks gain 50% of Sadism’s benefit.  Attacking enemy Heroes refreshes the duration of this buff.

New Talent: Lightning Barrage (E)

If Lightning Surge hits an enemy Hero with its center portion, then it can be cast again with no Mana cost or cooldown within 2 seconds of being cast.  This second cast cannot target the same enemy.

New Talent: Mocking Strikes (Passive)

Your Basic Attacks against enemy Heroes who are Stunned, Slowed, Rooted, or Silenced reduces your Basic Ability cooldowns by 2.5 seconds
Last Laugh (Active)
Cooldown increased from 20 to 30 seconds
Range decreased by 15%
Adjusted functionality:
Activate to remove all roots, slows, and damage over time effects and teleport to the chosen location
After 4 seconds, reduce Alarak’s Health to 1
If Alarak damages 3 enemy Heroes with Basic Abilities within 4 seconds after teleporting, his Health is not reduced
(!) indicates a Questing Talent.
*Italic text* indicates a ***NEW*** Talent.

Level 20

Bold text

 indicates a **MOVED** Talent.

Dehaka

Hero Balance Adjustments

Stats Builds Impact

Developer Comment

 ***These changes are based primarily on win and pick rates of some of Dehaka's talent tiers. We removed some unpopular talents and combined a few others to make them more attractive. Dehaka's talent tree should now be a little bit sharper and hopefully open a few new build paths for players.        

Base Abilities & Stats

Dark Swarm (W)

Damage increased from 30 to 50
Damage is now universal to all units (no bonus damage to Heroes)
Cooldown increased from 9 to 10 seconds

Talent Changes

Level 1

General

Primal Aggression (W)
Removed
Enhanced Agility (Trait)
Movement Speed bonus per 50 Essence increased from 1.5 to 2%
Added functionality:
The duration of Brushstalker’s Movement Speed bonus after leaving brush increased from 1 to 3 seconds
Tissue Regeneration (Trait)
Added functionality:
Regeneration Globes grant 10 Essence
Feeding Frenzy (Q)
Cooldown reduction per attack increased from 1.5 to 2 seconds
Essence Devourer (W)
Removed
Swift Pursuit (Trait)
Removed
Ferocious Stalker (Trait)
New functionality:
Your abilities deal 25% more damage while you have the Brushstalker Movement Speed buff

Level 13

New Talent: Primal Rage (Passive)

Gain 1% Basic Attack damage for every Essence you currently have

Bug Fixes

Announcers: Will now play their “Prepare for Battle” voiceover lines during the opening moments of a match.
Hero Select: Fixed an issue that could cause some heroes’ voiceover to echo after clicking Ready during Hero Select.
Hero Select: Lúcio will now correctly play voiceover upon searching for a match in the Portuguese and Chinese game clients.

Tyrande

Hero Balance Adjustments

Stats Builds Impact

Developer Comment

 ***During one of our design meetings many months ago, we came to the consensus that we wanted to swap the heal functionality between Tyrande and Uther. It felt like the self-heal mechanic was better suited on a front-line melee Healer, so we gave it to our favorite paladin in his latest rework. Instead of simply removing functionality from Light of Elune, we decided to add a large amount of cooldown reduction with every Basic Attack. This will reward players that can stay in combat and has allowed us to shift some of her power from healing output into more utility and offensive-based areas. Overall, we are extremely excited to see what our players can do with her new kit and look forward to hearing any feedback you have! LEVEL (TIER) tyrande Talents 1 (1) (!) Ranger's Mark (D) (!) Lunar Blaze (E) (!) Ranger (W) 4 (2) Moonlit Arrows (Q) Celestial Attunement (Q) Kaldorei Resistance (Q) 7 (3) Huntress' Fury (D) Darnassian Archery (Passive) Trueshot Aura (Active) 10 (4) Shadowstalk Starfall — — 13 (5) Quickening Blessing (Q) Empower (W) Harsh Moonlight (W) 16 (6) Overflowing Light (Q) Mark of Mending (D) Elune's Chosen (Active) 20 (7) Eyes of the Huntress (R) Celestrial Wrath ( Shooting Star (E) Iceblade Arrows (Passive)

Base Abilities & Stats

General Base Stats

Basic Attack damage reduced from 87 to 82

Light of Elune (Q)

Adjusted functionality:
No longer heals yourself while healing allies
The cooldown is now lowered by 2 seconds every time you land a Basic Attack
Heal amount reduced from 320 to 270
Cooldown increased from 8 to 12 seconds
Mana cost reduced from 45 to 25

Sentinel (W)

Added functionality:
!Quest: Hit heroes with Sentinel
Reward: Every 8 Heroes hit with Sentinel allows it to pierce one target and lowers the Mana cost by 10

Shadowstalk (R)

New functionality:
Tyrande gains stealth and 30% Movement Speed. When stealth is lost, she keeps her Movement Speed and gains 50% Attack Speed for 5 seconds
Cooldown reduced from 60 to 30 seconds

Starfall (R)

Radius reduced from 6 to 5

Talent Changes

Level 1

General

Ranger’s Mark (D)
New functionality:
!Quest: Basic Attacks lower the cooldown of Hunter’s Mark by 1 second
Reward: For every 60 Basic Attacks against Heroes, increase the duration of Hunter’s Mark by 1 second
Lunar Blaze (E)
New functionality:
!Quest: Every Hero hit by Lunar Flare increases its damage by 3%
Reward: After hitting 10 Heroes, remove the Mana Cost
Reward: After hitting 20 Heroes, increase the range by 40%
Ranger (W)
Adjusted functionality:
Sentinel deals up to 75% more damage based on distance traveled
!Quest: Hit Heroes with Sentinel
Reward: Every enemy hit with Sentinel increases the damage at maximum range by 3%
Seasoned Marksman (Passive)
Removed
Pierce (W)
Removed
Focused Attack (Passive)
Removed
Protective Shield (Active)
Removed
Healing Ward (Active)
Removed
Searing Arrows (Active)
Removed
Celestial Attunement (Q)
New functionality:
Light of Elune removes stuns. If a stun is removed this way, Light of Elune can be recast for free within 3 seconds.

New Talent: Moonlit Arrows (Q)

Basic Attacks reduce the Cooldown of your Light of Elune by an additional .75 seconds

New Talent: Kaldorei Resistance (Q)

Light of Elune grants 15 Spell Armor for 6 seconds. This can stack up to 4 times
Trueshot Aura (Active)
Adjusted functionality:
Nearby allies have 10% increased Basic Attack damage
Activate: Double this bonus for 5 seconds
Huntress’ Fury (Trait)
Reduced the splash radius by ~33%
New functionality:
Basic Attack’s against targets with Hunter’s Mark will damage all nearby enemy Heroes and Mercenaries
Lunar Momentum (Passive)
Removed
Calldown: MULE (Active)
Removed

Level 13

New Talent: Darnassian Archery (Passive)

Each consecutive attack against an enemy Hero deals 5% more damage. This lasts for 4 seconds or until you target a non-Heroic unit
Empower (W)
New functionality:
Every Hero hit by Sentinel lowers its Cooldown by 4 seconds
Quickening Blessing (Q)
Sprint (Active)
Removed
Shrink Ray (Active)
Removed

New Talent: Elune’s Chosen (Active)

Target an allied Hero. For the next 5 seconds, you will heal them for 200% of the Basic Attack damage you deal
Celestial Wrath (R)
New functionality:
Enemy Heroes within Starfall have Hunter’s Mark applied to them
Shooting Star (E)
New functionality:
Increases Basic Attack range by 20%
After every 10th Basic Attack against enemies, a Lunar Flare will fire at a nearby enemy Hero
Hunter’s Swiftness (R)
Removed
Nexus Frenzy (Passive)
Removed
Storm Shield (Active)
Removed
Rewind (Active)
Removed

Level 7

New Talent: Harsh Moonlight (W)

Enemies hit by Sentinel are slowed by 30% and have their damage reduced by 30% for 4 seconds
Mark of Mending (Trait)
New functionality:
Tyrande’s Basic Attacks heal her for 2% of her maximum Health
Allied Heroes Basic Attacks against targets with Hunter’s Mark will heal for 3% of their maximum Health
Overflowing Light (Q)
New functionality:
While above 60% life, Light of Elune heals for 30% more

Level 16

New Talent: Eyes of the Huntress (R)

Casting Shadowstalk also reveals the enemy team for 2 seconds.

New Talent: Iceblade Arrows (Passive)

Gain 25% Attack Speed. Basic Attacks against enemy Heroes reduces all damage they deal by 5% for 3 seconds. This can stack up to 10 times
(!) indicates a Questing Talent.
*Italic text* indicates a ***NEW*** Talent.

Bold text

 indicates a **MOVED** Talent.

Bug Fixes

Art

Ghost Tracer: Recall visual effects will now correctly display on Ghost Tracer’s model when using Recall.
Lúcio: Will no longer appear elevated on the Ranked screen.
Prime Evil Diablo: Apocalypse visual effects will no longer persist on Prime Evil Diablo’s model when casting Apocalypse immediately after Hellgate.

Battlegrounds

Braxis Holdout: Fixed an issue that could cause players to receive an AFK warning while contesting a Beacon.
Braxis Holdout: Beacon UI that appears below the minimap will now correctly appear neutral if they are not controlled by either team.
Towers of Doom: Heroes can no longer clip into the edges of the terrain when moving near the edges of the allied Hall of Storms.
Try Mode: The Refresh Forts button will no longer cause Malfurion to spawn when Allied Hero is set to None.

Heroes, Abilities, and Talents

Abathur: Fixed an issue in which Networked Carapace provided a lower than intended Shield amount.
Abathur: Secondary Shields granted by Networked Carapace will no longer benefit from Sustained Carapace.
Azmodan: When Demonic Invasion is cast on an area of terrain that is not pathable, the Demonic Grunts will now be placed as close as possible to the casting location, rather than failing to spawn.
Azmodan: Issuing a Move Command during All Shall Burn’s wind-up time will no longer cancel the Ability cast.
Cassia: Inner Light’s tooltip now consistently states that range is increased by 25% before and after taking the Talent.
Cassia: Martial Law will no longer apply bonus damage to slowed or stunned Minions and Mercenaries.
Cassia: Fixed an issue that could cause Valkyrie to pull its target farther than intended if Cassia was Stopped.
Dehaka: Basic Attacks will now correctly reduce Drag’s cooldown after learning Feeding Frenzy.
Gall: Can now properly cast Shove while channeling Shadow Bolt volley.
Gazlowe: Fixed an issue preventing Rock It! Turrets from being self-cast or placed beneath unit and Hero models.
Kerrigan: Bladed Momentum will no longer grant cooldown reduction for secondary targets hit by Basic Attacks after learning Fury of the Storm.
Tracer: Can now correctly attack Minions who are affected by Sylvanas’ Possession.

Sound

Announcers: Will now play their “Prepare for Battle” voiceover lines during the opening moments of a match.
Hero Select: Fixed an issue that could cause some heroes’ voiceover to echo after clicking Ready during Hero Select.
Hero Select: Lúcio will now correctly play voiceover upon searching for a match in the Portuguese and Chinese game clients.

User Interface

Collection: The Collection screen will no longer appear cut off when screen resolution is set to 1280x1024 or 1152x864.
Collection: Hovering the cursor over a truncated item name in the Collection will now correctly display a tooltip that states the item’s full name.
Emojis: Emojis whispered between Heroes of the Storm players will now display their shortcodes when the whisper is viewed in the Blizzard Launcher’s chat window.
Quick Cast: Fixed an issue causing abilities to fail when quick-casted over the minimap with the "Right Click through Minimap" option enabled.