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Published on September 29, 2016

Heroes of the Storm Patch Notes — September 27, 2016

The Machines of War march on! We just released a new patch for Heroes of the Storm, which brings a new Hero, Battleground, and balance changes to the Nexus! Check out today’s patch notes below.

JUMP TO:

Heroes:

General Updates

New Map Rotation

Starting September 27, the pool of Battlegrounds available in all modes, except Custom Games, will be temporarily limited to the following:
- Warhead Junction
- Braxis Holdout
- Towers of Doom
- Dragon Shire
- Battlefield of Eternity
- Cursed Hollow
During this time, players can still select and play on any Battleground they wish using Custom Games.
The reduced Battleground pool will remain in effect until the Machines of War event concludes during the week of October 17.

Tutorial Improvements

The second tutorial mission has received significant changes to gameplay, user interface, and instruction flow. This mission should now better serve to introduce players to some of Heroes of the Storm’s unique mechanics.

Battlegrounds & Map Updates

Once a testing facility for nuclear weapons, Warhead Junction has since fallen into ruin. However, the site's abandonment hasn't stopped its glitchy adjutant from continuing to produce and hand out nuclear weapons. Join the arms race of Warhead Junction, build up your stockpile, and rain hell on your enemies!

Warhead Deployment

Multiple Warheads will spawn periodically across the battleground.

Collect Warheads

Pick up a Warhead to activate your Nuke. Use it or you will drop it when you die!

Call Down the Thunder

Launch Nukes to devastate the enemy team's fortifications.

Art

Heroes, Abilities, and Talents

Chen and Nazeebo have received updated visual effects to coincide with their Talent reworks.

Performance

General

Additional improvements have been made to Heroes of the Storm’s overall framerate, affecting all game modes and Battlegrounds.

Shop

Bundles

New Bundles
- Thunder Guard Zarya Bundle – Available until October 11, 2016.
- Raider Rexxar Bundle – Available until October 11, 2016.
- Undying Legends Bundle – Available until October 18, 2016.
- Ultimate Undying Legends Bundle – Available until October 18, 2016.

New Hero

Zarya has been added to the in-game Shop.

Mounts

Returning Mounts
- Judgement Charger
Removed Mounts
- Lunar Dragon
- Spectre Phantom
- Dire Wolf

Skins

Raider Rexxar
Thunder Guard Zarya
Master Zarya

Price Changes

Diablo’s prices have been reduced to $3.49 USD and 2,000 Gold.
Muradin’s prices have been increased to $6.49 USD and 4,000 Gold.

Sound

General

The second Tutorial mission has received updated sound effects to coincide with its overhaul.

Heroes, Abilities, and Talents

Chen has received updated sound effects for his Elusive Brawler Talent and Storm, Earth, Fire Heroic Ability.
The Seasoned Marksman Talent has received a new sound effect heard when the active ability awarded by the quest is used.

User Interface

Voiceover will now play on the MVP and Commendation screen when a player receives enough votes to reach Epic or Legendary status.

Braxis Holdout

All Zerg Units have received the following changes:
- Early-game damage scaling significantly reduced
- Mid-game damage scaling slightly reduced
- Late-game damage scaling moderately increased
Banelings
- Base damage increased by 20%
Hydralisks
- Base damage increased by 25%
Guardians
- Base damage increased by roughly 17%
Ultralisks
- Base damage increased by 20%

Developer Comments: We’ve noticed a few more one-sided games than we’d like on Braxis Holdout. The battleground plays faster by design, but we think that a few changes to reduce the early game effectiveness of the zerg will put the balance closer to what we’d like after the battleground goes live.

Hero Balance Updates (15)

Chen

Hero Balance Adjustments

Stats Builds Impact

Base Abilities & Stats

Storm, Earth, Fire (R)

New Functionality:
If all 3 Spirits die, Chen is killed
Spirit Health increased from 50 to 75% of Chen’s maximum Health
Each Spirit grants Chen a special ability:
Storm (Q): Increases the Movement Speed of your Spirits by 50% for 5 seconds
Earth (W): Fire and Earth Spirits leap at the target, slowing enemies in a large area by 70% for 1.5 seconds
Fire (E): Increase the Basic Attack speed of your Spirits by 100% for 5 seconds

Talent Changes

Level 1

General

Regeneration Master (Passive)
Removed
Keg Toss (W)
New Functionality:
Quest: Hitting a Hero with Keg Smash increases its damage by 3, up to a maximum of 60.
Reward: After gaining 60 bonus damage, Keg Toss’s range is increased by 125% and gains a second charge.
Grounding Brew (Trait)
Ability damage reduction amount increased from 25 to 30%
Consuming Flame (E)
Removed

Level 4

New Talent: Accumulating Flame (E)

Quest: Setting a Hero on Fire increases the damage over time of Breath of Fire by 2%, up to a max of 60%.
Reward: After gaining 60% bonus damage, Breath of Fire grants 1 second of Resistant per Hero set on fire, reducing damage taken by 25%

New Talent: Freshest Ingredients (Trait)

Quest: Gathering a Regen Globe increases Health Regeneration by 1 per second, up to a maximum of 30.
Reward: After gaining 30 bonus Health Regeneration, 50% of Shields gained from Fortifying Brew are retained indefinitely after drinking.

New Talent: Elusive Brawler (Active)

Activate to avoid all enemy Basic Attacks for 2 seconds. Basic Attacks reduce the cooldown of Elusive Brawler by 3 seconds. 20 second cooldown.
Swift Reflexes (Passive)
Removed
Deadly Strike (Q)
New Functionality:
Flying Kick now deals 100% more damage if Chen has Fortifying Brew shields.
Amplified Healing (Passive)
Removed
Deep Breath (E)
Removed
Full Keg (W)
Removed
Combat Stance (Trait)
Removed
Ring of Fire (E)
Periodic damage increased from 30 to 50
Duration reduced from 5 to 3 seconds

New Talent: Refreshing Elixir (Passive)

All regeneration and healing effects are increased by 20%. This bonus is increased to 60% while channeling Fortifying Brew.
Brew Strike (Q)
Removed
Enough to Share (Trait)
Relentless (Passive)
Removed

Level 16

New Talent: Withering Flames (E)

Setting an enemy Hero on fire reduces their Ability Power by 25% for 3 seconds.
Bottomless Mug (Trait)
Removed
Bolder Flavor (Trait)
New Functionality:
Grants 50% of your full Shield instantly when you use Fortifying Brew, and causes Shields to persist for 1 second after drinking.
Pressure Point (Q)
New Functionality:
Flying Kick slows enemy Movement Speed by 40% for 1 second. This effect is doubled if the target is affected by Keg Smash.
Combination Attack (Q)
Removed

Level 13

New Talent: Flying Leap (Q)

Increases the range of Flying Kick by 20%

New Talent: Another Round (W)

After hitting an enemy Hero with Keg Smash, the cooldown of the next Basic Ability you cast will be reduced by 3 seconds.
Increases the radius of Keg Smash by 50%
Untapped Potential (R)
New Functionality:
Increases Movement Speed of Wandering Keg by 25%
Chen gains 50% damage reduction while in Wandering Keg
Elemental Conduit (R)
New Functionality:
Your Sprits now have 100% of Chen’s Maximum Health.
Storm (Q): Also grants Unstoppable to your Spirits for the duration of the Movement Speed boost
Earth (W): Also reduces the cooldown of Leap by 3 seconds
Fire (E): No longer an Active ability. Spirits now attack 100% faster while the Fire Spirit is alive
Hardened Shield (Active)
Removed
Bolt of the Storm (Active)
Removed

Level 20

New Talent: Purifying Brew (Trait)

Passively reduce the duration of the next Stun or Silence effect by 75% and reset the cooldown of Fortifying Brew. This can only happen once every 10 seconds.

New Talent: Stormstout Secret Recipe (Passive)

Heal for 1.5% of your Maximum Health every time your Basic Abilities hit an enemy Hero.
(!) indicates a Questing Talent.
*Italic text* indicates a ***NEW*** Talent.

Bold text

indicates a **MOVED** Talent.

Li Li

Hero Balance Adjustments

Stats Builds Impact

Talent Changes

Level 16

General

Shake It Off (Passive)
No longer has a cooldown
Resistant amount increased from 25 to 50%
Resistant duration increased from 3 to 4 seconds

Valla

Hero Balance Adjustments

Stats Builds Impact

Base Abilities & Stats

Vault (E)

Damage bonus per stack of Hatred increased from 5 to 6%

Hungering Arrow (Q)

Increased base damage from 140 to 151
Bounce damage increased from 80 to 86

Rain of Vengeance (R)

Cooldown decreased from 60 to 50 seconds per charge

Talent Changes

Level 1

General

Monster Hunter (Q)
Mana refund amount increased from 30 to 40
Minion and Mercenary bonus damage increased from 100 to 150%
Puncturing Arrow (Q)
Quest reward bonus damage increased from 50 to 75
Death Dealer (E)
Bonus damage per Hatred stack increased from 10 to 12%

Zarya

Hero Balance Adjustments

Stats Builds Impact

Base Abilities & Stats

General Base Stats

Increased Basic Attack damage from 20 to 24
Increased Health from 2225 to 2336
Increased Health Regen from 4.64 to 4.87

Particle Grenade (Q)

Increased base damage from 62 to 74

Personal Barrier (W)

Cooldown reduced from 12 to 10 seconds

Energy (Trait)

Energy decay rate reduced from 3 to 1.5 per second

Graviton Surge (R)

Cooldown reduced from 120 to 100 seconds

Alarak

Hero Balance Adjustments

Stats Builds Impact

Base Abilities & Stats

Discord Strike (Q)

Mana cost reduced from 60 to 55

Lightning Surge (E)

Mana cost reduced from 40 to 30
Damage increased from 90 to 100
Width increased by 50%

Counter-Strike (R)

Damage increased from 250 to 275
Added Functionality:
Now grants Alarak Unstoppable for its duration

Talent Changes

Level 1

General

Power Conduit (E)
Mana cost reduction decreased from 15 to 10
Wide Lightning (E)
Removed
Thunderstruck (E)
Slow duration increased from 1.5 to 2 seconds
Hindered Motion (W)
Slow duration increased from 1.5 to 2 seconds

E.T.C.

Hero Balance Adjustments

Stats Builds Impact

Base Abilities & Stats

Powerslide (Q)

Range increased by 25%

Rockstar (Trait)

Radius increased by 10%

Talent Changes

Level 1

General

Rolling Like a Stone (Q)
Removed
Block (Passive)
Removed
Prog Rock (E)
New Functionality:
Quest: Gathering a Regeneration Globe permanently increases the healing per second of Guitar Solo by 5, up to a maximum of 100. 
Reward: After reaching 100 increased healing, Guitar Solo also heals nearby allied Heroes for 53 Health every second while active.
Pwn Shop Guitar (E)
Renamed to Aggressive Shredding
New Functionality:
Basic Attacks reduce the cooldown of Guitar Solo by 1 second.

Level 16

New Talent: Block Party (Trait)

Rockstar also grants Allies a stack of Block, reducing the damage from the next Basic Attack by 50% for 8 seconds.  Stacks up to 2 times.
Double-Necked Guitar (Q)
Removed
Mic Check (W)
Number of targets hit required to reduce Face Melt’s cooldown decreased from 3 to 2
Pinball Wizard (W)
Bonus damage increased from 50 to 150%
**New Talent: Crowd Surfer (Q)**
Powerslide can now travel over walls and unpathable areas.
Just Keep Rockin’ (E)
Removed
Guitar Hero (E)
New Functionality:
While Guitar Solo is active, you heal for 30% of the damage dealt by Basic Attacks.  Also increases the Attack Speed bonus from Rockstar from 20% to 25%.
Loud Speakers (W)
Follow Through (Passive)
Renamed to Hammer-on
New Functionality:
After using an Ability, your next 2 Basic Attacks deal 30% more damage.
Groupies (E)
Removed
Spell Shield (Passive)
Removed
Show Stopper (Q)
Face Smelt (W)
Slow amount reduced from 80 to 60%

Speed Metal (Trait)
Movement Speed bonus reduced from 20 to 10%
Echo Pedal (Passive)
Damage decreased from 59 to 32. 
Added Functionality:
Now deals double damage vs. Minions and Mercenaries.
Encore (W)
(!) indicates a Questing Talent.
*Italic text* indicates a ***NEW*** Talent.

Level 13

Bold text

indicates a **MOVED** Talent.

Tychus

Hero Balance Adjustments

Stats Builds Impact

Base Abilities & Stats

General Base Stats

Base Maximum Health increased from 1836 to 1925
Base Health Regeneration increased from 3.8 to 4

Commandeer Odin (R)

Added Functionality:
Now grants Tychus Resistant for the duration of Commandeer Odin, reducing damage taken by 25%

Talent Changes

Level 1

General

Press the Advantage (E)
Basic Attack Range bonus increased from 25 to 35%
Combat Tactician (E)
Cooldown reduction increased from .75 to .8 seconds per Basic Attack.
Shrug It Off (E)
Removed

Chromie

Hero Balance Adjustments

Stats Builds Impact

Base Abilities & Stats

General Base Stats

Base maximum Health increased from 1260 to 1323
Health regen increased from 2.63 to 2.76

Sand Blast (Q)

Range increased by 6%

Dragon's Breath (W)

Range increased by 6%

Temporal Loop (R)

Range decreased by 8%

Talent Changes

Level 13

Reaching Through Time (Passive)
Range bonus decreased from 25 to 15%

Gul'dan

Hero Balance Adjustments

Stats Builds Impact

Base Abilities & Stats

Life Tap (Trait)

Base self-inflicted damage decreased from 234 to 222

Fel Flame (Q)

Increased base size by 5%

Drain Life (W)

Base healing increased from 43 to 47

Corruption (E)

Cooldown reduced from 16 to 14 seconds
Mana cost reduced from 90 to 80

Talent Changes

Level 1

General

Echoed Corruption (E)
Quest completion requirement increased from 35 to 40 Heroes hit by Corruption
Health Funnel (W)
Cooldown reduction gained when an enemy dies under the effects of Drain Life changed from 7 seconds to a full cooldown reset

Li-Ming

Hero Balance Adjustments

Stats Builds Impact

Base Abilities & Stats

Arcane Orb (W)

Beginning size reduced by roughly 33%
Maximum size reduced by roughly 33%
Explosion radius reduced by roughly 15%

Talent Changes

Level 4

General

Triumvirate (W)
Now reduces the cooldown of Arcane Orb by 50%, instead of 5 seconds
Travel distance required reduced from 65 to 50%
Zei's Vengeance (W)
Added functionality:
Now also reduces the cooldown of Arcane Orb by 25%

Nazeebo

Hero Balance Adjustments

Stats Builds Impact

Base Abilities & Stats

Corpse Spiders (Q)

Spiders will now fixate on whatever enemies are hit with the jar, dividing their focus among all available targets. Prefers Heroic targets.
Spiders will now only spawn if you hit an enemy with the jar
Reduced the travel speed of the jar, mostly at close range
Increased the impact radius by 50%
Spiders now move significantly faster toward their target 
Impact damage reduced from 91 to 50
Spider Attack's damage increased from 13 to 35 per attack
Mana cost reduced from 60 to 50

Zombie Wall (W)

Zombie Health increased from 183 to 225

Plague of Toads (E)

****
Number of Toads spawned reduced from 5 to 3
Now has 2 charges
Damage changed from 87 damage on impact to 126 over 6 seconds
Multiple instances of this damage effect can affect the same enemy
Cooldown reduced from 10 to 8 seconds
Mana cost reduced from 55 to 30

Voodoo Ritual (Trait)

Damage over time effect is now only applied to non-Heroes
Duration increased from 4 to 6 seconds
Killing an enemy affected by Voodoo Ritual no longer restores Health and Mana
New Functionality:
You now permanently gain 4 Maximum Health and 1 Maximum Mana if an enemy Minion dies while affected by Voodoo Ritual

Gargantuan (R)

Gargantuan now stays near the area where cast and attempts to attack any enemies that come nearby. Prefers Heroic targets.
Initial impact damage reduced from 151 to 100
Stomp damage increased from 219 to 240
Attack range increased by 50%
Cooldown increased from 60 to 70 seconds

Talent Changes

Level 1

General

Demolitionist (Passive)
Removed
Death Ritual (Trait)
Removed
Bribe (Active)
Removed
Blood Ritual (Trait)
New Functionality:
If an enemy dies while affected by Voodoo Ritual, heal for 2% of your Maximum Health and Mana.

New Talent: Guardian Toads (E)

If your Plague of Toads explodes on an enemy Hero gain Resistant for 2 seconds, reducing damage taken by 25%

New Talent: Superstition (Passive)

You take 50% less damage from Abilities, but 30% more damage from Basic Attacks
Specialized Toxin (Trait)
Removed
Leaping Spiders (Q)
Removed
Infested Toads (E)
Removed
Hardened Focus (Passive)
Removed

Level 4

New Talent: Widowmakers (Q)

Quest: After hitting Heroes 100 times with Corpse Spider attacks, their damage is increased by 30%.

New Talent: Pandemic (E)

Quest: After hitting 40 Heroes with Plague of Toads, it spawns 2 additional toads.
Spider Cluster (Q)
Removed
Gathering Power (Passive)
Removed
Mercenary Lord (Passive)
Removed
Envenom (Active)
Removed
Promote (Active)
Removed

New Talent: Hexed Crawlers (Q)

Corpse Spiders restore 0.75% of your maximum Health and Mana each time they attack an enemy Hero.

New Talent: Big Voodoo (Trait)

Increases the Health and Mana bonuses from Voodoo Ritual by 100%.
Gidbinn (Passive)
Removed
Fresh Corpses (W)
Removed

Level 7

New Talent: Spirit of Arachyr (Q)

If your jar of Corpse Spiders hits only 1 enemy, spawn an additional spider.
Dead Rush (W)
Increased zombie damage bonus from 50 to 100%.
Toads of Hugeness (E)
Bonus reduced from 20 to 15% per hop, and now caps at 60% bonus.
Thing of the Deep (Passive)
Range bonus reduced from 25 to 20%

Level 16

New Talent: Spider Colony (Q)

Corpse Spiders recharges twice as fast while you are above 850 (+4% per level) Health.

New Talent: Ring of Poison (W)

Increases the duration of Wall of Zombies by 1 second, and now deals 375 damage over 4 seconds.  Damage starts small and increases over the duration.

New Talent: Soul Harvest (Active)

Activate to gain 3% Ability Power and maximum Health for every nearby enemy, up to 15%. Health and Ability Power bonuses last 15 seconds. 15 second cooldown.
Humongoid (R)
No longer makes the Gargantuan last indefinitely or increases its Basic Attack damage to non-Heroic enemies
New Functionality:
Reduces the cooldown of Gargantuan by 50 seconds, and the Mana cost by 50%
Bolt of the Storm (Active)
Removed

Level 20

New Talent: Vile Infection (Trait)

Quest:  After reaching 150 stacks of Voodoo Ritual, increase Voodoo Ritual's damage by 200% and cause it to also apply to Heroes.
(!) indicates a Questing Talent.
*Italic text* indicates a ***NEW*** Talent.

Bold text

indicates a **MOVED** Talent.

Kharazim

Hero Balance Adjustments

Stats Builds Impact

Talent Changes

Level 13

General

Sixth Sense (Passive)
Block amount increased from 50 to 75% after being stunned or rooted.

Anub'arak

Hero Balance Adjustments

Stats Builds Impact

Base Abilities & Stats

General Base Stats

Base maximum Health increased from 1926 to 2120
Health regen increased from 4.0 to 4.4

Malfurion

Hero Balance Adjustments

Stats Builds Impact

Base Abilities & Stats

Regrowth (Q)

Cooldown reduced from 7 to 5 seconds
Mana cost reduced from 60 to 35
Duration increased from 10 to 15 seconds
Periodic heal reduced from 75 to 60

Entangling Roots (E)

Increased range by roughly 12%
Delay before initial root reduced from .5 seconds to .25 seconds

Innervate (Trait)

Added Functionality:
Now causes the target’s Basic Abilities to cooldown 50% faster for the duration of Innervate

Talent Changes

Level 1

General

Harmony (Q)
Removed
Rampant Growth (Q)
Healing bonus reduced from 50 to 40%
Enduring Growth (Q)
Removed

The Butcher

Hero Balance Adjustments

Stats Builds Impact

Base Abilities & Stats

Furnace Blast (R)

Cooldown reduced from 80 to 60 seconds

Bug Fixes

General

Fixed an issue that prevented players from placing Healing Totems near destructible objects and unpathable terrain.

Heroes, Abilities, and Talents

Abathur: Fixed an issue causing Abathur’s Ultimate Evolution clones to deal damage to nearby enemies on expiration without learning the Volatile Mutation talent.
Anub’arak: It is no longer possible to cast Cocoon on Heroic Vehicles, such as the Garden Terror or Dragon Knight.
Artanis: Fixed an issue that caused Artanis' Shield Overload trait to fail to override existing shields when triggered.
Auriel and Lunara: Fixed an issue causing Lunara’s camera to behave strangely after being resurrected by Auriel’s Resurrect.
Chen: Fixed an issue causing Chen’s Pressure Point talent to also double the duration of Keg Smash’s slow.
Chen: Fixed an issue that caused Chen’s Elemental Conduit talent to grant more attack speed than intended while the Fire spirit was alive.
Diablo: It is no longer possible to cast Overpower on Heroic Vehicles, such as the Garden Terror or Dragon Knight.
E.T.C.: Fixed an issue preventing E.T.C. from gaining stacks of Prog Rock when gathering Regen Globes.
Nova: It is no longer possible for Nova to target Invulnerable Heroes with Triple Tap.
Sonya: Fixed an issue that prevented Ancient Spear from stunning and dealing damage if used while rooted.

User Interface

Greymane: Fixed an issue causing Greymane’s “Eager Wolf” talent to fail to display in the shop when viewing talents for Greymane’s Worgen form.
Illidan: Fixed an issue causing the tooltip for Illidan’s Friend or Foe talent to display incorrect data.