PTR

Published on July 29, 2019

Heroes of the Storm PTR Patch Notes - July 29, 2019

The next Heroes of the Storm patch has arrived! The update brings a new Hero, Qhira the Iresian Bounty Hunter, alongside bug fixes, new bundles, new skins, and much more! Dive on in for more information.

JUMP TO:

Heroes:

General Updates

On-Fire System

Hero name-plates will now display that a Hero is On-Fire when they are performing well during a match

Ranked Battleground Rotation Update

Added to rotation
- Alterac Pass
- Volskaya Foundry
Removed from rotation
- Dragon Shire
- Sky Temple
The full Ranked Battleground Rotation is now as follows:
- Alterac Pass
- Battlefield of Eternity
- Cursed Hollow
- Garden of Terror
- Hanamura Temple
- Infernal Shrines
- Tomb of the Spider Queen
- Towers of Doom
- Volskaya Foundry

Battlegrounds & Map Updates

Braxis Holdout

Functionality of the Braxis control-point is now consistent with that of Dragon Shire
Zerg Waves
- Make-up and stats of the Zerg Wave units have been adjusted
- Zergling
  - Health reduced from 750 to 450
  - Health scaling over time increased
  - Damage increased from 5 to 10
  - Damage scaling over time decreased
  - No longer has a 10% damage penalty to Structures
- Baneling
  - Health reduced from 500 to 450
  - Health scaling over time increased
  - Damage increased from 55 to 150
  - Damage scaling over time decreased
  - Now have a 50% damage bonus to Heroes
  - No longer have a 50% damage bonus to Structures
  - Explosion radius increased from 2.75 to 3
  - Now prefers attacking Structures
- Hydralisk
  - Health reduced from 1500 to 850
  - Health scaling over time increased
  - Damage increased from 25 to 70
  - Damage scaling over time decreased
  - No longer have a 10% damage penalty to Structures
- Guardian
  - Health reduced from 2250 to 1000
  - Health scaling over time increased
  - Damage increased from 80 to 110
  - Damage scaling over time decreased
  - No longer have a 25% damage penalty to Structures
- Ultralisk
  - Health reduced from 6000 to 4700
  - Health scaling over time increased
  - Damage increased from 50 to 100
  - Damage scaling over time decreased
  - No longer have a 10% damage penalty to Structures
- While attacking, Guardian and Ultralisks now spawn Drop Pods with 3 Zerglings and 1 Hydralisk (can occur once every 13 seconds)

Developer Comment: We've made some changes to Braxis to even out the power curve of Zerg waves and introduce what we've found is a fun new mechanic in Drop Pods. By causing reinforcements of Zerg to periodically appear via Drop Pods, it makes some effects like Planet Cracker and Lava Wave a little less powerful against them. It also provides a stronger focus for single target characters, as removing Ultralisks and Guardians earlier will cause less Drop Pods to spawn, thereby indirectly helping against the massive zerg onslaught. The tuning changes get the zerg in line with most of our other Mercenaries and Minions, which mostly mirror a Heroes power level over the course of a game (though Battleground events tend to get more deadly in the late game to force a conclusion to matches). Overall, we think you'll enjoy these small changes to Braxis. It won't greatly change the way the Battleground feels but introduce a little freshness to the map while helping balance a few longstanding issues with over the top Hero imbalances on the Battleground.

Hero Balance Updates (1)

Qhira

Hero Balance Adjustments

Stats Builds Impact

Developer Comment

** We've made some changes to Braxis to even out the power curve of Zerg waves and introduce what we've found is a fun new mechanic in Drop Pods. By causing reinforcements of Zerg to periodically appear via Drop Pods, it makes some effects like Planet Cracker and Lava Wave a little less powerful against them. It also provides a stronger focus for single target characters, as removing Ultralisks and Guardians earlier will cause less Drop Pods to spawn, thereby indirectly helping against the massive zerg onslaught. The tuning changes get the zerg in line with most of our other Mercenaries and Minions, which mostly mirror a Heroes power level over the course of a game (though Battleground events tend to get more deadly in the late game to force a conclusion to matches). Overall, we think you'll enjoy these small changes to Braxis. It won't greatly change the way the Battleground feels but introduce a little freshness to the map while helping balance a few longstanding issues with over the top Hero imbalances on the Battleground. ## Collection New Bundles (Limited Time Only!)

Base Abilities & Stats

Trait

Grappling Hook

**[D]**
Qhira fires a Grappling Hook that pulls her to any terrain it contacts. If an enemy Hero is hit, they take 36 damage and Qhira launches at them, dealing an additional 112 damage on impact. Can be used while Revolving Sweep is active.
Cooldown: 25 Seconds

Basic Abilities

Carnage [Q]

Unleash your sword in a targeted direction, continuously dealing 31 damage to enemies caught in its path.
Cost: 40 Mana
Cooldown: 6 seconds
**Blood Rage [W]**
Passive: Basic Attack and Ability damage cause enemies to bleed for 46 damage over 4 seconds. Stacks 5 times.
Active: Qhira deals 33 damage and heals for 88 health per enemy Hero affected. Damage and healing is increased by 50% per each additional stack on that Hero.
Cost: 35 Mana
Cooldown: 8 seconds

Revolving Sweep [E]

Attach your sword to the first enemy Hero hit, Stunning them for .25 seconds. Once attached, Qhira becomes immune to all effects, swinging around the target for 2.75 seconds, and dealing 109 damage to any enemies between you and the target. Reactivate to send you to the target’s location, knocking them back, dealing 112 damage and Stunning them for .75 seconds.
Cost: 70 Mana
Cooldown: 16 Seconds

**Heroic Abilities**

Unrelenting Strikes [R1]

Deal 46 damage to all nearby enemies every .5 seconds for 2.5 seconds as your sword grows outward. Upon expiring, deal 86 damage to all nearby enemy Heroes and Stun them for .75 seconds.
Cost: 60 Mana
Cooldown: 75 Seconds

Final Strike [R2]

After 1 second, strike your sword in a line to deal 432 damage to all enemies in its path. This damage is increased by 25% to any enemy below 50% Health.
Cost: 45 Mana
Cooldown: 40 Seconds
Ranked Points are now directly mapped to a player's Storm League MMR.
Rank is no longer considered by the matchmaker.
Leaving a Ranked Match Lobby or Game results in a 500 Rank Point penalty which can be slowly regained in future matches.
Placement Matches have been reduced from 10 to 3.
Promotion and Demotion games have been removed and players will seamlessly transition through Leagues and Divisions.
The MMR range has been rebuilt and remapped to handle this.
A Team Leader (banning player in Ranked Draft) is selected on the highest Rank for placed players, or MMR for unplaced ones. In mixed teams, placed players have priority.
Rank Decay has been adjusted
Only players that are Diamond 5 or higher and that have finished their Placement Matches are eligible for decay
If a player's decay timer is less than 3 days, it resets to 3 days upon playing a Storm League game. If the timer is at or above 3 days, players will gain an additional grace day for each game played (up to a maximum of 30).
A Ranked Seasonal Questline is now available to players
This Questline will be available each Season and must be completed in order to be eligible for both the Ranked Seasonal Rewards and the Grand Master Leaderboards.
Functionality of the Braxis control-point is now consistent with that of Dragon Shire
Zerg Waves
Make-up and stats of the Zerg Wave units have been adjusted
Zergling
Health reduced from 750 to 450
Health scaling over time increased
Damage increased from 5 to 10
Damage scaling over time decreased
No longer has a 10% damage penalty to Structures
Baneling
Health reduced from 500 to 450
Health scaling over time increased
Damage increased from 55 to 150
Damage scaling over time decreased
Now have a 50% damage bonus to Heroes
No longer have a 50% damage bonus to Structures
Explosion radius increased from 2.75 to 3
Now prefers attacking Structures
Hydralisk
Health reduced from 1500 to 850
Health scaling over time increased
Damage increased from 25 to 70
Damage scaling over time decreased
No longer have a 10% damage penalty to Structures
Guardian
Health reduced from 2250 to 1000
Health scaling over time increased
Damage increased from 80 to 110
Damage scaling over time decreased
No longer have a 25% damage penalty to Structures
Ultralisk
Health reduced from 6000 to 4700
Health scaling over time increased
Damage increased from 50 to 100
Damage scaling over time decreased
No longer have a 10% damage penalty to Structures
While attacking, Guardian and Ultralisks now spawn Drop Pods with 3 Zerglings and 1 Hydralisk (can occur once every 13 seconds)
Qhira Heroic Bundle
Warchrome Commanders Bundle
Deathranger Nova Bundle
Fearless Qhira
Jade Qhira

Scrapper Queen Qhira

Berserk Scrapper Queen Qhira
Executor Scrapper Queen Qhira
Desert Scrapper Queen Qhira
Vanquisher Scrapper Queen Qhira

Deathranger Nova (Limited Time Only!)

Mirage Deathranger Nova
Rugged Deathranger Nova
Dusk Deathranger Nova
Ember Deathranger Nova
Daredevil Roadraider Raynor
Molten Diesel Speaker Nazeebo
Daredevil Helldorado
Scavenger’s Ripper
Outrider's Ripper
Soldier’s Ripper
Qhira Announcer
Several emojis, portraits, banners and other items have been added to the collection!
Zeratul no longer auto-acquires targets that walk within range while Cloaked.
Taking the Snowstorm talent on Jaina in the middle of a Blizzard cast no longer changes the damage value for the rest of the game.
Learning Yrel’s Seraphim talent while channeling or disabled no longer leaves it permanently disabled.
Blinding Wind, Shadow Dagger, Seeker Swarm, Frost Blast, Unstable Compound, and Weak Spot Acquired will no longer apply their effects to Heroes in Time Stop.
Critical Strike, Oil Spill, Lightning Fury, Ravage, Keg Smash, and Particle Grenade are now affected by cooldown reduction effects.
Sgt. Hammer’s Siege Mode can no longer out-range kill credit for the Salvaging the Stables questline.
Varian’s Banner of Ironforge now correctly displays the plus-Healing UI when augmented with Glory to the Alliance.
Uther can now /dance and /taunt during Eternal Vanguard.

Bug Fixes

Zeratul no longer auto-acquires targets that walk within range while Cloaked.
Taking the Snowstorm talent on Jaina in the middle of a Blizzard cast no longer changes the damage value for the rest of the game.
Learning Yrel’s Seraphim talent while channeling or disabled no longer leaves it permanently disabled.
Blinding Wind, Shadow Dagger, Seeker Swarm, Frost Blast, Unstable Compound, and Weak Spot Acquired will no longer apply their effects to Heroes in Time Stop.
Critical Strike, Oil Spill, Lightning Fury, Ravage, Keg Smash, and Particle Grenade are now affected by cooldown reduction effects.
Sgt. Hammer’s Siege Mode can no longer out-range kill credit for the Salvaging the Stables questline.
Varian’s Banner of Ironforge now correctly displays the plus-Healing UI when augmented with Glory to the Alliance.
Uther can now /dance and /taunt during Eternal Vanguard.

Click here to discuss this post with other players in the official Heroes of the Storm forums.

Collection

New Bundles (Limited Time Only!)

Qhira Heroic Bundle
Warchrome Commanders Bundle
Deathranger Nova Bundle

New Skins

Fearless Qhira
Jade Qhira
Scrapper Queen Qhira
- Berserk Scrapper Queen Qhira
- Executor Scrapper Queen Qhira
- Desert Scrapper Queen Qhira
- Vanquisher Scrapper Queen Qhira
Deathranger Nova (Limited Time Only!)
- Mirage Deathranger Nova
- Rugged Deathranger Nova
- Dusk Deathranger Nova
- Ember Deathranger Nova
Daredevil Roadraider Raynor
Molten Diesel Speaker Nazeebo

New Mounts

Daredevil Helldorado
Scavenger’s Ripper
Outrider's Ripper
Soldier’s Ripper

New Announcer

Qhira Announcer

New Content

Several emojis, portraits, banners and other items have been added to the collection!

Storm League

Storm League - Season 1, 2019

Ranked Points are now directly mapped to a player's Storm League MMR.
- Rank is no longer considered by the matchmaker.
- Leaving a Ranked Match Lobby or Game results in a 500 Rank Point penalty which can be slowly regained in future matches.
Placement Matches have been reduced from 10 to 3.
Promotion and Demotion games have been removed and players will seamlessly transition through Leagues and Divisions.
- The MMR range has been rebuilt and remapped to handle this.
A Team Leader (banning player in Ranked Draft) is selected on the highest Rank for placed players, or MMR for unplaced ones. In mixed teams, placed players have priority.
Rank Decay has been adjusted
- Only players that are Diamond 5 or higher and that have finished their Placement Matches are eligible for decay
- If a player's decay timer is less than 3 days, it resets to 3 days upon playing a Storm League game. If the timer is at or above 3 days, players will gain an additional grace day for each game played (up to a maximum of 30).
A Ranked Seasonal Questline is now available to players
- This Questline will be available each Season and must be completed in order to be eligible for both the Ranked Seasonal Rewards and the Grand Master Leaderboards.