Major balance update for 18 heroes

June 4, 2020 ZW5ZndOa8P Balance, heroes, Major, Update

04.06.2020 at 10:07 p.m.
from Norbert Rätz –
Blizzard has released another patch for the online team fighting game Heroes of the Storm, which includes balancing changes for a total of 18 heroes. Here you can read the full patch notes.

For the online team fighting game Heroes of the Storm (buy now for € 8.00) Another update has been released that, in addition to general and hero fixes, brings with it a number of balancing changes for a total of 18 heroes across all roles, including extensive revisions for the Lost Vikings, Tyrande, White Streak, Qhira, Cassia and Genji.

In the following you read the patch notes including the developer comments. Hotfixes are updates that are made on the server side without the need to download new data. Some of the changes listed below will take effect once Blizzard implements them, while others will only take effect after an announced realm restart. Please note that some problems cannot be solved without a client-side patch.

Heroes of the Storm: Balance update 2.50.2 from 4.6.2020

Table of Contents:

General

Call for help – game balance update
- The damage that towers, forts, and forts inflict on enemy heroes has been reduced by 10%.
- The maximum armor reduction on buildings has been reduced from -40 to -20.

Developer comment: Thank you for your discussions and your feedback on the help call system. Many players find that the towers are still too powerful and punish longer attacks within their range. So we're reducing their damage and debuff effect, which reduces armor, so players can again play aggressive moves with a clear conscience. We will continue to monitor the impact of these changes, so we look forward to your feedback.

Heroes

Tanks

Anub'arak

Values and skills

Harden tanks (W)
- Shield strength increased from 315 to 340

Level 7
- Bloodsucker (characteristic)
  - Damage increased from 20 to 30%

Developer comment: Anub'arak is inferior to other warriors. It could still be a little more resilient, so let's increase the shield points of Panzer harden so that it can survive damage spikes from abilities even more reliably.

Smaller

Values and skills

Level 4
- Blow to blow (W)
  - Adjusted functionality: Increases attack speed by 25% for 3 seconds when striking an enemy hero. Doubles the bonus to attack speed and duration when struck by strikes inside the area.

Developer comment: Kleiner has two very special properties: he can pull enemies from a great distance and he has an unbelievable number of life points, which he can influence with devours and different talents. With this update, we're missing even more life points so that he can hold out longer in team battles to disrupt his opponents and protect his team members.

Tyrael

Developer comment: We're pretty happy with Tyrael's talents, but there's a talent at every rank that seems to be more popular than the others. These changes are aimed at one talent per rank in order to align them somewhat.

supporter

The Lost Vikings

step 1
- Olaf the Strong (Passive)
  - Extended functionality: Increases Olaf's life by 20%.
- Spiønåge (passive)
  - Advanced functionality: When Erik leaves the stealth state, the damage of his automatic attacks is increased by 75% for 6 seconds.
- Viking trade (E)
  - No longer causes mercenaries to reappear 50% faster.
Level 7
- Baleog the Terrible (Passive)
  - New functionality: Increases Baleog's attack range by 2.5. As long as he's around Olaf and Erik, the power of teamwork inspires him and increases his attack speed by 50%.
- The right turn (Q)
  - Damage reduced from 101 to 85
  - Advanced functionality: Deals double damage to enemy heroes.
- Nordic by Nature (Q)
  - Cooldown reduced from 30 to 15 seconds
Level 10
- Dragon boat raid (R1)
  - Health increased from 685 to 750
  - Health bonus per Viking increased from 171 to 185
- Retry (R2)
  - Cooldown increased from 80 to 100 seconds
Level 13
- The Vikings are coming! (W)
  - Was changed from (W) to a passive talent.
  - New functionality: As long as Olaf, Baleog, and Erik are close to the other Vikings, their automatic attacks deal additional damage equal to 1.25% of their maximum life to enemy heroes.

Developer comment: We haven't changed the Lost Vikings in a while. With these changes, we want to strengthen them in battle with other heroes without ensuring that they can put even more pressure on the map. There are some talents that will significantly strengthen the Vikings when they fight together, and reward players if they have a good grip on all three during those battles. We hope these changes will bring unprecedented play styles, which should be particularly exciting for players who take the time to master these heroes.

healer

Lt. Morales

Level 4
- Emergency plasters (passive)
  - Cooldown reduced from 30 to 20 seconds
Level 7
- Physiotherapy (W)
  - Cooldown reduction increased from 2 to 3 seconds
- Medi-drone (W)
  - Healing increased from 50 to 75%
Level 16
- First aider (Q)
  - The energy required for bonus healing has been reduced from 70 to 60.

Developer comment: We attack the weaker talents in Lt. Morales' talent tree a little under the arms. Overall, we're happy with it, so we don't expect these buffs to change much – but maybe it will play it a little more often.

Rehgar

Level 20
- Farseer's Blessing (R1)
  - New functionality: After 1.5 seconds healing of the ancestors is triggered again and heals the same target a second time. Allies near the target are healed for 590.

Developer comment: Because the Farseer's Blessing will now trigger a second time after the first mission, the ability will generally be more powerful. This makes ancestral healing more versatile because Rehgar can now save a single ally over a long period of time or even heal his entire team exceptionally well if all team members stay together.

Tyrande

Developer comment: We experimented a little with Ranger and Darnassian Marksmanship by limiting their uses, but they can be incredibly powerful in these cases. In Tyrande's case, that didn't work as desired, so from now on they are generally useful again and therefore more powerful overall.

Uther

Level 20
- Bulwark of Light (R1)
  - Adjusted functionality: Gives God Shield additionally to all friendly heroes near the original target. Increases duration by 1 sec.
- Divine Protection (property)
  - Armor increased from 40 to 50

Developer comment: Due to the originally planned change to Bulwark of Light a few months ago, all heroes nearby should receive a shield. That was a little too crazy for us, so we weakened the effect so that only one additional hero got the ability. The current version isn't as powerful as hoped, so let's go back to our crazy idea. Hopefully the game will survive.

Streak of white

Developer comment: Whitehead is very powerful overall, but we still think that a little more pizzazz can't hurt their talents. These changes allow for some new interactions, so your overall talent tree will be a bit rounder. Especially the changes to Scarlet Fury and Radiant Shine will open up new and interesting ways to play for streak of white if she has her stacks of despair well under control and eagerness sets in at the right time.

Melee assassins

Qhira

Values and skills

Health increased from 1,950 to 2,000.
Health regeneration increased from 4.06 to 4.17 per second.

step 1
- Deadly Bleeding (W)
  - The damage bonus against heroes with less than 50% of their health has been reduced from 40 to 30%.
- Checkmate (Passive)
  - Auto Attack damage bonus increased from 15 to 20%
  - Basic Attack damage bonus against heroes with less than 50% of their health has been increased from 15 to 20%.
Level 4
- Stick between the legs (E)
  - The main target is now slowed by 40% (was 30%).
Level 10
- Whip vertebrae (R1)
  - Cooldown reduced from 75 to 60 seconds
  - Mana cost reduced from 60 to 50
  - The duration of the final stun effect has been increased from 1 to 1.5 seconds.
Level 16
- Lively appearance (E)
  - Cooldown reduction increased from 150 to 200%
  - Spell Armor duration increased from 2 to 2.5 seconds.
Level 20
- Silent Death (R1)
  - No longer silences enemy heroes on the first swing.
  - Advanced functionality: Whip whips silence enemy heroes for 0.5 seconds.

Developer comment: It's been a while since we gave Qhira major changes. She is a little too weak right now, so she gets more life points and we change some of her talents so that she can keep up better and Qhira becomes more powerful overall. Deadly bleeding is almost indispensable at the moment, so let's weaken this talent and strengthen other parts of your talent tree to compensate.

Zeratul

Level 20
- Gift of the Xel'Naga
- Nexus Blades (Passive)
- New Talent: Relentless Advance (W)
  - Automatic attacks against heroes marked or slowed by singularity rash reduce the cooldown of singularity rash by 1.25 seconds.
- New Talent: Shadowstep (Passive)
  - Reduces the cooldown of Deadly Blade by 10 seconds.

Developer comment: Zeratul's level 20 talents have long been dominated by Twilight Break and Shadow Healing. We're removing the two options that were rarely chosen and replacing them with more useful talents.

Ranged assassins

Cassia

Values and skills

Life points and life regeneration
- Health increased from 1,510 to 1,700
- Health regeneration increased from 3.15 to 3.54 per second.
weapon
- Damage increased from 122 to 130
- Attacks per second increased from 1 to 1.11 (the time between attacks was reduced from 1 to 0.9 seconds).
Flashing Mischief (Q)
- Damage increased from 150 to 165
- Mana cost reduced from 25 to 20
Avoidance (property)
- Now works when riding.
- Customized functionality: If Cassia stands still for 0.75 seconds, the armor will gradually be lost over the course of 0.5 seconds.

step 1
- Thunderbolt (Q)
  - No longer grants armor by avoidance.
  - Bonus damage per hero hit has been increased from 1 to 1.5.
Level 7
- Debilitating bumps (E)
  - The name was changed to grounding bar.
  - New functionality: Enemies hit by Lightning Strike or Opposition are slowed by 20% for 2 seconds.
Level 16
- Martial law (passive)
  - Adjusted functionality: Automatic attacks against heroes do bonus damage equal to 1% of their maximum life points. Bonus damage against stunned, immobile, or slowed heroes is increased to 3% of maximum health.

Developer comment: Cassia has hit less than expected. This is mainly because we weakened her basic skills a little too much when she received her new talents. We’re making a few changes to make it stronger and more accessible so it’ll soon be as impressive as we would like it to be.

Genji

Values and skills

Developer comment: Genji's win rate has been very low for a while. It is still very powerful in the hands of experienced players, but it is a bit too difficult for most players to develop their full potential. We miss him a bit more life points and reduce his mobility with cybernetics. We're also strengthening some of his weaker talents. This should make it generally a little more resilient.

Gul'dan

Values and skills

Devil's Flame (Q)
- Damage increased from 200 to 210

Developer comment: We give Gul'dan a little help with small adjustments. Curse of Exhaustion in particular is now more versatile. In the past, talent had to be combined with corruption to make an impact.

Hanzo

Developer comment: We're strengthening some of Hanzo's weaker talents. Overall, he's fairly balanced at higher game levels, so we'd rather be a little careful about these buffs.

Raynor

step 1
- Exterminator (passive)
  - Bonus damage done to servants, mercenaries, and monsters has been reduced from 75 to 50%.

Developer comment: Since we last strengthened exterminators, the talent has been too strong in almost all situations. While it should be powerful, we still want the card currently being played to have an impact on Raynor's talent selection.

Tracer

Values and skills

Reload (property)
- Auto Attack healing reduced from 15 to 10%

Level 13
- Unbeatable (Q)
  - No longer increases the range of Tracer's Warp.
  - New functionality: After using Warp, Tracer's movement speed increases by 20% for 2 seconds.
- Telefrag (E)
  - Cooldown reduction on time loop increased from 0.1875 to 0.25 seconds.

Developer comment: Tracer has been a bit too powerful since its revision, so we're weakening her life deprivation and changing the way Unbeatable works. These changes should make it less clear to beat exchanges with enemy heroes and, overall, easier to counter.

Zagara

Level 16
- Spike profile (property)
  - Attack Range bonus increased from 10 to 20%

Developer comment: Spike profile still can't keep up with the other talents at this rank. It could still be a little more powerful, so Zagara can now distribute her automatic attacks from a safe distance as long as she's on crawlers.

Fixed bugs

Watching replays from older versions of the game no longer crashes.

Battlefields

More information, specials and videos about Heroes of the Storm can be found on our Heroes theme page.