Heroes of the Storm Balance Patch Notes - October 7, 2020

Heroes of the Storm has just been updated with Hero balance changes! Read on for details.

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• General
• Heroes
• Bug Fixes

General

• Both The Lost Vikings and Leoric are flooding our RISK team with intentional feeding false positives. To keep ARAM as healthy as possible we are temporarily removing them from the mode.
• Map
  • Tower, Fort, and Keep damage to enemy Heroes increased by 10%.

  Developer Comment: We’ve given our tower changes some time to settle, and while we like how their current targeting mechanism works, we believe we went a little too far in lowering their damage. We’re giving them some of their teeth back so that enemies who tower dive have a little less time to hang around in their opponent's base before they have to disengage.

• Healing Fountains
  • Health and Shield values swapped. The Shield value now accounts for 75% of the total Health.
  • Shield regeneration rate increased to 10% of total Shields per second.

  Developer Comment: We've heard feedback that players dislike how their Healing Fountains can be sniped by the opposing team early in the game. While we agree that this can be frustrating, we don't want to completely remove alternative strategies for creating an advantage. We're experimenting with a change to move the total Health of the Healing Fountains to be much more in favor of a Shield that quickly regenerates instead of Health. This should make it riskier for players to snipe Healing Fountains, as they will not get any value unless they destroy the building, while also rewarding players who are able to protect their Healing Fountains early in the game.

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Heroes

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Tank

Anub’arak

Base

• Health increased from 2100 to 2150.
• Health Regeneration increased from 4.38 to 4.48.

Talents

• Level 13
  • Level 13 talents have been changed to follow our normal talent ordering conventions.
  • Burning Beetles [Passive]
    • Damage dealt by Beetles reduced from 7 to 6.
• Level 16
  • Debilitation [E]
    • Adjusted functionality: Enemy Heroes hit by Burrow Charge or Impale have their Spell Power reduced by 50% for 4 seconds.
  • Beetle, Juiced [Trait]
    • Adjusted functionality: Beetles gain 30% increased Health. Every 4th Basic Attack spawns a Beetle.

Developer Comment: Historically Anub’arak has always been on a razor’s edge of being wildly popular and powerful or not part of the meta with small changes having a large effect on his perception. We’re giving him a small Health buff and some adjustments to his late-game talents, which we believe will bring him more to the forefront again as a powerful initiator for his team.

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Cho

Talents

• Level 7
  • Enraged Regeneration [Trait]
    • Healing reduction duration reduced from 4 to 2 seconds.

Developer Comment: While we like the somewhat chaotic, raid-boss feel of Enraged Regeneration and its healing debuff, we believe its duration is too long for how often the debuff can be applied to enemies, particularly at later stages of the game due to its synergies with talents like Twilight Nova. Because of this, we’re heavily reducing its duration so that enemy Healers have larger windows of opportunity to play around its debuff.

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Diablo

Talents

• Level 7
  • Eternal Flames [W]
    • Additional functionality: Reduce the cooldown of Fire Stomp by 1 second.
    • Mana return when Stunning enemy Heroes with Shadow Charge or Overpower increased from 35 to 45.
  • Diabolical Momentum [Passive]
    • No longer reduces the cooldown of Fire Stomp.
• Level 13
  • Hellfire [W]
    • Bonus Spell Power per stack increased from 2% to 3%.
    • Maximum stacks for bonus damage per second to nearby enemies reduced from 15 to 10.

Developer Comment: Diablo has recently risen in the ranks to once again being a high demand Warrior for his team. Overall, his talents are in a fairly good place, but we want to fix a design issue where Diabolical Momentum is simply too good at doing everything since it has synergy with all of his other potential ways of playing. To reduce its power and help his Level 7 tier be more diverse, we’re removing its ability to reduce the cooldown of Fire Stomp and giving Eternal Flames a boost in its role as a key talent for players who want to build around the ability.

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E.T.C.

Base

• Rockstar [Trait]
  • Armor bonus reduced from 25 to 20.

Talents

• Level 13
  • Encore [W]
    • Cooldown reduction reduced from 6% to 5%.

Developer Comment: E.T.C. continues to be a force to be reckoned with as a highly popular front-line member of teams. We’re reducing his overall survivability by nerfing Rockstar’s Armor amount so that he is punished more for missing his Stun or overextending during teamfights.

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Bruiser

Deathwing

Base

• Incinerate [W]
  • Energy cost increased from 15 to 20.
  • Damage reduced from 70 to 65.
• Lava Burst [W]
  • Energy cost reduced from 20 to 15.
  • Periodic Damage increased from 5 to 6.

Talents

• Level 4
  • Infernus [Q]
    • Adjusted functionality: Increase the damage of Molten Flame against enemy Heroes by 25%. Increase this bonus damage to 75% when Molten Flame is cast at 75% Energy or higher.
• Level 7
  • Firestorm [Z]
    • Meteor damage increased from 65 to 70.

Developer Comment: Currently, particularly at higher levels of play, many players are favoring Destroyer form over World Breaker. We’re moving some power from Destroyer Form into Worldbreaker to incentivize players to switch between forms more often as the situation demands. We also believe the energy buff to Worldbreaker form makes more sense for Deathwing, as he is naturally more incentivized to use Molten Flame in this form after using his other abilities to control opponents’ movements in choke points, but would often find himself unable to use Molten Flame as often due to being at low energy after using his other abilities to set it up.

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D.va

Base

• Mech weapon damage reduced from 23 to 22.

Talents

• Level 4
  • Rush-Down [Q]
    • Bonus damage to non-Heroic enemies reduced from 100% to 75%.
    • Damage and healing against enemy Heroes reduced from 4% to 3% maximum Health.
  • Aggression Matrix [W]
    • Cooldown reduction increased from .125 seconds to .1875 seconds.
• Level 10
  • Bunny Hop [R1]
    • Cooldown reduced from 80 to 70 seconds.
  • Micro Missiles [R2]
    • Damage reduced from 44 to 40.
• Level 13
  • Target Locked [W]
    • Requirement for Armor and Movement Speed Slow to activate reduced from 1.5 to 1.25 seconds.

Developer Comment: D.Va has come out swinging with her new rework, and while she is still within our normally acceptable bounds of performance, she is at the upper end and we feel she can use a little toning down. We’re reducing her Basic Attack damage as a baseline nerf and lowering the power of Rush Down, which should bring in line many of the more powerful and popular ways to play her. We still want and expect her to be a force to be reckoned with and will be keeping an eye on her to see if more tuning changes are needed down the road.

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Gazlowe

Base

• Health increased from 2275 to 2375.
• Health Regeneration increased from 4.74 to 4.95.
• Rock-It! Turret [Q]
  • Damage increased from 36 to 40.
• Deth Lazor [W]
  • Damage increased from 174 to 184.
• Xplodium Charge [E]
  • Range increased from 7 to 8.

Talents

• Level 1
  • Rocket Boots [E]
    • Damage bonus increased from 20% to 35%.
  • One Man Wrecking Crew [Passive]
    • Damage bonus increased from 45% to 60%.
• Level 4
  • EZ-PZ Dimensional Ripper [Active]
    • Cooldown reduced from 40 to 30 seconds.
    • Armor bonus increased from 35 to 40.
• Level 7
  • Overload [W]
    • Cooldown reduction increased from .5 to .75 seconds.
  • Master Blaster [Passive]
    • Slow duration increased from 2.5 to 3 seconds.
    • Slow duration increased from Rock-It! Turrets increased from .25 to .5 seconds.
• Level 10
  • Robo-Goblin [R1]
    • Damage per second increased from 8 to 9.
    • Now has Crit kickers when dealing 3 stacks of damage.
  • Grav-O-Bomb 3000 [R2]
    • Damage increased from 220 to 235.
• Level 20
  • Bomb Toss [E]
    • Additional functionality: Xplodium Charge gains a 2nd charge with a 3 second cooldown between uses.

Developer Comment: Gazlowe came out a bit low with his rework, so we’re pulling back on a lot of nerfs that were made during the design process which were done with the fear that he would be too powerful. We believe these changes to both his base kit and to underperforming talents will bring him up to par with other Bruisers, and, similar to D.Va, solidify his place as an effective member of his team.

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Imperius

Talents

• Level 7
  • Flash of Anger [Q]
    • Shield amount reduced from 275 to 250.
    • Damage reduced from 165 to 150.
  • Holy Fervor [Active]
    • Cooldown from 30 to 25 seconds.
• Level 16
  • Celestial Swiftness [Q]
    • Movement Speed bonus reduced from 25% to 20%.

Developer Comment: Solarian is still too sharp. Dulling it a tad bit more!

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Yrel

Talents

• Level 4
  • Hand of Freedom [Active]
    • Cooldown increased from 20 to 30 seconds.
    • Movement Speed bonus reduced from 35% to 30%.

Developer Comment: We had buffed Hand of Freedom multiple times in the past in an effort to get players to use the talent, but our last buff to make it usable on Yrel went too far to the point that it has dominated the talent tier. We’re reducing its frequency and the amount of the Movement Speed bonus to be more reasonable for a buff that Yrel can apply to herself.

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Healer

Alexstrasza

Talents

• Level 1
  • Circle of Life [W]
    • Regeneration Globe collection quest requirements reduced from 15/25 to 10/20.
• Level 7
  • Verdant Flourish [W]
    • Healing for Alexstrasza increased from 30% to 40%.
• Level 10
  • Life-Binder [R1]
    • Cooldown reduced from 60 to 50 seconds.
    • Mana cost reduced from 60 to 50.
• Level 16
  • Tough Love [Q]
    • Armor bonus increased from 25 to 30.
  • Overprotective [W]
    • Shield amount increased from 60% to 70% of the amount healed.

Developer Comment: It’s been some time since we looked at Alexstrasza’s talents, so we’re buffing some of her underused picks to make them more viable.

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Ana

Base

• Biotic Grenade [W]
  • Healing reduction duration reduced from 2 to 1.75 seconds.

Talents

• Level 1
  • Slumber Shells [E]
    • Cooldown reduction on Sleep Dart reduced from 4 to 2 seconds.
• Level 7
  • Anti-Healer [W]
    • Healing reduction duration bonus changed from 25% to .75 seconds.
  • Night Terrors [E]
    • Damage dealt reduced from 10% to 8% maximum Health.

Developer Comment: Ana’s currently a top healer pick with relatively poor diversity in her early game talents. We’re nerfing some of her most picked talents and reducing the duration of Biotic Grenade, which should give other Healers more of an ability to play around it when trying to keep their teammates alive.

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Anduin

Base

• Flash Heal [Q]
  • Healing increased from 260 to 270.
• Chastise [E]
  • Damage increased from 155 to 175.
• Leap of Faith [Trait]
  • Cooldown reduced from 80 to 70 seconds.

Talents

• Level 10
  • Holy Word: Salvation [R1]
    • Healing increased from 25% to 30% maximum Health.

Developer Comment: Anduin is in a good place overall, with great talent diversity and a fun base kit. However, he isn’t quite measuring up to other Healers when it comes to his overall performance, so we’re simply increasing his power to bring him up to par.

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Uther

Talents

• Level 4
  • Holy Fire [Passive]
    • Now has Crit kickers when dealing bonus damage.
• Level 7
  • Guardian of Ancient Kings [Trait]
    • Adjusted functionality: Healing a Hero that is Stunned, Rooted, or Silenced grants them 50 Armor for 3 seconds.

Developer Comment: We’re giving Guardian of Ancient Kings a needed buff and adding a better tuning knob to balance the talent in the future by unlinking the duration of its Armor bonus from Devotion.

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Melee Assassin

Kerrigan

Talents

• Level 1
  • Siphoning Impact [Q]
    • Shield amount increased from 90 to 100.
  • Assimilation Mastery [Trait]
    • Shields granted increased from 45 to 50.
• Level 4
  • Psionic Pulse [E]
    • Second explosion time reduced from 2.5 to 2 seconds.
• Level 7
  • Queen of Blades [Q]
    • New functionality: Reduce the cooldown of Ravage by 2 seconds and increase its damage to Minions and Mercenaries by 50%.
• Level 10
  • Maelstrom [R1]
    • Mana cost reduced from 100 to 80.
    • Range increased from 4 to 4.5.
  • Summon Ultralisk [R2]
    • Mana cost reduced from 100 to 75.
• Level 20
  • Torrasque [R2]
    • Additional functionality: Increase the Health and Attack damage of Ultralisk by 20%.

Developer Comment: Kerrigan’s talent tiers generally have one talent that most people are using, followed by the other two talents on the tier having decent parity. We’re giving some buffs to her alternate talents to become more attractive choices, which should allow for more diverse ways to play her.

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Samuro

Base

• Wind Walk [E]
  • Bonus Movement Speed reduced from 25% to 20%.

Talents

• Level 7
  • Crushing Blows [W]
    • Bonus damage reduced from 15% to 10% per stack.
• Level 20
  • Dance of Death [R1]
    • Mirror Image Bladestorm damage increased from 30% to 45%.
  • Three Blade Style [R2]
    • Bonus Mirror Image Health reduced from 50% to 25%.

Developer Comment: Samuro is a difficult Hero to use that has gotten a lot of mileage for those who take the time to learn how to play him. Despite his niche status, he has slightly gone over the edge of what we believe to be a little too powerful and frustrating to play against, so we’re reducing the power of a couple overperforming talents as well as how slippery he is to catch and kill once caught out.

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Ranged Assassin

Gall

Talents

• Level 4
  • ​Rising Dread [W]
    • Damage bonus per bounce reduced from 25% to 15%.
• Level 13
  • Twilight Nova [W]
    • No longer passively reduces the cooldown of Dread Orb.
• Level 16
  • Leaden Orb [W]
    • Stun duration reduced from 1 to .75 seconds.

Developer Comment: In our efforts to make a more competitive build, we went a little overboard with our recent buffs to Gall’s Dread Orb talents. We’re reigning in that power to both reduce frustration when playing against him as well as increase his talent diversity.

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Jaina

Talents

• Level 4
  • Arcane Intellect [Trait]
    • Additional functionality: While above 75% Mana, gain 10% Spell Power.
  • ​Frost Armor [Passive]
    • Physical Armor amount increased from 50 to 75.
• Level 7
  • ​​Icefury Wand [Passive]
    • Cooldown reduction increased from 2 to 2.5 seconds.

Developer Comment: While Jaina’s talent diversity is in a relatively decent place, it has room to be better, particularly in the early game. Arcane Intellect should now be a fairly viable Mana-restoring talent for players who don’t want to pick Fingers of Frost at Level 1, which should open more possible build opportunities.

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Mephisto

Talents

• Level 4
  • Hateful Mending [Q]
    • Healing increased from 60% to 70% of damage dealt to enemy Heroes.
    • Additional functionality: Enemy Heroes hit by Skull Missile grant 10 Mana.
• Level 16
  • ​Animosity [W]
    • Maximum Lightning Nova damage increased from 36% to 42%.
• Level 20
  • Unspeakable Horror [R2]
    • Additional functionality: Enemies are also Silenced while they are Rooted.
  • Shade Lord [Active]
    • Cooldown reduced from 40 to 20 seconds.

Developer Comment: We saw some feedback that Unspeakable Horror is a little bit awkward to use since it doesn’t Silence players while they are Rooted by Durance of Hate. We agreed and saw an opportunity to do a few other changes while we looked at him.

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Sylvanas

Talents

• Level 7
  • ​Lost Soul [W]
    • Additional functionality: Increase Shadow Dagger’s damage by 10%.
  • ​Festering Wounds [E]
    • Bonus damage to Haunting Wave reduced from 25% to 15%.
• Level 10
  • Mind Control [R2]
    • Additional functionality: Enemy Heroes hit have 3 stacks of Banshee’s Curse applied to them.

Developer Comment: For the most part Sylvanas has fairly good talent diversity, but we wanted to tinker a little bit to make it better. Her heroics have the least talent parity in her tree, so we’re experimenting with giving Mind Control a simple buff that should help in its role at finding a single, vulnerable target to kill.

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Tassadar

Talents

• Level 4
  • ​Plasma Shield [Trait]
    • Maximum Shield amount reduced from 15% to 12% maximum Health.
• Level 10
  • Black Hole [R2]
    • Cooldown reduced from 70 to 60 seconds.
    • Mana cost reduced from 80 to 60.
• Level 20
  • Kugelblitz [R2]
    • Additional functionality: Reduce the Armor of enemy Heroes hit by the center of Black Hole by 20 for 3 seconds.

Developer Comment: Plasma Shield is simply a little too good at giving Tassadar survivability, which is an intended weakness of the hero since he brings so many other things to the table. We’re reducing its power as well as buffing Black Hole and its Level 20 Mastery, Kugelblitz.

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Tracer

Base

• Basic Attack damage reduced from 24 to 23.

Talents

• Level 4
  • ​Leeching Rounds [Trait]
    • Adjusted functionality: Increase the healing from Basic Attacks against enemy Heroes by an additional 5%. This bonus is further increased by 5% for each Blink charge you currently have.
  • ​Is That a Health Pack?! [Passive]
    • Cooldown reduction on the Healing Fountain when gathering a Regeneration Globe increased from 10 to 15 seconds.
• Level 13
  • Telefrag [E]
    • Cooldown reduction increased from .25 seconds to .3125 seconds.

Developer Comment: Similar to Samuro, Tracer is closing in on being too powerful despite her niche status. We’re slightly reducing her overall power with a Basic Attack damage nerf and buffing some of her underused talents.

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Tychus

Talents

• Level 1
  • Quarterback [W]
    • Moved from Level 7.
  • ​Press the Advantage [Passive]
    • New functionality: Increase Tychus’s Basic Attack range by 1.
• Level 4
  • The Bigger They Are [Trait]
    • No longer reduces the cooldown of Minigun.
    • Health threshold for dealing bonus damage changed from 35% to 30%.
  • ​Master Assassin [Passive]
    • Adjusted functionality: Gain 10% Attack Speed. Quest: After getting 15 Takedowns, gain an additional 15% Attack Speed.
• Level 7
  • Concussion Grenade [W]
    • Removed.
  • ​Combat Tactician [Trait]
    • Moved from Level 1.
    • New functionality: Reduce the cooldown of Minigun by 4 seconds. Reduce Minigun’s cooldown by an additional 4 seconds after using Run and Gun.
  • New talent: Melting Point [W]
    • After hitting enemies, Frag Grenade deals 75 bonus damage over 3 seconds. This damage is increased by 100% against Minions, Mercenaries, and Monsters.
• Level 20
  • Can Do This All Day [Q]
    • Cooldown reduction increased from 4 to 5 seconds.
  • ​Bob and Weave [E]
    • No longer passively increases Tychus’s Basic Attack range by 1.5.
    • Additional functionality: After using Run and Gun, Increase Tychus’s Basic Attack range by 1.5 for 4 seconds.

Developer Comment: We made some changes to Tychus’s late-game talents and have seen much better talent diversity from those efforts. We’re doing the same thing with his early-game picks here, which we think will overall make him a much more exciting and fun Hero to play.

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Bug Fixes

Heroes

• D.Va
  • D.Va's Micro Missiles launch and impact sounds should play at an appropriate volume for enemies and allies.

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