Heroes of the Storm

Heroes of the Storm Balance Patch Notes - January 22, 2020

Blizzard Entertainment

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

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General

  • Toys 2 Event
    • Toys 2 Event has been extended to April 7, 2020, PT.

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Heroes

TANK BRUISER SUPPORT HEALER MELEE RANGED
Anub'arak Chen Abathur Auriel Maiev Azmodan
Arthas Deathwing Kharazim Samuro Mephisto
Cho Thrall Stukov Nazeebo
Whitemane Orphea
Probius
Sgt. Hammer

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Tank

Anub'arak

Talents

  • Level 16
    • Beetle, Juiced [Trait]
      • Bonus Health increased from 20% to 40%.
  • Level 20
    • Hive Master [R1]
      • Healing increased from 37 to 50.
    • Cryptweave [R2]
      • Bonus Cocoon duration increased from 4 to 6 seconds.
Developer Comment: We’re giving Anub’arak some additional small buffs to underused talents, which should help increase his diversity in the latter portions of the game.

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Arthas

Talents

  • Level 4
    • Deathlord [Q]
      • Additional functionality: Increase the range of Death Coil by 30%.
Developer Comment: We heard you Kyle and Garrett. We’re sorry we took it away. Here, have it back.

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Cho

Base

  • Health increased from 2850 to 2950.
  • Health Regeneration increased from 5.94 to 6.15.

Talents

  • Level 10
    • Upheaval [R2]
      • Cooldown reduced from 60 to 40 seconds.
  • Level 20
    • Favor of the Old Gods [R2]
      • Root duration increased from 1.5 to 2 seconds.
Developer Comment: Cho like buffs.

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Bruiser

Chen

Talents

  • Level 1
    • Stormstout Secret Recipe [Passive]
      • Healing increased from 3% to 3.5% maximum Health.
  • Level 4
    • Withering Flames [W]
      • Spell Power reduction increased from 50% to 60%.
  • Level 7
    • Gift of the Ox [E]
      • Bonus Stagger duration increased from 1 to 1.5 seconds.
  • Level 10
    • Wandering Keg [R1]
      • Cooldown reduced from 60 to 50 seconds.
  • Level 13
    • Pressure Point [Q]
      • Slow amount increased from 35% to 40%.
      • Slow amount when Chen has Shields from Fortifying Brew increased from 70% to 80%.
    • A Touch of Honey [W]
      • Slow amount bonus increased from 15% to 20%.
Developer Comment: While Chen’s talents are in a relatively good spot, there is generally one talent on every tier that is being picked a bit less than its counter-parts. We’re giving some significant buffs to the talents that aren’t currently as popular in hopes that players try out new ways to play the Panderan Brewmaster.

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Deathwing

Base

  • Health reduced from 2920 to 2850.
  • Health Regeneration reduced from 6.08 to 5.94.
  • Incinerate [W]
    • Damage reduced from 80 to 75.
  • Onslaught [E]
    • Damage reduced from 40 to 38.
    • Damage at the end of the lunge reduced from 75 to 72.
  • Lava Burst [W]
    • Periodic damage increased from 8 to 10 per second.
  • Earth Shatter [E]
    • Damage increased from 80 to 90.

Talents

  • Level 1
    • Molten Blood [Trait]
      • Healing increased from .4 to .5% per second.
    • Draconic Might [Trait]
      • Healing reduced from 30% to 25% damage dealt.
  • Level 4
    • Heat Wave [W]
      • Damage after using Incinerate reduced from 16 to 14 per second.
    • Dragon’s Ire [Trait]
      • Bonus damage reduced from 30% to 25%.
  • Level 7
    • Firestorm [Z]
      • Cooldown reduction increased from 12 to 25 seconds.
    • Skyfall [E]
      • Cooldown reduction reduced from 1.5 seconds to 1 second.
  • Level 10
    • Burn Beneath My Shadow [R1]
      • Bonus damage reduced from 100% to 80%.
Developer Comment: While in a much better spot, Deathwing is still overperforming, so we’re bringing him down a peg in various ways. This time, however, we are including some buffs to parts of his kit that could use it, particularly to his Worldbreaker form and to some of his talents.

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Thrall

Talents

  • Level 1
    • Rolling Thunder [Q]
      • Bonus damage and healing on Heroic targets increased from 2% to 3%.
Developer Comment: Rolling Thunder’s tuning was a bit low initially. This should make it much more appropriately attractive compared to the other powerful options Thrall has on the tier.

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Support

Abathur

Base

  • Locust Strain [Trait]
    • Locust Health increased from 316 to 350.
    • Additional functionality: Locusts deal 50% bonus damage to enemy Structures.

Talents

  • Level 1
    • Envenomed Nest [W]
      • Additional functionality: Enemy Heroes who are hit by Toxic Nests have their Armor reduced by 10 for 4 seconds.
    • Reinforced Carapace [E]
      • Shield amount increased from 30% to 40%.
  • Level 16
    • Volatile Mutation [R]
      • Healing increased from 75% to 100% of damage dealt.
  • Level 20
    • Evolutionary Link [R1]
      • Shield amount Increased from 25% to 35% maximum Health.
Developer Comment: In addition to buffing underperforming talents, we’re experimenting with giving Locusts a larger presence in Abathur’s kit. If left unattended, they will now do increased damage to Structures, which will reward good Abathur players who pay close attention to their position on the map and the state of the game.

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Healer

Auriel

Talents

  • Level 10
    • Resurrect [R1]
      • Cast range reduced from 7 to 5.
      • Cast time increased from .5 seconds to 1 second.
Developer Comment: We knew Auriel’s Resurrect changes were going to be a big deal, and for the most part they have been going fairly well. It’s now picked much more often, and, to our pleasant surprise, isn’t winning by a large margin over Crystal Aegis. While we like the epic moment of power that the current iteration offers, there is understandably a bit of frustration with Heroic now. To add some more counter-play, we’re reducing its cast range and adding more to its cast time to give opponents a better chance to interrupt her. Auriel players will now have to choose their moments much more wisely if they hope to get a Resurrect off on a key ally who recently died.

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Kharazim

Base

  • Basic Attack damage increased from 60 to 64.

Talents

  • Level 1
    • Transcendence [Trait]
      • Movement Speed bonus duration increased from 2 to 2.5 seconds.
    • Iron Fists [Trait]
      • Movement Speed bonus duration increased from 2 to 2.5 seconds.
    • Insight [Trait]
      • Movement Speed bonus duration increased from 2 to 2.5 seconds.
  • Level 4
    • Air Ally [Active]
      • Cooldown increased from 20 to 30 seconds.
      • Health increased from 75 to 200.
      • Duration reduced from 40 to 10 seconds.
      • Charges reduced from 2 to 1.
      • Additional functionality: Now also grants nearby allied Heroes 15% Spell Power for its duration.
Developer Comment: Play Kharazim! Also, Air Ally does cool things now. Play that too.

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Stukov

Talents

  • Level 20
    • Bio-Explosion Switch [Trait]
      • Silence duration increased from 2 to 2.5 seconds.
      • Additional functionality: Detonating Lurking Arm also deals 230 damage to enemies caught in its explosion.
Developer Comment: Bio-Explosion Switch has always been in a bit of an awkward spot due to the opportunity cost of ending Lurking Arm early. To make the talent more obviously powerful, we’re adding some significant damage to the explosion and a larger Silence duration to the detonation to make up for the fact that Stukov’s Lurking Arm goes away when the explosion happens. Now, if Stukov players properly detonate the Lurking Arm right as their enemies are leaving it, they should have a significant benefit when taking this talent.

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Whitemane

Talents

  • Level 13
    • Saintly Greatstaff [E]
      • Damage increased from 50 to 55.
Developer Comment: Due to an issue with Saintly Greatstaff causing Whitemane’s Basic Attacks to heal for more than intended, we are buffing the talent to compensate for the fix.

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Melee Assassin

Maiev

Talents

  • Level 16
    • Cruel Chain [W]
      • New functionality: Umbral Bind grants 25% Movement Speed for 2.5 seconds, and its pull damage is increased by 30% for each tethered target beyond the first, up to 120%.
    • Vengeful Knives [E]
      • New functionality: for 5 seconds after teleporting with Spirit of Vengeance, Fan of Knives will deal 1% maximum Health as bonus damage to enemy Heroes. Increase this damage bonus by an additional 1% for each enemy Hero hit by Spirit of Vengeance.
Developer Comment: While Maiev is a terror in the hands of the more elite portion of our playerbase, we don’t want that to be a reason to not improve talents that we feel could use the help. Cruel Chain and Vengeful Knives have parts of their functionality that didn’t feel particularly impactful, so we’re adding more clear and useful benefits to each of them, which should make them more usable.

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Samuro

Talents

  • Level 1
    • Way of Illusion [Q]
      • Quest reward bonus damage increased from 20 to 30.
  • Level 4
    • Deflection [Passive]
      • Armor bonus increased from 30 to 35.
Developer Comment: Samuro’s rework, statistically, has gone very well. His pick and win rates across his talents are in a better spot, and we believe his frustration levels have decreased since the changes. We’re being tame with our initial changes due to some bug fixes that can change how some talents pan out over the long haul. While we wait, we wanted to buff a couple underperforming talents that shouldn’t be affected by these fixes.

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Ranged Assassin

Azmodan

Base

  • Summon Demon Warrior [W]
    • Basic Attack damage increased from 30 to 35.
    • Damage per second to nearby enemies increased from 16 to 18.
  • All Shall Burn [E]
    • Periodic damage per second increased from 120 to 128.
    • Final explosion damage increased from 320 to 340.

Talents

  • Level 4
    • Battleborn [Passive]
      • Additional functionality: Reduce the Mana cost of Summon Demon Warrior from 25 to 20.
  • Level 7
    • Bombardment [Q]
      • Empowered Basic Attacks duration increased from 3 to 4 seconds.
    • Master of Destruction [E]
      • Bonus Annihilation per Hero hit increased from 3 to 4.
Developer Comment: Azmodan’s been in a decent spot in regards to his talent diversity for some time, but he has been slightly underperforming compared to other heroes as a whole. We’re giving him some buffs to his base kit and to a couple underperforming talents, which should help players feel better about having the Lord of Sin on their team.

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Mephisto

Talents

  • Level 1
    • Malicious Intent [E]
      • Spellpower bonus increased from 20% to 25%.
  • Level 16
    • Animosity [W]
      • Bonus duration increased from .5 seconds to 1 second.
      • No longer increases the duration of Lightning Nova as a result of Basic Attacking enemy Heroes.
      • Additional functionality: Increase the maximum bonus damage of Lightning Nova from 30% to 36%.
Developer Comment: Mephisto’s talents are in a much better place since our last changes, but Malicious Intent and Animosity were underperforming so we’re giving them some buffs.

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Nazeebo

Talents

  • Level 10
    • Ravenous Spirit [R2]
      • Damage increased from 108 to 115.
Developer Comment: Yep.

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Orphea

Talents

  • Level 1
    • Growing Nightmare [E]
      • Additional functionality: Increase the damage of Dread’s explosion by 25%.
      • Now shows Crit kickers when hitting 2 or more enemy Heroes.
    • Ancestral Strength [Trait]
      • No longer grants additional Chaos when hitting Stunned, Rooted, Silenced, or Slowed enemy Heroes.
      • Additional functionality: Enemy Heroes who are hit with Overflowing Chaos are Slowed by 20% for 2.5 seconds.
  • Level 4
    • Fright [E]
      • Removed.
    • New talent: Chaotic Assault [Trait]
      • Basic attacks against enemy Heroes while having 3 stacks of Chaos deal an additional 50% bonus damage.
  • Level 16
    • Lurking terror [Active]
      • Additional functionality: If Chomp is cast in this way, then it Slows enemy Heroes hit by 70% for 1 second.
Developer Comment: We’re trying to solve a few issues with Orphea’s current talent tree. Firstly, we’re getting rid of the necessary synergy between Ancestral Strength and Fright, opting to instead bake a more reliable way to Slow enemies into Ancestral Strength. We’re also buffing Growing Nightmare so that it’s the premier E talent in an E build, as well as giving Lurking Terror some love. Ideally, Lurking Terror can now be used as a more unique way to set up Q and W hits on enemies who are far away from Orphea, particularly when combined with Insatiable for quick double W combos.

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Probius

Talents

  • Level 7
    • Particle Accelerator [Q]
      • Maximum bonus damage for enemies hit reduced from 50% to 40%.
      • Additional functionality: Reduce the cooldown of Disruption Pulse by .5 seconds, plus an additional .5 seconds whenever Warp Rift explodes.
    • Tower Defense [E]
      • New functionality: Reduce the cooldown of Photon Cannon by 4 seconds whenever Probius damages an enemy Hero with Disruption Pulse or Warp Rift.
  • Level 16
    • Repulsor [W]
      • Removed.
    • Interference [W]
      • Additional functionality: Enemies that are hit by Warp Rift’s explosion are knocked away from its center.
Developer Comment: We haven’t done many functionality changes to Probius’s talents since his release, so we’re now taking a look at places that could use some design love. We’re targeting Tower Defense and Particle Accelerator as talents that should feel more prominent in their respective builds, as well as removing Repulsor and baking its functionality into Interference, as it wasn’t enough of a stand-alone talent to be worth picking the majority of the time.

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Sgt. Hammer

Talents

  • Level 4
    • Barricade [W]
      • Additional functionality: Reduce the cooldown of Concussive Blast by 3 seconds.
  • Level 7
    • Pulse Detonation Core [Q]
      • Additional functionality: Basic Attacks against enemy Heroes grant 5 Mana and reduce the cooldown of Spider Mines by 1 second. Increase this bonus to 1.5 seconds while in Siege Mode.
Developer Comment: Both Barricade and Pulse Detonation Core have very low pick rates, so we’re giving them some love, which should hopefully incentivize players to try them out more often.

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Bug Fixes

General

  • Updated missing tooltips in a certain language.

Heroes

  • Arthas
    • Updated the Deathlord's advanced tooltip description.
  • Deathwing
    • Fixed an issue where Lava Burst's targeting guide range indicator could be shorter than its cast range.
    • Fixed an issue where Deathwing could be affected by Blinds.
  • Samuro
    • Fixed an issue where Casting Image Transmission while selecting an Illusion, could place the ability on the wrong cooldown with Illusion Master.
    • Phantom Pain's bonus damage no longer affects non-Heroic targets.
    • Updated a few tooltip descriptions.
  • Whitemane
    • Fixed an issue where Saintly Greatstaff could be doubling Zeal healing from basic attacks.

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