Heroes of the Storm Balance Patch Notes - July 15, 2020

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

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General

• Nexus Anomaly - Climate Phenomena
  • The Climate Phenomena Anomaly has been disabled.

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Heroes

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Tank

Blaze

Talents

• Level 1
  • Adrenaline Stimpack [Active]
    • Additional functionality: While Blaze has over 80% Health, gain 25% bonus Attack Speed and 10% bonus Movement Speed.
  • Endurance Stimpack [Passive]
    • Cooldown reduced from 40 to 30 seconds.
    • Adjusted functionality: When damaged while below 30% maximum Health, Endurance Stimpack will automatically cast if it is not on cooldown.
  • Neural Stimpack [Active]
    • Mana restoration increased from 30 to 40.
• Level 4
  • Incinerator Gauntlets [Passive]
    • Moved from Level 7.
    • No longer causes Basic Attacks to light Oil Spills.
  • Meltdown [Trait]
    • Damage reduction increased from 7% to 8% per stack.
• Level 7
  • Adhesive Petroleum [W]
    • Moved from Level 4.
    • Slow amount increased from 30% to 35%.
    • Slow duration increased from 2.5 to 3 seconds.
    • Additional functionality: Now also causes Basic Attacks to light Oil Spills.

Developer Comment: We’re changing up many of Blaze’s early game talents to have some more unique use cases and to generally improve diversity. We’re also giving him some more reliable early-game wave clear by moving Incinerator Gauntlets to an earlier level and removing the effect of causing Basic Attacks to light Oil Spills and adding it to Adhesive Petroleum.

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Cho

Talents

• Level 1
  • The Will of Cho [Trait]
    • Moved from Level 20.
    • New functionality: Killing enemy Minions grants 1 stack of The Will of Cho, and Hero Takedowns grant 10 stacks. Gain 1 Armor for every 30 stacks of the Will of Cho, up to a maximum of 10 Armor. This Armor bonus stacks with Ogre Hide.
• Level 4
  • Uppercut [Q]
    • Damage reduced from 7% to 5% maximum Health.
    • Additional functionality: Each Hero hit by Surging Fist reduces its cooldown by 5 seconds.
  • Seared Flesh [Passive]
    • Adjusted functionality: Attack damage bonus is kept when attacking different Heroic targets, and is only lost after 5 seconds or when a non-Heroic enemy is attacked.
• Level 7
  • Power Surge [Q]
    • New functionality: Enemy Heroes who are hit by Surging Fist are Slowed by 30% for 2.5 seconds. Gain 15% Movement Speed while charging Surging Fist and for 2.5 seconds after casting the Ability.
• Level 16
  • Runed Gauntlet [Passive]
    • Cooldown reduction increased from 5% to 6%.
• Level 20
  • Fuel for the Flame [Passive]
    • Moved from Level 1.
    • New functionality: Basic Attacks against enemies cause them to explode, dealing 21 damage to them and 45 damage to nearby enemies. This damage is doubled against enemy Heroes.

Developer Comment: We’re making some of Cho’s talents more usable and experimenting with moving The Will of Cho to be a Level 1 questing talent. We like the talent, but it was coming online late into the game where he often couldn’t get much value out of it. We believe this iteration will give it more use cases, particularly when matched against the other talents on the tier.

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Diablo

Base

• Shadow Charge [Q]
  • Cooldown reduced from 13 to 12 seconds.
  • Mana cost reduced from 70 to 65.
• Overpower [E]
  • Cooldown reduced from 13 to 12 seconds.
  • Mana cost reduced from 40 to 35.

Talents

• Level 4
  • Life Leech [Passive]
    • Healing increased from 1.5% to 2% maximum Health when not at full Souls.
    • Healing increased from 3% to 4% maximum Health when at full Souls.
• Level 13
  • Hellfire [W]
    • Damage per second to nearby enemies increased from 15 to 17.

Developer Comment: Diablo is slightly underperforming compared to other Warriors, so we’re giving him some small base kit and talent buffs.

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E.T.C.

Base

• Face Melt [W]
  • Cooldown increased from 10 to 12 seconds.
  • Mana cost increased from 50 to 55.

Developer Comment: Due to its high number of use cases and ability to almost universally get E.T.C. out of sticky situations, we’re increasing the cooldown of Face Melt to give players a larger window of time to take advantage of after E.T.C. uses the ability.

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Garrosh

Base

• Bloodthirst [W]
  • Ability Effects now occur at the start of the Ability’s cast, rather than at the end.

Talents

• Level 1
  • Body Check [Active]
    • Cooldown reduced from 16 to 15 seconds.
    • Slow duration increased from 2 to 3 seconds.
• Level 16
  • Mortal Combo has been reclassified as an [E] talent.
  • Rough Landing [Q]
    • Removed.
  • New Talent: Seasoned Soldier [Passive]
    • Gain 5% maximum Health, increase Groundbreaker’s Slow duration by 1 second, and Bloodthirst gains an additional charge.
• Level 20
  • Death Wish [R1]
    • Additional functionality: Increase the duration of Warlord’s Challenge by .5 seconds.
  • Deadly Calm [R2]
    • Damage reduction increased from 25% to 40%.
  • Inner Rage [Active]
    • No longer causes the cooldown of Body Check to recharge faster.
    • Additional functionality: Increase the healing reduction of Body Check by an additional 45%.

Developer Comment: We’ve had some feedback that many of Garrosh’s late-game talents aren’t impactful enough and we agreed, so we’re making some improvements in this area.

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Johanna

Base

• Iron Skin [Trait]
  • Cooldown increased from 20 to 25 seconds.

Talents

• Level 20
  • Radiating Faith [R2]
    • Blessed Shield Stun duration against all targets reduced from 2 seconds to 1.75 seconds.

Developer Comment: Similar to E.T.C., we’re increasing the cooldown of Iron Skin due to its ability to get Johanna out of a host of bad situations. This should give enemy teams a bigger window of time to plan and play around Iron Skin’s cooldown.

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Mal'Ganis

Talents

• Level 4
  • Echo of Doom [W]
    • Damage increased from 54 to 60.
• Level 10
  • Dark Conversion [R2]
    • Cooldown reduced from 80 to 60 seconds.
    • Mana cost reduced from 70 to 60.
• Level 13
  • The Night Beckons [E]
    • Slow duration increased from 2.5 to 3 seconds.

Developer Comment: Overall Mal’Ganis is doing well, but we saw an opportunity to adjust a few of his talents to be more competitive.

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Mei

Talents

• Level 1
  • Heavy Pack [Q]
    • Cooldown reduction increased from .125 to .25 seconds.
• Level 4
  • Crystallize [Trait]
    • Cooldown reduction reduced from 15 to 10 seconds.
    • Duration of Spell Armor after Cryo-Freeze ends reduced from 2 to 1 second.
• Level 10
  • Avalanche [R1]
    • Cooldown increased from 65 to 70 seconds.
  • Ice Wall [R2]
    • Cooldown reduced from 90 to 70 seconds.
• Level 20
  • Cascade [R1]
    • Cooldown reduction increased from 25 to 30 seconds.

Developer Comment: Mei’s introduction to the Nexus has been very cool. Her crisp performance has solidified her as a powerful member of any team. She is doing well but is not showing signs of being too strong just yet, so we are primarily adjusting her talents to be in a more solid place.

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Muradin

Base

• Thunder Clap [W]
  • Movement and Attack Speed Slows increased from 25% to 30%.

Developer Comment: For a long time Muradin has been a staple Warrior at nearly all levels of play, acting as a powerful front line for his team. Recently he has fallen off a bit compared to his peers, but we don’t believe he is too far off. We think he can benefit from a buff to Thunder Clap’s ability to control the fight for his team, which should set up for easier Storm Bolt hits as well as allow him to better counter enemies who rely on Basic Attacks for effectiveness.

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Stitches

Base

• Health reduced from 3150 to 3060.
• Health regeneration reduced from 6.56 to 6.38.
• Hook [Q]
  • Range increased from 11 to 12.
• Slam [W]
  • Mana cost reduced from 40 to 35.
  • Additional functionality: Deals 50% bonus damage to Minions and Mercenaries.

Talents

• Level 13
  • Fishing Hook [Q]
    • Bonus range reduced from 50% to 40%.

Developer Comment: For a long time we have held to the belief that one important aspect of what makes Johanna special is her ability to provide more wave clear for her team compared to other Warriors. While this is true, it has gotten to the point that it has begun to limit what kinds of effective team compositions can be made, as any team that wants to run heroes that don’t have a lot of wave clear really need Johanna to be competitive. To help open up more possible team compositions and to give Stitches a needed buff, we’re experimenting with giving him comparable wave clear, which also has the side effect that he should be able to land more Hooks due to the enemy Minions dying faster. We’re also removing our last Health buff that we gave him, as we believe leaning into this direction of giving him more wave clear and buffing his Hook range are more unique ways to bring Stitches to the forefront of Warriors that players want to bring to their team.

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Bruiser

Xul

Base

• Spectral Scythe [Q]
  • Damage reduced from 200 to 190.
• Raise Skeleton [Trait]
  • Damage done when Skeletal Warriors die reduced from 46 to 40.

Talents

• Level 4
  • Jailors [Trait]
    • Movement and Attack Speed bonuses reduced from 30% to 25%.
• Level 16
  • Weaken [W]
    • Damage reduction reduced from 40% to 35%.

Developer Comment: Xul is still a bit too powerful, so we’re reducing his overall effectiveness when it comes to his base kit and to overperforming talents.

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Yrel

Talents

• Level 1
  • Light of Karabor [Q]
    • Healing bonus when hitting one enemy Hero increased from 40% to 45%.
    • Healing bonus when hitting more than one enemy Hero increased from 80% to 90%.
  • Dauntless [Passive]
    • Physical Armor reduced from 50 to 40.
  • Maraad’s Insight [Passive]
    • Healing increased from 128 to 135.

Developer Comment: Yrel’s level 1 talent pick has over time become dominated by Dauntless since we buffed it many patches ago. To better even out the talents, we’re reducing its power and increasing the effectiveness of the other options on the tier.

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Healer

Kharazim

Base

• Breath of Heaven [W]
  • Healing increased from 276 to 285.

Developer Comment: Kharazim’s healing output is a little lower than other Healers, and we believe it could use a small increase. We don’t expect this to change too much about how he plays, but it should better reward Kharazim players and teams who are good about grouping around him to receive Breath of Heaven.

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Lt. Morales

Base

• Safeguard [W]
  • Armor amount increased from 30 to 35.

Developer Comment: Safeguard’s benefit has largely diminished over time due to a combination of various Heroes being able to gain Armor in the 20-25 range and our change to make Armor not stack anymore. To make it stand out more and to give Lt. Morales a needed buff, we’re increasing its Armor amount so that it can be used more often to benefit members of her team.

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Rehgar

Talents

• Level 10
  • Bloodlust [R2]
    • Duration reduced from 8 to 6 seconds.
    • Healing from Basic Attacks reduced from 40% to 30%.

Developer Comment: While we got Bloodlust in a good place in regards to its pick rate, it is too strong compared to Ancestral Healing, so we’re nerfing its life leech and duration. We think this will give enemy teams a larger opportunity to play around its powerful buff, as it makes effects like Stuns, Blinds, and Attack Speed Slows more significant when it comes to surviving the burst of power that it gives to his team.

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Melee Assassin

Maiev

Talents

• Level 1
  • Pursuit of Vengeance [W]
    • Additional functionality: Each Hero hit by Spirit of Vengeance reduces the cooldown of Umbral Bind by 1 second.
• Level 7
  • Bonds of Corruption [W]
    • Additional functionality: Enemy Heroes pulled by Umbral Bind have their Movement Speed reduced by 20% for 4 seconds.
• Level 10
  • Containment Disc [R1]
    • Cooldown reduced from 50 to 40 seconds.
    • Mana cost reduced from 60 to 50.
• Level 16
  • Vengeful Knives [Q]
    • New functionality: Dealing damage to enemy Heroes causes the next cast of Fan of Knives that hits enemy Heroes to deal 1% maximum Health as bonus damage, up to 5%.

Developer Comment: Maiev’s talents are largely in a pretty good place, but there’s generally 1 talent on most tiers that is not favored compared to its counterparts. We’re making some adjustments to these talents in hopes that players will consider them more equal to their peers.

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Ranged Assassin

Cassia

Base

• Basic Attack damage reduced from 130 to 125
• Health reduced from 1700 to 1660
• Health Regeneration reduced from 3.54 to 3.46.

Talents

• Level 1
  • Charged Strikes [Passive]
    • Bonus Attack Speed reduced from 20% to 15%.
    • Bonus Basic Attack damage reduced from 20% to 15%.
• Level 4
  • Plate of the Whale [Trait]
    • Bonus Health Regeneration reduced from 7 to 6.
    • Bonus Health Regeneration when fully charged reduced from 14 to 12.
• Level 7
  • Surge of Light [Trait]
    • Damage reduced from 300 to 285.

Developer Comment: Cassia shot up in effectiveness a little too much after our last round of buffs to her. These changes are intended to slightly tone both her and some of her more powerful talents down to more appropriate levels.

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Gall

Talents

• Level 4
  • Double Back [W]
    • Removed.
  • Rising Dread [W]
    • Moved from Level 13.
    • Additional functionality: Re-activate Dread Orb to reverse the third bounce.
• Level 13
  • Psychotic Break [Passive]
    • Moved from Level 20.
    • Additional functionality: Increase Gall’s damage to enemy Heroes by 10%.
• Level 20
  • New Talent: Twilight Frenzy [Active]
    • Activate to reduce the cooldown of Shadowflame and Dread Orb to 2 seconds for the next 6 seconds. 30 seconds Cooldown.

Developer Comment: We’re making some changes related to Gall’s W talents to help streamline the build, which should help with some awkwardness when choosing between Rising Dread and Twilight Nova.

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Greymane

Talents

• Level 10
  • Cursed Bullet [R2]
    • Damage reduced from 40% to 35% maximum Health.

Developer Comment: We’re toning down Cursed Bullet’s damage due to it being tuned so high to the point that it is shutting down many Warriors from being able to do their job of being the front-line members of their team, particularly at higher levels of play.

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Mephisto

Base

• Lightning Nova [W]
  • Damage reduced from 45 to 43.

Talents

• Level 1
  • Furious Spark [W]
    • Damage reduced from 72 to 65.
• Level 13
  • Abhorred Skull [Q]
    • Spell Power bonus increased from 20% to 25%.

Developer Comment: Mephisto is generally performing a little bit too well, particularly when it comes to playing with Furious Spark at Level 1. We’re making some small nerfs to him to bring him in line with other casters.

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Tassadar

Talents

• Level 7
  • Beam Alignment [Q]
    • No longer increases Tassadar’s Basic Attack range.
    • Additional functionality: Reduce the Mana cost of Shock Ray from 55 to 45.
  • Arc Discharge [Passive]
    • Additional functionality: While Resonance Beam is fully charged, increase Tassadar’s Basic Attack range by 1.
• Level 10
  • Archon [R1]
    • Shield amount reduced from 40% to 30% maximum Health.

Developer Comment: Tassadar is in a fairly good place, but Archon is a little too powerful compared to Black Hole, largely due to its ability to allow Tassadar to effectively get around one of his main weaknesses, which is being vulnerable to dive. We’re reducing its power in this aspect, as well as making some small adjustments to his Level 7 talents in order to make Arc Discharge more competitive.

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Tychus

Talents

• Various talents have been reordered to follow normal convention [Q, W, E, etc.]
• Level 7
  • Relentless Soldier [Passive]
    • Armor amount increased from 25 to 30.
• Level 13
  • Spray ‘n’ Pray [Q]
    • Additional functionality: Overkill also Slows enemy Movement Speed by 25%.
  • Neosteel Coating [Active]
    • Duration increased from 3 to 4 seconds.
• Level 16
  • Lead Rain [Q]
    • Removed.
  • Sizzlin’ Attacks [Passive]
    • Moved from Level 20.
  • Armor Piercing Rounds [Q]
    • New functionality: Each time Overkill hits an enemy, its damage against them is increased by 15%, stacking up to 60% bonus damage.
  • Titan Grenade [W]
    • Additional functionality: Each enemy Hero hit by Frag Grenade reduces its cooldown by 1 second.
• Level 20
  • New talent: Can Do This All Day [Q]
    • Reduce Overkill’s cooldown by 4 seconds. While Channeling Overkill, Tychus gains 40 Armor.

Developer Comment: Many of Tychus’s late-game talents aren’t as exciting as we would like, and we believe we can do better in regards to giving him a meaningful power spike. We’re giving him loads of compelling options, which we think will give players something better to look forward to as they progress through their games.

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Bug Fixes

Heroes

• Ana
  • Fixed an issue where Ana could get quest progress with Vampiric Rounds through Blinds and Evasion.
• Artanis
  • Fixed an issue where Phase Prism had an incorrect Mana cost when cast during Blade Dash.
• E.T.C.
  • Fixed an issue where Guitar Hero's cooldown effect was active without the talent needing to be taken.
• Tassadar
  • Fixed an issue where Oracle did not reveal Creep Tumors.
• Whitemane
  • Fixed an issue where Saintly Greatstaff worked on non-Heroic targets.

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