Heroes of the Storm PTR Patch Notes - June 29, 2026

Our next Heroes of the Storm patch has just hit the Public Test Realm and will be available for playtesting. As always, if you encounter any bugs during your PTR play sessions, please stop by the PTR Bug Report forum to let us know about your experiences.

Quick Navigation:

• General
• Map Updates
• Balance Update
• Bug Fixes

General

• Players can now party with unplaced players in Storm League.
• Haunted Mines has been added to Ranked.

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Map Updates

• Hanamura
  • Additional brush has been added in several locations.
• Warhead Junction
  • Warhead's channel penalty on interrupt reduced from 10 to 5 seconds.

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Balance Update

Heroes

Abathur

Base

• Spawn Locust [D]
  • Health reduced from 350 to 225.
  • Locusts now heal for 20% of the damage they deal, and heal for 20% of their maximum Health when a nearby Minion dies.

Talents

• Level 1
  • Envenomed Nests
    • Armor reduction increased from 10 to 15.
  • Locust Brood
    • Moved from Level 16 to Level 1.
    • Cooldown increased from 45 to 75 seconds.
• Level 4
  • (New) Slapathur
    • Abathur's Basic Attacks now Stun non-Heroes and deal 500% additional damage.
• Level 10
  • Evolve Monstrosity
    • Now displays as a Quest.
    • Abathur now has a Monstrosity unit frame, for tracking Health and stacks of the unit.
• Level 16
  • Survival Intincts
    • Moved from Level 1 to Level 16.
    • Health bonus increased from 100% to 200%.

Alexstrasza

Base

• Dragonqueen [D]
  • Cooldown now starts after Dragonqueen has expired.
  • Cooldown reduced from 150 to 130 seconds.
  • Talents that affect Gift of Life also apply to Breath of Life.
  • Talents that affect Abundance also apply to Preservation.
• Breath of Life [Dragonqueen Q]
  • Healing reduced from 20% to 15%.
• Preservation [Dragonqueen W]
  • Healing reduced from 30% to 25%.

Talents

• Level 1
  • Live and Let Live
    • Now also provides 25% recharge rate for Breath of Life.
  • Flames of Fury
    • NEW MYTHIC REWARD: Hit an additional 40 Heroes without dying to cause Dragonqueen's duration to be refreshed when damaging an enemy Hero.
• Level 7
  • Life Blossom
    • Now makes Breath of Life remove Slows and Roots.
    • Transforming into Dragonqueen will no longer remove the collected Lifeblossom.
• Level 16
  • Draconic Dicipline
    • No longer affect's Dragonqueen's duration.
    • For each allied Hero healed with Dragonqueen's Basic Attacks, reduce the cooldown of Preservation by 1.25 seconds.
• Level 20
  • On Ruby Wings
    • Rework: If at least 3 Heroes are in an area hit by a Fireball, that Fireball charge is not consumed.
  • Ancient Flame
    • Does not provide Quest stacks while active.

Blaze

Talents

• Level 1
  • Adrenaline Stim
    • Active Attack Speed bonus reduced from 100% to 85%.
• Level 10
  • Bunker Drop
    • Cooldown increased from 80 to 85 seconds.

Cho

Talents

• Level 7
  • Calloused Hide
    • Health threshold required to trigger reduced from 60% to 40%.
• Level 7
  • Firestarter
    • Cooldown reduction per Basic Attack increased from 1 to 1.5 seconds.

Gall

Talents

• Level 4
  • Rising Dread
    • Bonus per bounce reduced from 25% to 20%.
  • Bomb's Away
    • No longer has a cap on stacks.
    • Damage bonus per stack lowered from 5 to 4.
• Level 7
  • Double Trouble
    • Shadowflame's cooldown reduction from Quest Reward increased from 0.5 to 1 second.
• Level 16
  • Leaden Orb
    • Stun duration reduced from 0.75 seconds to 0.6 seconds.

Chromie

Base

• Dragon's Breath [W]
  • Now shows a radius preview to enemies.
• Time Trap [E]
  • Health reduced from 400 to 250.

Talents

• Level 1
  • Once Again The First Time
    • Quest requirement reduced from 40 to 20 stacks.
    • Quest must now be completed without dying.
  • Deep Breathing
    • Damage per stack reduced from 1% to 0.5%.
    • No longer has a cap on stacks.

• Level 4
  • Chronic Conditions
    • Now also causes Time Trap to activate automatically upon touching an enemy Hero.
    • Slow reduced from 30% to 20%.
    • Movement Speed bonus reduced from 30% to 20%.

• Level 13
  • Here and There
    • Range increased from 20 to 40.
    • Snap targetting is now used. The Echo nearest the player's target position will be used.

Diablo

Base

• Shadow Charge
  • Damage increased from 40 plus 130 with a collision, to 45 plus 140 with a collision.
• Fire Stomp
  • Damage decreased from 12 on expansion and 36 on return to 11 on expansion and 34 on return.
• Overpower
  • Damage increased from 73 to 80.

Talents

• Level 7
  • Diabolical Momentum
    • Cooldown reduction per Basic Attack increased from 1.5 to 2 seconds.
• Level 20
  • Dying Breath
    • Cooldown reduction per Hero hit increased from 25 to 30 seconds.
  • Lord of Terror
    • Health stolen increased from 10% to 12% maximum Health.

Genji

Talents

• Level 1
  • Swift as the Wind
    • Movement Speed bonus increased from 30% to 40%.
• Level 4
  • Strike at the Heart
    • Damage increased from 134 to 142.
• Level 7
  • Perfect Defense
    • Cooldown reduction per hit increased from 2 to 2.5 seconds.
• Level 13
  • Flow Like Water
    • Cooldown reduction per hit increased from 3 to 4 seconds.
• Level 16
  • Final Cut
    • Damage reduced from 125 to 115.

Johanna

Base

• Shield Glare [E]
  • Cooldown increased from 12 to 13 seconds.

Talents

• Level 10
  • Blessed Shield
    • Cooldown increased from 60 to 65 seconds.

Mal'Ganis

Talents

• Level 1
  • Will of Tichondrius
    • Stun's duration increase reduced from 0.5 to 0.25 seconds.
• Level 16
  • Blind as a Bat
    • There is now a 0.2 second reactivation delay upon finishing 3 swipes of Fel Claws. This matches the time between other swipes.

Qhira

Base

• Revolving Sweep [Q]
  • Once attached, Revolving Sweep can no longer be detached by the target becoming Unstoppable.

• Blood Rage [W]
  • NEW BASELINE QUEST: Deal damage to enemy Heroes with Blood Rage's bleed to permanently increase its damage by 0.5% per stack.
  • Blood Rage's bleed damage reduced from 11 to 8.

Talents

• Level 1
  • Fatal Wounds
    • Damage bonus against low Health targets increased from 30% to 50%.
    • Quest removed.

Ragnaros

Base

• Blast Wave [W]
  • Damage increased from 104 to 120.
• Molten Core [D]
  • Cooldown increased from 120 to 180 seconds.
  • Health increased from 3996 to 5000.
  • Duration increased from 18 to 23 seconds.
  • Ragnaros is now Stunned for 1 second upon exiting.
• Meteor Swing [Molten Core Q]
  • Damage increased from 161 to 250.
  • No longer deals increased damage to Minions.
  • Cooldown increased from 6 seconds to 9 seconds.
  • Now also knocks enemies back.
• Meteor Shower [Molten Core W]
  • Damage increased from 151 to 200.
  • Cooldown increased from 2.5 to 6 seconds.
  • Area of effect increased by 66%.
  • Delay between hits significantly increased.
  • No longer deals increased damage to Minions.
  • Slow increased from 25% to 35%.
  • Range reduced from 35 to 20, but now it extends up to 35 over time.
  • Now deals 75% reduced damage to Structures.
• Explosive Rune [Molten Core E]
  • Cooldown decreased from 4 to 2.5 seconds.
  • Now applies a DOT that deals 88 damage per second for 5 seconds to impacted targets. No longer deals instant damage.
  • Range reduced from 35 to 20, but now it extends up to 35 over time.
  • No longer deals increased damage to Minions.
  • Now deals 75% reduced damage to Structures.

Talents

• Level 1
  • Engulfing Flame
    • Damage bonus reduced from 75% to 50%.
• Level 10
  • Sulfuras Smash
    • NEW MYTHIC QUEST: Hit 8 enemy Heroes with the center of Sulfuras Smash. Mythic Reward: Sulfuras Smash gains an extra charge.
• Level 20
  • Lava Surge
    • No longer reduces the cooldown of Lava Wave by 30 seconds.
    • Now also gives +200% Movement Speed to allied Minions and Mercenaries in its path.
  • Heroic Difficulty
    • NEW FUNCTIONALITY: Decrease the cooldown of Molten Core by 110 seconds when used on a dead Fort or Keep. In addition, the starting range of abilities in Molten Core are increased by 100% and will continue to grow.

Whitemane

Base

• Searing Lash [E]
  • NEW QUEST: Hit Heroes with Searing Lash to increase Whitemane's maximum Health by 3 and Mana by 2.

Talents

• Level 1
  • Pity the Frail
    • Cooldown reduction per hit reduced from 1.5 to 1 second.
  • Inquisitor's Prayer
    • REWORK: For each Hero hit by Searing Lash, restore 25 Mana. Passive: Zeal's duration is increased by 2 seconds.
• Level 7
  • Intercession
    • Cooldown increased 45 to 60 seconds.
• Level 13
  • Scarlet Wrath
    • Mana restore increased from 0.5% to 1%.
• Level 20
  • Guiding Light
    • Now also increases the Spell Power gained from Zeal's activation by 15%.

Yrel

Base

• Righteous Hammer [Q]
  • Heal increased from 320 to 370.
  • Damage increased from 140 to 160.
• Righteous Hammer [W]
  • Stun duration increased from 0.75 1 second.
  • Damage increased from 125 to 140.
• Avenging Wrath [E]
  • Slow increased from 50% to 60%.
  • Damage increased from 225 to 260.
• Divine Purpose [D]
  • Cooldown increased to from 8 to 16 seconds.
  • Cooldown is now reduced by 8 seconds whenever Yrel's Basic Abilities are interrupted.

Talents

• Level 4
  • Hand of Freedom
    • Cooldown increased from 30 to 40 seconds.
    • Movement Speed bonus reduced from 30% to 25%.
• Level 20
  • Seraphim
    • Cooldown increased from 10 to 20 seconds.

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Bug Fixes

General

• Attack beams from Forts, Keeps, and the Core will now be more visible when attacking Heroes.

Maps

• Haunted Mines
  • Fixed an issue where the player would not auto-mount when using the Hearthstone from inside the mines.
• Warhead Junction
  • Fixed an issue that caused Heroes to not be revealed while launching a Warhead.
  • Fixed an issue that caused the Warhead's channel beam to persist when interrupted.

Heroes

• Ana
  • Level 10
    • Eye of Horus
      • No longer reveals in a global line when hitting a Structure.
      • Removed a minor delay when dealing damage to enemy Heroes.
• Anub'arak
  • Base
    • Scarab Host [Trait]
      • Fixed an issue that caused Beetles created by Ultimate Evolution clones of Anub'arak to not gain Spell Power bonuses.
      • Fixed an issue that caused Anub'arak's Beetles to not have their damage reduced by D.Va's Defense Matrix.
  • Level 7
    • Leeching Scarabs
      • Fixed an issue that caused the healing done by Leeching Scarabs to not be affected by damage modifiers.
• Arthas
  • Base
    • Howling Blast [W]
      • Fixed an issue where the visuals of Howling Blast didn't match the area hit.
  • Level 10
    • Army of the Dead
      • Fixed an issue that caused Arthas's Ghouls to not have their damage reduced by D.Va's Defense Matrix.
• Deathwing
  • Base
    • Cataclysm [R]
      • Deathwing will no longer be teleported to where Cataclysm is targeted if he is killed during Cataclysm.
• Deckard
  • Level 10
    • Lorenado
      • Fixed an issue that caused Lorenado to not deal damage to Unstoppable enemies.
• Hogger
  • Level 20
    • No Control
      • Fixed an issue that caused No Control to target enemies that are not visible.
• Jaina
  • Base
    • Frostbolt [Q]
      • Fixed an issue that caused Frosbolt's range indicator and actual range to not match.
      • Fixed an issue that caused Frosbot used by Ultimate Evolution clones of Jaina to not gain Spell Power bonuses.
    • Blizzard [W]
      • Fixed an issue that caused Blizzard used by Ultimate Evolution clones of Jaina to not gain Spell Power bonuses.
    • Cone of Cold [E]
      • Fixed an issue that caused Cone of Cold used by Ultimate Evolution clones of Jaina to not gain Spell Power bonuses.
  • Level 10
    • Summon Water Elemental
      • Water Elemental's Basic Attacks damage now inherits all damage modifiers placed on Jaina.
  • Level 20
    • Wintermute
      • Fixed an issue that caused Water Elemental's Wintermute effects to deal more damage than intended to Chilled targets.
      • Wintermute's Blizzard damage now inherits all damage modifiers placed on Jaina.
      • Wintermute's Cone of Cold damage now inherits all damage modifiers placed on Jaina.
      • Wintermute's Cone of Cold now initiates its Cone of Cold cast at the same time Jaina initiates her cast and will be interrupted if it or Jaina is interrupted.
      • Wintermute's Frostbolt damage now inherits all damage modifiers placed on Jaina.
      • Wintermute's Frostbolt now initiates its Frostbolt cast at the same time Jaina initiates her cast and will be interrupted if it or Jaina is interrupted.
• Kerrigan
  • Level 10
    • Summon Ultralisk
      • Fixed an issue that caused Kerrigan's Ultralisk to not have its damage reduced by D.Va's Defense Matrix.
• Leoric
  • Level 16
    • Royal Focus
      • Now displays the remaining duration around the Skeletal Swing's button.
• Malfurion
  • Level 1
    • Vengeful Roots
      • Fixed an issue that caused Malfurion's Treant to not have its damage reduced by D.Va's Defense Matrix.
      • Treant's damage will now display as Vengeful Roots in the Death Recap.
• Medivh
  • Level 4
    • Raven Familiar
      • Fixed an issue that caused Medivh's Raven Familiar created by Ultimate Evolution clones of Medivh to not gain Spell Power bonuses.
  • Level 20
    • Guardian of Tirisfal
      • Fixed an issue that caused targets near the edge of Arcane Rift's range with Guardian of Tirisfal to not be hit.
• Nazeebo
  • Base
    • Voodoo Ritual [Trait]
      • Quest progress indicators will now show around the killed enemy Minion.
      • Quest progress will now be gained in instances where a second Nazeebo damages the target and the target dies within 6 seconds of the first Nazeebo applying Voodoo Ritual.
      • Fixed an issue that caused stacks of Voodoo Ritual gained prior to selecting Thing of the Deep to not be granted to Thing of the Deep.
      • Fixed an issue that caused Vodoo Ritual's tooltip to display the incorrrect total damage value.
      • Fixed an issue that caused Vile Infection's tooltip to display the incorrrect total damage value.
  • Level 1
    • Thing of the Deep
      • No longer causes Voodoo Ritual to display two Quest indicators.
  • Level 4
    • Blood Ritual
      • Fixed an issue that caused Blood Ritual to not grant Health or Mana when the target affected by Voodoo Ritual timed out due to their Health passively being reduced.
• Nova
  • Level 20
    • Fast Reload
      • Fixed an issue that caused Fast Reload to trigger when a Triple Tap target dies before it hits them.
• Probius
  • Base
    • Photon Cannon [E]
      • Fixed an issue that caused Probius's Photon Cannons to not have their damage reduced by D.Va's Defense Matrix.
  • Level 1
    • Gathering Minerals
      • Now also empowers any Photon Cannon already on the battlefield upon Quest completion.
• Tychus
  • Base
    • Overkill [Q]
      • Fixed an issue that caused Overkill to reveal unintended areas.
• Xul
  • Base
    • Raise Skeleton [Trait]
      • Fixed an issue that caused Xul's Skeletal Warriors to not have their damage reduced by D.Va's Defense Matrix.
  • Level 10
    • Skeletal Mages
      • Fixed an issue that caused Xul's Skeletal Mages to not have their damage reduced by D.Va's Defense Matrix.
      • Fixed an issue that caused Xul's Skeletal Mages to not apply their Slow in an aura while Blinded or against Evading Heroes.
      • Fixed an issue that caused Xul's Skeletal Mages to not apply their Slow with their attacks against Heroes with Heroic Attack only Evasion effects.
  • Level 16
    • Weaken
      • Fixed an issue that caused Xul's Skeletal Warriors to not apply Weaken's damage reduction while Xul is Blinded or against Heroes with Heroic Attack only Evasion effects.
• Zagara
  • Base
    • Infested Drop [E]
      • Fixed an issue that caused Roaches created by Ultimate Evolution clones of Zagara to not gain Spell Power bonuses.

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