We’ve just deployed a patch to address a few issues found in our most recent major patch, implement a few changes, and enable Artanis for players that pre-purchased StarCraft II: Legacy of the Void. You can find complete patch notes for today’s update below:

Artanis Pre-release

Artanis, our newest StarCraft warrior hero, is now available to players that pre-purchased StarCraft II: Legacy of the Void. Read on for a brief overview of this hero’s abilities.

• Artanis will be available for purchase from the in-game Shop for all players starting on Tuesday, October 27.

Trait

• Shield Overload
  • If you take damage while below 50% Health, gain a Shield for 5 seconds. Your Basic Attacks lower the cooldown of Shield Overload by 4 seconds.

Basic Abilities

• Blade Dash (Q)
  • Dash forward to deal damage to enemies, then return to deal significantly more damage.
• Twin Blades (W)
  • Your next Basic Attack immediately strikes the enemy twice.
• Phase Prism (E)
  • Fire a Phase Prism that deals damage to a Hero and swaps your position with theirs.

Heroic Abilities

• Purifier Beam (R)
  • Target an enemy with an orbital beam from the Spear of Adun, dealing damage every second for 8 seconds. The beam will chase the target as they move. Unlimited range.
• Suppression Pulse (R)
  • Fire a large area pulse from the Spear of Adun, dealing damage and Blinding enemies for 4 seconds. Unlimited range.

Heroes

Lt. Morales

• Health increased from 700 (+110 per level) to 840 (+130 per level)
• Base Health Regeneration increased from 1.46 per second to 1.75

Shop

Bundles

• The following bundles have been removed from the in-game Shop:
  • Apothecary Lt. Morales Bundle
  • Marshal Raynor Bundle
  • Altered Fates Bundle
  • Altered Fates Ultimate Bundle

Price Changes

• Lt. Morales’ price has been reduced from 15,000 to 10,000 Gold

System Changes

Ranked Draft Lobbies

• Draft Mode AFK Penalty
  • Players failing to select a Hero in Hero League draft lobbies will no longer be granted a random Hero. Instead, the AFK player will now receive leaver penalties and the game lobby will disband, placing all remaining players back at the queue screen.
    • NOTE: Players who pre-select a Hero but do not lock in will not be punished under this new system. Using that time to communicate with your team is expected. Players will be locked in with their selected hero, if it is still available, once their selection timer runs out.
• Increased Selection Time
  • The time allotted to select your hero in Hero League and Team League draft lobbies has been increased from 30 to 45 seconds.

Matchmaking

• Maximum queue time has been increased from 360 to 600 seconds.
• Queue times have been improved for new players.

Bug Fixes

General

• Fixed an issue that caused abnormal Hero movement when a Dragon Knight or Garden Terror was killed or expired nearby.

Heroes and Talents

• Fixed an issue preventing Abathur’s Toxic Nests from dealing splash damage.
• Nazeebo’s Corpse Spiders and Zombie Wall Abilities will now deal damage to Immortals on the Battlefield of Eternity battleground.
• Fixed an issue that caused the player’s camera to remain locked on Lt. Morales’ Medivac Dropship after exiting it with Camera Lock enabled.