Heroes of the Storm news » Heroes of the Storm PTR Notes — May 8, 2017

Jump to Section:

New Hero: D.Va

Trait

• Mech Mode
  • When D.Va’s Mech is destroyed, she is ejected after 0.75 seconds and can continue to fight in Pilot Mode. Destroying D.Va’s Mech only awards 50% of a normal Hero’s XP.
• Pilot Mode
  • Each Basic Attack reduces the cooldown of Call Mech by 0.5 seconds. As a Pilot, D.Va only awards 50% of a normal Hero’s XP upon death.

Mount

• While in Mech Mode, D.Va can shoot while moving, but her Movement Speed is reduced by 15%.
• D.Va can only use Mounts while in Pilot Mode.

Basic Abilities

• Boosters (Q)
  • Increases D.Va’s Movement Speed by 125% for 2 seconds. Enemies that are hit take damage and are knocked away.
  • D.Va cannot be Slowed while Boosters are active.
• Defense Matrix (W)
  • Channel a defensive field in the target direction for 3 seconds, reducing damage dealt by enemy Heroes inside it by 75%. The Mech can move while channeling, but cannot turn.
  • Damage dealt to the Mech by enemies within Defense Matrix still grants the same amount of Self-Destruct Charge.
• Self-Destruct (E)
  • Requires Mech Mode.
  • Eject from the Mech, setting it to self-destruct after 4 seconds. Deals medium to massive damage in a large area, depending on distance from the center of the blast. Deals 50% damage against Structures.
  • Gain 1% Charge for every 2 seconds spent using Basic Attacks, and 30% Charge per 100% of Mech Health lost.
• Call Mech (E)
  • Requires Pilot Mode.
  • Call a new Mech and enter Mech Mode. 45 second cooldown. While in Pilot Mode, each Basic Attack lowers this cooldown by 0.5 seconds.

Heroic Abilities

• Bunny Hop (R)
  • Requires Mech Mode.
  • D.Va’s Mech becomes Unstoppable and stomps every 0.5 seconds, dealing damage and Slowing enemies by 40%. Lasts 4 seconds.
• Big Shot (R)
  • Requires Pilot Mode.
  • Deal damage to all enemies in a line. Call Mech’s cooldown is reduced by 8 seconds for each enemy Hero hit.

Art

Heroes, Abilities, and Talents

• Questing Talents: Visual effects that appear upon completing a Talent Quest have received updates and should now be much more apparent.
• The following Heroes have received updated visual effects to coincide with Talent updates:
  • Alarak
  • Tyrande

Collection

New Bundles

• Welcome Bundle
  • Jumpstart your Collection with the Welcome Bundle, which contains a large amount of Gems, a Stimpack, a new Mount, and several Loot Chests —one of which guarantees a random Hero!
  • The Welcome Bundle can be only be purchased once, and only using real money.
    • 800 Gems
    • Welcome Loot Chest – A special Loot Chest that guarantees at least one random Hero
    • Rare Loot Chest
    • Epic Loot Chest
    • 7 Day Stimpack
    • Zebra Mount
• D.Va Heroic Bundle
  • Contains D.Va and all three Goliath D.Va skins. Available for a limited time.

New Skins

• D.Va
  • Goliath D.Va
  • Hazard Goliath D.Va
  • Sharkmouth Goliath D.Va
  • Major D.Va
  • Fiery D.Va
  • Pro D.Va
  • Competitive Pro D.Va
  • Elite Pro D.Va
• Kerrigan
  • Dorm Cheerleader Kerrigan has been added in honor of UTA HOTS, the 2017 Heroes of the Dorm champions!

New Mounts

• The Dorm 2017 Championship Banner has been added in honor of UTA HOTS, the 2017 Heroes of the Dorm champions!
• Zebra – Available exclusively by purchasing the Welcome Bundle.

New Announcers

• D.Va
• Genji

New Banners

• D.Va Banner
• Iconic D.Va Banner
• D.Va Warbanner
• Iconic D.Va Warbanner

New Emojis

• D.Va Pack 1
• D.Va Pack 2

User Interface

In-Game

• Emojis
  • In-game chat messages are now limited to 10 Emojis per message.
  • A notification will display on-screen when attempting to enter more than 10 Emojis in a single message.
• Score Screen
  • The “Role” column in the Stats tab on the in-game score screen has been split into “Healing/Shielding” and "Damage Taken" columns.
  • Certain Heroes, such as Tyrael, Uther, and Zarya, as well as E.T.C. with the Prog Rock Talent, or Chen with the Enough to Share Talent, will display values in both columns.

Portrait

• Player levels displayed in portraits have received visual updates, and should be easier to distinguish while using the progression portrait border.

Rejoin

• The Rejoin screen has been updated to provide a smoother experience when reconnecting to an ongoing match.

Design and Gameplay

Hearthstone

• Using Hearthstone (Default: B) will no longer automatically snap the camera back to the allied Hall of Storms unless Camera Lock is enabled (Default: L).

Heroes

Assassin

Abilities

• Sadism (Trait)
  • New Functionality:
    • Alarak now gains 3% Sadism per enemy Takedown, up to 30%. This bonus is lost on Death.
    • Now also affects self-healing vs. enemy Heroes.
• ​Discord Strike (Q)
  • Now has Double Cross functionality baseline.
  • Mana cost reduced from 55 to 45
• Lightning Surge (E)
  • Mana cost reduced from 30 to 25
  • Damage reduced from 100 to 62
  • Adjusted Functionality:
    • Enemies hit by the center of the beam now take 100% bonus damage
    • Healing is no longer based on the amount of damage done to enemy Heroes
      • Enemy Heroes hit now heal Alarak for 70 Health

Talents

• Level 1
  • Power Conduit (E)
    • Removed
  • Without Effort (W)
    • Removed
  • Sustaining Power (E)
    • Moved from Level 16
    • Bonus Healing reduced from 30% to 25%
  • Extended Lightning (E)
    • Moved from Level 4
    • Adjusted functionality:
      • Reduce the damage bonus of Sadism by 10%.
      • !Quest: Hit 5 enemy Heroes with the center portion of Lightning Surge.
        • Reward: Increase the range of Lightning Surge by 20%.
      • !Quest: Hit 15 Heroes with the center portion of Lightning Surge.
        • Reward: Enemy Heroes hit with the center portion of Lightning Surge are slowed by 50% for 2 seconds.
      • !Quest: Hit 3 enemy Heroes with the center portion of Lightning Surge in a single cast.
        • Reward: Gain 10 Sadism and complete all quests on this talent.
  • New Talent: Ruthless Momentum (Passive)
    • While above 80% Health, your Basic Abilities cooldown 20% faster.
• Level 4
  • Double Cross (Q)
    • Removed
  • Reckless Strike (Q)
    • Removed
  • Cycle of Discord (Q)
    • Removed
  • Negatively Charged (E)
    • Moved from level 16
    • New functionality:
      • Increases the bonus damage from hitting the center portion of Lightning Surge to 200%
      • Quest: Each time you hit an enemy Hero with the center portion of Lightning Surge, increase the center damage bonus by an additional 5%
  • Chaos Reigns (Q)
    • Moved from Level 7
    • New Functionality:
      • !Quest: Hit 15 enemy Heroes with Discord Strike.
        • Reward: Increase Discord Strike's damage by 60.
      • !Quest: Hit 2 enemy Heroes with Discord Strike in a single cast.
        • Reward: Increase Discord Strike's damage by 60.
      • !Quest: Hit 3 enemy Heroes with Discord Strike in a single cast.
        • Reward: Increase Discord Strike's damage by 60 and complete all quests on this talent.
  • New Talent: Show of Force (Passive)
    • Hitting an enemy Hero with 3 abilities within 2 seconds causes them to take an additional 70 damage.
• Level 7
  • Endless Energy (E)
    • Removed
  • Thunderstruck (E)
    • Removed
  • Dissonance (Q)
    • Moved from Level 13
    • No longer reduces Sadism by 10%.
  • Hindered Motion (W)
    • Moved from Level 13
    • No longer reduces Sadism by 10%
    • Slow amount reduced from 40% to 25%
  • Applied Force (W)
    • Moved from Level 1
    • Added functionality:
      • Reduce the damage of Sadism by 10% but Telekinesis’s range is increased by 20% and it pushes 20% further.
• ​Level 13
  • Psychokinesis (W)
    • Removed
  • Pure Malice (Passive)
    • Sadism bonus reduced from 8% stacking up to 40% max to 6% stacking up to 30% max.
    • Hasty Bargain can now reduce this Sadism bonus
  • New Talent: Blade of the Highlord (Passive)
    • Your Basic Attacks against enemy Heroes grant you 6% Sadism for 4 seconds, stacking up to 30%.
  • New Talent: Rite of Rak’Shir (Active)
    • Activate to mark an enemy Hero.
      • Using Discord Strike on your marked target increases your Sadism by 3%
      • Killing the enemy Hero gives you 6% bonus Sadism and sets the cooldown of Rite of Rak’Shir to 10 seconds
      • Dying removes all bonuses from this talent
      • 300-second cooldown and duration
• Level 16
  • Projected Force (W)
    • Removed
  • Quick Mind (W)
    • Removed
  • New Talent: Lethal Onslaught (Q)
    • For 4 seconds after hitting an enemy hero with Discord Strike, your Basic Attacks gain 50% of Sadism’s benefit. Attacking enemy Heroes refreshes the duration of this buff.
  • New Talent: Lightning Barrage (E)
    • If Lightning Surge hits an enemy Hero with its center portion, then it can be cast again with no Mana cost or cooldown within 2 seconds of being cast. This second cast cannot target the same enemy.
  • New Talent: Mocking Strikes (Passive)
    • Your Basic Attacks against enemy Heroes who are Stunned, Slowed, Rooted, or Silenced reduces your Basic Ability cooldowns by 2.5 seconds
• Level 20
  • Last Laugh (Active)
    • Cooldown increased from 20 to 30 seconds
    • Range decreased by 15%
    • Adjusted functionality:
      • Activate to remove all roots, slows, and damage over time effects and teleport to the chosen location
      • After 4 seconds, reduce Alarak’s Health to 1
      • If Alarak damages 3 enemy Heroes with Basic Abilities within 4 seconds after teleporting, his Health is not reduced

Developer Comment: Your Highlord has returned! Alarak has received a large update that he has deemed “acceptable”, targeted at making him more rewarding for players who take the time to master him. Baseline changes include reworking his Sadism to be increased upon getting Takedowns and putting bonus damage into his Lightning Surge baseline for hitting enemies in its center beam. We’re also experimenting with some new talent ideas with Extended Lightning and Chaos Reigns, where players can gain huge benefits for the rarely accomplished feat of hitting 3 enemy Heroes with a single ability.

• (!) indicates a Questing Talent.
• Italic text indicates a NEW Talent.
• Bold text indicates a MOVED Talent.

Abilities

• Ball Lightning (R)
  • Damage reduced from 200 to 180
• Valkyrie (R)
  • Damage increased from 190 to 225
    

Talents

• Level 1
  • Charged Strikes (Active)
    • Damage bonus reduced from 25 to 20%

Talents

• Level 4
  • Dragon Claw (Passive)
    • Damage activation requirement reduced from 415 to 375
      
• Level 7
  • Cyber Shield (D)
    • Spell Armor duration increased from 2 to 2.5 seconds
  • Dodge (Passive)
    • Cooldown increased from 5 to 8 seconds

Talents

• Level 1
  • Unending Hatred (Passive)
    • Increased the amount of Basic Attack damage gained from killing Minions from .1 to .2

Talents

• Level 7
  • Snipe Master (Q)
    • Stacks are no longer lost when hitting non-Heroes.
  • Anti-Armor Shells (Passive)
    • Custom UI has been added to show the cooldown before your next attack

Stats

• Basic Attack damage reduced from 110 to 106

Talents

• Level 13
  • Voodoo Shuffle (Active)
    • Cooldown from 30 to 10 seconds

Multi-Class

Stats

• Basic Attack damage increased from 87 to 91

Talents

• Level 1
  • Overpower (W)
    • Reduced the damage bonus after Parrying a Basic Attack from 25 to 20%
    • High King’s Quest (Passive)
      • Increased the Basic Attack damage bonus from completing all 3 quests from 30 to 45
• Level 4
  • Warbringer (E)
    • Added functionality:
      • Now also reduces the Mana cost of Charge by 50%
• Level 7
  • Live by the Sword (W)
    • Increased the amount of Parried Basic Attacks needed to reduce the cooldown of Parry from 2 to 4

Specialist

Probius

Abilities

• Pylon Overcharge (R)
  • Health bonus decreased from 50 to 30%
  • Damage decreased from 55 to 52

• Null Gate (R)
  • Damage increased from 16 to 17

Auriel

Abilities

• Bestow Hope (D)
  • Hope generation from damage dealt to non-Heroes reduced from 8 to 5%

Li Li

Abilities

• Cloud Serpent (W)
  • Damage reduced from 29 to 25
• Blinding Wind (E)
  • Cooldown increased from 8 to 9 seconds
  • Mana cost increased from 30 to 35

Talents

• Level 1
  • Gale Force (E)
    • Damage bonus reduced from 50 to 40%

• Level 7

  • Lightning Serpent (W)
    • Damage reduced from 15 to 14

Developer Comments: While we’re happy that we’re seeing more Lili due to her recent buffs, they have gone a bit far in making the hero too powerful, particularly in double-support compositions. We’re reverting part of her Blinding Wind buff, and reducing the power of her Cloud Serpent so that she is not putting out quite as much damage in games.

Lúcio

Abilities

• Healing Boost (W)
  • Heal amount reduced from 3 to 2

Talents

• Level 16
  • Heliotropics (Q)
    • Removed

Stats

• Basic Attack damage reduced from 87 to 82

Abilities

• Light of Elune (Q)
  • Adjusted functionality:
    • No longer heals yourself while healing allies
    • The cooldown is now lowered by 2 seconds every time you land a Basic Attack
  • Heal amount reduced from 320 to 270
  • Cooldown increased from 8 to 12 seconds
  • Mana cost reduced from 45 to 25
• Sentinel (W)
  • Added functionality:
    • !Quest: Hit heroes with Sentinel
      • Reward: Every 8 Heroes hit with Sentinel allows it to pierce one target and lowers the Mana cost by 10
• Shadowstalk (R)
  • New functionality:
    • Tyrande gains stealth and 30% Movement Speed. When stealth is lost, she keeps her Movement Speed and gains 50% Attack Speed for 5 seconds
  • Cooldown reduced from 60 to 30 seconds
• Starfall (R)
  • Radius reduced from 6 to 5

Talents

• Level 1
  • Ranger’s Mark (D)
    • New functionality:
      • !Quest: Basic Attacks lower the cooldown of Hunter’s Mark by 1 second
        • Reward: For every 60 Basic Attacks against Heroes, increase the duration of Hunter’s Mark by 1 second
  • Lunar Blaze (E)
    • Moved from Level 7
    • New functionality:
      • !Quest: Every Hero hit by Lunar Flare increases its damage by 3%
        • Reward: After hitting 10 Heroes, remove the Mana Cost
        • Reward: After hitting 20 Heroes, increase the range by 40%
  • Ranger (W)
    • Moved from Level 16
    • Adjusted functionality:
      • Sentinel deals up to 75% more damage based on distance traveled
      • !Quest: Hit Heroes with Sentinel
        • Reward: Every enemy hit with Sentinel increases the damage at maximum range by 3%
  • Seasoned Marksman (Passive)
    • Removed
• Level 4
  • Pierce (W)
    • Removed
  • Focused Attack (Passive)
    • Removed
  • Protective Shield (Active)
    • Removed
  • Healing Ward (Active)
    • Removed
  • Searing Arrows (Active)
    • Removed
  • Celestial Attunement (Q)
    • Moved from Level 1
    • New functionality:
      • Light of Elune removes stuns. If a stun is removed this way, Light of Elune can be recast for free within 3 seconds.
  • New Talent: Moonlit Arrows (Q)
    • Basic Attacks reduce the Cooldown of your Light of Elune by an additional .75 seconds
  • New Talent: Kaldorei Resistance (Q)
    • Light of Elune grants 15 Spell Armor for 6 seconds. This can stack up to 4 times
• Level 7
  • Trueshot Aura (Active)
    • Moved from Level 16
    • Adjusted functionality:
      • Nearby allies have 10% increased Basic Attack damage
      • Activate: Double this bonus for 5 seconds
  • Huntress’ Fury (Trait)
    • Moved from Level 13
    • New functionality:
      • Basic Attack’s against targets with Hunter’s Mark will damage all nearby enemies
  • Lunar Momentum (Passive)
    • Removed
  • Calldown: MULE (Active)
    • Removed
  • New Talent: Darnassian Archery (Passive)
    • Each consecutive attack against an enemy Hero deals 5% more damage. This lasts for 4 seconds or until you target a non-Heroic unit
• Level 13
  • Empower (W)
    • Moved from Level 1
    • New functionality:
      • Every Hero hit by Sentinel lowers its Cooldown by 4 seconds
  • Quickening Blessing (Q)
    • Moved from Level 7
  • Sprint (Active)
    • Removed
  • Shrink Ray (Active)
    • Removed
  • New Talent: Harsh Moonlight (W)
    • Enemies hit by Sentinel are slowed by 30% and have their damage reduced by 30% for 4 seconds
• Level 16
  • Mark of Mending (Trait)
    • New functionality:
      • Tyrande’s Basic Attacks heal her for 2% of her maximum Health
      • Allied Heroes Basic Attacks against targets with Hunter’s Mark will heal for 3% of their maximum Health
  • Overflowing Light (Q)
    • Moved from Level 13
    • New functionality:
      • While above 60% life, Light of Elune heals for 30% more
  • New Talent: Elune’s Chosen (Active)
    • Target an allied Hero. For the next 5 seconds, you will heal them for 200% of the Basic Attack damage you deal
• ​Level 20
  • Celestial Wrath (R)
    • New functionality:
      • Enemy Heroes within Starfall have Hunter’s Mark applied to them
  • Shooting Star (E)
    • Moved from Level 16
    • New functionality:
      • Increases Basic Attack range by 20%
      • After every 10^th Basic Attack against enemies, a Lunar Flare will fire at a nearby enemy Hero
  • Hunter’s Swiftness (R)
    • Removed
  • Nexus Frenzy (Passive)
    • Removed
  • Storm Shield (Active)
    • Removed
  • Rewind (Active)
    • Removed
  • New Talent: Eyes of the Huntress (R)
    • Casting Shadowstalk also reveals the enemy team for 2 seconds.
  • New Talent: Iceblade Arrows (Passive)
    • Gain 25% Attack Speed. Basic Attacks against enemy Heroes reduces all damage they deal by 5% for 3 seconds. This can stack up to 10 times

Developer Comment: During one of our design meetings many months ago, we came to the consensus that we wanted to swap the heal functionality between Tyrande and Uther. It felt like the self-heal mechanic was better suited on a front-line melee Healer, so we gave it to our favorite paladin in his latest rework. Instead of simply removing functionality from Light of Elune, we decided to add a large amount of cooldown reduction with every Basic Attack. This will reward players that can stay in combat and has allowed us to shift some of her power from healing output into more utility and offensive-based areas. Overall, we are extremely excited to see what our players can do with her new kit and look forward to hearing any feedback you have!

• (!) indicates a Questing Talent.
• Italic text indicates a NEW Talent.
• Bold text indicates a MOVED Talent.

Uther

Talents

• Level 1
  • Wave of Light (W)
    • Mana return reduced from 10 to 8

Abilities

• Dark Swarm (W)
  • Damage increased from 30 to 50
  • Damage is now universal to all units (no bonus damage to Heroes)
  • Cooldown increased from 9 to 10 seconds

Talents

• Level 1
  • Primal Aggression (W)
    • Removed
  • Enhanced Agility (Trait)
    • Movement Speed bonus per 50 Essence increased from 1.5 to 2%
    • Added functionality:
      • The duration of Brushstalker’s Movement Speed bonus after leaving brush increased from 1 to 3 seconds
  • Tissue Regeneration (Trait)
    • Added functionality:
      • Regeneration Globes grant 10 Essence
• Level 7
  • Feeding Frenzy (Q)
    • Cooldown reduction per attack increased from 1.5 to 2 seconds
  • Essence Devourer (W)
    • Removed
• Level 13
  • Swift Pursuit (Trait)
    • Removed
  • Ferocious Stalker (Trait)
    • New functionality:
      • Your abilities deal 25% more damage while you have the Brushstalker Movement Speed buff
  • New Talent: Primal Rage (Passive)
    • Gain 1% Basic Attack damage for every Essence you currently have

Developer Comment: These changes are based primarily on win and pick rates of some of Dehaka's talent tiers. We removed some unpopular talents and combined a few others to make them more attractive. Dehaka's talent tree should now be a little bit sharper and hopefully open a few new build paths for players.

Sonya

Abilities

• Whirlwind (E)
  • Cooldown increased from 4 to 5 seconds

Bug Fixes

Art

• Ghost Tracer: Recall visual effects will now correctly display on Ghost Tracer’s model when using Recall.
• Lúcio: Will no longer appear elevated on the Ranked screen.
• Prime Evil Diablo: Apocalypse visual effects will no longer persist on Prime Evil Diablo’s model when casting Apocalypse immediately after Hellgate.

Battlegrounds

• Braxis Holdout: Fixed an issue that could cause players to receive an AFK warning while contesting a Beacon.
• Braxis Holdout: Beacon UI that appears below the minimap will now correctly appear neutral if they are not controlled by either team.
• Towers of Doom: Heroes can no longer clip into the edges of the terrain when moving near the edges of the allied Hall of Storms.
• Try Mode: The Refresh Forts button will no longer cause Malfurion to spawn when Allied Hero is set to None.

Heroes, Abilities, and Talents

• Abathur: Fixed an issue in which Networked Carapace provided a lower than intended Shield amount.
• Abathur: Secondary Shields granted by Networked Carapace will no longer benefit from Sustained Carapace.
• Azmodan: When Demonic Invasion is cast on an area of terrain that is not pathable, the Demonic Grunts will now be placed as close as possible to the casting location, rather than failing to spawn.
• Azmodan: Issuing a Move Command during All Shall Burn’s wind-up time will no longer cancel the Ability cast.
• Cassia: Inner Light’s tooltip now consistently states that range is increased by 25% before and after taking the Talent.
• Cassia: Martial Law will no longer apply bonus damage to slowed or stunned Minions and Mercenaries.
• Cassia: Fixed an issue that could cause Valkyrie to pull its target farther than intended if Cassia was Stopped.
• Dehaka: Basic Attacks will now correctly reduce Drag’s cooldown after learning Feeding Frenzy.
• Gall: Can now properly cast Shove while channeling Shadow Bolt volley.
• Gazlowe: Fixed an issue preventing Rock It! Turrets from being self-cast or placed beneath unit and Hero models.
• Kerrigan: Bladed Momentum will no longer grant cooldown reduction for secondary targets hit by Basic Attacks after learning Fury of the Storm.
• Leoric: Fixed an issue in which Renewed Swing dealt more damage than intended.
• Tracer: Can now correctly attack Minions who are affected by Sylvanas’ Possession.

Sound

• Announcers: Will now play their “Prepare for Battle” voiceover lines during the opening moments of a match.
• Hero Select: Fixed an issue that could cause some heroes’ voiceover to echo after clicking Ready during Hero Select.
• Hero Select: Lúcio will now correctly play voiceover upon searching for a match in the Portuguese and Chinese game clients.

User Interface

• Collection: The Collection screen will no longer appear cut off when screen resolution is set to 1280x1024 or 1152x864.
• Collection: Hovering the cursor over a truncated item name in the Collection will now correctly display a tooltip that states the item’s full name.
• Emojis: Emojis whispered between Heroes of the Storm players will now display their shortcodes when the whisper is viewed in the Blizzard Launcher’s chat window.