Heroes of the Storm news » Heroes of the Storm PTR Notes — August 28, 2017

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General

New Special Event: Obey the Call

• Slay heroes in Kel’Thuzad’s name to earn in-game rewards before the event concludes on September 25, 2017!
  • Each quest in this four-part chain must be completed in order, and only one quest will be active at any given time.
  • Games played in Versus A.I., Quick Match, Unranked, and Ranked modes all count toward quest progress.
  • Games played during the Acolyte, Necromancer, and Lich Lord quests must be won in order to earn takedown credit.
• Quests and Rewards
  • Ghoul: Play a game with Kel’Thuzad present on either team.
    • Reward: Ghoul Portrait
  • Acolyte: Achieve 30 takedowns in winning games.
    • Reward: Acolyte Portrait
  • Necromancer: Achieve 60 takedowns in winning games.
    • Rewards: Necromancer Portrait and Necromancer’s Blight Spray
  • The Lich Lord: Achieve 90 takedowns in winning games.
    • Rewards: Kel’Thuzad Portrait and Naxxramas Warcrest Banner

• PTR Note: While elements of this event may be visible on the Public Test Realm, any progress or rewards earned during PTR testing will not transfer to the live version of the game when this patch is officially released next week.

Ranked Play

• 2017 Ranked Season 3
  • Once today’s patch arrives to the live version of Heroes of the Storm, 2017 Ranked Season 2 will officially come to a close, and Season 3 will begin!
  • League standings will be reset and all players will need to play through 10 Placement Matches in order to receive their new starting ranks in Hero and Team Leagues for 2017 Season 3.
  • The matchmaking system’s certainty level in all players’ matchmaking ratings will once again be loosened in order to make it a little easier to move up and down the rankings during initial matches this season.
• Placement Matches
  • Players with high matchmaking ratings (MMR) can now place as high as 1,000 points into Master League.
• Grandmaster League
  • Promotions into Grandmaster League will now occur 2 weeks after a new Ranked Season begins.

New Hero: Kel'Thuzad

Kel'Thuzad has faithfully served the Lich King both in life and after death. Reanimated as the Archlich of the Scourge and given domain of the Dread Necropolis, Naxxramas, Kel’Thuzad remains Arthas’s most trusted advisor and master of the cold dark.

Trait

• Master of the Cold Dark
  • Quest: Gain 1 Blight every time a Hero is Rooted by Frost Nova or hit by Chains of Kel'Thuzad.
  • Reward: After gaining 15 Blight, the cooldown of all Basic Abilities is reduced by 2 seconds.
  • Reward: After gaining 30 Blight, gain 75% Spell Power.

Basic Abilities

• Death and Decay (Q)
  • After 0.5 seconds, launch an orb that explodes upon hitting an enemy, dealing damage to enemies in the area. The explosion leaves behind a pool of decay that lasts 2 seconds, dealing damage every 0.5 seconds to enemies.
• Frost Nova (W)
  • Create a nova that explodes after 1 second, dealing damage to enemies inside and Slowing them by 35% for 2.5 seconds. Enemies in the center are Rooted for 1 second.
• Chains of Kel'Thuzad (E)
  • Launch a chain, dealing damage to the first enemy Hero or Structure hit. For 4 seconds after hitting an enemy, Chains can be reactivated to launch to an additional enemy, pulling both enemies together and Stunning them for 0.5 seconds.

Heroic Abilities

• Frost Blast (R)
  • Launch a meteor of ice at an enemy Hero. Upon impact, the meteor deals damage to its target and damages enemies in the area. All enemies hit by Frozen Tomb are Rooted for 1.5 seconds.
• Shadow Fissure (R)
  • Create a fissure anywhere on the Battleground that explodes after 1.5 seconds, dealing damage to enemies in its area.

Art

General

• Heroes of the Storm has received new loading screen art to celebrate Kel’Thuzad’s arrival to the Nexus.

Heroes, Abilities, and Talents

• Talent: Cleanse and similar Talents have received updated effects in order to increase visual clarity.
• Nazeebo: The Jar and Spiders spawned by Corpse Spiders have received updated effects in order to increase visual clarity.
• Alarak: The size of the indicator that appears above Rite of Rak'shir’s target has been reduced.
• The following Heroes have received updated art to coincide with Talent changes:
  • Jaina
  • Leoric
  • Lt. Morales

Quest System Updates

• Visual effects that appear around a Hero upon completing a Talent or Ability Quest have been updated to make them more visually apparent.
• The following Heroes have updated art to coincide with quest system updates:
  • Chromie
  • Jaina

User Interface

Quest System Updates

• A quest column has been added to the Talents tab on the in-game Score Screen.
  • Baseline quests, such as Kel’Thuzad’s Master of the Cold Dark or Nazeebo’s Voodoo Ritual, will appear in this column and quest progress will be visible to all players in the match.
• Notifications will now appear in the in-game Event Log (AKA Kill Feed) whenever a player completes a quest or reaches an important quest milestone.
• Quest resets will now appear next to the portrait of the slain enemy in the Event Log.
  • Ex: Flamestrike’s icon art will appear next to Kael’thas’ portrait in the Event Log if he is killed prior to completing the Convection quest.
• Upon completing a quest, a personal notification will now display for the player at the top center of the screen stating the name of the completed quest.

Battlegrounds

Ranked Battleground Rotation Update

Heroes

Assassin

Chromie

Abilities

• Sand Blast (Q)
  • Scaling reduced from 4% to 2% per level.
  • Damage reduced from 400 to 300.
  • !Quest added:
    • Hit 80 Heroes with Sand Blast. Hitting with consecutive casts counts as 2 hits.
  • !Rewards:
    • Increase Sand Blast damage by 5 for each Hero hit.
    • After hitting 80 Heroes, Sand Blast leaves an Echo behind. The next time Sand Blast is cast, the Echo also casts an untalented Sand Blast that deals 40% damage.

Talents

• Level 1
  • (New) Mounting Sand (Q)
    • If Chromie hits with a third consecutive Sand Blast, it counts as hitting 3 Heroes.
• Level 2
  • (New) Timely Surprise (E)
    • Sand Blast and Dragon's Breath's cooldowns are reset when Time Trap is triggered.
• Level 11
  • (New) Here and There (Active)
    • Activate to have Chromie swap places with her Sand Blast Echo. 30 second cooldown.
• Level 18
  • Past and Future Me (Q)
    • Removed.
  • Piercing Sands (Q)
    • Moved from Level 2.
    • Adjusted Functionality:
      • Sand Blast now pierces targets, dealing damage to any additional Heroes hit.
  • Loophole (R)
    • Removed.
  • (New) Stuck in a Loop (R)
    • Temporal Loop teleports the target a second time after the first completes.

Jaina

Abilities

• Frostbite (Trait)
  • !Quest added:
    • Deal 15,000 damage to Chilled enemy Heroes
  • !Reward: Gain the Improved Ice Block ability
    • Improved Ice Block: Activate to place Jaina in Stasis and gain Invulnerability for 2.5 seconds. When this effect expires, nearby enemies are Chilled. 40 second cooldown
• Summon Water Elemental (R)
  • Cooldown reduced from 80 to 60 seconds
  • Mana cost reduced from 75 to 60

Talents

• Level 1
  • Conjurer’s Pursuit (Passive)
    • Removed
  • (New) Fingers of Frost (Passive)
    • Gathering Regen Globes increases your Mana Regeneration by .1 per second, up to 2 per second. Reward: After gathering 20 Regeneration Globes, the damage bonus of Frostbite is increased by 10%.
• Level 7
  • Frostbitten (Passive)
    • Removed
  • Ice Floes (E)
    • New Functionality:
      • Doubles the width of Cone of Cold. Hitting Chilled enemy Heroes with Cone of Cold reduces its cooldown by 2.5 seconds, up to a 5 second maximum reduction.
  • (New) Icefury Wand (Passive)
    • Your basic attacks against Chilled targets deal 75% bonus damage and reduce the cooldown of Blizzard by 1 second.
• Level 20
  • Improved Ice Block (Active)
    • Removed
  • Arcane Power (Active)
    • Removed
  • (New) Ice Blink (Active)
    • Activate to teleport a short distance and Chill nearby enemies. 60 second cooldown.
  • Cold Snap (R)
    • Now also reduces the cooldown of Ring of Frost by 10 seconds per enemy Hero hit.
  • Deep Chill (Trait)
    • Moved from Level 1
      • New Functionality:
        • Frostbite’s slow amount now stacks a second time, slowing enemy Heroes by up to 40%.

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

Support

Lt. Morales

Miscellaneous

• Morales now uses Energy to fuel her Healing Beam. All other abilities are free to cast.
  • Morales can hold up to 100 Energy.

Abilities

• Caduceus Reactor (Trait)
  • New Functionality:
    • While channeling Healing Beam, Morales heals herself for 2% of her maximum life per second.
• Healing Beam (Q)
  • Channeling Healing Beam costs 6 Energy per second
  • Morales generates 6 Energy per second after not channeling Healing Beam for 3 seconds.
• Safeguard (W)
  • Cooldown reduced from 15 seconds to 12 seconds
• Displacement Grenade (E)
  • A visual indicator for the detonation area is now visible to Lt. Morales.
• Stim Drone (R)
  • Cast time reduced from 1 second to .5 seconds
• Medivac Dropship (R)
  • Takeoff minimum delay reduced from 4 seconds to 3 seconds
  • Health reduced from 1593 to 956

Talents

• Level 1
  • Feedback Loop (W)
    • Removed
  • Scouting Drove (Active)
    • Removed
  • Clear! (E)
    • Moved from Level 7
    • New Functionality:
      • !Quest: Hit Heroes with Displacement Grenade.
      • !Reward: After hitting 15 Heroes, Displacement Grenade’s cooldown is reduced from 12 seconds to 8 seconds.
      • !Reward: After hitting 30 Heroes, Displacement Grenade’s area is increased by 25%.
  • (New) Caduceus Feedback (Passive)
    • Basic Attacks generate 1 Energy, increased to 4 against Heroes.
  • (New) Life Support (W)
    • Gain 2 Energy each time Safeguard prevents damage, to a maximum of 20 Energy per cast.
• Level 4
  • Bioshield (Q)
    • Removed
  • Automated Block (Passive)
    • Removed
  • Infused Grenade (E)
    • Removed
  • Trauma Trigger (Passive)
    • Moved from Level 1
    • Cooldown Increased to 60 Seconds
    • New Functionality:
      • Gain 30 Armor for 3 seconds after taking damage while under 40% life.
  • (New) Cellular Reactor (Active)
    • Consume 30 Energy to heal 40% of maximum life over 4 seconds.
  • (New) Blast Shield (E)
    • Hitting a Hero with Displacement Grenade grants Lt Morales 2 Energy and a shield equal to 8% of her maximum health, stacking up to 5 times.
• Level 7
  • Calldown: MULE (Active)
    • Removed
  • Cleanse (Active)
    • Removed
  • (New) Physical Therapy (W)
    • Casting Safeguard removes all Slows from the target. When a slow is removed this way, the cooldown of Safeguard is reduced by 4 seconds.
  • (New) Vanadium Plating (W)
    • Safeguard grants an additional 25 Armor while the bearer is Stunned and its duration does not decay.
  • Prolonged Safeguard (W)
    • Moved from Level 1
    • New Functionality:
      • Increase Safeguard duration by 50%.
• Level 13
  • Intensive Care (Q)
    • Removed
  • Couples Therapy (Q)
    • Removed
  • Preventative Care (Q)
    • Removed
  • Spell Shield (Active)
    • Removed
  • (New) EMP Grenade (Q)
    • Displacement Grenade deals increased damage to shields and additional damage over 2 seconds.
  • System Shock (E)
    • Moved from Level 16
    • New Functionality:
      • Heroes hit by Displacement Grenade have their damage reduced by 30% for 4 seconds.
  • Second Opinion (W)
    • Moved from Level 16
    • New Functionality:
      • If Displacement Grenade hits 2 or more Heroes, its cooldown is reduced to 1 second.
• Level 16
  • (New) Extended Care (Q)
    • Increases the range of Healing Beam by 40%.
  • (New) First Responder (Q)
    • If you have more than 70 energy, your Healing Beam heals for 25% more.
  • Shield Sequencer (W)
    • New Functionality:
      • Safeguard gains an additional charge.
• Level 20
  • Transfusion (R)
    • Removed
  • Medbay (R)
    • Removed
  • Caduceus Reactor 2.0 (Trait)
    • New Functionality:
      • Increases the healing of Caduceus Reactor from 2% to 6%.
  • Storm Shield
    • Removed
  • (New) Hyperactivity (R)
    • Reduces the cooldown of Stim Drone from 90 seconds to 45 seconds and increases the movement speed bonus from 25 to 50%.
  • (New) Safe Zone (R)
    • Heroes are Protected from damage for 2 seconds after unloading from Medivac Dropship.
  • (New) Reinforcements (Active)
    • Reduces the cooldown of Medivac Dropship from 60 to 30 seconds.
    • Activate to call down a Medivac at your Hall of Storms that only allies can enter. Activate again to order the Dropship to travel to the original cast location and unload its cargo. 30 second cooldown. Shares a cooldown with Medivac Dropship.

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

Warrior

Leoric

Stats

• Basic Attack Damage reduced from 150 to 105
  • New functionality – Wrath of the Bone King
    • Leoric's first two Basic Attacks cleave for 100% damage. His third Basic Attack deals 100% additional damage to his main target

Abilities

• Skeletal Swing (Q)
  • No longer deals bonus damage to non-Heroic targets
  • Cooldown increased from 8 to 14 seconds
  • Mana Cost increased from 50 to 80
  • Damage increased from 125 to 150
  • Additional Functionality:
    • If Skeletal Swing hits a Hero, refund 50% of the Cooldown and Mana Cost
• Drain Hope (W)
  • Lowered damage and healing from 25% to 20% of the target’s maximum Health
• Drain Essence (W)
  • Lowered healing from 12.5% to 10% of target’s maximum Health
  • Lowered cooldown from 11 to 9 seconds
• Entomb (R)
  • Cooldown increased from 50 to 75 seconds
  • Mana cost increased from 75 to 90
• March of the Black King (R)
  • Cooldown reduced from 80 to 50 seconds
  • Mana cost reduced from 100 to 75
  • Damage increased from 183 to 250
  • Heal increased from 7% to 12%

Talents

• Level 1
  • Mana Thirst (Q)
    • Removed
  • Block (Passive)
    • Removed
  • Reanimation (Trait)
    • Removed
  • Fealty Unto Death (Passive)
    • Moved from Level 4
  • Consume Vitality (Q)
    • Moved from Level 16
    • New Functionality:
      • Lowers the Cooldown of Skeletal Swing by 2 seconds
      • Heroes hit by Skeletal Swing heal Leoric for 4% of his maximum health
      • No longer adds any additional effect while in Undying form
  • Ossein Renewal (Active)
    • ​Moved from Level 7
    • New Functionality:
      • Activate to heal Leoric for 30% of his maximum Health over 5 seconds. Regeneration Globes lower the Cooldown of this ability by 20 seconds. 120 second cooldown.
• Level 4
  • Ghastly Reach (Q)
    • Moved from Level 7
  • Paralyzing Rage (Q)
    • Moved from Level 7
  • (New) Kneel, Peasants! (Q)
    • Increase the damage of Skeletal Swing to Minions and Mercenaries by 75%
• Level 7
  • Drain Momentum (W)
    • Moved from Level 13
    • No longer grants a movement speed bonus (removes the self-slow)
    • Added Functionality:
      • If Drain Hope lasts the full duration, gain 30% movement speed for 4 seconds
  • Lingering Apparition (E)
    • Removed
  • Willing Vessel (W)
    • ​Moved from Level 4
    • Drain Hope’s healing is increased from 20% to 25% of the target’s maximum Health
    • Added Functionality:
      • If Drain Hope lasts the full duration, immediately heal for an additional 5% of your max health
• Level 13
  • Burning Rage (Passive)
    • Removed
  • Spell Shield (Active)
    • Removed
  • Unyielding Despair (W)
    • Moved from Level 16
    • Cooldown reduction per second Drain Hope is active decreased from 1 to .5 seconds
    • Added Functionality:
      • If you complete a full duration Drain Hope, lower its Cooldown by an additional 3 seconds
  • Hardened Bones (W)
    • ​Moved from Level 4
    • New Functionality:
      • Leoric gains 20 Armor while Drain Hope is active. If Drain Hope lasts the full duration, the Armor remains for 3 seconds
  • (New) Ominous Wraith (E)
    • Wraith Walk lasts 100% longer and lowers the damage of all enemy Heroes passed through by 50% for 4 seconds
• Level 16
  • Renewed Swing (Q)
    • Removed
  • Imposing Presence (Active)
    • Removed
  • Royal Focus (E)
    • Moved from Level 4
    • New Functionality:
      • Increase the damage of your next Skeletal Swing by 50% after using Wraith Walk. Every enemy Hero hit with Skeletal Swing lowers the Cooldown of Wraith Walk by 7 seconds
  • Crushing Hope (W)
    • Moved from Level 13
    • Bonus damage dealt by a full duration Drain Hope increased from 10 to 15% of target’s maximum Health
  • (New) Mithril Mace (Passive)
    • Gain 20% Attack Speed
    • !Quest – Kill Minions and Heroes
    • For every 10 Minions or 1 Hero kill, increase your Attack Speed by an additional 3%, up to a maximum bonus of 30%
• Level 20
  • Hardened Shield (Active)
    • Removed
  • Buried Alive (R)
    • Added Functionality:
      • Enemies inside the Entomb are silenced. The duration of Entomb is lowered from 4 to 3 seconds
  • Death March (R)
    • New Functionality:
      • The attached Drain Hopes are now gain all talent bonuses
  • Spectral Leech (Passive)
    • Leoric’s Basic Attacks deal an additional 2.5% of the targets max HP and heals Leoric for twice that amount
  • (New) Burning Despair (Passive)
    • Deal 40 damage in an area around yourself. Double the damage and area of effect while Drain Hope is active.
  • (New) Shroud of the Dead King (Active)
    • Activate to become Protected for 3 seconds. 75 second cooldown.

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

Collection

New Bundles – The following new Bundles and Skin Packs are available for a limited time!

• Court of the Archlich Bundle
• Kel’Thuzad Heroic Bundle
• Star Lich Kel’Thuzad Skin Pack
• Purple Rage Bundle

New Skins

• Kel’Thuzad
  • Archlich Kel’Thuzad
  • Blightlord Kel’Thuzad
  • Northrend Kel’Thuzad
  • Scourge Kel’Thuzad
  • Star Lich Kel’Thuzad
    • Eternal Star Lich Kel’Thuzad
    • Frost Star Lich Kel’Thuzad
    • Hunter Star Lich Kel’Thuzad
    • Neutron Star Lich Kel’Thuzad

• Jaina
  • Dreadlord Jaina
    • Abyssal Dreadlord Jaina
    • Blighted Dreadlord Jaina
    • Saronite Dreadlord Jaina
    • Unholy Dreadlord Jaina
  • Theramore Jaina
    • Citrine Theramore Jaina
    • Emerald Theramore Jaina
    • Midnight Theramore Jaina
    • Ruby Theramore Jaina
    • Theramore Sorceress Jaina
• Sonya
  • Death Knight Sonya
    • Blighted Death Knight Sonya
    • Unholy Death Knight Sonya
    • Black Knight Sonya
    • Naxxramas Knight Sonya
  • Deathbringer Sonya
    • Abyssal Deathbringer Sonya
    • Plagued Deathbringer Sonya
    • Sanguine Deathbringer Sonya
    • Ymirjar Deathbringer Sonya
• Zagara
  • Crypt Queen Zagara
    • Abyssal Crypt Queen Zagara
    • Blighted Crypt Queen Zagara
    • Saronite Crypt Queen Zagara
    • Sillithus Crypt Queen Zagara
    • Unholy Crypt Queen Zagara
• Alarak
  • Amethyst Highlord Alarak
• Gul’dan
  • Wretched Shadow Council Gul'dan
• Kerrigan
  • Fighting Cheerleader Kerrigan
  • Heartbreaker Cheerleader Kerrigan
• Li-Ming
  • Sapphire Volleyball Li-Ming
• Malfurion
  • Exiled Druid of the Flame Malfurion
• Medivh
  • Magus Medivh the Green
• Raynor
  • Amphibious Commander Raynor
• Probius
  • Terran Probius Red One
  • Terran Probius X1
• Samuro
  • Genius Monkey King Samuro
  • Golden Monkey King Samuro
  • Midnight Monkey King Samuro
• Tyrande
  • Virtuous Blood Elf Tyrande
• Valla
  • Lavender Deputy Valla
• Zul’jin
  • Coral Warbringer Zul'jin
  • Desert Warbringer Zul'jin

Mounts

• The following Mounts have been awarded to players who reached Platinum in Hero League or Bronze in Team League during 2017 Ranked Season 2:
  • Earthbreaker Grizzly
  • Dreambreaker Grizzly
  • Netherbreaker Grizzly
• The following Mounts have been awarded to players who reached Master or higher in Hero League or Team League during 2017 Ranked Season 2:
  • Epic Earthbreaker Grizzly
  • Epic Dreambreaker Grizzly
  • Epic Netherbreaker Grizzly

Bug Fixes

General

• Fixed a number of typo and tooltip errors across several aspects of the game.

Battlegrounds

• Boss: Captured Bosses will now correctly use their area of effect Abilities when attacking down a lane.
• Haunted Mines: Fixed an issue that could cause Heroes to become Invulnerable for a fraction of a second while entering or exiting the Mines.
• Try Mode: Sentinel will now correctly gain bonus damage after completing the Ranger Talent’s quest using the Complete Quests button.

Heroes, Abilities, and Talents

• Stasis: Fixed an issue in which cooldowns for self-cast Stasis effects, such as Ice Block, or Chromie’s Time Out, would not count down until respawn if the Hero was killed immediately after that Stasis effect concluded.
• Arthas: After learning the Shattered Armor Talent, Heroes rooted by Frost Presence’s quest reward will now correctly have their Armor reduced.
• Azmodan: Manually clicking the All Shall Burn Ability will no longer cause a framerate drop.
• Chen: Will no longer gain multiple Freshest Ingredient stacks when collecting a single Regeneration Globe if multiple allied Heroes are nearby.
• Chen: Medivh’s Ley Line Seal can no longer cause Chen and his Storm, Earth, Fire Spirits to exist at the same time.
• Cho: Rune Bomb’s area of effect indicator will no longer visually shrink if Cho’gall was affected by the Shrink Ray Talent while casting Rune Bomb.
• D.Va: Fixed an issue that could cause D.Va to become unresponsive when entering the Dragon Knight or Garden Terror after using Lt. Morales’ Medivac.
• Garrosh: Intimidation will no longer slow non-Heroic enemies’ attack speeds.
• Garrosh: Fixed an issue that could cause Wrecking Ball to fail to throw a target but go on a full cooldown.
• Greymane: Can now correctly cast Go for the Throat a second time after using the Ability to kill D.Va’s Mech.
• Muradin: Haymaker will now properly knock back and damage secondary targets in its path.
• Muradin: Fixed an issue that caused Muradin’s abilities to cast quickly and without animations if queued up during Dwarf Toss.
• Li-Ming: Learning the Zei’s Vengeance and Arcane Orbit Talents will no longer cause Arcane Orb to deal reduced damage at close-range.
• Lt. Morales: Medivac UI will no longer persist on-screen when entering the Medivac as it is destroyed.
• Samuro: Switching places with a Mirror Image will no longer cancel queued commands.
• Samuro: Clicking a control group to select a Mirror Image after learning Illusion Master will no longer cancel active Move Commands being carried out by that Image.
• Stitches: Hook will now cancel abilities that can be channeled while moving, such as Azmodan’s All Shall Burn.
• The Butcher: Floating Combat Text will now correctly display Crit damage dealt by Basic Attacks benefitting from the Brutal Strike Talent.

Sound

• Stukov: Massive Shove’s sound effects will no longer persist after the target is killed or collides with terrain.

User Interface

• Draft Mode: Fixed an issue preventing players from selecting the Lunar Rooster Mount in Draft Lobbies.