Heroes of the Storm news » Heroes of the Storm PTR Notes —October 9, 2017

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General

New Special Event: Hallow's End 2017

• Play 15 games during Hallow’s End in any mode except Custom Games, Training, or Heroes Brawl to earn spooky new items!
• Here are some of the treats you’ll be able to unwrap by completing the three-part quest chain:
  • Part 1: Play 2 Games during Hallow’s End
    • Reward: Cartoon Headless Horseman Spray
  • Part 2: Play 8 Games during Hallow’s End
    • Reward: Hallow’s End Warcrest Banner
  • Part 3: Play 15 Games during Hallow’s End
    • Reward: Headless Horseman Portrait

• 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.
• Hallow's End Loot Chests
  • Once Hallow’s End begins after October 17, all Loot Chests you earn through progression (except Hero-Specific Chests), or purchase using Gems will be replaced with Hallow’s End Loot Chests. Weekly Brawl Rewards after October 20 will also award one Hallow’s End Chest.
  • Also starting with Hallow’s End, special event Loot Chests will now guarantee at least one of the limited-time items from that event—including portraits, sprays, skins, and mounts!
  • Until Hallow’s End concludes during the week of November 13, you’ll pick up one of these limited-time Loot Chests every time you level-up or earn a weekly Heroes Brawl reward. You can also head to the Loot tab in-game to purchase Rare Hallow’s End Chests directly using Gems. Additionally, please note that any Loot Chests you already own prior to the start of the event will not convert to Hallow’s End Chests.

Hotkeys

• The hotkeys to switch between the Stats, Talents, and Death Recap tabs of the leader panel (currently F1, F2, and F3) can now be rebound in the Hotkeys menu.
• These hotkeys now provide quick access to the respective tab of the leader panel when the hotkey is held down.

Windows XP/Vista Deprecation

• In July, we announced our intention to end support for Windows XP and Windows Vista in Heroes of the Storm. With this patch, Heroes of the Storm will no longer run on these two operating systems. Players who are affected by this change are encouraged to upgrade to a newer OS version.

New Hero: Junkrat

The destruction of the Australian omnium left the area an irradiated waste and survivors like Jamison Fawkes were greatly affected by radiation. Now as the explosive-obsessed criminal Junkrat, he is renowned for leaving havoc and bedlam in his wake.

Trait

• Total Mayhem
  • Upon dying, drop 5 grenades that explode after 0.75 seconds, each dealing 250 damage to nearby enemies.

Basic Abilities

• Frag Launcher (Q)
  • Launch a grenade that explodes at the end of its path or upon hitting an enemy, dealing 117 damage to nearby enemies. Grenades can ricochet off of terrain. Deals 50% less damage to Structures. Stores up to 4 charges. Frag Launcher's cooldown replenishes all charges at the same time.
• Concussion Mine (W)
  • Place a mine on the ground. Junkrat's Trait can be activated to detonate the mine, dealing 180 damage to nearby enemies and knocking them back. Junkrat can also be affected by Concussion Mine, but takes no damage. Limit 1 active mine.
• Steel Trap (E)
  • Place a trap on the ground that arms after 2 seconds. Deals 130 damage to the first enemy that walks over it and Roots them for 2 seconds.Limit 1 active trap.

Heroic Abilities

• RIP-Tire (R)
  • Create a motorized bomb with 500 Health that lasts 15 seconds. While active, Junkrat is immobile but gains control of RIP-Tire's movement. RIP-Tire can be reactivated to detonate immediately, knocking nearby enemies back, and dealing 750 damage to enemies in the center of the blast, and 450 damage to enemies outside of the center.
• Rocket Ride (R)
  • Create a motorized bomb with 500 Health that lasts 15 seconds. While active, Junkrat is immobile but gains control of RIP-Tire's movement. RIP-Tire can be reactivated to detonate immediately, knocking nearby enemies back, and dealing 750 damage to enemies in the center of the blast, and 450 damage to enemies outside of the center.

Battlegrounds

Ranked Battleground Rotation Update

• Added to Rotation
  • Sky Temple
  • Garden of Terror
  • Braxis Holdout
• Removed from Rotation
  • Infernal Shrines
  • Battlefield of Eternity
  • Warhead Junction
• The full Ranked Battleground Rotation is now as follows:
  • Cursed Hollow
  • Dragon Shire
  • Haunted Mines
  • Tomb of the Spider Queen
  • Towers of Doom
  • Volskaya Foundry
  • Sky Temple
  • Garden of Terror
  • Braxis Holdout

User Interface

• Seasonal Item indicators have been added to items in Loot Chests and the Collection
• Volskaya Foundry now has a unique “Point Guard” award for time spend standing on the Control Point
• The Event Log is now enabled in the Observer UI

Heroes

Assassin

Gall

Abilities

• Ogre Rage (D)
  • It should now be more apparent when Ogre Rage (D) is active

Genji

Talents

• Level 20
  • The Dragon Becomes Me (R)
    • Duration increase per swing reduced from 1 to .75 seconds

Kel'Thuzad

Abilities

• Frost Blast (R)
  • Cooldown reduced from 80 to 70 seconds
  • Mana cost reduced from 70 to 60

Talents

• Level 4
  • Strip Shields (E)
    • Shield amount increased from 112 to 120
• Level 13
  • Icy Grasp (W)
    • Increased slow duration from 1.5 to 2 seconds
  • Chain-Link (E)
    • Added functionality:
      • Also refunds the Mana cost of Chains Of Kel’Thuzad

Lunara

Abilities

• Wisp (E)
  • Move cooldown reduced from 5 to 1 seconds
  • Number of attacks required to kill the Wisp increased from 1 to 2

Malthael

Abilities

• Reaper’s Mark (Trait)
  • Damage reduced from 2.25 to 2% of enemy Hero maximum Health

Zul'jin

Stats

• Basic Attack Damage reduced from 106 to 90

Abilities

• “You Want Axe?” Baseline Quest added
  • !Quest: Every 5 Basic Attacks against Heroes increases your Basic Attack damage by 1
  • !Reward: After landing 75 Basic Attacks on enemy Heroes, increase your Basic Attack range by 1.1
  • !Reward: After landing 150 Basic Attacks on enemy Heroes, your Twin Cleave will revolve twice
• Grievous Throw (Q)
  • Duration decreased from 8 to 6 seconds
• Twin Cleave (W)
  • Cooldown increased from 8 to 10 seconds
  • Mana cost increased from 50 to 60
• Regeneration (E)
  • Health restoration increased from 25 to 30% of maximum Health

Talents

• Level 1
  • Boneslicer (Q)
    • New functionality:
      • Grievous Throw pierces all enemies and refunds 10 Mana per Hero hit. The effect is no longer is removed after 3 Basic Attacks.
  • You Want Axe? (Passive)
    • Removed
  • Headhunter (Active)
    • Moved from Level 4
    • New functionality:
      • !Quest: Kill all unique enemy Heroes. Each one increases your damage by 2%.
      • !Reward: Increase your Basic Attack range by 1.1.
  • Recklessness (Passive)
    • Moved from Level 7
    • Adjusted functionality:
      • Gain 10% bonus attack damage while below 75% life.
      • Gain 20% Spell Power while below 50% life.
• Level 4
  • Troll’s Blood (E)
    • New functionality:
      • Increases Regeneration healing by 25%. If the effect fully finishes, also gain 10% of your maximum Mana.
  • (New Talent) Amani Rage (Active)
    • Activate to instantly lose 50% of your current Health and regain it over 6 seconds. Gain 10 Armor while this heal is active.
  • Voodoo Shuffle (Active)
    • Moved from Level 13
      • New functionality:
        • Passively lower the cooldown and mana cost of Regeneration by 33%. Activate to remove to all slow and root effects.
• Level 7
  • Vicious Assault (Q)
    • New functionality:
      • Grievous Throw’s bonus damage is increased by 30%.
  • Arcanite Axes (W)
    • Moved from Level 1
    • New functionality:
      • Passively reduce the cooldown of Twin Cleave by 2 seconds.
      • !Quest: Hit enemy Heroes with Twin Cleave.
      • !Reward: Every enemy Hero hit increases the damage of Twin Cleave by .75. This talent has no cap.
  • Ferocity (Passive)
    • Moved from Level 16
• Level 13
  • Eye of Zul’jin (Q)
    • New functionality:
      • Basic Attacks against enemies Heroes increase Zul’jin’s movement speed by 3% for 2 seconds, stacking up to 30%
  • Lacerate (Trait)
    • Moved from Level 16
  • Ensnare (Active)
    • Moved from Level 20
    • Now only hits enemy Heroes
    • Duration reduced from 3 to 1.5 seconds
    • Cooldown increased from 45 to 60 seconds
• Level 16
  • Swirling Death (W)
    • Removed
  • Let the Killing Begin (Passive)
    • Moved from Level 4
  • Wrong Place Wrong Time (W)
    • Moved from Level 7
    • Adjusted functionality:
      • Heroes hit at the apex of your Twin Blades suffer an additional 150 damage and grant 5 stacks of You Want Axe.
  • (New talent) No Mercy (Q)
    • Basic Attacks against Heroes marked with Grievous Throw ignore Armor.
• Level 20
  • Amani Resilience (R)
    • Added functionality:
      • Also increases the duration of Taz’Dingo by 1 second in addition to the current effects.
  • Buzzsaw (R)
    • Added functionality:
      • If Guillotine kills a Hero, instantly heal to full Health.
  • Forest Medicine (E)
    • Moved from Level 13
    • New functionality:
      • Regeneration no longer requires a channel and the heal cannot be interrupted.

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

Specialist

Abathur

Abilities

• Spike Burst (W)
  • Damage increased from 116 to 120
• Ultimate Evolution (R)
  • Cooldown from increased 50 to 70 seconds

Nazeebo

Stats

• Health reduced from 1638 to 1502
• Health Regeneration reduced from 3.4125 to 3.1291

Abilities

• Corpse Spiders (Q)
  • Damage increased from 35 to 36
• Plague of Toads (E)
  • Damage reduced from 20 to 18
• Voodoo Ritual (Trait)
  • Health per stack of Voodoo Ritual increased from 4 to 6
• Ravenous Spirit (R)
  • Cast range increased by 1

Talents

• Level 13
  • Superstition (Passive)
    • New functionality:
      • Gain 40 Spell Armor, taking 40% less damage from Abilities. Basic Attacks from enemy Heroes remove this bonus for 3 seconds
• Level 16
  • Spider Colony (Q)
    • New functionality:
      • Every time a Spider attacks an enemy Hero, reduce the cooldown of Wall of Zombies and Plague of Toads by .25 seconds

Developer Comment: We want to shift more of Nazeebo’s Health into the amount of Voodoo Ritual stacks he has, as the reward for Voodoo Ritual was mostly felt in unlocking Vile Infection at level 20. We’re changing Spider Colony to no longer reduce the cooldown of Corpse Spiders, because the synergy between the Spider Talents were so high that if you picked any one of them the rest of your Talent choices were locked in. Since we are changing the level 16 Talent to now affect Plague of Toads instead of Corpse Spiders, we’re shifting some of the damage out of Plague of Toads into Corpse Spiders. For Superstition, we wanted to get most of the spirit of what the old Talent did, but have more gameplay interactions. Often the only counter play to Superstition lied in what the enemy team composition was, and we’d rather have more counter play relying in decisions made during the course of the game.

Probius

Abilities

• Warp in Pylon (D)
  • Health increased from 380 to 400

Talents

• Level 1
  • Gather Minerals (Passive)
    • Damage bonus increased from 25 to 35%
• Level 13
  • Shield Battery (D)
    • Shield duration after leaving Pylon field reduced from 4 to 2 seconds
    • Shield amount increased from 12 to 14

Zagara

Stats

• Base Maximum Health reduced from 1643 to 1575
• Health regen reduced from 3.4 to 3.3

Abilities

• Devouring Maw (R)
  • Cooldown reduced from 100 to 80 seconds

Support

Ana

Stats

• Basic Attack Damage increased from 30 to 33

Talents

• Level 4
  • Overdose (Passive)
    • Adjusted functionality:
      • No longer applies to Biotic Grenade
      • Sleep Dart now applies 3 Doses to targets hit

Developer Comment: Ana has had an incredibly successful launch into the Nexus, and seems to be falling into a great place balance-wise. We are still light on high-level data for her, so our changes this patch are very light. We realize that she has some synergy concerns and wanted to get a small jump on the largest catalyst to those – Overdose. While playing her internally before launch, we knew she had the potential to single-handedly shift the meta, not to mention increase the amount of double-support we see. Rest assured that we are keeping a close eye on both of these concerns and are prepared to act accordingly if the need arises.

Brightwing

Miscellaneous

• Phase Shift (Z) will now also call out the targeted ally in an allied chat announcement upon activation.

Abilities

• Pixie Dust (E)
  • Spell Armor reduced from 30 to 25
• Emerald Wind (R)
  • Soothing Mist bonus healing amount reduced from 8 to 5%

Talents

• Level 7
  • Phase Shield (Z)
    • Shield amount reduced from 400 to 350

Kharazim

Talents

• Level 1
  • Transcendence (Trait)
    • Healing increased from 96 to 103 per 3 Basic Attacks
  • Insight (Trait)
    • Cooldown reduction increased from 1.5 to 1.75 seconds per 3 Basic Attacks

Lt. Morales

Stats

• Base Maximum Health reduced from 1605 to 1550
• Health regen reduced from 3.34 to 3.23

Talents

• Level 1
  • Clear (E)
    • Cooldown Reduction from first quest unlock reduced from 4 to 3 seconds
• Level 4
  • Blast Shield (E)
    • Shield amount reduced from 8 to 6% of maximum Health
• Level 13
  • Second Opinion (E)
    • Cooldown reduction for hitting 2 Heroes increased from 1 to 2 seconds

Stukov

Stats

• Health from 1682 to 1590
• Health regen from 3.504 to 3.3125

Abilities

• Healing Pathogen (Q)
  • Heal amount reduced from 40 to 37

Talents

• Level 1
  • Spine Launcher (Passive)
    • Damage reduction increased from 30 to 40%
  • Poppin Pustules (D)
    • Added functionality:
      • Now increases the final damage of Weighted Pustule by 50%
• Level 16
  • Superstrain (Q)
    • Added functionality:
      • Now also applies to targets who are Rooted while under the effect of Healing Pathogen
  • Universal Carrier (Q)
    • Heal reduction decreased from 60 to 50%
  • Eye Infection (W)
    • Removed

Warrior

Cho

Abilities

• Ogre Hide (D)
  • It should now be more apparent when Ogre Hide (D) is active.

D.Va

Talents

• Level 1
  • Rush-down (Q)
    • Cooldown reduction for dealing or taking damage increased from 5 to 7 seconds
  • Crash Course (Q)
    • Number of Heroes hit to complete Quest reduced from 25 to 20
  • Pro Moves (Passive)
    • Duration of the Movement Speed bonus increased from 1.25 to 1.5 seconds
• Level 4
  • Diverting Power (W)
    • Movement Speed penalty reduced from 50 to 30%
• Level 7
  • Nuclear Option (E)
    • Damage bonus increased from 50 to 70%
• Level 20
  • Stop and Pop (R)
    • Damage bonus increased from 150 to 200%
  • Concussive Pulse (Active)
    • Cooldown reduced from 8 to 7 seconds

Garrosh

Talents

• Level 20
  • Death Wish (R)
    • No longer increases the duration of Warlord’s Challenge

Johanna

Stats

• Base Maximum Health increased from 2179 to 2350
• Health regen increased from 4.5 to 4.9

Abilities

• Falling Sword (R)
  • Slow duration increased from 2.5 to 3 seconds

Talents

• Level 1
  • Hold Your Ground (D)
    • Additional Shield amount increased from 20 to 30%
• Level 13
  • Roar (Q)
    • Damage for hitting 2 or more Heroes increased from 125 to 150%
  • Blessed Hammer (Active)
    • Damage increased from 80 to 84

Muradin

Stats

• Basic Attack damage reduced from 97 to 88

Abilities

• “It’s Hammer Time!” Baseline Quest added
  • !Quest: Hit 25 enemy Heroes with Storm Bolt. Enemy Heroes who die within 2.5 seconds of being hit by Storm Bolt grant 3 stacks.
  • !Reward: Once you gained 25 stacks, Basic Attacks will reduce the cooldown of Storm Bolt by 1 second, and Storm Bolt will pierce the first target hit, hitting an additional target
• Stormbolt (Q)
  • Mana cost decreased from 60 to 50
• Avatar (R)
  • Mana cost decreased from 100 to 80
• Haymaker (R)
  • Mana cost decreased from 80 to 60

Talents

• Level 1
  • Perfect Storm (Q)
    • No longer reduces the Mana cost of Storm Bolt
• Level 4
  • Crowd Control (W)
    • Removed
  • Sledgehammer (Q)
    • Damage bonus reduced from 400 to 300%
  • Reverberation (W)
    • Attack and Movement Speed slow duration increased from .5 to 1 seconds
  • Thunder Burn (W)
    • Adjusted functionality:
      • Now requires hitting an enemy Hero to create a second Thunder Clap
      • Second Thunder Clap now also applies a 25% Attack Speed slow for 2.5 seconds.
• Level 7
  • Piercing Bolt (Q)
    • Removed
  • Iron-Forged Momentum (Passive)
    • Removed
  • Landing Momentum (E)
    • Removed
  • Heavy Impact (E)
    • Moved from Level 16
  • Give ‘em the Axe! (Passive)
    • Moved from Level 16
    • Bonus damage reduced from 60 to 50%
  • Skullcracker (Passive)
    • No longer grants bonus Attack Speed
    • Added functionality:
      • Every 3rd Basic Attack against an enemy now deals 60% bonus damage in addition to the stun
• Level 13
  • Burning Rage (Passive)
    • Removed
  • Spell Shield (Passive)
    • Removed
  • (New Talent) Bronzebeard Rage (Passive)
    • Passively deal damage to nearby enemies. Auto-attacking an enemy Hero who is stunned, rooted, or slowed increases the damage by 100% for 3 seconds
• Level 16
  • Dwarf Launch (E)
    • Bonus range decreased from 50 to 40%
    • Bonus impact radius removed
    • Added functionality:
      • Hitting an enemy Hero now reduces the cooldown of Dwarf Toss by 3 seconds
  • Stoneform (D)
    • Healing reduced from 40 to 30% of Muradin’s Maximum Health
• Level 20
  • Unstoppable Force (R)
    • New functionality:
      • While Avatar is active you gain 20 Armor and Basic Attacks reduce the cooldown of Thunder Clap and Dwarf Toss by .5 seconds
  • Grand Slam (R)
    • No longer reduces the Mana cost of Haymaker
    • Added functionality:
      • If an enemy Hero dies within 3 seconds of being hit by Haymaker, gain an additional charge of Haymaker

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

Collection

Bug Fixes

General

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

AI

• AI Heroes controlling the Garden Terror will no longer become unresponsive.

Art

• D.Va: The keychain attached to D.Va’s Light Gun will now correctly appear during Hero Select.
• Leoric: Fixed an issue preventing Leoric’s Basic Attack cleave animation from playing when using certain skins.
• Tyrande: The area of effect indicator for Eagle Eye Tyrande’s Lunar Flare should now be more visually apparent when cast on Sky Temple while using Low graphic settings.
• Zeratul: Zeratul’s face mask will no longer appear to stretch in the Collection while using Low graphic settings.

Heroes, Abilities, and Talents

• Brightwing: The channel for Phase Shift will now properly cancel if the allied target dies.
• Brightwing: The channel for Phase Shift will now properly cancel if Brightwing is Rooted.
• Garrosh: Casting Body Check with the Brute Force Talent on a Boss will no longer cause a Healing debuff icon to appear next to its Health bar.
• Garrosh: Fixed an issue causing Body Check to receive less bonus damage than intended after casting Double Up to reach 50 Armor.
• Jaina: Fixed an issue that prevented Summon Water Elemental from being cast on the opposite side of unpathable terrain in areas that are within range and visible to the player.
• Johanna: Fixed an issue causing the Shield Glare to lower the cooldown of the Blinded by the Light talent by an incorrect amount.
• Kel’Thuzad: Shadow Fissure can now be cast on the minimap.
• Kel’Thuzad: Shadow Fissure can now be cast between map levels on the Haunted Mines battleground.
• Leoric: Fixed an issue causing enemy Heroes affected by Leoric’s Entomb ability to lose allied vision after Leoric had chosen the Buried Alive talent.
• Lunara: Fixed an issue preventing Lunara from Leaping over several different friendly units after choosing the Boundless Stride talent.
• Rehgar: Fixed an issue that drastically reduced the attack range of Feral Lunge.
• Stukov: Abilities that move Heroes, like Alarak’s Telekinesis and Stiches’ Hook, no longer remove Weighted Pustule from the affected Hero.
• Valla: Caltrops will no longer display Health bars or selection rings when clicked.

User Interface

• Right clicking a player in your friends list and choosing the Whisper option will once again open the chat input field.
• Score Screen: Counters for Chromie’s Sand Blast and The Butcher’s Fresh Meat quests will now continue to increment on the in-game score screen after reaching their soft caps.
• Score Screen: The counter for Lt. Morales’ Clear! Talent will no longer disappear from the in-game score screen while she is inside a Medivac.