fbpx
Menu Close

Category: Heroes of the Storm

Heroes of the Storm: Update on Artifacts and Talent Unlocks

An update welcome by many on the artifact and talent unlock system was just announced for the Heroes of the Storm alpha.

Quote from: Blizzard

As we’ve mentioned previously, the Heroes of the Storm Technical Alpha is the earliest in a development cycle that we’ve ever invited the community to test one of our games. It’s an opportunity for us to try new ideas in their infancy, and work with all of you to help us make a better game. We’re fortunate to have so many passionate people taking part in testing, and we’d like to take a moment to address your feedback on the artifact and per-hero talent unlocking systems.


Artifacts

Artifacts were designed to provide you with a meaningful way to spend gold, while also providing additional options to customize your heroes. We wanted to test artifacts in the Alpha to find out if the system fulfilled those goals. As testing began, many of you voiced concerns around fairness issues, “correct build” issues, balance, new player tension, and other issues that made it clear that artifacts weren’t working as intended. We agree—those issues started to outweigh the benefits of the system.

As a result, we have decided to remove the artifact system from Heroes of the Storm with a patch scheduled for later today. We will explore different ways to give you fun and compelling options for spending gold, while avoiding the problems that the initial artifact system created. We don’t have any updates on what our future systems may be, but we’ll be sure to keep you informed and look forward to getting your feedback on alternate systems.

Per-Hero Talent Unlocks

We’ve also seen a lot of feedback about changes we made to the talent unlocking system with our most recent patch. Our intention was to gradually expose new players to heroes and their talents, with meaningful progression that could be obtained relatively quickly on a per-hero basis.  Since making this change, many of you have shared your frustration with the time it takes to unlock a hero’s talents.

Beginning with today’s scheduled patch, reaching hero level 4 will be more than three times faster than the original implementation. Unlocking all talents on a hero can be done in as few as three games with friends in versus mode. We hope this will achieve our goals for maintaining gradual talent exposure while lowering the barrier to entry substantially enough to be acceptable to the average player.

Additional feedback revealed that initial talents did not feel as powerful or optimal as later choices. We want all of a hero’s starting talent choices to be useful and viable. We’ll continue striving to meet this goal throughout the alpha, beta, and beyond, and we’d love to hear from you if you’ve got specific feedback on a hero’s starting talents.

Thanks to your feedback and testing efforts, we’ve arrived at changes that will make Heroes of the Storm a better game. We hope you’ll continue to share your feedback with us throughout this phase of testing, and beyond.

GL HF, and we’ll see you in the Nexus!

Developer Insights: The Bloodlust of Rehgar

A nice developer interview has come out about Rehgar, the newest hero in Heroes of the Storm!

Quote from: Blizzard
It’s time for another Designer Insights in which we explore a hero’s design and mechanics. We’ll be chatting with Game Designer Kent-Erik Hagman about the Earthen Ring Shaman himself, Rehgar.
 
Trikslyr: Rehgar is a strong support who can certainly hold his own during combat. After learning the ways of the shaman through Thrall, Rehgar will now join the Nexus. How did the design team create a kit for a hero with a small amount of background lore to pull from?
Kent: So Rehgar’s kit, with respect to his core abilities and Bloodlust, actually all used to be available on Thrall, who was one of our support heroes at BlizzCon 2011. As we kept iterating on design and re-evaluating Heroes of The Storm, Thrall’s kit was set aside. After deciding how we wanted Heroes to play, we started bringing the older heroes back online. From there we received feedback internally from other team members, stating they really wanted to see Thrall laying down the hurt with Doomhammer. But we were really happy with the gameplay of Thrall’s previous kit, and wanted to keep it in our game. We decided to find another great hero that could easily fit the lore and theme of the kit, and Rehgar Earthfury was perfect for our goal. From there it was all about updating the design to our new standards and finding an awesome trait to tie it all together!
Trikslyr: Let’s take a second to look at Rehgar’s trait before diving into the process of the design. Rehgar can turn into a ghost wolf without a channel, allowing him to increase his movement speed instantly. In addition, basic attacks during ghost wolf hit for 100 percent more damage and cause Rehgar to change back to his regular form. What were the intentions of the design team with a different trait compared to what’s available in the Tech Alpha?
Kent: There are times with design, where we have a really strong mechanic for an ability, and we’ll look for ways to get the fantasy to bend to fit the mechanic. Then, there are Rehgar times: when we have an absolutely awesome flavor hit like ghost wolf and will rework the mechanics to fit the awesomeness of the fantasy. We thought it was a really awesome hook, and after playing it, immediately decided we needed to work around it. Oddly enough, it was one of the last pieces added to his kit, and is very defining of his playstyle, as it happened to synergize so well with the positional play of Lightning Shield and Earthbind Totem. As for the attack out of wolf form, it seemed like such a natural fit, and that went through a couple iterations before we settled on its current play.
Trikslyr: There are damage and utility options available for Rehgar in the talent selection screen. He reminds us of Tassadar, in terms of versatility. What are some of the talents players can look forward to when playing Rehgar?
Kent: Our talent designer, Matthew Cooper, knocked it out of the park with Rehgar. He has, in my opinion, one of the most fun talent trees to play with. Rehgar boasts so many options and synergies that you can create with his talent tree. There are games where I go for a full wolf harass build, where I’m using Feral Lunge (Rehgar’s attack from Ghost Wolf leaps at the target and does 200% bonus damage) constantly to poke my enemies, and stealth talents like Shadow Wolf to constantly evade my enemies when I’m running from them. There are games where I’m utilizing Lightning Shield often, and so I elect to grab the free Lightning Shields talent on my totems and double cast them on allies! Lightning for everyone!
Trikslr: Thanks for all the information! It’s time to end this episode of Designer Insights. You know the drill, let’s hear an awesome anecdote from playing Rehgar in the bullpen!
Kent: Rehgar’s second heroic ability, Ancestral Healing, heals a target for a massive amount after a short delay. There was a time (and this is reflected in the Level 20 talent for Ancestral Healing) when the heroic simply healed a target to full health (we were inspired by the Hearthstone card Ancestral Healing, but just couldn’t find a way to give taunt capability to a hero.) Well this was all fun and games until someone decided to take the Dragon Knight. While healing an ally for 15,000 HP in one go was certainly fun for one team, it was apparently not as fun for the other team. So yeah…. we had to change the ability!   A huge thank you Kent-Erik Hagman and the design team for taking time out of their day to chat with us about Rehgar.

Heroes Technical Alpha Patch Notes — July 23, 2014, More Master Skin Videos

Heroes of the Storm is currently in maintenance and a major patch is being applied. A new progression system, a new hero, a new battleground and many changes are being set up in this next alpha build. The list of changes is huge, so check the full list here. However here is the first part of the notes:

Quote from: Blizzard

We’ve brought the Heroes of the Storm service down for a period of extended maintenance today in order to release a brand new patch for the Technical Alpha. Maintenance is ongoing, but don’t worry; we’ll let you know as soon as the Nexus is back online! In the meantime, you can check out complete patch notes below.

Please welcome Rehgar, our latest addition to the Heroes of the Storm roster!

General

Full Translations Coming SoonThe Heroes of the Storm Technical Alpha game client will soon feature full audio and text translations for languages in both the European and Latin American regions. In the coming days, the following languages will be supported:

  • Europe
    • French
    • German
    • Italian
    • Polish
    • Russian
    • Spanish
  • Latin America
    • Spanish
    • Portuguese
  • Be advised that this represents an early pass at audio and text translations for each the languages above. During Tech Alpha testing, players using clients in languages other than English may encounter typos and other translation errors. Please keep in mind that work is ongoing and each language will receive additional polish in the weeks to come.

New Battleground

Heroes_Heroes.05_GardenofTerror_Thumb_700x377.jpg Garden of Terror

a brand new 3-lane Battleground, has been added to Heroes of the Storm and is now available for play in all matchmaking queues!

  • After 90 seconds, Night will fall and Horrors will rise within the garden.
    • Venture into the garden to kill the Horrors and collect the Seeds they drop.
    • Night will persist until all remaining Horrors have been destroyed.
    • Collect 100 Seeds and then return to base to take control of a monstrous Garden Terror!
  • Once unleashed, Garden Terrors can use the following powerful abilities:
    • Spore Queen’s Curse (Q)
      • After a short delay, enemy Heroes in the target area are turned into Plant Zombies for 5 seconds.
      • While in Plant Zombie form, Heroes deal reduced damage, have their Movement Speed reduced by 30%, and become silenced.
    • Plant Horror Overgrowth (W)
      • Disables and damages all enemy structures within a large area as long as the Horror Overgrowth remains alive.
      • Deals heavy damage to Minions within its area of effect.
  • Check out our latest Developer Insights blog, which offers an in-depth look at the design behind the Garden of Terror Battleground.

New Hero Rehgar Earthfury, Shaman of the Earthen Ring,

has been added to Heroes of the Storm and is now available for play! Read on for a brief overview of his abilities, and check out Rehgar’s Hero Week blog for much more information on this powerful new Support Hero.

  • Abilities:
    • Chain Heal (Q)
      • Creates a healing wave that jumps between allies.
    • Lightning Shield (W)
      • Imbue target ally with lightning, causing damage to nearby enemies.
    • Earthbind Totem (E)
      • Spawns a totem that slows nearby enemies.
  • Trait:
    • Ghost Wolf (Z)
      • Instead of using a mount, Rehgar transforms into a Ghost Wolf, increasing his movement speed.
  • Heroic Abilities
    • Bloodlust (R)
      • Stir allies into a frenzy, increasing their Attack and Movement Speeds.
    • Ancestral Healing (R)
      • Significantly heals an allied Hero.

New Master Skin videos have also been put on youtube!

Heroes of the Storm: A Word On Progress Update, Rehgar Enters The Nexus

The announcement of the changes to the progress system that are coming to Heroes of the Storm have lead to quite the discussion. In response a Heroes dev posted some feedback on the forums.

Quote from: Blizzard
Hey everyone,

So, we’ve read through a lot of your initial reactions to Artifacts and Progression System updates that we announced over the last few days. I just wanted to make sure all of you know that we’re here, we’re reading your feedback, and we’re taking your thoughts on these very new systems into consideration.

The Heroes Technical Alpha represents a true milestone for us, because we’ve never invited external players to help us test one of our games this early on during the development process. We’re still in the alpha stage right now, and we’re looking to try out new things, like Artifacts, in order to get a feel for what works, what doesn’t quite work how we’d like, and how we can make changes. Your feedback is critical for getting a feel for how these things will affect the game as a whole, and determining how we’ll move forward.

We’ve already made a number of big changes based on feedback from alpha testers such as yourselves with the Underdog Bonus, adding the ability to earn Gold for each game you complete, and implementing Quest progression/completion for Cooperative mode, to name just a few. We’re still listening, we’re still hoping for lots of feedback, and so far you’ve all been really great about letting us know what you think. We’re really thankful that so many of you are so passionate about helping us make Heroes the great game that we know it can be, so thank you for sending us your thoughts so far.

Because these Progression and Artifact changes are so new, the most helpful feedback you can provide will be feedback based on playtesting after the patch is released. I’d also like to remind you we’re going to be giving out very sizeable amounts of Gold to existing alpha testers with the specific hope that you’ll use it to help us test Artifacts as thoroughly as possible. With these things in mind come patch day, we’re kindly requesting that you really dig into the Progression and Artifact System changes and let us know what you think after you’ve had a few games to really soak it all in. Again, Heroes is in an alpha state, and these systems are brand new! They could totally change in the future — So keep playtesting, and keep sending over your constructive feedback.

As many of you may be aware, our Developer Insights broadcast will go live on Twitch.tv/BlizzHeroes tomorrow at 11:00 a.m. and the development team is going to be there to talk more about our thoughts on the changes mentioned above, and answer your questions. Be sure to tune in, because we’re looking forward to talking more with you then.

See you in the alpha!

Rehgar has been announced as the next new hero! Check out the trailer below, and check out the details here.

And then finally, game director Dustin Browder was interviewed by Gamespot about heroes of the storm, the new hero rehgar and the new battleground Garden of Terror. You can read the full interview here.

HotS: Introducing Artifacts, Hearthstone Naxx Release

Yet another change coming to Heroes of the Storm! This time Artifacts will join the progression system!

Quote from: Blizzard
We recently revealed that the next Technical Alpha patch will bring a number of changes to the Heroes of the Storm out-of-game Leveling System, and today we’d like to introduce another upcoming addition we’re making to the game: Artifacts!

What Are Artifacts?

In addition to all of the upcoming changes recently outlined in our Progression System update blog, Artifacts are a new system we’re introducing. Once a player reaches Player Level 15, they will unlock an Artifact Slot. Within these slots you will be able to place a variety of powerful Artifacts in the form of Gems, Relics, and Trinkets that you can use to further enhance and customize your heroes. This new system will offer players a variety of new and compelling choices to add further depth to their heroes and how you play them, and it will also give you new things to spend your hard-earned Gold on that will further progress your Heroes in a meaningful way.

Unlocking Artifacts and Artifact Slots

Your first Artifact slot, the Gem Artifact Slot, unlocks at Player Level 15, and there are two additional Artifact Slots that you can unlock thereafter by paying Gold. These additional Artifact Slots are known as the Relic and Trinket Artifact Slots. They cost 2,000 Gold each to unlock, and can be purchased in any order.

You can choose up to three Artifacts to bring with you into a match, but you can only select one of each distinct type to fill the corresponding Gem, Relic, or Trinket slots. You can select which Artifacts you would like to use for an upcoming match at the Hero Selection screen, and your most recent Artifact choices will be displayed by default. This will allow you to either continue to use a favorite Artifact combination, or to customize your Artifact choices with a particular Hero or team composition in mind.

A variety of different Gems, Relics, and Trinkets will be available for purchase using Gold, and you will be able to equip, purchase, and upgrade Artifacts directly within the Hero Selection screen.

Upgrading Artifacts

Artifacts and their attributes will also grow stronger as you upgrade their individual Artifact Level, which maxes out at Artifact Level 10. Purchasing the first level of an Artifact will cost you 100 Gold, and each further upgrade will cost you an additional 100 gold. For example, upgrading an Artifact’s rank from Artifact Level 1 to Artifact Level 2 will cost you 200 Gold, and upgrading an Artifact’s rank from Artifact Level 2 to Artifact Level 3 will cost you 300 Gold, and so on up to Artifact Level 9, which will cost 1,000 Gold to upgrade to Artifact Level 10.

Please keep in mind that the development team is still hard at work polishing up the new UI, so it will be iterated on and improved as development continues.

Gems, Relics, and Trinkets, oh my!

Below is a list of some of the exciting new Artifacts you can look forward to in our next Technical Alpha patch!

Gem Slot

Bold Amethyst

  • Increases maximum health by 1.5% per rank, up to a maximum of 15% at Rank 10.

Brilliant Topaz

  • Increases ability damage by 1% per rank, up to a maximum of 10% at Rank 10.

Nexus Sapphire

  • Grants a shield equal to 1% of the Hero’s maximum health per rank, up to a maximum of 10% at Rank 10. (Shields recharge after a player hasn’t taken damage for approximately 8 seconds).

Primal Ruby

  • Increases basic attack damage by 1% per rank, up to a maximum of 10% at Rank 10.

Royal Diamond

  • Reduces cooldowns for abilities by 1% per Rank, up to a maximum of 10% at Rank 10.

Skyfire Emerald

  • Increases speed of basic attacks by 1% per rank, up to a maximum of 10% at Rank 10.

Relic Slot

Alexstraza’s Scale

  • Increases health regeneration by 0.1% of your maximum health per second per rank, up to a maximum of 1% of your maximum health per second at Rank 10.

Nathrezim Blood Orb

  • Basic attack damage dealt restores health by 1% per rank, up to a maximum of 10% at Rank 10.

The Coin

  • Increases mana regeneration by +.1 mana per second per rank, up to a maximum of +1 mana per second at Rank 10.

Worldstone Shard

  • Increases damage vs. minions and structures by 1.5% per rank, up to a maximum of 15% at Rank 10.

Trinket Slot

Goblin Jumper Cables

  • Decreases death timer by 2% per rank, up to a maximum of 20% at Rank 10.

Khaydarin Amulet

  • Increases maximum mana by 4% per rank, up to a maximum of 40% at Rank 10.

Riding Crop

  • Increases Mount Speed by 2% per rank, up to a maximum of +20% at Rank 10.

Wirt’s Leg

  • Increases base movement speed by 0.5% per rank up to a maximum of 5% at Rank 10.

Shiny Rewards Come to Those Who Continue to Participate in the Technical Alpha

In order to reward players for their continued participation in the Technical Alpha, and to help encourage players to test Artifacts and the new progression system, during the next patch we will also be granting Gold to players Level 5 and above based off of their player level.

So keep leveling, and start planning out what Artifacts you want to take out for a test-drive first!

Developer Insights Live: Coming Soon!

Also make sure to join us at Twitch.tv/BlizzHeroes on Tuesday, July 22 at 11:00 a.m. PDT to learn more about a brand new Hero, new Battleground, and a look at the updated Progression System. After this portion of the show, the following members of the Heroes development team will be answering a variety of questions submitted on Twitter/Facebook:

  • Dustin Browder, Game Director
  • Matt Cooper, Game Designer
  • Josh “Rokcet” Rester-Zodrow, Heroes Community Manager

We’d love to hear your questions related to Heroes of the Storm, so be sure to tweet your inquiries to @BlizzHeroes using #HeroesQA right away, and check out our recent Developer Insights Live blog for more info!

Did we mention there will also be a shoutcasted match after the show featuring a new Hero and Battleground?  Make sure to tune in!

Share:

It also seems that Naxxramas for Hearthstone will be going live for all regions at the same time!

Quote from: Blizzard
Just wanted to clarify that this maintenance is not for the Curse of Naxxramas Adventure. We will be turning on Curse of Naxxramas for all regions at the same time some time after this maintenance is complete, but please do not expect Naxxramas to be available immediately following this maintenance.