Heroes of the Storm PTR impressions
Garrosh, another widely requested hero to follow up the perhaps most requested Malthael, has entered the arena in Heroes of the Storm.
Much like his storyline players are already up in arms regarding his abilities and fantasy, but after putting him to the rest in the public test realm, I’m ready to chalk this up as a win.
Garrosh’s core “solo tank” mentality comes from his trait — for every 2% of missing health he he has, gets one armor (1% of mitigated damage). Right there it’s kind of an auto-pilot, a reverse Zul’jin situation if you will. It’s a given that he’s going to take a beating and keep kicking, and that’s before you take any mitigation talents. Oh, he also get’s an unstoppable talent at level 4. He’s a mountain!
Limited by lower damage, he makes up for it with a good crowd control kit out of the gate. He gets two base abilities (a conal pull, like Cho’s heroic, and a flip-cup throw) that can stun or otherwise manipulate enemy positioning, and it gets even sillier if you take the group taunt ultimate. Interrupts are thrown out left and right, which makes a well-placed skillshot all the more satisfying when you’re halting an enemy heroic or channel.
Wrecking Ball is very satisfying to hit and skill-based. It auto-targets the closest enemy (including mobs), and you have to aim its direction, which is tough to get used to on the fly. Think of it like Diablo’s flip with a longer range and a sillier animation. Garrosh’s talent tree also seems very balanced at the moment, with many viable picks at multiple levels.
There’s a debate over whether or not Garrosh’s kit feels like it fits the fantasy but I don’t really care. The game has another really fun solo tank Warrior, and I’m pretty happy about it. With a few games under my belt I’m almost ready to just take the plunge and get him to level 15 (RIP hero skins).
