More personality = more Heroes of the storm
Yes, Heroes of the Storm is still around.
Although I wish the development team had more resources and backing from Blizzard, the team that does remain is doing a fantastic job of keeping everything fresh, delivering new events, mechanical shakeups and hero reworks alongside of a balance patch cadence. I’m still playing it weekly: I never stopped.
And this is a great time to get back into the game actually, because a new PTR patch is completely changing many facets of Heroes, mostly for the better: on paper at least. One of the biggest alterations is the way the core (the final objective you need to destroy in pretty much any MOBA) now works. In short, each individual map will now have a different core ability, all of which line up thematically with the map in question.
So Blackheart’s Bay, a pirate-themed map, will launch cannonballs at you. Garden of Terror, a plant-based zone, will polymorph you into little plants (a nice callback to the way the map used to work). That sort of thing. Over Bro Media has a great rundown of the concept below, where they show off every new interaction. Alterac Pass is omitted as it already has a unique core, as is Towers of Doom, as you never directly attack the core.
Now all of this is part of a “Nexus Anomaly,” an experiment-based change that could be removed if the community doesn’t take to it. But for now, it’s one of the most Heroes-feeling things in recent memory, and I’m including the period when it was fully supported.
You can find a full list of all of the new core abilities below, to match up with the video. As a reminder, all heroes are free-to-play until April 13.
New core abilities:
- Battlefield of Eternity
- Every 8 seconds, the Core will spawn 2 volleys of Frozen Orbs that explode, dealing 5% maximum Health as damage and Rooting enemy Heroes hit for 1.5 seconds.
- Blackheart’s Bay
- Every 4 seconds, the Core will shoot a cannonball at 2 nearby enemy Heroes, dealing 5% maximum Health as damage, slowing them by 70% for 1.5 seconds, and knocking them back.
- Braxis Holdout
- Every 4 seconds, the Core will shoot 5 missiles at a nearby enemy Hero, dealing 5% maximum Health as damage per missile.
- Cursed Hollow
- Every 3 seconds, the Core will spawn a Curse under a nearby enemy Hero. If they are Cursed, they take 5% maximum Health as damage and their Armor is reduced by 75 for 4 seconds.
- Dragonshire
- Every 6 seconds, the Core will throw 2 boulders at a nearby enemy Hero. Heroes hit are turned to stone, damaged for 5% of their maximum Health, and Stunned for 1.75 seconds.
- Garden of Terror
- Every 5 seconds, the Core shoots a seed under a nearby enemy Hero. When the seed explodes, Heroes inside are Polymorphed for 3 seconds.
- Hanamura
- Every 8 seconds, the Core fires 2 volleys of missiles around it, dealing 5% maximum Health to enemy Heroes and slowing them by 70% for 1.25 seconds.
- Infernal Shrines
- Every 8 seconds, the Core will spawn 2 volleys of Frozen Orbs that explode, dealing 5% maximum Health as damage and Rooting enemy Heroes hit for 1.5 seconds.
- Sky Temple
- Every 23 seconds, the Core will spawn 2 sets of 6 tornadoes which swirl around it, dealing 25 damage to enemy Heroes and knocking them back.
- Tomb of the Spider Queen
- Every 5 seconds, the Core will shoot a Death Wave, dealing 5% maximum Health as damage to enemy Heroes and slowing them by 70% for 1.25 seconds.
- Volskaya
- Every 6 seconds, the Core shoots 3 Rocket Fists at nearby enemy Heroes, dealing 150 damage and knocking them back.
- Warhead Junction
- Every 18 seconds, the Core launches a Nuke at a nearby enemy Hero, dealing 30% maximum health to enemy Heroes hit.
