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  1. #1

    Heroes of the Storm Balance Patch Notes – August 23, 2017

    Originally Posted by Blizzard (Blue Tracker)

    We just released a new patch for Heroes of the Storm in order to apply balance changes and a few bug fixes.


    Assassin

    Alarak

    Talents
    • Level 4
      • Negatively Charged (E)
        • Damage bonus increased from 3 to 5%
    • Level 13
      • Blade of the Highlord (Passive)
        • Bonus Sadism increased from 6 to 7%. Cap increased from 30 to 35%


    Illidan

    Abilities
    • The Hunt (R)
      • Cooldown increased from 60 to 100 seconds

    Developer Comment: With his built-in cooldown reduction from Betrayer’s Thirst, we wanted to give his enemies a bit more time to prepare – I’ll bet he didn’t see that coming.


    Kerrigan

    Abilities
    • Ravage (Q)
      • Damage reduced from 228 to 210
    • Impaling Blades (W)
      • Damage increased from 251 to 261
    • Primal Grasp (E)
      • Damage increased from 110 to 114

    Talents
    • Level 1
      • Energizing Grasp (E)
        • Removed

    • Level 7
      • Adaptation (Q)
        • Removed

    Developer Comment: Kerrigan’s win-rate has been at a steady 1-2% climb each patch for the last few months. While she is not demanding picks or bans at the moment, as of last week she was sitting on top of the Nexus. After closely analyzing her numbers, there was nothing standing out as a major reason for her climb upwards. So instead of doing anything massive, we felt it best to do a slight damage redistribution. Moving a small percentage of her Ravage damage into her other abilities will help with some talent pick/win rate issues while also bolstering her skill-shot abilities.


    The Butcher

    Stats
    • Basic Attack damage reduced from 130 to 125
    Abilities
    • Fresh Meat (Trait)
      • Meat from Hero kills reduced from 25 to 20
      • Meat lost on death increased from 10 to 15

    Talents
    • Level 7
      • Insatiable Blade (W)
        • Adjusted functionality:
          • Removed the bonus healing
          • Increased movement speed bonus from 20 to 25%

      • Victuals (Passive)
        • Heal increased from 4 to 5% per minion death

    • Level 16
      • Crippling Slam (Q)
        • Bonus duration increased from 25 to 30%
      • Enraged (Passive)
        • Armor bonus reduced from 25 to 15

    Developer Comment: From inception, The Butcher has had a long healthy life amongst the top 5 win-rate Heroes in the game. Previously this was primarily isolated to Quick Match and his overall play-rate wasn’t high enough for us to have any major concerns. After the newest round of changes, he has stayed true to his name in Quick Match and is beginning to pick up steam in Ranked play. We agreed with the massive amounts of feedback that it felt odd that a Butcher could so willingly trade his life for an enemy kill to progress his quest. These changes to his Meat gain/loss should help bring these situations more in-line, while the talent changes were directed fully at bringing over and under-tuned talents closer to the power level expected at the respective tiers.


    Thrall

    Abilities
    • Chain Lightning (Q)
      • Mana cost reduced from 45 to 40

    Talents
    • Level 1
      • Crash Lightning (Q)
        • Damage per stack increased from 10 to 12
      • Rolling Thunder (Q)
        • Mana return per attack increased from 12 to 15

    • Level 4
      • Mana Tide (Trait)
        • Mana return reduced from 20 to 15

    • Level 16
      • Thunderstorm (Q)
        • Added functionality:
          • Damage from final quest reward now also applies to Chain Lightning bounces


    Zul'jin

    Talents
    • Level 1
      • Boneslicer (Q)
        • Bonus damage increased from 20 to 30%


    Specialist

    Xul

    Abilities
    • Raise Skeleton (Trait)
      • Skeleton health reduced from 270 to 240
    • Skeletal Mages (R)
      • Cooldown increased from 70 to 90 seconds

    Talents
    • Level 7
      • Trag’Oul’s Essence (Trait)
        • Healing reduced from 1% to .5% per Skeleton Basic Attack
        • Mana return increased from .4% to .5% per Skeleton Basic Attack

    • Level 13
      • Echoes of Death (Q)
        • Damage reduced from 70 to 60% of Spectral Scythe’s damage


    Zagara

    Talents
    • Level 16
      • Mutalisk (W)
        • Duration reduced from 45 to 30 seconds


    Support

    Auriel

    Abilities
    • Bestow Hope (D)
      • Hope generation ratio from hitting Heroes increased from 40 to 50%
    • Sacred Sweep (Q)
      • Outer damage reduced from 80 to 60
      • Center damage increased from 160 to 180
    • Detainment Strike (E)
      • Initial damage reduced from 115 to 58
      • Stun damage increased from 115 to 174
    • Resurrect (R)
      • Cooldown reduced from 120 to 100 seconds

    Talents
    • Level 7
      • Bursting Light (W)
        • Removed

    Developer Comment: These changes are designed to reduce the reliance that Auriel has upon a hyper-carry style character to be an effective healer.* By increasing the amount of Hope that she can generate but removing Bursting Light and its ability to reduce the cooldown of Ray of Heaven, Auriel will have more consistent healing output regardless of who is currently Bestowing Hope.* We’re also reducing the damage that Auriel does on average by gating it behind getting the most of her Basic Abilities.* By reducing the synergy that Auriel has with a single massive source of damage and reducing her damage output, we hope to make her less common in double support team compositions.


    Lúcio

    Stats
    • Base Maximum Health increased from 1380 to 1518
    • Health Regen increased from 2.86 to 3.16


    Tassadar

    Stats
    • Basic Attack Damage reduced from 15 to 14
    • Based Maximum Health reduced from 1426 to 1355
    • Health regen reduced from 2.97 to 2.8
    Talents
    • Level 1
      • Khaydarin Resonance (Passive)
        • Bonus Mana from Regen Globes increased from 50 to 100%


    Tyrande

    Talents
    • Level 4
      • Celestial Attunement (Q)
        • Added functionality:
          • Also removes Silences
      • Kaldorei Resistance
        • Max Spell Armor stacks reduced from 4 to 3

    • Level 13
      • Empower (W)
        • Added functionality:
          • Also lowers the base cooldown of Sentinel by 4 seconds

      • Harsh Moonlight (W)
        • Slow amount reduced from 30 to 25%
        • Damage reduction amount from 30 to 25%


    Uther

    Abilities
    • Eternal Vanguard (Trait)
      • Armor for healing allies with Basic Abilites reduced from 25 to 15
    • Holy Light (Q)
      • Healing increased from 360 to 380
      • Self-healing increased from 180 to 190
    • Holy Radiance (W)
      • Healing and damage increased from 160 to 185

    Talents
    • Level 1
      • Wave of Light (W)
        • Bonus duration to Armor buff on Quest Completion reduced from 1 to .5 seconds
        • Mana return reduced from 8 to 5 per Hero hit

    • Level 4
      • Holy Fire (Passive)
        • Damage reduced from 16 to 14 per second

    Developer Comment: We’ve found that by increasing the niche of Uther, players could easily build teams with 2 Supports that were incredibly difficult to counter, thereby creating a slow gameplay trend that could be frustrating to play against.* We think it’s great to see double support every once in a while, but Uther enabled it too well when paired with almost any other healer.* By reducing the Armor he grants via his Trait and getting a little more healing throughput, Uther should feel slightly more well-rounded.


    Warriors

    Chen

    Stats
    • Base Maximum Health reduced from 2550 to 2473
    • Health regeneration reduced from 5.31 to*5.15
    Talents
    • Level 7
      • Refreshing Elixir (Passive)
        • Removed
      • Purifying Brew (Passive)
        • Moved from Level 20
        • Cooldown increased from 10 to 45 seconds

    • Level 16
      • Flying Leap (Q)
        • Bonus range reduced from 20 to 15%


    Garrosh

    Abilities
    • Warlord's Challenge (R)
      • Taunt duration increased from 1.5 to 2 seconds

    Talents
    • Level 1
      • Unrivaled Strength (E)
        • Increased throw range from 20 to 30%, and bonus damage from 100 to 125%

    • Level 4
      • In for the Kill (W)
        • Increased bonus damage from 60 to 70%

    • Level 7
      • Into the Fray (Active)
        • No longer costs Mana


    Bug Fixes
    Heroes, Abilities, and Talents
    • Auriel: Resurrecting Uther before Eternal Vanguard expires will no longer prevent him from respawning.
    • Cassia: Casting Fend on a target who is near a wall will no longer cause her to path in unintended directions before the Ability fires.
    • Genji: Fixed an issue that prevented Fort attacks from slowing Genji’s Movement and Attack Speeds if he had Dodge stacks remaining.
    • Kharazim: Fixed an issue that could cause Kharazim to dash to unexpected locations after casting Radiant Dash.
    • Tassadar: Fixed an issue causing some Attack Speed modifier effects, such as Xul’s Cursed Strikes, to persist indefinitely if the effect expired during Dimensional Shift.
    • Xul: Waiting 4 or more seconds to attack after activating Cursed Strikes will no longer cause the Ability’s visual effects to out of sync with Xul’s attack animations
    • Tychus: In the Rhythm Talent will now correctly display quest progress on the in-game Score Screen’s Talents tab.
    User Interface
    • Emojis: Sending an “Embarrased” Emoji (:oops:) as Garrosh, or while he is selected for play, will now correctly display the Garrosh Embarrased Emoji if the player owns the corresponding Emoji pack.

    ---------------------

    Blizzard has offered additional insight into the thoughts behind the changes in this update:

    Originally Posted by Blizzard (Blue Tracker)
    Hi friends!

    There seems to be a lot of questions, confusion, and misunderstanding about the balance patch that hit yesterday, and for that I apologize. As balance designers, we are constantly juggling game data, Hero feel, and player perception. Sometimes these all come to a harmonious conclusion, but the vast majority of the time we have to make sacrifices for what we feel is for the betterment of the game.

    Chen, Kerrigan, and Butcher were all well outside of our win-rate bounds (45% - 55%) in all modes of play and at all MMR bands. That said, sometimes that is okay and we often justify leaving Heroes outside of bounds for many reasons: sometimes to feel out a trend or meta-shift, sometimes we just need more information on where to address the problem, and sometimes just because they are so niche and/or hard-to-play. Yesterday's patch had a swath of small numerical changes to tighten up these outliers - at the moment we have a handful of over-performing Heroes and very few under-performing ones (which is great!), but that means that there were more nerfs given out than usual. Nobody likes to see Heroes get nerfed (yes, not even us), but it is a necessary evil while balancing such a dynamically shifting game.

    We understand and sympathize with your feedback and had a meeting yesterday to discuss a lot of the same issues you guys are bringing up - most notably:
    • When is it okay to keep a Hero outside of our normal bands? Are we doing it enough or should we loosen up the standards?
    • When we need to make these kinds of changes to Heroes, are there other additions we can make to both bring them into acceptable bounds while also increasing their popularity?

    We appreciate all the feedback and discussion you guys have offered on the patch. Thank you for your passion and please continue to use your voices - we are very actively listening.
    Originally Posted by Blizzard (Blue Tracker)
    I think there's a bug in the way they nerfed the Chen Flying Leap talent. The talent's 1.15 value is set to be additive, not multiplicative; it just so happened that the old 1.2 value is also 20% of the 6 range, so the result was the same either way the modifier behaved. Now that they've lowered the value, it makes a difference, as obviously 6 + 1.15 = 7.15, not 6.9.

    You, my friend, are correct. Great catch!
    When making this change I failed to change the type from 'Flat Modification' to 'Multiply Level Modification'. The incoming nerf to Flying Leap is much smaller than anticipated - will fix.
    Originally Posted by Blizzard (Blue Tracker)
    So, since Chen's health has been nerfed (again) with this patch, is there any chance we could get some armor on Wandering Keg? I imagine peel and displacement is its intended design purpose, but it's totally unreliable for anything other than single picks or escapes now because of its propensity to get Chen blown up.

    Oh, and if his health was nerfed because you noticed an inflation in winrate & survivability over the past couple weeks, it's because freshest ingredients is granting an extra globe for every friendly body in lane.

    Also, he's been steady as the lowest winrate in QM (other than Medivh) because he's not classified as a bruiser. Please fix?


    I can promise you that we keep a close eye on all our Heroes, Chen included. The Freshest Ingredients bug has been fixed in an upcoming patch and we are actively looking for other ways to increase his popularity without making him overbearing to play against!
    Originally Posted by Blizzard (Blue Tracker)
    Hey! Arcane Orb's damage gains from distance will be multiplicative with Spell Power in the Kel'thuzad patch.
    Last edited by Nerraw; 2017-08-25 at 10:13 PM.

  2. #2
    Deleted
    Now - finally - we won't be seeing Chen and Kerrigan banned and played 24/7. Tassadar joins Medivh and Genji in the 'only usable by pros' bracket. And Uther rather gets changed than nerfed even after sitting on top of the support food chain for ages.

    Overall, even with some neutral and some good changes, a pitiful patch.

  3. #3
    Pit Lord RH92's Avatar
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    This patch makes no sense.

    Nerfing melee Assassins while Bruisers are running around with slightly less damage, but more CC and survivability.

    The meta wasn't stale enough already, right?

  4. #4
    Chen nerfs? Really? Wow...

  5. #5
    The Insane apepi's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by Senel View Post
    Chen nerfs? Really? Wow...
    A dozen of us play him...Just a dozen.
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  6. #6
    Quote Originally Posted by Senel View Post
    Chen nerfs? Really? Wow...
    He has a decent win rate, but that probably doesn't justify a nerf. His numbers are probably bumped up by Chen mains and being picked in very specific situations.

    I think Malthael Q build should have gotten a nerf. He's still to strong.

  7. #7
    Deleted
    This changes for Butcher... is this a joke or what? One more patch like that and we will have 3 Bruisers meta.
    Last edited by mmocef085f1823; 2017-08-23 at 10:24 PM.

  8. #8
    Yeah that Chen nerf is weird. Hardly ever I see him in HL, and even if I do, then he isn't amazing.

    Also lol at Zuljin lvl 1 Q talent buff. No one is ever going to pick it over "you want axe?"...

  9. #9
    Titan Charge me Doctor's Avatar
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    Still waiting for a reason to pick starfall on Tyrande, wink wink. Buff plox

    - - - Updated - - -

    Quote Originally Posted by melzas View Post
    Yeah that Chen nerf is weird. Hardly ever I see him in HL, and even if I do, then he isn't amazing.

    Also lol at Zuljin lvl 1 Q talent buff. No one is ever going to pick it over "you want axe?"...
    I rarely see Chen too, but when i do - i wish i banned him. It's just obnoxious piece of not dying meat that can't be removed from battlefield and is constant danger due to range of his bodyblocking leap. I seriously need to learn to play him

    - - - Updated - - -

    Quote Originally Posted by Keyleight View Post
    This changes for Butcher... is this a joke or what? One more patch like that and we will have 3 Bruisers meta.
    3 bruiser meta will never happen after Kel'thuzad release.

    I am surprised to not see Alarak telekinesis nerf, in comps with a single tank it's just impossible to win against. Well i guess i now have another excuse to pick Tyrande in these situations to remove fucking silence AND stun when tank gets "hooked" by Alarak and beaten up by whole enemy team
    Last edited by Charge me Doctor; 2017-08-24 at 04:28 AM.
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  10. #10
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    Quote Originally Posted by Amerrol View Post
    He has a decent win rate, but that probably doesn't justify a nerf. His numbers are probably bumped up by Chen mains and being picked in very specific situations.

    I think Malthael Q build should have gotten a nerf. He's still to strong.
    He's very good in the exact situation that the enemy team has absolutely zero stuns, knockbacks, interrupts, or really any form of CC.

    Then he can basically do whatever he wants.

    Unfortunately that situation doesn't come up very often for Chen.
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    Quote Originally Posted by Wells View Post
    Kaleredar is right...
    Words to live by.

  11. #11
    Titan Charge me Doctor's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by Kaleredar View Post
    He's very good in the exact situation that the enemy team has absolutely zero stuns, knockbacks, interrupts, or really any form of CC.

    Then he can basically do whatever he wants.

    Unfortunately that situation doesn't come up very often for Chen.
    Chen is a tank, he can take bunch of stuns and survive, especially if you consider that he is not alone on his team and probably has Uther on his side. And if a tank is required a lot of CC to be killed - it's already a win, because your KT or Jaina will be so joyful to see all this CC fly towards Chen instead of them.

    And recently i've meet a serious cancerous group of two high diamond players who picked Medivh and Chen. I thought they were trolling, but they won the game, basically, without our assistance. Enemy literally couldn't lock them both down
    Quote Originally Posted by Urban Dictionary
    Russians are a nation inhabiting territory of Russia an ex-USSR countries. Russians enjoy drinking vodka and listening to the bears playing button-accordions. Russians are open- and warm- hearted. They are ready to share their last prianik (russian sweet cookie) with guests, in case lasts encounter that somewhere. Though, it's almost unreal, 'cos russians usually hide their stuff well.

  12. #12
    Really they changed in my opinion alaraks least two picked talents. I couldn't help but chuckle at this change. The bonus healing being removed from insatiable blade for butcher i fined is a bit disheartening and the blood change since i enjoy getting his quest completed a lot earlier in the game. Sucks to see that change to butcher but guess its adapt or die situation.

  13. #13
    Butcher nerfs don't make any sense. The entire point is to shut him down early or he scales late. Now he just won't be played at all anymore

  14. #14
    I don't get the Kerrigan changes, the level 1 talent was shit, sure, no problem removing it. Nerfing a relatively weak talent that was pretty much just picked for the Falstad trick/for fun, I don't agree but I kinda get it. Nerfing her Q and buffing her W to make her more combo reliant and remove her ability to efficiently clear objecive camps (which is the main reason people even pick her)? Yeah, fuck that.

    I don't get the Chen nerfs either, they take a level 20 talent, nerf the christ out of it and place it on a tier that has a comparable talent? Okay... Then again, I never play/see Chen so what do I know.

  15. #15
    Pit Lord RH92's Avatar
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    What pisses me off about that patch is it doesn't solve anything.

    Uther changes doesn't really affect anything when it comes to solo support priority and Auriel needed nerf to her output when paired with strong hyper carry.

    On the other hand Illidan becomes slightly meta for a week or two because he can deal with Dehaka, he immediately is nerfed. Additional 40 sec cooldown is way too much, but I agree it needed a slight nerf as he can still mount. However it drives me nuts Dehaka can race across map and rotate as fast as if he had mount if there are enough bushes.

    Same goes for Butcher, immediately nerfed after a week of fun. Kerrigan nerfs? I get it, it felt broken from time to time, but it definitely wasn't what needed a change right now.

    It doesn't affect meta at all, we are still going to see Genji, Greymane, Anub, Auriel, Uther and Tassadar as main ingredients. Everything else in the meta is either a overtuned Bruiser, enabled hyper Carry or Malthael that counters double Warrior. I even dare to say you can also add Medivh to the list.

  16. #16
    They added developer comments to the Butcher and Kerrigan changes. I'll get them added to the OP as soon as I get to my computer.

  17. #17
    Quote Originally Posted by RH92 View Post
    What pisses me off about that patch is it doesn't solve anything.

    Uther changes doesn't really affect anything when it comes to solo support priority and Auriel needed nerf to her output when paired with strong hyper carry.

    On the other hand Illidan becomes slightly meta for a week or two because he can deal with Dehaka, he immediately is nerfed. Additional 40 sec cooldown is way too much, but I agree it needed a slight nerf as he can still mount. However it drives me nuts Dehaka can race across map and rotate as fast as if he had mount if there are enough bushes.

    Same goes for Butcher, immediately nerfed after a week of fun. Kerrigan nerfs? I get it, it felt broken from time to time, but it definitely wasn't what needed a change right now.

    It doesn't affect meta at all, we are still going to see Genji, Greymane, Anub, Auriel, Uther and Tassadar as main ingredients. Everything else in the meta is either a overtuned Bruiser, enabled hyper Carry or Malthael that counters double Warrior. I even dare to say you can also add Medivh to the list.
    I agree, Dehaka is just too good with no drawbacks on most maps. And Greymane/Genji/Valla are so strong/safe in comparison to their brethren there's little reason to pick another ranged Assassin if you're tryharding.

  18. #18
    OP updated with the added developer comments for Butcher and Kerrigan.

    - - - Updated - - -

    JHow shares his thoughts on the balance patch:


  19. #19
    LOL more butcher nerfs

    Keep coming blizz , Ensure that I will never touch this hero ever again

    Seriously people whining about Butcher being op , Let me tell you one thing I got to 480 meat ONCE , And I still lost ... Wonna know why ? Sticking together The enemy team just became tough for a moment like "it's enough , now we will focus you down" even a 0.5 stun was enough to lock me down

  20. #20
    Blizzard has offered additional insight into the thoughts behind the changes in this update:

    Originally Posted by Blizzard (Blue Tracker)
    Hi friends!

    There seems to be a lot of questions, confusion, and misunderstanding about the balance patch that hit yesterday, and for that I apologize. As balance designers, we are constantly juggling game data, Hero feel, and player perception. Sometimes these all come to a harmonious conclusion, but the vast majority of the time we have to make sacrifices for what we feel is for the betterment of the game.

    Chen, Kerrigan, and Butcher were all well outside of our win-rate bounds (45% - 55%) in all modes of play and at all MMR bands. That said, sometimes that is okay and we often justify leaving Heroes outside of bounds for many reasons: sometimes to feel out a trend or meta-shift, sometimes we just need more information on where to address the problem, and sometimes just because they are so niche and/or hard-to-play. Yesterday's patch had a swath of small numerical changes to tighten up these outliers - at the moment we have a handful of over-performing Heroes and very few under-performing ones (which is great!), but that means that there were more nerfs given out than usual. Nobody likes to see Heroes get nerfed (yes, not even us), but it is a necessary evil while balancing such a dynamically shifting game.

    We understand and sympathize with your feedback and had a meeting yesterday to discuss a lot of the same issues you guys are bringing up - most notably:
    • When is it okay to keep a Hero outside of our normal bands? Are we doing it enough or should we loosen up the standards?
    • When we need to make these kinds of changes to Heroes, are there other additions we can make to both bring them into acceptable bounds while also increasing their popularity?

    We appreciate all the feedback and discussion you guys have offered on the patch. Thank you for your passion and please continue to use your voices - we are very actively listening.

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