1. #1

    Heroes of the Storm Patch Notes – February 21, 2018

    Originally Posted by Blizzard Entertainment

    We’ve just released a patch to the live servers in order to implement Voice Communication, as well as apply some balance updates and bug fixes.


    General
    Voice Communication
    • Voice Communication has been added to Heroes of the Storm! Read the Voice Communication blog for more information about how to use it in-game.


    Heroes

    Assassin

    Maiev

    Stats
    • Health reduced from 2236 to 2150
    • Health Regeneration reduced from 4.66 to 4.48

    Abilities
    • Vault of the Wardens (Trait)
      • Cooldown increased from 8 to 9 seconds
    • Fan of Knives (Q)
      • Damage reduced from 170 to 162

    Talents
    • Level 16
      • Armored Assault (Passive)
        • Damage bonus reduced from 25% to 20%
      • Vengeful Knives (E)
        • Bonus damage per Hero hit increased from 1% to 1.2%

    Developer Comment: The changes we released on January 9 helped bring Maiev’s win-rate down to mortal levels, but she was still a bit too powerful, overall. Today’s changes are aimed at slightly lowering both her survivability and burst damage throughput. Our data is showing the majority of her Talents are in healthy spots, but we will keep an eye on them as players start adapting to certain playstyles.


    Malthael

    Abilities
    • Soul Rip (Q)
      • Mana cost increased from 20 to 25
      • Healing reduced from 36 to 25 per target hit
      • Healing from Heroic targets increased from 3% to 4% of the Hero’s maximum Health
    • Tormented Souls (R)
      • Cooldown reduced from 100 to 80 seconds

    Talents
    • Level 4
      • Die Alone (Q)
        • Damage bonus reduced from 75% to 50%
    • Level 16
      • Soul Collector (Q)
        • Bonus range reduced from 50% to 25%

    Developer Comment: Malthael was designed to be powerful in the solo lane, but his dominance in the game’s early laning phase was unrivaled. We’re reducing this by making him heal less when Soul Ripping Minions, but increasing his Hero-only healing so that he can still keep himself alive in late-game team fights. We’re also reducing the power of Die Alone and increasing his Mana tension to taper some of his early game power. By increasing Soul Rip’s Mana usage, we’re also reducing some of the power Malthael had when double-soaking lanes (especially when combined with On a Pale Horse), as he tends to use Soul Rip twice as often when doing so. The overall goal is to reduce the power of a few particularly dominating builds, while making sure that he still feels powerful past the early game.


    Thrall

    Abilities
    • Chain Lightning (Q)
      • Bounce range increased by 20%


    Zeratul

    Abilities
    • Cleave (Q)
      • Damage increased from 200 to 212
    • Singularity Spike (W)
      • Damage increased from 228 to 240
    • Void Prison (R)
      • Mana cost reduced from 100 to 80
    • Might of the Nerazim (R)
      • Basic Attack damage bonus reduced from 40% to 30%

    Developer Comment: These tuning changes are meant to redistribute Zeratul’s damage while also giving him a slight buff. Zeratul should now be a bit stronger during the earlier portions of the game if he takes Might of the Nerazim, but should have less opportunity cost if he chooses to take Void Prison, instead.


    Specialist

    Xul

    Stats
    • Health increased from 1900 to 2000
    • Health Regeneration increased 3.957 to 4.168
    • Basic Attack damage increased from 104 to 110
    Abilities
    • Raise Skeleton (Trait)
      • Skeletal Warrior Health reduced from 240 to 225
      • Skeletal Warrior damage reduced from 23 to 21
    • Bone Prison (E)
      • Cooldown reduced from 12 to 10 seconds
      • Mana cost reduced from 80 to 70

    Talents
    • Level 7
      • Trag’Oul’s Essence (Trait)
        • Mana restoration per Skeletal Warrior attack reduced from 0.5% to 0.2% of Xul’s maximum Mana

    Developer Comment: We like that Xul is a strong pushing Hero who has an identity as a great duo-lane soaker, but believe that his identity has been pushed too far into this role, and we would like to see him have more presence in team fights. We’re making adjustments to push him in this direction by buffing his base stats and toning down his split-push potential.


    Support

    Tyrande

    Abilities
    • Light of Elune (Q)
      • Cooldown reduced from 12 to 11 seconds


    Warrior

    Sonya

    Stats
    • Basic Attack damage reduced from 88 to 84
    Talents
    • Level 7
      • Poisoned Spear (Q)
        • Damage reduced from 125% to 100% of Ancient Spear’s damage.
    • Level 16
      • Nerves of Steel (Active)
        • Duration reduced from 5 to 3 seconds
        • Shield amount reduced from 30% to 25% of Maximum Health
        • Cooldown reduced from 70 to 60 seconds

    Developer Comment: We originally applied these adjustments in a patch on January 24, but Sonya was so eager to get back into battle that she forgot to take them with her. We're giving these changes back to the Barbarian, and have (politely) asked her to remember to bring them along the next time she leaps into the fray.


    Bug Fixes
    Heroes, Abilities, and Talents
    • Diablo: Lightning Breath sound effects will no longer stop playing before the Ability is finished channeling.
    • Junkrat: Heroes killed by Concussion Mine will no longer respawn at their death location and then slide across the Battleground.
    • Junkrat: Issuing movement commands during Rocket Ride will no longer cause Junkrat to become separated from his Mount.
    • Junkrat: Movement commands that the player did not issue will no longer appear on the terrain in front of RIP-Tire’s model.
    • Junkrat: Targeting unpathable terrain with Rocket Ride will no longer cause Total Mayhem Grenades to visually persist on the Battleground.
    • Junkrat: Concussion Mine can no longer displace Leoric from Wraith Walk’s starting location if the Mine is detonated in the same moment that Wraith Walk ends.
    • Li Li: After learning the Lighting Serpent Talent, Cloud Serpent attacks that are bouncing to additional targets when the Ability expires will now correctly deal damage.
    • Lt. Morales: The tooltip for the Healing Beam icon next to Lt. Morales’ in-game portrait will now correctly display the Ability’s cooldown duration.
    • Malfurion: An ally who is affected by multiple Regrowths will now be correctly healed by Moonfire and have Stuns, Roots, and Slows removed by Nature’s Cure.
    • Movement Abilities: Certain movement-based Abilities, like Greymane’s Dark Flight or Chen’s Flying Kick, will no longer fail to move the Hero toward a target currently affected by Varian’s Taunt or Garrosh’s Warlord’s Challenge.
    • Sgt. Hammer: Can now correctly deploy Biotic Emitters on Volskaya Foundry while in Siege Mode.
    • The Butcher: Fixed an issue that prevented The Butcher from collecting Meat while piloting the Triglav Protector, Dragon Knight, or Garden Terror.

  2. #2
    This might make Crash Lightning harder to do for Thrall? I don't think (99% sure) it prioritizes closest enemies, so having it be able to jump back to PvE stuff from even further might make it more difficult. Or maybe not.

    Maiev nerfs seem really harsh for a hero they call "a bit too powerful", guess we'll see where she'll end up.

  3. #3

  4. #4
    Hey, remember when that Malthael “rework” was supposed to kill him as a solo laner? How about this? Is he dead now too?

  5. #5
    Lol xul skellie nerfs

    They were non factors to begin with with the tower changes.
    "It's 2013 and I still view the internet on a 560x192 resolution monitor!"

  6. #6
    Deleted
    Tracer first ban/first pick throughout Western Clash (and 55%+ in HL), their 2.7k viewers won't include me this time. I'll probably finish TL placements, then done with the game for the time being. Downloading DOTA for the first time since it was a Warcraft III mod.

  7. #7
    Deleted
    They're happy where Xul is at the moment? He's a living meme ffs

  8. #8
    Immortal Nikkaszal's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by flexks View Post
    They're happy where Xul is at the moment? He's a living meme ffs
    The post literally says "Xul is pigeonholed as a split push lane camper so we wanna change that" and buffed his health, damage and E to increase his teamfightability.

    What post are you looking at?

    - - - Updated - - -

    Quote Originally Posted by Fabray View Post
    Hey, remember when that Malthael “rework” was supposed to kill him as a solo laner? How about this? Is he dead now too?
    Fucking called it in the other thread before the patch. Basically unkillable in lane in a 1v1
    Last edited by Nikkaszal; 2018-02-22 at 07:15 PM.
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  9. #9
    Immortal Frozen Death Knight's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by ophion1990 View Post
    This might make Crash Lightning harder to do for Thrall? I don't think (99% sure) it prioritizes closest enemies, so having it be able to jump back to PvE stuff from even further might make it more difficult. Or maybe not.

    Maiev nerfs seem really harsh for a hero they call "a bit too powerful", guess we'll see where she'll end up.
    It will be easier. On certain maps where you pile up more often (i.e. Volskaya or BoE), the extra range will nearly guarantee a stack now, making the talent stack up quite fast. Another thing people need to learn is that you can get stacks on Heroes when they are in a minion wave, but you first need to kill some of them for the lightning to jump to nearby Heroes. It also stacks faster if you hit Heroes from a certain position in a group, since the Chain Lightning jumps aren't 100% random. It's a lot of subtle micromanaging you have to do to get those stacks.

    - - - Updated - - -

    Quote Originally Posted by Nikkaszal View Post
    Fucking called it in the other thread before the patch. Basically unlikable in lane in a 1v1
    I am sure someone in the Nexus loves him though.

    Joking aside, it is kind of funny how much doom and gloom surrounded the Malthael changes. The moment I saw that his AAs now cleaved, it was only a question of how much they needed to nerf him to dial him back. His waveclear is the best I have seen in the game period and is only rivaled by Blaze with Incinerator Gauntlets at lvl 7, yet he also brings a deadly single target option with a buffed Last Rites. If Malthael hadn't got some damage and healing nerfs, we would have likely experienced another Maiev 65%+ win rate scenario.
    Last edited by Frozen Death Knight; 2018-02-22 at 06:43 PM.

  10. #10
    Immortal Nikkaszal's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by Frozen Death Knight View Post
    I am sure someone in the Nexus loves him though.
    Damn phone auto-correct!
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  11. #11
    Pit Lord RH92's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by Frozen Death Knight View Post
    I am sure someone in the Nexus loves him though.

    Joking aside, it is kind of funny how much doom and gloom surrounded the Malthael changes. The moment I saw that his AAs now cleaved, it was only a question of how much they needed to nerf him to dial him back. His waveclear is the best I have seen in the game period and is only rivaled by Blaze with Incinerator Gauntlets at lvl 7, yet he also brings a deadly single target option with a buffed Last Rites. If Malthael hadn't got some damage and healing nerfs, we would have likely experienced another Maiev 65%+ win rate scenario.
    The only reason why he remains viable is thanks to Die Alone making him stand a chance in lane (He loses 90% matchups without it) and Last Rites being rather sneaky finishing move.

    The changes made him more fun to play, but they don't make zero sense with reasoning they provided. I mean, they nerf his baseline kit just to buff talent so he doesn't lose his place in the game to promote build diversity?

  12. #12
    Immortal Frozen Death Knight's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by RH92 View Post
    The only reason why he remains viable is thanks to Die Alone making him stand a chance in lane (He loses 90% matchups without it) and Last Rites being rather sneaky finishing move.

    The changes made him more fun to play, but they don't make zero sense with reasoning they provided. I mean, they nerf his baseline kit just to buff talent so he doesn't lose his place in the game to promote build diversity?
    Disagree. Die Alone allows him to completely dominate the solo lane because of how the laning phase works. The best thing you can do at that point is freeze the lane next to your towers, since you will not trade even in terms of damage and wave clear with most of the solo laning Heroes.
    Last edited by Frozen Death Knight; 2018-02-23 at 06:00 PM.

  13. #13
    Quote Originally Posted by Frozen Death Knight View Post
    It will be easier. On certain maps where you pile up more often (i.e. Volskaya or BoE), the extra range will nearly guarantee a stack now, making the talent stack up quite fast. Another thing people need to learn is that you can get stacks on Heroes when they are in a minion wave, but you first need to kill some of them for the lightning to jump to nearby Heroes. It also stacks faster if you hit Heroes from a certain position in a group, since the Chain Lightning jumps aren't 100% random. It's a lot of subtle micromanaging you have to do to get those stacks.
    Yeah, I know there's some situations where I stacked near a wave because I knew hitting the furthest hero would guarantee a hit on the second hero before it'd jump towards minions. It's situations like that which I was mostly talking about. I never had too many issues getting stacks on maps like Volskaya or ToD, for example but it'll definitly be easier in that front. While on TotSQ it might be a bit harder now. Granted that I never really took Crash Lightning there to begin with.

  14. #14
    Pit Lord RH92's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by Frozen Death Knight View Post
    Disagree. Die Alone allows him to completely dominate the solo lane because of how the laning phase works. The best thing you can do at that point is freeze the lane next to your towers, since you will not trade even in terms of damage and wave clear with most of the solo laning Heroes.
    I honestly have no idea how to react to this without sounding like a jerk.

    What you said was true maybe 3 months ago. Currently his Reaper's Mark does slightly higher damage than Burning Rage effects which can be easily outsustained by pretty much every decent solo laner. His whole kit is based around applying that Mark with Soul Rip, Last Rites and AAs being the only other sources of damage.

    It is a fact, Malthael would lose most of his lane duels if he didn't have Die Alone. If you don't believe me, try it out. Reason why Malthael is strong in a lane, is because he punishes every opponent's mistake really hard. For example if Sonya manges her self-healing to full potential and lands all Poisoned Spears, she can even win a trade versus Malthael with Die Alone.

    Die Alone makes or breaks the Hero. Before they gave him Cleave on AAs, Die Alone would deal bonus damage only if a single Hero was afflicted. Hitting a minion would make you miss on a bonus damage, that's why Reaper's Mark build was so dominant as it gave him strength in all areas and Tormented Souls just worked really good with it. When they gave him Cleave on AAs, they made Die Alone to work even with minions afflicted by the DoT.

    If Malthael is so broken he needs a nerf every single patch, I don't understand why he sits at 42% winrate in HGC. I know he has high winrate in HL, but given his popularity I suspect it comes down mainly from few people understanding his akward numbers to exploint holes in other player's game. Whenever I play Malthael, I just laugh on my opponents giving me so much space because they are afraid to pressure me back. With recent nerf to self-sustain from minions and less mana efficiency, it is not so hard. Just don't be a pussy and return the favor.

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