Launching in all regions with next week’s patch, we’re smoothing feathers and sharpening blades with gameplay updates for both Medivh and Sonya. Read on for a high-level description of what’s changing, and find out why we’re excited for you to get your hands on these remastered versions of your favorite Guardian and Barbarian Heroes.

Sonya

Wondering what’s New with the Wandering Barbarian?

For Sonya, we love her core gameplay but have noticed that there is very little wiggle room in what’s generally considered her default talent path. To combat this, we are opening up more survivability options so players don’t feel pressured into always taking Nerves of Steel and Ignore Pain. We are also adding a couple of fun new tools into her arsenal, including more disruption options for Ancient Spear and a number of new talents for Seismic Slam that place more focus on area-of-effect damage. As an example, the Shattered Ground talent now also increases the splash range of Seismic Slam, allowing some interesting opportunities for poking opponents in lane, or dishing out tons of damage in a teamfight.

Talent Preview:

Chosen at Level 4, Shattered Ground significantly increases both the range and splash damage of Seismic Slam. Composite Spear, a new Level 20 Storm Talent, increases the range of Ancient Spear by 50% and grants Sonya 25 armor for 4 seconds. A new Level 1 option, Furious Blow empowers the damage and removes the Fury cost of every fourth Seismic Slam.

Medivh

A Bird’s Eye View of Updates to the Last Guardian

When looking at updating Medivh, we recognized his reputation as a challenging Hero who excels in the right hands. We absolutely love this about the Hero, and wanted to add even more opportunities for players to show off their skills while simultaneously reducing some of the frustration players can experience when playing against Medivh. To accomplish our goal of amping up the more fun and challenging aspects of the Hero, we are making a modified version of the Master’s Touch talent a baseline quest for Medivh, and adding a version of the Reabsorption talent into Force of Will. On the other hand, in order to combat some of the frustrations experienced when playing against Medivh, we are reducing the overall uptime on both Force of Will and Portal. We think these changes, in combination with several exciting new talents, will allow enemies to effectively play around Medivh, while also rewarding those players who time clutch Force of Wills and land massive amounts of Arcane Rifts.

Talent Preview:

A new option at Level 7, Force of Magic grants Medivh 20% Spell Power (stacking up to 2 times) for 12 seconds if enough damage is prevented by Force of Will. Adding some sustain to Medivh’s kit, Mystic Assault is a new Level 7 option that empowers Medivh’s next Basic Attack after landing Arcane Rift against a Hero, dealing bonus damage and healing Medivh for a portion of damage dealt. Temporal Flux, a new Level 16 Talent, reduces Medivh’s Heroic Ability cooldowns with both Basic Attacks and Arcane Rift hits.

We hope you’re as excited for these major gameplay updates as we are. Be sure to stay tuned for next week’s patch notes to find out all the details. Until then, we’ll see you in the Nexus!