Jason Hidalgo

jhidalgo@rgj.com

Technobubble covers games, gadgets, technology and all things geek. Follow Technobubble poobah Jason Hidalgo’s shenanigans on Twitter @jasonhidalgo

Talk about a grave situation.

Fans of Diablo II rejoiced after Blizzard announced the addition of necromancer Xul to Heroes of the Storm alongside Diablo III wizard Li-Ming . With Li-Ming already getting her day and more in the Nexus, however, it’s time to bone up on the scythe-wielding bad boy.

Yes, I can conjure these horrible puns all day, people.

To prepare for the life necromantic in the Nexus, we asked Blizzard game designer Jade Martin 15 questions about Xul. Why the necromancer? How does he play? More importantly, what happens when he encounters Leoric?

Big thanks, by the way, to the Heroes of the Storm Reddit community for helping come up with several of the questions included here! For my initial thoughts after playing the character, here's my Day One analysis of Xul.

Why did you decide to work on Xul?

We were looking for another Diablo hero to bring into the Nexus and the Necromancer is a huge fan favorite that we wanted to get in the game. As a team we were also pretty excited to see the Necromancer join the roster in Heroes of the Storm. There was definitely excitement when we let everyone know we’d be bringing a Necromancer to the Nexus. He is not only a fan favorite he is also a staff favorite!

Did any of the original folks who worked on the Diablo 2 necromancer work on Xul?

We didn’t have anyone who directly worked on the D2 Necro do any work on Xul. We did have plenty of people who played the D2 Necro provide tons of feedback throughout the design process though!

Walk us through Xul’s design philosophy and “Vision Sync” process. And the sycthe. Talk about that huge scythe.

During the Vision Sync we knew we wanted Xul to use a scythe, which our art team was excited about because it meant we had a new weapon outline to work with. So our next goal was to work the scythe into his kit and we went through quite a few ideas but the one that stuck was the idea of a reverse skillshot which is what his [Q] Spectral Scythe became. Our other challenge was working it into the auto-attack since he wields both a dagger and the scythe. We had an idea for a toggled ability that switched between dagger attacks and scythe attacks, each having a special curse type. However, we decided managing so many buttons bloated his base kit too much. Which is where we came up with his [W] Cursed Strikes which enables Xul to always use his scythe and in turn we rolled the additional special curses into his talents. (Note to readers on mobile: Xul's talent list is included as a slide graphic for the desktop or full site version of this article)

How did you decide on this particular style of necromancer. Why did you settle on making him a specialist as opposed to an assassin, for example?

We tried a variety of Necromancers while iterating, and while we wanted to hit many fantasies, we realized we need to make the kit come together mechanically, and that is the Xul you see today. We felt that the specialist role was much more fitting for the character, especially given the role of skeletons in his kit. He also straddles the line between Assassin and Off-Tank Warrior with the survivability of Bone Shield and CC of Bone Prison, along with the attack speed slow of Cursed Strikes, it simply seemed to make more sense to label him a specialist, since he’s bringing quite a bit to the table. We didn’t feel that Assassin would be the proper way to label him.

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Can you delve a bit more on the design process for his playstyle and mechanics?

We knew it was important to lock in on the Raise Skeleton (trait) for Xul but during the design process it was really important that we found a simple and smart way to do this. We didn’t want Xul running around the battlefield with hundreds of skeletons. As for his playstyle we went back and forth on making him a caster or a melee character during our internal playtests but as his kit came into fruition we found that he played better as a melee character. It also allowed us to explore a bit of a new character type for us as Xul is a great melee assassin counter with his attack speed slow on Cursed Strikes.

What are some Heroic Abilities he previously had that were taken out and why? Did you try out any other traits before the final one?

We went through a few iterations on delivery methods for his current Heroics (Poison Nova and Skeletal Mages) but one of the heroics we tried and ended up taking out was Blood Golem. Blood Golem was great but it strongly went against our design goal of bringing a Necromancer into the Nexus with little visual clutter.

Talk about potential builds for Xul. What’s his strategic niche if he doesn’t go for, say, a skeleton build? What’s your personal favorite build?

Xul has great build diversity. He can build himself to be great at sieging a lane, a high-sustain damage attacker, or specialize in cursing the enemy team. If he doesn’t go for a skeleton build you will want to focus on making him more about his damage output or increase his ability to debuff the enemy. As far as my favorite build? Hmm, that is a tough one! I always love to build situationally but I do often find myself enjoying his [Q] Spectral Scythe build, it is a highly rewarding build if you can successfully land those skill shots!

What role will Xul play in the meta? Which heroes are he great against? Which heroes counter him? Which heroes does he sync well with? What’s his role in a team fight?

I am very interested to see where he lands in the current meta. His [W] Cursed Strikes makes him great against enemy team comps that rely on high attack speed such as Illidan, Thrall, Raynor, etc. Heroes that have the ability to keep a distance between them and Xul are often good counters to him such as Lunara or Mages. If Xul can get a good flank with Bone Prison those heroes that counter him will be in big trouble! Xul has good synergy with heroes like Kael’thas, Muradin, or a Johanna. These heroes have longer range CC’s that allow Xul to more easily get within range to pull off a successful Bone Prison. Xul’s role in a teamfight will vary based off of team comps but he is great at peeling for squishier allies, locking down carries, dealing damage, and applying Cursed Strikes.

Talk a bit about the mechanics behind his skeletons. Will they just go straight through the lane instead of following him around? Will you be making more heroes with this style or mechanics for summoning?

Whenever a nearby enemy minion dies it will be raised as a skeleton that pushes the nearest lane to Xul. If, for whatever reason, a skeleton is raised outside of a lane it will prioritize attacking nearby enemies before going to the lane. When designing Xul we knew we wanted a trait with skeletons but it was very important to us that we did not increase the visual clutter during team fights and after many iterations we found Skeletons that pushed lanes were the best version. It is always possible that we make more heroes with a similar summoning mechanic but at this time we don’t have anything planned.

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Can you expound on his curse mechanic and the approach to designing it? Will he be able to get variations for curses via talenting?

His Curse mechanic is driven through his [W] Cursed Strikes, when activated for the next 4 seconds his Basic Attacks cleave and apply a 50% Attack Speed reduction on enemies for a 2-second duration. To answer the second question, yes he will have access to additional Curses if he talents for it.

How would you rate Xul’s damage potential? Is he bursty or more sustained?

Xul has great damage potential when he builds for it! His damage is a bit of a mix. He is heavily influenced by auto attacks but a well-placed [Q] Spectral Scythe will do wonders for catching the enemy off guard for that little extra needed burst.

How about his laning and wave clear? How much survivability and self-sustain does he have?

Xul’s trait Raise Skeleton makes him innately great at laning. Killing enemy minions allows Xul to push waves fast and get the minion advantage. His survivability is strong from level 1 with the addition of Bone Armor to his kit allowing him to shield himself when he is looking to put in harass or clear waves. While he doesn’t have any built in self-sustain he does have the ability to talent into it giving him a nice amount.

How does his poison ability compare to Lunara’s?

Poison Nova deals incredibly more damage and will have more of an initial impact in a team fight. It is incredibly powerful at initiation and makes enemies think twice about diving into Xul’s team.

Will he have any interactions with Leoric? Or a voice line claiming Leoric as his minion?

We do have a voice line taunting Leoric when he kills him in the Nexus! I don’t want to spoil the surprise but keep your ears open for it!

What advice do you have for folks interested in playing the character to get the most out of him?

My advice would be to find a build that is most beneficial to your team and most potent against the enemy team. Does your team need a siege specialist, damage dealer, or a “curser?” It’s also important to remember that positioning is key to Xul. He has no mobility so it is imperative that you are always aware of your surroundings!