Our next Heroes of the Storm patch has just arrived to the Public Test Realm and will be available for playtesting until September 4. During this time, we kindly request your assistance in trying out some of the new content it contains before we officially release the patch to the live version of Heroes. Just like last time, if you encounter any bugs or other issues during your PTR play sessions, please stop by the PTR Bug Report forum to let us know about your experiences.

New Special Event: Obey the Call

Ghoul: Play a game with Kel’Thuzad present on either team.

Games played during the Acolyte, Necromancer, and Lich Lord quests must be won in order to earn takedown credit.

Games played in Versus A.I., Quick Match, Unranked, and Ranked modes all count toward quest progress.

Each quest in this four-part chain must be completed in order, and only one quest will be active at any given time.

before the event concludes on September 25, 2017!

Slay heroes in Kel’Thuzad’s name to earn in-game rewards before the event concludes on September 25, 2017!

PTR Note: While elements of this event may be visible on the Public Test Realm, any progress or rewards earned during PTR testing will not transfer to the live version of the game when this patch is officially released next week.

Ranked Play

Promotions into Grandmaster League will now occur 2 weeks after a new Ranked Season begins.

Players with high matchmaking ratings (MMR) can now place as high as 1,000 points into Master League.

The matchmaking system’s certainty level in all players’ matchmaking ratings will once again be loosened in order to make it a little easier to move up and down the rankings during initial matches this season.

League standings will be reset and all players will need to play through 10 Placement Matches in order to receive their new starting ranks in Hero and Team Leagues for 2017 Season 3.

Once today’s patch arrives to the live version of Heroes of the Storm, 2017 Ranked Season 2 will officially come to a close, and Season 3 will begin!

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Kel'Thuzad has faithfully served the Lich King both in life and after death. Reanimated as the Archlich of the Scourge and given domain of the Dread Necropolis, Naxxramas, Kel’Thuzad remains Arthas’s most trusted advisor and master of the cold dark.

Trait

Reward: After gaining 15 Blight, the cooldown of all Basic Abilities is reduced by 2 seconds.

Quest: Gain 1 Blight every time a Hero is Rooted by Frost Nova or hit by Chains of Kel'Thuzad.

Basic Abilities

Launch a chain, dealing damage to the first enemy Hero or Structure hit. For 4 seconds after hitting an enemy, Chains can be reactivated to launch to an additional enemy, pulling both enemies together and Stunning them for 0.5 seconds.

Create a nova that explodes after 1 second, dealing damage to enemies inside and Slowing them by 35% for 2.5 seconds. Enemies in the center are Rooted for 1 second.

After 0.5 seconds, launch an orb that explodes upon hitting an enemy, dealing damage to enemies in the area. The explosion leaves behind a pool of decay that lasts 2 seconds, dealing damage every 0.5 seconds to enemies.

Heroic Abilities

Create a fissure anywhere on the Battleground that explodes after 1.5 seconds, dealing damage to enemies in its area.

Launch a meteor of ice at an enemy Hero. Upon impact, the meteor deals damage to its target and damages enemies in the area. All enemies hit by Frozen Tomb are Rooted for 1.5 seconds.

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General

Heroes of the Storm has received new loading screen art to celebrate Kel’Thuzad’s arrival to the Nexus.

Heroes, Abilities, and Talents

The following Heroes have received updated art to coincide with Talent changes:

Alarak: The size of the indicator that appears above Rite of Rak'shir’s target has been reduced.

Nazeebo: The Jar and Spiders spawned by Corpse Spiders have received updated effects in order to increase visual clarity.

Talent: Cleanse and similar Talents have received updated effects in order to increase visual clarity.

Quest System Updates

The following Heroes have updated art to coincide with quest system updates:

Visual effects that appear around a Hero upon completing a Talent or Ability Quest have been updated to make them more visually apparent.

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Quest System Updates

Upon completing a quest, a personal notification will now display for the player at the top center of the screen stating the name of the completed quest.

Ex: Flamestrike’s icon art will appear next to Kael’thas’ portrait in the Event Log if he is killed prior to completing the Convection quest.

Quest resets will now appear next to the portrait of the slain enemy in the Event Log.

Notifications will now appear in the in-game Event Log (AKA Kill Feed) whenever a player completes a quest or reaches an important quest milestone.

Baseline quests, such as Kel’Thuzad’s Master of the Cold Dark or Nazeebo’s Voodoo Ritual, will appear in this column and quest progress will be visible to all players in the match.

A quest column has been added to the Talents tab on the in-game Score Screen.

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Ranked Battleground Rotation Update

As a reminder, Hanamura has been temporarily removed from all play modes except Custom Games in order to undergo changes. As a result, the new rotation will feature 8 Battlegrounds, rather than 9.

The full Ranked Battleground Rotation is now as follows:

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Abilities

After hitting 80 Heroes, Sand Blast leaves an Echo behind. The next time Sand Blast is cast, the Echo also casts an untalented Sand Blast that deals 40% damage.

Increase Sand Blast damage by 5 for each Hero hit.

Hit 80 Heroes with Sand Blast. Hitting with consecutive casts counts as 2 hits.

Scaling reduced from 4% to 2% per level.

Talents

Temporal Loop teleports the target a second time after the first completes.

Sand Blast now pierces targets, dealing damage to any additional Heroes hit.

Activate to have Chromie swap places with her Sand Blast Echo. 30 second cooldown.

(New) Here and There (Active)

Sand Blast and Dragon's Breath's cooldowns are reset when Time Trap is triggered.

If Chromie hits with a third consecutive Sand Blast, it counts as hitting 3 Heroes.

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Abilities

Improved Ice Block: Activate to place Jaina in Stasis and gain Invulnerability for 2.5 seconds. When this effect expires, nearby enemies are Chilled. 40 second cooldown

Talents

Frostbite’s slow amount now stacks a second time, slowing enemy Heroes by up to 40%.

Now also reduces the cooldown of Ring of Frost by 10 seconds per enemy Hero hit.

Activate to teleport a short distance and Chill nearby enemies. 60 second cooldown.

Your basic attacks against Chilled targets deal 75% bonus damage and reduce the cooldown of Blizzard by 1 second.

Doubles the width of Cone of Cold. Hitting Chilled enemy Heroes with Cone of Cold reduces its cooldown by 2.5 seconds, up to a 5 second maximum reduction.

Gathering Regen Globes increases your Mana Regeneration by .1 per second, up to 2 per second. Reward: After gathering 20 Regeneration Globes, the damage bonus of Frostbite is increased by 10%.

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Miscellaneous

Morales can hold up to 100 Energy.

Morales now uses Energy to fuel her Healing Beam. All other abilities are free to cast.

Abilities

Cast time reduced from 1 second to .5 seconds

A visual indicator for the detonation area is now visible to Lt. Morales.

Morales generates 6 Energy per second after not channeling Healing Beam for 3 seconds.

While channeling Healing Beam, Morales heals herself for 2% of her maximum life per second.

Talents

Activate to call down a Medivac at your Hall of Storms that only allies can enter. Activate again to order the Dropship to travel to the original cast location and unload its cargo. 30 second cooldown. Shares a cooldown with Medivac Dropship.

Reduces the cooldown of Medivac Dropship from 60 to 30 seconds.

Heroes are Protected from damage for 2 seconds after unloading from Medivac Dropship.

Reduces the cooldown of Stim Drone from 90 seconds to 45 seconds and increases the movement speed bonus from 25 to 50%.

Increases the healing of Caduceus Reactor from 2% to 6%.

If you have more than 70 energy, your Healing Beam heals for 25% more.

Increases the range of Healing Beam by 40%.

If Displacement Grenade hits 2 or more Heroes, its cooldown is reduced to 1 second.

Heroes hit by Displacement Grenade have their damage reduced by 30% for 4 seconds.

Displacement Grenade deals increased damage to shields and additional damage over 2 seconds.

Safeguard grants an additional 25 Armor while the bearer is Stunned and its duration does not decay.

Casting Safeguard removes all Slows from the target. When a slow is removed this way, the cooldown of Safeguard is reduced by 4 seconds.

Hitting a Hero with Displacement Grenade grants Lt Morales 2 Energy and a shield equal to 8% of her maximum health, stacking up to 5 times.

Consume 30 Energy to heal 40% of maximum life over 4 seconds.

Gain 30 Armor for 3 seconds after taking damage while under 40% life.

Gain 2 Energy each time Safeguard prevents damage, to a maximum of 20 Energy per cast.

!Reward: After hitting 30 Heroes, Displacement Grenade’s area is increased by 25%.

!Reward: After hitting 15 Heroes, Displacement Grenade’s cooldown is reduced from 12 seconds to 8 seconds.

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Stats

Leoric's first two Basic Attacks cleave for 100% damage. His third Basic Attack deals 100% additional damage to his main target

New functionality – Wrath of the Bone King

Abilities

Lowered healing from 12.5% to 10% of target’s maximum Health

Lowered damage and healing from 25% to 20% of the target’s maximum Health

If Skeletal Swing hits a Hero, refund 50% of the Cooldown and Mana Cost

Talents

Activate to become Protected for 3 seconds. 75 second cooldown.

(New) Shroud of the Dead King (Active)

Deal 40 damage in an area around yourself. Double the damage and area of effect while Drain Hope is active.

Leoric’s Basic Attacks deal an additional 2.5% of the targets max HP and heals Leoric for twice that amount

The attached Drain Hopes are now gain all talent bonuses

Enemies inside the Entomb are silenced. The duration of Entomb is lowered from 4 to 3 seconds

For every 10 Minions or 1 Hero kill, increase your Attack Speed by an additional 3%, up to a maximum bonus of 30%

Bonus damage dealt by a full duration Drain Hope increased from 10 to 15% of target’s maximum Health

Increase the damage of your next Skeletal Swing by 50% after using Wraith Walk. Every enemy Hero hit with Skeletal Swing lowers the Cooldown of Wraith Walk by 7 seconds

Wraith Walk lasts 100% longer and lowers the damage of all enemy Heroes passed through by 50% for 4 seconds

Leoric gains 20 Armor while Drain Hope is active. If Drain Hope lasts the full duration, the Armor remains for 3 seconds

If you complete a full duration Drain Hope, lower its Cooldown by an additional 3 seconds

Cooldown reduction per second Drain Hope is active decreased from 1 to .5 seconds

If Drain Hope lasts the full duration, immediately heal for an additional 5% of your max health

Drain Hope’s healing is increased from 20% to 25% of the target’s maximum Health

If Drain Hope lasts the full duration, gain 30% movement speed for 4 seconds

Increase the damage of Skeletal Swing to Minions and Mercenaries by 75%

Activate to heal Leoric for 30% of his maximum Health over 5 seconds. Regeneration Globes lower the Cooldown of this ability by 20 seconds. 120 second cooldown.

No longer adds any additional effect while in Undying form

Heroes hit by Skeletal Swing heal Leoric for 4% of his maximum health

Lowers the Cooldown of Skeletal Swing by 2 seconds

New Bundles – The following new Bundles and Skin Packs are available for a limited time!

New Skins

Mounts

The following Mounts have been awarded to players who reached Master or higher in Hero League or Team League during 2017 Ranked Season 2:

The following Mounts have been awarded to players who reached Platinum in Hero League or Bronze in Team League during 2017 Ranked Season 2:

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General

Fixed a number of typo and tooltip errors across several aspects of the game.

Battlegrounds

Try Mode: Sentinel will now correctly gain bonus damage after completing the Ranger Talent’s quest using the Complete Quests button.

Haunted Mines: Fixed an issue that could cause Heroes to become Invulnerable for a fraction of a second while entering or exiting the Mines.

Boss: Captured Bosses will now correctly use their area of effect Abilities when attacking down a lane.

Heroes, Abilities, and Talents

Stasis: Fixed an issue in which cooldowns for self-cast Stasis effects, such as Ice Block, or Chromie’s Time Out, would not count down until respawn if the Hero was killed immediately after that Stasis effect concluded.

Arthas: After learning the Shattered Armor Talent, Heroes rooted by Frost Presence’s quest reward will now correctly have their Armor reduced.

Azmodan: Manually clicking the All Shall Burn Ability will no longer cause a framerate drop.

Chen: Will no longer gain multiple Freshest Ingredient stacks when collecting a single Regeneration Globe if multiple allied Heroes are nearby.

Chen: Medivh’s Ley Line Seal can no longer cause Chen and his Storm, Earth, Fire Spirits to exist at the same time.

Cho: Rune Bomb’s area of effect indicator will no longer visually shrink if Cho’gall was affected by the Shrink Ray Talent while casting Rune Bomb.

D.Va: Fixed an issue that could cause D.Va to become unresponsive when entering the Dragon Knight or Garden Terror after using Lt. Morales’ Medivac.

Garrosh: Intimidation will no longer slow non-Heroic enemies’ attack speeds.

Garrosh: Fixed an issue that could cause Wrecking Ball to fail to throw a target but go on a full cooldown.

Greymane: Can now correctly cast Go for the Throat a second time after using the Ability to kill D.Va’s Mech.

Muradin: Haymaker will now properly knock back and damage secondary targets in its path.

Muradin: Fixed an issue that caused Muradin’s abilities to cast quickly and without animations if queued up during Dwarf Toss.

Li-Ming: Learning the Zei’s Vengeance and Arcane Orbit Talents will no longer cause Arcane Orb to deal reduced damage at close-range.

Lt. Morales: Medivac UI will no longer persist on-screen when entering the Medivac as it is destroyed.

Samuro: Switching places with a Mirror Image will no longer cancel queued commands.

Samuro: Clicking a control group to select a Mirror Image after learning Illusion Master will no longer cancel active Move Commands being carried out by that Image.

Stitches: Hook will now cancel abilities that can be channeled while moving, such as Azmodan’s All Shall Burn.