Our next major Heroes of the Storm patch has just arrived to the Public Test Realm and will be available for playtesting until February 1. During this time, we kindly request your assistance in trying out some of the new content and balance changes 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 Portraits

New portrait rewards have been added! Unlock them by reaching Hero Level 10 with the following Heroes:

Replay Protocol Now Available

Hero Replay Protocol is now open source and available for use by players who wish to write or upgrade their own community-driven replay analysis tools.

Mysterious Creature

You may find a curious creature running wild at the start of your games on the PTR, but don't worry --You'll learn more about him very soon!

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Li-Ming, Rebellious Wizard, has been added to Heroes of the Storm and is now available for play! Read on for a brief overview of her Abilities.

Trait

Participating in a Takedown refreshes all of your Ability cooldowns.

Basic Abilities

Fire an orb that powers up as it travels, damaging the first enemy it hits. The amount of damage dealt is increased the farther the orb travels, up to 300%

Fire three missiles toward a location, each damaging the first enemy it hits.

Heroic Abilities

Damage and knock all enemies away from the targeted area.

Channel a powerful beam of energy, dealing heavy damage over 2.5 seconds to all enemies in its path. The direction of the beam follows your cursor.

Battlegrounds

Cores are now each surrounded by a set of floating shields to better indicate when they are invulnerable.

Bell Towers on Towers of Doom have received updated art to better represent the area of terrain blocked by the base of the Structure.

Hero Abilities and Talents

The following Heroes have received updated Ability button art:

Several Talents that modify Heroes’ Basic Attacks have received updated button art.

The Imposing Presence Talent’s broken sword visual effect will now appear whenever the player is affected by any Attack Speed slow.

The icons for many Talents that exist on the same Talent tier, and modify the same Ability, have received new color tints to help players more easily tell them apart at a glance.

Skins

The following Hero Skins have received additional visual polish for certain Abilities, which more closely match that Skin’s theme:

All Arthas Skins and Skin Variations have received facial animations.

Bundles

New Bundles have been added for a limited time!

Heroes

Li-Ming has been added to the in-game Shop

Mounts

Star Chariot – Exclusively available through purchase of the Star Princess Li-Ming Bundle

New Mounts have been added for a limited time.

Skins

General

Level-up sounds, and enemy death sound effects have been updated to improve clarity.

Battlegrounds

Towers of Doom has received updated music.

Heroes

Murky and Leoric have received unique death sound effects.

Custom Games

The lobby host may now choose Heroes for each A.I. player in Custom Game Lobbies using the new Pick Hero dropdown on the right side of each A.I. player slot.

In-Game UI

The duration that ping-spamming players will be prevented from issuing additional pings has been increased.

Reduced the frequency at which players can issue pings before they become unable to issue additional pings for a period of time.

Read our recent blog post to learn more about the new interface.

The new Replay and Observer Interface that was recently made available for testing has received additional improvements, and will now function as the default interface for all players while viewing Replays or observing live games.

Floating combat text numbers are now color coded to better indicate their sources:

Critical strikes have received updated art to make them more visually apparent.

Floating combat text numbers now fire away from the target in staggered directions, rather than stacking on top of one another.

Floating combat text has been visually reworked so that damage, healing, and other important numbers are easier to differentiate during battle.

Health bars above Cores will now clearly indicate when that Core is invulnerable.

Battleground objective UI for Blackheart’s Bay and Tomb of the Spider Queen will now indicate the total number of Doubloons and Gems each team currently has in its possession.

Killstreak Flames have been removed to improve clarity during gameplay.

General

Damage dealt by splash and cleave attacks will no longer trigger effects that would otherwise require a direct attack to trigger (ex: Block, Spell Shield, Imposing Presence, etc.)

Abilities or Talents that apply Invulnerability or Stasis will now also display a timer to indicate the duration of these effects.

Battleground Monsters

Several Talents that could previously trigger against both captured Mercenaries and Minions will now only affect Minions (ex: Seasoned Marksman, Black Soulstone, etc.)

The following now affect Monsters:

Rexxar's Easy Prey and Bird of Prey

Several Talents and Abilities have been changed to reflect this new categorization, and the following no longer affect Monsters:

Battleground-specific creatures are now universally defined as Monsters (ex: Neutral Garden Terrors, Sky Temple Guardians, etc.)

Structures

Structures can no longer be made Vulnerable

Cores will now display an “Invulnerable” message if attacked by an enemy when no allied Keeps have been destroyed.

Towers, Forts, and Keeps now deal 50% bonus damage to Heroes

Dragon Shire

Cooldown increased from 8 to 10 seconds

Channel time reduced from 1.125 to 0.75 seconds

Damage reduction from Structures increased from 50% to 60%

Infernal Shrines

The minimap now more clearly indicates when a Shrine is ready to activate

Towers of Doom

Text has been added to the Tunnels to help clarify their one-way use.

Ownership of nearby Bell Towers will no longer determine which lane Sapper Mercenaries will travel down. The two southern Sapper camps will now always travel down the bottom lane.

Try Mode

A new Healing Dummy has been added above the existing Target Dummy, that calculates healing and healing over time.

Block

Block charges are now tracked in the buff bar next to the Hero portrait, and a timer has been added to show the time remaining until a new charge is generated.

Focused Attack

Basic Attack damage bonus reduced from 75% to 60%

Slow amount increased from 40% to 50%

Damage increased from 342 (+4% per level) to 415 (+5% per level)

Enemies hit are now slowed by 25% for 1 second

Shadowflare (Talent) moved from Level 1 to Level 16

Shadowflame’s cooldown is reduced by 1 second if it hits an enemy Hero affected by Cho's Consuming Blaze

The functionality of this Talent has changed

Now also increases the initial Movement Speed bonus to 70%

Now provides a passive, permanent 5% Ability Power bonus

Cooldowns for Shadowflame (Q), Dread Orb (W), and Gall’s Heroic Abilities are now cleared and can be cast immediately upon death

Maximum charge count increased from 2 to 4

Can no longer be used while Cho is mounted

Cooldown increased from 15 to 40 seconds

Shove (Talent) moved from Level 16 to Level 1

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Ring of Frost’s inner-area radius now properly matches the Ability’s visual effects

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Cooldown decreased from 45 to 30 seconds, but its duration has not been changed

Mana cost reduced from 50 to 30

Melee Basic Attack animation speed increased by 300% to match the ranged animation’s new speed

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Increases the duration of Holo Decoys from 5 to 12 seconds

Reduces Holo Decoy's cooldown and Mana cost by 40%

Holo Decoy damage increased from 25% to 40%

Lethal Decoy (Talent) moved from Level 13 to Level 16

In addition to providing 100% increased cast range, now also grants a 50% vision range bonus to Holo Decoys

Remote Delivery (Talent) has been changed

Pinning Shot now stores up to two charges

Pinning Shot also increases the range of the next Basic Attack by 30%

Bonus to Pinning Shot’s Movement Speed slow increased from 1% to 2% per second

Covert Ops (Talent) moved from Level 7 to Level 1

Range increased by approximately 18% in order to match Nova’s Basic Attack range

Increases Snipe range by 10% and removes its Mana cost

Hitting an enemy Hero with Snipe increases subsequent Snipe damage by 5%. Stacks up to 10 times. All stacks are lost if Snipe misses an enemy Hero

Hitting an enemy Hero with Snipe reduces its cooldown by 4 seconds

Perfect Shot (Talent) redesigned and moved from Level 4 to Level 16

Area of effect radius increased by 75%

Explosive Round (Talent) moved from Level 7 to Level 13

Cooldown reduced from 10 to 8 seconds

Cost reduced from 65 to 60 Mana

Activate to gain Stealth for 2 seconds. Taking damage, attacking, or using Abilities will not break Stealth during this time

Regenerate 4 Mana per second while Stealthed

Now increases Nova's Movement Speed by 30% while Cloaked

Advanced Cloaking (Talent) redesigned and moved from Level 13 to Level 1

Bolt of the Storm (Talent) removed

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Enemy Heroes affected by Lamb to the Slaughter can no longer enter the Dragon Knight, Garden Terror, or Lt. Morales’ Medivac, and Tyrael can no longer cast Judgment

Stasis effects no longer remove the chain

Invulnerability and Unstoppable now suppress the chain effect, rather than remove it

Lamb to the Slaughter (R)

Lamb to the Slaughter (R)

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A range indicator will now display while Overkill is active, and when hovering the cursor over the Ability icon. This is only visible to Tychus

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Cooldown decreased from 100 to 45 seconds

Mana cost reduced from 100 to 50

Duration reduced from 6 to 4 seconds

A range indicator will now display while Shadow Assault is active, and when hovering the cursor over the Ability icon

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to 111 (+4% per level)

Damage increased from 106 (+4% per level)

Damage increased from 108 (+4% per level) to 113 (+4% per level)

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Will no longer dismount Azmodan on use

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Mana cost reduced from 70 to 60

Additional charge level damage bonus increased from 25% to 50%

Duration bonus for active Rock-It! Turrets increased from 1 to 1.5 seconds per Basic Attack

Will now dismount Gazlowe on activation

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Bonus to Innervate’s Mana return increased from 25% to 30% of the target’s maximum Mana

Mana return increased from 15% to 20% of the target’s maximum Mana

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Each ally affected by Bloodlust now heals for 30% of their Basic Attack damage dealt to their primary target

Cooldown increased from 70 to 80 seconds

Reactivate Earthbind Totem to relocate it. The totem maintains its current Health and duration

Increases the initial Slow duration from 1 to 1.5 seconds

Now targets gain a Shield equal to 15% of their maximum Health, instead of a flat value

Earth Shield (Talent) moved from Level 7 to Level 13

Mana cost reduced from 60 to 50

Area of effect radius increased by approximately 16%

Lightning Shield's next damage effect is increased by 20% every time it damages an enemy Hero. Stacks up to 10 times

Target now gains a Shield equal to 15% of their maximum Health, instead of a flat value

Earth Shield (Talent) moved from Level 7 to Level 13

The Lightning Shield automatically granted to Rehgar no longer benefits from Talents

Lightning Bond (Talent) moved from Level 16 to Level 1

Damage increased from 31 (+4% per level)

When Chain Heal heals an allied Hero that is below 50% Health, they are also healed for an additional 200

Now reduces Chain Heal’s cooldown by 1 second for every Hero hit

Tidal Waves (Talent) redesigned and moved from Level 16 to Level 13

Mana cost reduction decreased from 25 to 20

Spiritwalker's Grace (Talent) moved from Level 1 to Level 4

Mana cost reduced from 70 to 65

Basic Attacks while in Ghost Wolf form also deal 5% of target's maximum Health as damage and heal Rehgar for 5% of his maximum Health

New Talent (Level 16): Hunger of the Wolf

New Talent (Level 16): Hunger of the Wolf

Basic Attacks while in Ghost Wolf form reduce Basic Ability cooldowns by 2 seconds

New Talent (Level 7): Blood and Thunder

New Talent (Level 7): Blood and Thunder

Increases Ghost Wolf Movement Speed bonus from 30% to 40%

Casting Bloodlust no longer causes Rehgar to leave Ghost Wolf form

Basic Attacks while in Ghost Wolf form now gain the effects of Feral Lunge, causing Rehgar to lunge toward the target, dealing 100% bonus damage

The following activated Talents will now dismount Rehgar when used in Ghost Wolf form:

Cooldown reduced from 60 to 30 seconds

Healing Totem (Talent) moved from Level 1 to Level 4

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Will now dismount Tyrande on activation

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Can no longer be cast on Structures

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Every third consecutive Basic Attack against the same target deals 75% bonus damage

Seared Flesh (Talent) redesigned and no longer tied to Consuming Blaze

Surging Fist now grants 50% Relentless for 5 seconds

Surge of Stamina (Talent) redesigned and moved from Level 16 to Level 13

Now lasts for 4 seconds instead of the next two Basic Attacks

Attack Speed bonus increased from 50% to 100%

Frenzied Fists (Talent) moved from Level 7 to Level 16

Duration of Gall’s Hurry Up, Oaf! (Z) increased from 1 to 1.5 seconds

I AM Hurrying! (Talent) moved from Level 13 to Level 7

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General

Corrected several typos and tooltip errors across several aspects of the game.

Mouse clicks should now more accurately reflect the target model’s shape on Low graphic settings.

Sounds will no longer continue to play on Mac machines while the Heroes client is in the background if the Play in Background setting is disabled.

AI-piloted Dragon Knights and Garden Terrors can now properly follow the player when pinged.

Resolved an issue that could cause players using Windows 10 machines to experience high CPU and disk usage when launching the Heroes client.

Art

The tree ornament visual effects for Greatfather Winter Stitches’ Putrid Bile are no longer being used by other Stitches skin variations.

The sand-themed visual effects for Bikini Stitches’s Devour are no longer being used by other Stitches skin variations.

Battlegrounds

The Toggle Cooldowns button in Try Mode will now properly reset the cooldowns for Azmodan’s Sin’s Grasp and Uther’s Benediction Talents.

Players punted out of an enemy Hall of Storms will no longer be persistently stunned if an enemy unit blocked the path of the punt.

Pinging the Tunnel Entrance on Towers of Doom in a French game client will now display the proper message in French.

Diagonally placed shrubs will now properly hide Heroes within them.

AI players on Towers of Doom will no longer path through the opposing team’s invulnerable defenses when traveling from the enemy’s side of the Battleground to an active Altar.

Missiles will now travel at one consistent speed on Towers of Doom.

Heroes and Talents

Abathur players will no longer become stuck in Symbiote mode if the Symbiote target is displaced by a respawning Bell Tower on Towers of Doom.

Silences will no longer prevent Heroes from entering a Dragon Knight or Garden Terror.

Fixed an issue that prevented Chen from traveling through the intended target using Flying Kick.

Chen’s Abilities will no longer grant him 3 extra Brew when using an Ability while channeling Fortifying Brew.

Fixed a bug that could prevent Gall from receiving the Will of Gall activated Talent if Cho selected the Talent while channeling to enter Lt. Morales’ Medivac.

The activation timer for Gall’s Runic Blast now increases appropriately after taking the Bomb’s Away Talent.

Jaina’s Ring of Frost now properly affects enemies that overlap the inner-edge of the Ability’s targeting ring.

Muradin’s Dwarf Toss will no longer cause him to become stuck inside of Gates.

Murky’s Pufferfish should now be easier to click when attempting to destroy it with Basic Attacks

Murky’s Egg will no longer briefly display on the minimap if he is killed by Nova’s Pinning Shot.

Nova’s Crippling Shot Talent will no longer allow Holo Decoys’ Pinning Shots to make the target Vulnerable without the Lethal Decoy Talent.

Malfurion’s Innervate can no longer be cast on Misha.

Fixed an issue that could allow additional Mishas to spawn if Rexxar was killed by immolation damage.

Sgt. Hammer’s Siege Mode will no longer visually persist if she is interrupted while casting Siege Mode.

Players can no longer accidentally queue Abilities or Activated Talents while Gorged by Stitches.

Lethal damage will no longer improperly trigger the cooldown for Tassadar’s Prescience Talent.

Tychus can now properly use a Healing Fountain while in Odin form.

Fixed an issue that caused Tyrande’s Sentinel to deal reduced damage against targets at close range after learning the Ranger Talent.

Tooltips for Zagara’s Hunter Killer now list the proper cooldown duration.

Fixed an issue that could cause floating combat text numbers to display if a timed-life unit’s duration expired.