Blizzard are sure there’s scope for MOBA objectives beyond ‘disassemble the statue at the other end of the map’, and Towers of Doom is testament to that conviction. The new map, fresh to the public test realm, is still about team fights, attacking towns and controlling space, but there’s a different endgame.
Looking to kick in a core? Start with one of the best Heroes of the Storm heroes for beginners.
The BlizzCon-announced battleground is surveyed by the Grave Keeper and Raven Lord – late Halloween figures looking to add to the territories under their control in a gloomy, apparently Transylvanian city. Players are the willing pawns in this land dispute. Instead of directly killing the cores, which are surrounded by indestructible barriers, they’ll capture the altars that periodically activate across the city.
With each altar gained, every one of the titular bell towers controlled by the capturing team will fire a damage-dealing payload at the enemy core. Teams can add to their tower artillery by destroying those belonging to the enemy, causing friendly replacements to spring forth in their place.
The map’s just arrived on Heroes’ public test realm as the headline feature of a new patch, and will remain playable there until November 24th. In fact it’s now the only battleground on offer in PTR matchmaking queues – Blizzard want as many playtesters piled onto it as possible to help unearth bugs before official release. PTR Shop purchases have been disabled, so you won’t be able to buy items using real money or gold.
Towers of Doom won’t go live the moment the patch goes live in the game proper, but we can presume it’ll show up soon afterwards.
Blizzard say they’re riffing off WoW battleground Arathi Basin – asking teams to change their strategy as tower control shifts throughout the map. Are you up for more experimental objectives along those battlelines?