A new patch for Heroes of the Storm is on the way and has been added to the Public Test Realm, letting everyone look over its various buffs, nerfs and changes. It also means players are able to test out brand new heroes, Lt. Morales – the medic from StarCraft – and Artanis, Protoss leader and star of the upcoming Legacy of the Void expansion. The former has her spotlight video out, sadly not commentated by Dustin Browder preventing any further photoshops of his face by me, showing off her mass-teleport and healing capabilities in full.
They’re taking steps to make those example gameplay scenarios a little more believable, but they’re still far too set up for my liking. However, that team-teleport doesn’t require much additional explanation – it’s just as hilariously powerful as it seems, allowing your team to take out a boss mob and quickly move to a map-specific location or, say, the other boss mob. While Morales will need to be surrounded by strong heroes to make up for her own pathetic damage output, she’s the master of map control and support.
Artanis is yet to receive an official video, but fansite HeroesNexus have mocked one up with help from owners Curse:
Debates as to how you should pronounce the names of characters from a race of aliens that doesn’t exist and has no mouth aside, he’s looking rather nifty. Heroes is a bigger fan of global-range abilities than many of its competitors and I like his ultimates for that. Otherwise he’s got serious damage and a lot of maneuverability, all the makings of a powerful character.
The patch will drop from the PTR on October 5th. If you want to play it, just select the PTR under the Region/Account menu in the Bnet client. It should go live shortly after that. There’s a deal with Legacy of the Void meaning you get Artanis for free if you happen to be buying the StarCraft expansion.