Blizzard’s mash-up MOBA, Heroes of the Storm, is enjoying the newly acquired company of The Lost Vikings – a new three-in-one hero for players to use in the Nexus. The addition is a first for the game, as it marks the first hero not associated with either World of Warcraft, Diablo or Starcraft.
The nordic trio first made their debut back in 1993 on the Super Nintendo Entertainment System, but were re-released for free via Blizzard’s Battle.net store.
The Lost Vikings fill the spot of specialist for a very good reason: each viking can be controlled independently with their own unique abilities. Olaf is a natural tank with high regen and the ability to slow enemies. Baleog can deal splash damage to enemies behind his current target. And Erik is extremely agile, while also sporting a much longer attack range.
That’s not all though. The Lost Vikings arrived in a longboat full of patch notes, including a major balance rework, interface overhauls and bug fixes. We’ve got the full patch notes on the next page for you to take a gander at, before you begin plundering the battlegrounds with the troublesome trio above.
NEW HERO
The Lost Vikings, (Olaf, Baleog, and Erik) just fell through a Nexus portal and are now available for play! Read on for a brief overview of their Abilities, as well as how to control the Vikings in-game.
General
- The Lost Vikings are three Heroes in one!
- Olaf – Has lots of Health, regenerates Health quickly, and charges to slow enemies
- Baleog – Deals splash damage to enemies behind his attack target
- Erik – Moves faster than the other Vikings and has a longer attack range
- Each Viking can move, attack, and be killed separately. They will also receive individual respawn timers on death.
- Use the activated Talent hotkeys “1”, “2”, and “3” to select and control the Vikings individually, or press the “4” key to guide them as a group.
Basic Abilities
The Lost Vikings’ Basic Abilities must be unlocked through Talent Selection.
Spin to Win! (Q)
- Deals damage around each Viking.
- Can be unlocked at Level 4 by learning the Spin to Win! Talent
Jump! (W)
- All Vikings become temporarily Invulnerable.
- Can be unlocked at Level 7 by learning the Jump! Talent
Norse Force! (E)
- All Vikings temporarily gain a Shield.
- Can be unlocked at Level 16 by learning the Norse Force! Talent
Mount
Go go go! (Z)
- The Vikings gain increased Movement Speed for a few seconds.
Trait
Fast Restart
- Death time is reduced for The Lost Vikings.
Heroic Abilities
Play Again! (R)
- All Vikings are revived and teleported to the summoning Viking.
Longboat Raid! (R)
- Summon a Longboat and go on a Viking Raid!
USER INTERFACE
General
Though Team League is not available with today’s patch, those who have achieved Player Level 40 will earn a new progression reward which indicates that they are eligible to compete in Team League. This reward will be displayed in Player Profiles, Quest Logs, and endgame Score Screens, but Team League will remain disabled until a future update is released.
In-game Communication
It is now possible to view recent in-game chat messages by opening the chat box to type a new message. Only the most recent messages will be displayed in this way. Additional improvements will arrive with future updates.
The following items have been temporarily disabled for further evaluation and improvements:
- The Emote Menu (Y).
- The ability to send “GG” chat messages to opponents in the moments after a Core is destroyed.
Quest Log
A new Quest Log button has been added to the lower-right portion of the bottom navigation bar, next to the Friends List button.
The Quest Log will be locked prior to earning the Daily Quests reward at Player Level 6.
Click the Quest Log button to view active Daily Quest progression, Player Level progress, as well as the next progression reward.
The Quest Log will also be automatically displayed upon each login, which should help players more easily keep track of their Daily Quest and progression reward progress.
Player Profile
The Player Profile screen has received an overhaul.
The Daily Quests tab has been removed.
The Profile Summary tab has been enabled.
Players can use this tab to view general information about their Heroes of the Storm account, such as: Recent Victory, Most Played Heroes, Total Hero Level, Ranked Play win-rates, games played with each Hero role, and much more!
The Rewards tab has been renamed to Player Progression
This tab can be used to view current Player Level, progress toward the next level, and all Player Level progression rewards.
The Hero Progress tab has been renamed to Hero Collection
Hero Progress has been visually reworked, allowing many more Heroes, their current Hero Levels, and progress toward the next level, to be displayed on each page of the Hero Collection tab.
Additionally, clicking any Hero portrait on the Hero Collection tab will bring up that Hero’s 3D model, as well as detailed information about its current Hero level and reward progress.
The Match History tab has been enabled.
Select this tab to view a list of recently played Heroes of the Storm matches.
The game mode, Hero, and Battleground selected, as well as the game’s result, and a timestamp will be displayed for each match in the list.
A Statistics tab has been added.
Players can use this tab to view additional statistics about their performance in Heroes of the Storm, such as: Heroes they’ve scored the most takedowns or received the most deaths with, total games played, and Battleground win-rates.
A Portrait tab has been added.
Portrait Selection has been moved from its previous location to this tab, making it easier than ever for players to find and choose among the portraits they’ve already earned, or simply browse through the portrait rewards they have yet to unlock.
Hover the mouse over any Portrait to display a tooltip that explains how it can be earned.
Please Note that some of the Player Profile statistics mentioned above will not contain data for games played prior to today’s patch. However, statistics for games played after the patch will be properly tracked.
Penalties for Leaving Games
The tracking and penalties for leaving in-progress Quick Match and Hero League games before they are finished have been changed:
Leaving multiple Hero League or Quick Match games without reconnecting will now flag the player to receive the following penalties:
- The flagged player will be disallowed from queuing for Hero League games until a Quick Match game is played to completion.
- Leaving additional games early will cause the number of Quick Match games required to increase.
- When queuing for Quick Match games, the flagged player will be teamed up with other flagged players who have similarly left games early.
- The system will track players’ recent games. If a player has not left any games prematurely for some time, then leaving a single game (for reasons outside of that player’s control) will not trigger these penalties.
- When a player who is flagged for leaving games early joins a party, the entire party will also become subject to these penalties.
- Please note that this will not cause party members to be flagged individually. These penalties will be lifted from the party once the flagged player either completes the requirements noted above, or leaves the party.
- Players penalized in this way can earn back the ability to play in Hero League, and be matched with non-leaving teammates. Simply play the assigned number of Quick Match games to completion (and stop leaving games).
- Leaving a Hero League game during Draft Mode will now only penalize and flag the player who left the draft, and will no longer penalize the rest of that player’s party members.
- In addition, the flagged player will still lose a significant number of Ranked Points upon leaving Draft Mode.
ART
Battlegrounds
Structures
- The Core now displays Shield impact effects when attacked, so long as Shields remain.
- Upon destruction, the Core now produces a Nexus coin rather than a crystal.
The following units have received updated animations:
- Siege and Bruiser Mercenaries
- Grave Golems
- The Garden Terror
- The Sky Temple Boss
Watchtowers on the Sky Temple Battleground have received updated art.
Various Battleground assets have received additional optimization to help improve performance.
- Heroes, Mounts, and Skins
General
Hearthstone (B) has received updated visual effects.
A number of in-game Hero portraits have received additional polish.
Dance, victory, and taunt animations have been added to a number of Heroes.
Kerrigan has received new Ability icon art.
The following Heroes, Mounts, Skins, and Skin Variations have received visual improvements:
Elder Chen and its Variations
Grunty Murky and its Variations have received updated art.
Additionally, Grunty Murky has wriggled his way into a brand new suit of Terran power armor, and dropped his fish for a much creepier weapon: a Zerg Larva!
Jaina Skins and all Variations have received minor updates.
Several Heroes and Hero Skins have received animation polish:
- Diablo
- Raynor
- Sonya
- Tychus
- Pajamathur Abathur
- Skelethur Abathur
- Grunty Murky
Several Hero Skins have received new art for certain Abilities, which more closely match that Skin’s theme:
- Big Top Gazlowe — Rock-It! Turret (Q), Deth Lazor (W), Xplodium Charge (E)
- War World Sgt. Hammer — Spider Mines (Q), Blunt Force Gun (R)
- Medic Uther — Holy Light (Q), Holy Radiance (W), Hammer of Justice (E)
- Desert Queen Zagara – Baneling Barrage (Q), Hunter Killer (W), and Infested Drop (E)
- Ronin Zeratul — Singularity Spike (W), Blink (E)
Several Hero Abilities and Talents have received updated visual effects:
- Chen — Storm, Earth, Fire (R)
- Gazlowe — Deth Lazor (W)
- Nazeebo — Ravenous Spirit (R)
- Raynor — Basic Attack, Relentless Leader (Talent), Scorched Earth (Talent)
- Fury of the Storm (Level 20 generic Talent)
A number of summoned units have received visual updates and polish:
- Anub’arak’s Scarabs
- Arthas’ Ghouls
- Jaina’s Water Elemental
- Kerrigan’s Ultralisk
- Nova’s Holo Decoys
- Zagara’s Mutalisk and Nydus Worm
SHOP
Bundle Packs
The Pajama Party Lost Vikings Bundle has been added to the in-game Shop for a limited time.
Head here for more details on all of the Bundle Packs that are currently available for purchase in the Shop.
Heroes
The Lost Vikings have been added to the in-game Shop!
Skins
A Master Skin has been added for The Lost Vikings.
The Pajama Party Lost Vikings Skin has been added to the Shop.
SOUND
Heroes and Skins
The following Hero Skins have received unique dialog effects:
- Betrayer Malfurion
- Crypt King Tassadar
The following Heroes and Hero Skins have received sound effect updates:
- Raynor
- Tychus
- Big Top Gazlowe
- Ronin Zeratul
DESIGN AND GAMEPLAY
General
A loss of control channel bar will now appear when Heroes are Silenced (as they do with Stuns).
Murky and The Lost Vikings’ deaths are now represented in 0.25 increments on score screens, as killing Murky or one of The Lost Vikings awards 25% of the normal XP amount earned by killing another hero.
BATTLEGROUNDS
General
Collecting various Battleground items (Doubloons, Skulls, Seeds, Regeneration Globes) should now be more responsive.
Structures
Core
- The Core is now invulnerable until both the Keep and Fort in a single lane are destroyed.
- This is now consistent with the way in which Catapult Minions are spawned.
Walls
- Vision provided by Walls reduced by approximately 15%.
TALENTS
General
All Heroes (including Murky and The Lost Vikings) now count as full credit toward Talents which require Hero kills (such as Gathering Power).
Level 20 Talent Changes
- Swift Storm has been removed
Rewind
- Has been moved from Level 13 to Level 20
- Has been removed from many Heroes
Found on the following Heroes:
- Anub’arak, Arthas, Brightwing, Nova, Malfurion, Muradin, Murky, Tassadar, Tyrande, Rehgar, Zeratul
Four new Talents have been added at Level 20 for a number of Heroes:
Nexus Blades
- Provides 20% increased Attack Damage, and Basic Attacks slow enemies by 20% for 1 second
Found on the following Heroes:
- Illidan, Kerrigan, Sonya, Thrall, Tyrael, Zeratul
Nexus Frenzy
- Increases both Attack Speed and Basic Attack range by 20%
Found on the following Heroes:
- Jaina, Raynor, Sgt. Hammer, Tychus, Valla
Hardened Shield
- Activate to reduce all incoming damage by 75% for 4 seconds; 60 second cooldown
Found on the following Heroes:
- Anub’arak, Arthas, Chen, E.T.C., Gazlowe, Muradin, Sonya, Stitches, Tyrael
Fury of the Storm
- Every 5 seconds, the next Basic Attack will deal an additional 200 damage to the primary target, and 500 damage to each nearby Minion or Mercenary.
Found on the following Heroes:
- Gazlowe, Nazeebo, Sgt. Hammer, The Lost Vikings, Zagara
Calldown: MULE
- Multiple M.U.L.E.s can no longer repair the same structure.
- Duration reduced from 60 to 40 seconds; Cooldown remains 60 seconds
- M.U.L.E.s now restore ammunition more quickly.
- M.U.L.E. Health is now 140 (+43 per level), rather than remaining at 500 Health for the duration of the match.
Gathering Power
- Initial Ability Power amount reduced from 8% to 5%
- Maximum Ability Power bonus reduced from 20% to 15%
Ice Block
- Ability cooldowns will now continue to run, and persistent auras will continue to take effect, throughout Ice Block’s duration (this was added with the previous patch).
Regeneration Master
- Now grants 4 Health regeneration upon learning the Talent