Balance Patch Notes - February 10 2016 :: Heroes of the Storm discussion on HeroesFire

We’ve just released a new patch for Heroes of the Storm in order to apply a few Hero and Talent balance changes. Check out the patch notes below.

"Diablo has hovered near the top of our win rate charts for a while. We wanted to see how the Tyrande nerfs would impact him first, as we know those characters have very strong synergy together. We haven’t seen much of a dip in Diablo’s win rate, so we’re targeting a ‘must pick’ Talent with this nerf."

Fire Devil

- Damage changed from 23.92 (+4%) to 17.68 (+4%)

"We’re primarily seeing players run Basic Attack builds as Falstad, and would like to make ‘mage’ Falstad a bit more powerful. We also felt that Hinterland Blast isn’t doing enough damage with its higher cooldown, so we’re further increasing that damage."

Hinterland Blast(R)

- Damage changed from 430.52 (+4.75%) to 497.56 (+4.75%)

BOOMerang

- Damage changed from 125.84 (+4%) to 156.00 (+4%)

"We’re starting to pull Basic Attack damage out of characters who don’t rely upon it, namely Jaina and Kael’thas. For Jaina, this will make less of her damage guaranteed and allow for more advanced plays. Jaina’s win rate is also a little on the low end, so we want to offset the Basic Attack nerf and add to her overall power by buffing Frostbolt and Cone of Cold."

General.display_name(General.keybind)

- Basic Attack Damage decreased from 92.56 to 62.4

Frostbolt(Q)

- Damage changed from 166.40 (+4%) to 197.60 (+4%)

Cone of Cold(E)

- Damage changed from 196.56 (+4%) to 208.00 (+4%)

"Kael’thas is a powerful hero with too few downsides. We’re nerfing several aspects of his kit, and are still planning a Talent overhaul coming soon™. The stun duration of Gravity Lapse is too long and guarantees kills more often than we would like. Reducing the stun duration makes it less frustrating to play against and adds a bit more counterplay for the enemy team. Phoenix is the drastically favored Heroic Ability right now, and it’s up far too often. By nerfing its cooldown, while also pushing Pyroblast to create more impactful moments, we expect there will be more situations where Pyroblast is the optimal pick."

General.display_name(General.keybind)

- Basic Attack Damage decreased from 90.48 to 67.6

Pyroblast(R)

- Cooldown increased from 50 to 100 seconds
- Damage changed from 759.20 (+4%) to 850.50 (+5%)
- Splash Damage changed from 379.60 (+4%) to 425.25 (+5%)

Phoenix(R)

- Cooldown increased from 40 to 60 seconds

Gravity Lapse(E)

- Duration changed from 1.50 seconds to 1 seconds

Arcane Barrier(Talent)

- Shield Amount changed from 200% to 150%
- Duration changed from 6 seconds to 4 seconds

Presence Of Mind

- Cooldown Reduction changed from 10 seconds to 25 seconds

"While we are happy with the variety of Talent options Nova has after the rework, her overall damage is too low. We like Snipe Master, and it encourages a different playstyle, but a single miss resets a ton of progress toward the Talent’s reward. With these changes, players will get more out of Snipe Master without having to rebuild so many stacks after a miss. We’ve heard a lot of community feedback and suggestions about not removing stacks as long as your Snipe hits something. We’ve discussed this, but feel that even if Snipe misses the intended target, it still hits something the majority of the time. By making this Talent sharp, with an obvious downside, it allows us to crank up the tuning and really celebrate flawless Nova play."

Snipe(Q)

- Damage changed from 278.72 (+4%) to 306.80 (+4%)

Snipe Master

"Rehgar’s new Talents have opened up a number of different strategies and builds, which has been exciting to see. We like this more aggressive playstyle, but noticed that the majority of Lightning Shield Talents are now clear winners. Focusing nerfs primarily on Lightning Shield’s damage will help to reduce Rehgar’s win rate and open up even more Talent options."

Lightning Shield(W)

- Shield changed from 74.88 (+4%) to 62.40 (+4%)

Ghost Wolf(Combat Trait)

- Damage changed from 100% to 75%

"Thrall sits near the top of our win charts, so we feel that small nerfs to his damage and most-picked Heroic Ability are necessary. We expect this to only slightly nudge Thrall down, as we’re otherwise happy with how he is currently being played."

General.display_name(General.keybind)

- Basic Attack Damage decreased from 179.92 to 171.6

Sundering(R)

- Cooldown increased from 70 to 80 seconds

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Notable (14)
Posts: 198

I don't understand the timing of their nerfs at all :D

I mean, KT was obviously way too strong for quite a long time. And just now, when they introduce a new mage to compete with KT, they decide to nerf KT.

My passion: Mechanical Keyboard - so satisfying to type :)

Notable (1)
Posts: 20

I Really feel the improvement of Jaina's abilities, and i have to say that i very like them

Posts: 3

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