Heroes of the Storm

[Jonathan]

Muradin
Raynor
Thrall
Tyrael
Tyrande
Unlocked level 12
Gazlowe
Unlocked level 15
Kharazim

I'll give monk a shot! I'm not 5 on Gazlowe or Tyrael. I'm guessing I won't be 5 on them at the end of this rotation, either.

[Jonathan]

Stepping into the wave, Leoric wants to swing and try to only hit the caster and backline minions. After that back off and wait for your swing to come off cooldown. As soon as it has, Azmo can throw his orb out and then Leoric will swing on the entire wave, killing everything. This process will need to repeat itself for about 5 minion waves and by that point you will have scaled up to a point where you don’t require a 2nd swing from Leoric…simply dunk and swing right after.

Proper dunk procedure involves two Skeletal Swings.

[Dave]

I am going to buy the deluxe SC2:LotV edition just to get the Hoverboard mount in HotS and probe pet in D3. I would have probably gotten a Blizzcon ticket if I still played WoW for the Murkadin pet.

BLIZZ TAKE MY MONAE!

Of course I have saved up 65k gold for a cool hero I'm still not seeing. Medic? Blah!

[Jonathan]

I bought Stitches and have 2k gold. Give me your stuff?

Already I am sort of on the edge of owning more heroes than I can remember how to play. My Kerrigan play is terrible for the first two matches. I forget the range of Thunder Clap until I've whiffed a couple waves. I have no memory of how you talent ETC.

[Jonathan]

http://us.battle.net/heroes/en/blog/198 ... -9-24-2015

Patch on the 6th.

Johanna got nerfed harder than Leoric.

All the known issues with Infernal get fixed only on this patch.

Stitches gets a lot of sustain, but they didn't mention damage....?

[Jonathan]

Oh and Leaping Spiders RIP.

[Alan]

FInished my placement matches. I went 8-12 and got rank 37. I was hoping for rank 30 or so before I started my placements but after my early 5 game losing streak I was afraid it would place me at over 40 (or even at 50), so I'm pretty satisfied with 37. After the first 10 or so matches I stopped getting matched with Bronze players, and toward the end my matches were generally with rank 28-35 or so players, and that felt pretty close to where I think I should be.

Overall, the matches were generally harder than I was used to in QM, and in the second half of my matches when I lost it felt like it was mainly because the other team was more coordinated (or drafted better) rather than because I or my teammates were playing poorly.

[Jonathan]

Well, hell.

I own:

Warriors: Anub'arak, Muradin, ETC, Diablo, Stitches
Assassins: Falstad, Valla, Kerrigan, Raynor
Support: Malfurion, Brightwing, Lili
Specialist: Azmodan, Zagara, Sgt Hammer

With Jaina, Kael'thas, and Zeratul in party, I believe I would play Stitches. Lili or Muradin would also be fine choices.

If Alan slotted Johanna instead of Zeratul I would go Malfurion. If we also had Uther, I could do Hammer.

With Leoric in tow, I'd think pretty hard about ETC and Anub'arak. Raynor would also be swell. Or Zagara or Azmodan.

The only party I see getting to play Diablo is with Nova plus an initiator. Which I doubt we will play often. I don't think anyone mains another gank hero?

Solo, I am going to main Stitches for a while. Diablo really wants some dang gank allies and a initiator in his party.

Still thinking about Uther. Really I only bought Lili because she is cheaper. I would totally buy Butcher for Morales duo, if anyone is interested.

I'm a little bit butthurt over the warrior changes. The more I play, the more I believe that Diablo's complete lack of an oh shit button is a death sentence against a competent opponent. Lord of Terror definitely qualifies, but the game had to last that long, you know? The lack of percent-based healing means his big HP pool doesn't help except in the initial exchange (like in a gank).

[Jonathan]

Oh, and I would buy Arthas in a heartbeat if there's a comp we might run he would slot into. I just can't think of one.

[Alan]

I like playing Tyrande, and depending on how good her new Shadowstalk is, she could be a solo support with gank potential, kind of like an Uther.

[Alan]

You actually don't need to be comfortable with a ton of heroes for HL. I think if you can play 2 from each class you'll be fine most of the time. For me right now:

Warriors: Leo, Jo
Assassins: Zera, Jaina, Valla
Supports: Uther, Rehgar
Specialists: Zagara

I think I do need to get Zeebo at some point, he's probably my favorite specialist. I don't feel comfortable enough with Sylvanas to play her. With the upcoming changes I think the warrior meta is going to be shaken up quite a bit, and Zera will be significantly weaker and much more of a situational pick. I'm hoping Tyrande can be a solo support because she's a lot more fun than the current supports. Uther is kind of exhausting to play on longer games.

I think Malf is very strong in solo-Q if played properly, which I can't do.

[Jonathan]

When do you pick Zagara over another ranged DPS?

[Jonathan]

List of Heroes with Giant Killer - just gonna leave this here

The Zeratul nerfs were targeted only at pro gamers. They thought he was OK for pug play and didn't want to hurt him for the majority of players. Which nerf do you think weakens him? Or is it the meta shift you anticipate putting him in a bad spot? I guess since he's got the option of building into Giant Killer, he can surf the waves of meta/comp shifts pretty OK. More warriors means less burst so you don't have to blink so often, right?

[Jonathan]

Zagara is definitely my best hero in QM pretty much any way you define 'best'.

I don't think there's any hero I've hit my skill cap on. I definitely feel I'm still improving on everyone I try.

[Jonathan]

I like Monk's mobility but unless you're running double melee I think he's pointless.

[Alan]

When do you pick Zagara over another ranged DPS?

Mainly when we want vision over objectives. I think a lot of times though in HL you don't get a group coordinated enough to take advantage of the vision, and are better off with someone who does more burst damage or who has Giant Killer (ie Valla or Jaina).

Maw is great, but the long CD means it's pretty unforgiving if you miss it, and it's a lot easier to miss than VP.

The Zeratul nerfs were targeted only at pro gamers. They thought he was OK for pug play and didn't want to hurt him for the majority of players. Which nerf do you think weakens him?

Both nerfs are pretty significant. Wormhole duration reduction means that he can't burst for as much damage safely, and makes him much more susceptible to getting CC'd and blown up. The reduced range for VP means you likely need to blink aggressively before landing it, which means you need to be better at anticipating where the enemy will be before you can catch them in it. So even though it's still insta-cast, the need to adjust your position before casting it means there will be an indirect delay to casting it. I think they also reduced his AA damage, which is his main source of damage with the current meta build.

[Alan]

Double tank does also work against Zera, since he mainly thrives against squishies. I think his standard build may change, Wormhole may become less of a required talent, opening up more Giant Killer and possibly Assassin's Blade builds. Though with both of those, in order to maximize them you tend to have to stay in combat for a lot longer than Zera should be staying in combat.

[Jonathan]

https://www.reddit.com/r/heroesofthesto ... _mechanic/

Check top comment.

I've been playing this game since June and I didn't know there was a penalty to kill experience for the team that is ahead in levels. It is a very significant penalty, too: up to -95% XP penalty at a 4 level difference.

I did know about the XP bonus for the losers, but I think the penalty is way more significant. You can trade 1&1 or 2&2 as the underdog and really make up some serious deficit.

[Alan]

Yep, and also that clearing one wave of minions is as much experience as taking down a fort tower or one hero kill.

It really makes you realize that there is no reason whatsoever to teamfight prior to 10 on most maps, and that laning prior to level 10 is actually pretty important, a lot of times it's more important than an early game objective.

Early game you can so easily fall behind in levels if you're missing out on minion waves.

[Jonathan]

https://www.reddit.com/r/heroesofthesto ... the_storm/

Sometime after Blizzcon they will change stat and ability scaling. Reddit says the current PTR Scaling Test at level 1 feels about like Live on level 8. There's not a direct analog, though. At any rate, abilities, health, and attack damage seem to scale at 1.04x per level mostly. The variation between heroes is baked into their starting stats and talents, not the level scaling.