I'm not sure what to make of the fact that the game can change so quickly. Several times last night we were losing so badly i was convinced it's gave over. They had all inner keeps while our core had already lost shields. Then we somehow turn it around and win.
There are other characters with just as good or better vision than Zagara.
Tyrande's owl shot is an invaluable scouting tool. Being able to shoot it down a lane, or into a merc camp or boss or objective is huge.
Tassadar's Oracle is on a fast cooldown and lets him see over bushes and walls. It should basically be cast on cooldown, even in matches without stealth. Being able to see over walls is huge on some maps, such as spider queen.
Characters with Clairvoyance/Far Sight also are amazingly powerful at vision. Uther, Rehgar, and anyone else with these skills can provide a huge benefit in being able to scan literally anywhere they want on the map. And they can be cast while mounted.
For those interested, Top 8 of the North America Open Road to Blizzcon tournament has started.
GET HYPE
Personally I'm rooting for Zeveron, they've had a meteoric rise lately and look incredibly solid. They're paired up against C9M though... Who I also love...
The point of a PTR is to test for bugs and balance issues. Not allowing people to toy around with a new hero FOR JUST A WEEK makes it so transparent as to what really matters for Blizzard.
Yeah, that's my point. The past 3 have been pretty well balanced compared to previous releases so it seems like they've gotten their shit together on that front.
The point of a PTR is to test for bugs and balance issues. Not allowing people to toy around with a new hero FOR JUST A WEEK makes it so transparent as to what really matters for Blizzard.
Given their recent hero releases, it doesn't seem super necessary though.
The first two weeks of Kael were ridiculous before they nerfed the bouncing bomb talent (name escapes me). Also, Sylvanas is about as close to broken as a hero can get without being explicitly nerfed. Plus, Possession. Come on.
Of the three I'd say only Jo is fairly balanced, whereas kael/syl outclass almost everyone for their respective roles.
Yeah, like, I guess Kael's tradeoff was supposed to be that he's super squishy and has no escapes.
But that kind of goes all out the window when he can stand half a screen away and toss out Precision Strikes every 7 seconds.
Thanks, Flamethrower+Ignite. Particularly Flamethrower, that completely negates any and all setbacks he might've had by letting him be incredibly safe with his ranges.
I kind of thought chain bomb did a ton of freaking damage though.
It can, but it's a higher risk, higher reward type thing. Since Kael is already high risk, high reward, it's generally excessive to try for that build.
I kind of thought chain bomb did a ton of freaking damage though.
Chain Bomb used to be the go-to defacto pick. ...Because it had a bugged interaction with Ignite.
Basically, if Living Bomb was already applied to a target, Flamestrike (w/Ignite) would cause a second application.
So you have Target A with Living Bomb on them (let's say Nova for the sake of simplicity). So Nova has Living Bomb, and Kael'thas lands a Flamestrike on her and two of her allies.
So Flamestrike applies Living Bomb to all three. Living Bomb on Nova then explodes because a second was applied, spreading to the other two... but because they already have Living Bomb on them, it explodes instantly as well. And then spreads BACK to Nova.
You could basically wipe an entire enemy team with one good Flamestrike.
The first two weeks of Kael were ridiculous before they nerfed the bouncing bomb talent (name escapes me). Also, Sylvanas is about as close to broken as a hero can get without being explicitly nerfed. Plus, Possession. Come on.
Sylvannas isn't broken and one bad ult is not something that is gonna be fixed quickly on a PTR anyway, nor is it a huge balance concern.
And Kael is super squishy. Motherfucker walks slower then other heroes I swear.
All the new heroes have been powerful but none are broken.
The first two weeks of Kael were ridiculous before they nerfed the bouncing bomb talent (name escapes me). Also, Sylvanas is about as close to broken as a hero can get without being explicitly nerfed. Plus, Possession. Come on.
Sylvannas isn't broken and one bad ult is not something that is gonna be fixed quickly on a PTR anyway, nor is it a huge balance concern.
And Kael is super squishy. Motherfucker walks slower then other heroes I swear.
All the new heroes have been powerful but none are broken.
I believe he does.
After all, would mighty Kael'Thas lower himself to RUN? No, he walks. Mightily.
[R] Possession - NEW - Uses a Charge mechanic now - 7 charges, 12 sec cooldown on each.
[R] Possession - NEW - Costs 5 charges to convert a Catapult Minion.
[R] Possession - Now gives possessed minion just 20% attack damage (previously also gave 20% bonus health)
[20] Dark Lady's Call - NEW - Now increases maximum number of charges by 3 and decreases recharge time by 4 seconds.
[20] Dark Lady's Call - NEW - 5 charges can be used to convert enemy Mercenaries.
[20] Dark Lady's Call - REMOVED - Attack and Health bonus.
Blood For Blood also got nerfed. Instead of a 15% lifesteal and 30% slow, it's now 10% Health in damage and heals for twice the amount. No more movespeed slow. Promote, as well:
Promote - OLD - Activate to give target allied lane minion +300% Health and +100% damage for 30 seconds.
Promote - NEW -Activate to cause an allied lane minion to take 75% reduced damage from non-Heroic targets and deal 100% bonus damage to non-Heroic targets for 30 seconds.
And Envenom now deals damage over 10 seconds as opposed to 5. Same amount of damage, but less bursty I guess.
[R] Possession - NEW - Uses a Charge mechanic now - 7 charges, 12 sec cooldown on each.
[R] Possession - NEW - Costs 5 charges to convert a Catapult Minion.
[R] Possession - Now gives possessed minion just 20% attack damage (previously also gave 20% bonus health)
[20] Dark Lady's Call - NEW - Now increases maximum number of charges by 3 and decreases recharge time by 4 seconds.
[20] Dark Lady's Call - NEW - 5 charges can be used to convert enemy Mercenaries.
[20] Dark Lady's Call - REMOVED - Attack and Health bonus.
Blood For Blood also got nerfed. Instead of a 15% lifesteal and 30% slow, it's now 10% Health in damage and heals for twice the amount. No more movespeed slow. Promote, as well:
Promote - OLD - Activate to give target allied lane minion +300% Health and +100% damage for 30 seconds.
Promote - NEW -Activate to cause an allied lane minion to take 75% reduced damage from non-Heroic targets and deal 100% bonus damage to non-Heroic targets for 30 seconds.
And Envenom now deals damage over 10 seconds as opposed to 5. Same amount of damage, but less bursty I guess.
I like that promote change. It means they still push an empty lane as good as ever, but tanks and supports can actually deal with them if they need to de-push a lane.
Huge nerf to meta damage, that was totally needed.
Lowering Arcane Flare damage feels weird, since it's already such a weak ability and not why BW is so good. Remove damage and .5 seconds from poly but add base slow, probably a net increase on the ability to secure kills with it though.
Big nerfs to promote and decent changes for BfB, probably smart. Promote always exists in a state of broken or useless, so interesting to see them go this totally splitpush thing that doesn't effect heroes. The protective shield change is no fun for murky, used to be amusing to shield him for 2x his health bar.
edit: apparently they also removed sprint from jaina? that's a huge nerf and imo makes her way worse than kael if true. her one saving grace was against teams with a lot of hard initiate she at least could sprint away.
Had a moment to really digest the Brightwing changes. Overall I think I like what they're doing.
The really big losses are losing Scouting Drone, Envenom, Promote, Protective Shield, Gust of Healing, Regenerative Rains, MULE, and Sprint.
Whew. Big list. But really we can kinda cross off Regenerative Rains and MULE since they competed with Gust of Healing, meaning they were never taken. Losing Scouting Drone and Promote aren't too bad honestly, they made an already great Hero even better with all that crazy utility. Losing Envenom makes me sad, RIP Damage-wing. Protective Shield going away sucks too, but Phase Shield's at 7 now so it's fine I think.
The really, really big one is losing Gust of Healing. That's gonna sting a bit. But I'm honestly not surprised to see it go, because it was such a ridiculously good talent. The second big thing is Soothing Mist's healing pulses got nerfed, BUT you pulse every 4 seconds instead of 5 now. I think that's fine, especially with her new talents.
Undecided between Unfurling Spray and Hyper Shift, they both look great, but leaning towards Hyper Shift. The idea behind this build is full-on healing. Manic Pixie with Bouncy Dust means a LOT of extra healing. With Blink Heal and Revitalizing Mist (the new level 20 talent), Brightwing is going to be putting out way more healing than ever before. Phase Shield at 7, in addition to Hyper Shift, means a lot more shielding as well. I'm actually going to go out on a limb and say all her level 16 talents look great now. All of them are equally viable and that's fantastic.
Polymorph change seems better all around. I was a huge fan of grabbing Sticky Powder over Critterize anyway, so having a base slow on Poly is great.
Arcane Flare damage nerf seems strange, and unnecessary. Maybe that's to adjust for the Arcane Precision buff? Maybe. Her new Q talents don't seem that great, either. I mean, increased range on Q is actually pretty nice, but it competes with Manic Pixie. Buffed Sticky Flare is nice though.
Overall I think she's gonna come out a bit stronger than before. She's definitely taken some hits, but she looks to be all around better. Her early game looks really good now with Manic Pixie and Phase Shield at 7. Especially with Phase Shield lasting 20 seconds, it's guaranteed to get some good use out of it.
Also, I like the look of the BW and Malf changes. BW's talents feel alot more interesting and alot less like "Just grab as many new abilities as you can".
Jump is still in, but they now have multiple skills that compete with each other. In fact, they don't seem to even have three skills anymore unless Mortar is now a base skill instead of for Longboat. Spin to Win or Norse Force, and Jump or an active version of Giant Killer where each Viking's basic attacks deal 1% of the target's max HP in damage for five seconds. That can be quite a chunk of damage, I guess.
Viking Hoard is passive, Norse Force is weaker but has half the cooldown, and there's a Viking version of Bribe (100 stacks max, 40 to Bribe). Play Again still sucks, and Impatience is a tier higher.
Hard to say how this will pan out, but their ability to soak is untouched and perhaps even better now with Bribe. Basically you have to choose between damage or defensive skills.
Jump is still in, but they now have multiple skills that compete with each other. In fact, they don't seem to even have three skills anymore unless Mortar is now a base skill instead of for Longboat. Spin to Win or Norse Force, and Jump or an active version of Giant Killer where each Viking's basic attacks deal 1% of the target's max HP in damage for five seconds. That can be quite a chunk of damage, I guess.
Viking Hoard is passive, Norse Force is weaker but has half the cooldown, and there's a Viking version of Bribe (100 stacks max, 40 to Bribe). Play Again still sucks, and Impatience is a tier higher.
Hard to say how this will pan out, but their ability to soak is untouched and perhaps even better now with Bribe. Basically you have to choose between damage or defensive skills.
Munkus BeaverYou don't have to attend every argument you are invited to.Philosophy: Stoicism. Politics: Democratic SocialistRegistered User, ClubPAregular
Posts
But in all honesty, Koreans have found new ways to use and exploit game mechanics for decades. Much like Japanese in fighting games.
It's not so much being Korean or Japanese but the way they approach things. For example, I believe Europeans are generally the best at fps?
Anyway, getting too off topic.
zagara has burst -_-'
Witty signature comment goes here...
wra
1. Sgt. Hammer is adorable and amazing and I want to hug her? She is a woman after my queer butch heart.
2. Enemy team was so bad I almost felt sad
but not quite
https://podcast.tidalwavegames.com/
Due to her stocky frame and predilection for machines I always think of her as a Dwarf, but then I remember there are no Dwarves in Starcraft.
Tyrande's owl shot is an invaluable scouting tool. Being able to shoot it down a lane, or into a merc camp or boss or objective is huge.
Tassadar's Oracle is on a fast cooldown and lets him see over bushes and walls. It should basically be cast on cooldown, even in matches without stealth. Being able to see over walls is huge on some maps, such as spider queen.
Characters with Clairvoyance/Far Sight also are amazingly powerful at vision. Uther, Rehgar, and anyone else with these skills can provide a huge benefit in being able to scan literally anywhere they want on the map. And they can be cast while mounted.
Blizzard should totally release a Dwarf skin for her tho.
https://podcast.tidalwavegames.com/
Blizzard, get on this.
GET HYPE
Personally I'm rooting for Zeveron, they've had a meteoric rise lately and look incredibly solid. They're paired up against C9M though... Who I also love...
This is like the Sophie's Choice of esports, man.
Edit: Also, a link to the bracket: http://play.eslgaming.com/heroesofthestorm/americas/championship/na-open-june-top-8/rankings/
Battle.net Tag: Dibby#1582
No team names, no talent builds. But hey! They have alternating Twitch and ESL logos in the lower left of the screen! woot
XBL: InvaderJims
Bnet: Pudgestomp#11153
I like taking her scale compared to other Heroes at face value, so she's like 18 inches tall.
Steam: TimIsOnSteam
Battle.net: TimIsOnBnet#1745
Switch: SW-7012-4788-7410
PSN: TimIsOnTheNet
Sylvannas and Kael and Johanna have all pretty much been fine. So they seem to be doing pretty good.
The point of a PTR is to test for bugs and balance issues. Not allowing people to toy around with a new hero FOR JUST A WEEK makes it so transparent as to what really matters for Blizzard.
She must think she's Chen.
Yeah, that's my point. The past 3 have been pretty well balanced compared to previous releases so it seems like they've gotten their shit together on that front.
Given their recent hero releases, it doesn't seem super necessary though.
Yeah, like, I guess Kael's tradeoff was supposed to be that he's super squishy and has no escapes.
But that kind of goes all out the window when he can stand half a screen away and toss out Precision Strikes every 7 seconds.
Thanks, Flamethrower+Ignite. Particularly Flamethrower, that completely negates any and all setbacks he might've had by letting him be incredibly safe with his ranges.
Battle.net Tag: Dibby#1582
And I don't mean free week Kael, either.
XBL: InvaderJims
Bnet: Pudgestomp#11153
I kind of thought chain bomb did a ton of freaking damage though.
Chain Bomb used to be the go-to defacto pick. ...Because it had a bugged interaction with Ignite.
Basically, if Living Bomb was already applied to a target, Flamestrike (w/Ignite) would cause a second application.
So you have Target A with Living Bomb on them (let's say Nova for the sake of simplicity). So Nova has Living Bomb, and Kael'thas lands a Flamestrike on her and two of her allies.
So Flamestrike applies Living Bomb to all three. Living Bomb on Nova then explodes because a second was applied, spreading to the other two... but because they already have Living Bomb on them, it explodes instantly as well. And then spreads BACK to Nova.
You could basically wipe an entire enemy team with one good Flamestrike.
Battle.net Tag: Dibby#1582
Sylvannas isn't broken and one bad ult is not something that is gonna be fixed quickly on a PTR anyway, nor is it a huge balance concern.
And Kael is super squishy. Motherfucker walks slower then other heroes I swear.
All the new heroes have been powerful but none are broken.
I believe he does.
After all, would mighty Kael'Thas lower himself to RUN? No, he walks. Mightily.
A lot of interesting balance changes. Malf, Brightwing, Rehgar, and TLV all receiving some significant balance/talent changes.
In particular, TLV finally getting a sizeable nerf. They now have to choose between Norse Force and Spin to Win, which are both at 7 now. Jump is at 13, Impatience is at 16. http://www.heroesnexus.com/heroes/45-the-lost-vikings?filter-ptr=1
Possession also getting changed:
Blood For Blood also got nerfed. Instead of a 15% lifesteal and 30% slow, it's now 10% Health in damage and heals for twice the amount. No more movespeed slow. Promote, as well: And Envenom now deals damage over 10 seconds as opposed to 5. Same amount of damage, but less bursty I guess.
Battle.net Tag: Dibby#1582
Then had a game where we had my Brightwing, Mura, ETC, Chen, and Kael. When the game was mercifully over at 13 minutes the AI had 13 kills to our 3.
Those 3 kills were done by my Brightwing. I also had the most hero damage done. The Kael had 0 take downs and 3 deaths...
I like that promote change. It means they still push an empty lane as good as ever, but tanks and supports can actually deal with them if they need to de-push a lane.
Lowering Arcane Flare damage feels weird, since it's already such a weak ability and not why BW is so good. Remove damage and .5 seconds from poly but add base slow, probably a net increase on the ability to secure kills with it though.
Big nerfs to promote and decent changes for BfB, probably smart. Promote always exists in a state of broken or useless, so interesting to see them go this totally splitpush thing that doesn't effect heroes. The protective shield change is no fun for murky, used to be amusing to shield him for 2x his health bar.
edit: apparently they also removed sprint from jaina? that's a huge nerf and imo makes her way worse than kael if true. her one saving grace was against teams with a lot of hard initiate she at least could sprint away.
The really big losses are losing Scouting Drone, Envenom, Promote, Protective Shield, Gust of Healing, Regenerative Rains, MULE, and Sprint.
Whew. Big list. But really we can kinda cross off Regenerative Rains and MULE since they competed with Gust of Healing, meaning they were never taken. Losing Scouting Drone and Promote aren't too bad honestly, they made an already great Hero even better with all that crazy utility. Losing Envenom makes me sad, RIP Damage-wing. Protective Shield going away sucks too, but Phase Shield's at 7 now so it's fine I think.
The really, really big one is losing Gust of Healing. That's gonna sting a bit. But I'm honestly not surprised to see it go, because it was such a ridiculously good talent. The second big thing is Soothing Mist's healing pulses got nerfed, BUT you pulse every 4 seconds instead of 5 now. I think that's fine, especially with her new talents.
However, I'm gonna go out on a limb and say Brightwing's healing is better than ever. Here's a preliminary build I was looking at: http://www.heroesnexus.com/talent-calculator/26-brightwing?filter-ptr=1#NSISHInIMIJSDSaAA
Undecided between Unfurling Spray and Hyper Shift, they both look great, but leaning towards Hyper Shift. The idea behind this build is full-on healing. Manic Pixie with Bouncy Dust means a LOT of extra healing. With Blink Heal and Revitalizing Mist (the new level 20 talent), Brightwing is going to be putting out way more healing than ever before. Phase Shield at 7, in addition to Hyper Shift, means a lot more shielding as well. I'm actually going to go out on a limb and say all her level 16 talents look great now. All of them are equally viable and that's fantastic.
Polymorph change seems better all around. I was a huge fan of grabbing Sticky Powder over Critterize anyway, so having a base slow on Poly is great.
Arcane Flare damage nerf seems strange, and unnecessary. Maybe that's to adjust for the Arcane Precision buff? Maybe. Her new Q talents don't seem that great, either. I mean, increased range on Q is actually pretty nice, but it competes with Manic Pixie. Buffed Sticky Flare is nice though.
Overall I think she's gonna come out a bit stronger than before. She's definitely taken some hits, but she looks to be all around better. Her early game looks really good now with Manic Pixie and Phase Shield at 7. Especially with Phase Shield lasting 20 seconds, it's guaranteed to get some good use out of it.
Battle.net Tag: Dibby#1582
The datamined patch notes seem ambiguous on that.
Viking Hoard is passive, Norse Force is weaker but has half the cooldown, and there's a Viking version of Bribe (100 stacks max, 40 to Bribe). Play Again still sucks, and Impatience is a tier higher.
Hard to say how this will pan out, but their ability to soak is untouched and perhaps even better now with Bribe. Basically you have to choose between damage or defensive skills.
The Bribe is their E skill now.
You watching this?
Zeveron has to win this! They went with ETC.
C9M went with Arthas?!!
Witty signature comment goes here...
wra
Reply