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[Heroes of the Storm 2.0] I literally refuse to call him "Blaze".
milk ducks
High Mucky MuckBig Tits TownRegistered User regular
High Mucky MuckBig Tits TownRegistered User regular
What's new?
- New & Experienced Players - Advice on Improving and Not Raging
- Community resources - Learning from the best
- Which heroes should I buy? - Anyone but fucking Valeera.
- New player guide
- Current free hero rotation
- Latest patch notes
- Patch history
- Current hero rankings and statistics (take it with a grain of salt)
- Grubby's latest tier list
- Heroes of the Storm talent calculator
- Drafting Strategy - Counterpicks
- Drafting Strategy - Drafter Ap
- Map Timings
- Where can I find you bunch of dota reject feeders? - /join heroes of the wang
- Resources for new players -- Just what is Heroes of the Storm, anyway?
Heroes, in a nutshell, is a game in which two teams are trying to destroy the Core of the opposing team. The Core is similar to the Ancient in DotA or the Nexus in League. Each team has a base with Forts, Towers, Gates, Healing Wells, and Walls to help them defend their core.
At regular intervals waves of NPC Minions spawn in each base and march down pre-defined lanes to attack the enemy. It is the job of the players to help attack down these lanes and destroy the enemy team's base and ultimately their Core. To help with this, each of the maps has a special map objective that gives a big bonus of some sort to the team that completes the objective. Generally each objective will be completed 3-5 times per match before the core is destroyed.
Just like the waves of NPC Minions who spawn and march towards each other in battle, so too do the player characters respawn when they die and continue to fight. The amount of time it takes to respawn is directly related to how long the game has been running. In a new game that is only minutes old, a player will respawn almost immediately. In games over 15 minutes in length the spawn timers will reach a full 60 seconds.
Core: The first team to destroy their opponent's Core wins the map. The Core has a recharging shield which is worth about 15% of the total health of the Core. This shield regenerates very quickly when the Core is out of combat for 8 seconds. The Core also shoots a lightning blast at a target that will also damage enemies near that target. It follows the same targeting rules as Forts and Towers (see below), but is immune to many effect that shut down structures.
Tower: The first line of defense in each base. Towers have limited ammo which regenerates over time. Towers prioritize minions and summoned units and will ignore player characters as long as there is a minion or summoned unit within range. Unlike other MOBAs, the Towers in Heroes will not target a player character if that character attacks an enemy hero while within range.
Forts: Each lane has one Fort, which is located behind a wall and two towers. These Forts have a lot of HP and attack with ammo just like Towers do, but they also slow enemy movement and attack speed which makes them a decent place to defend from. Destroying a Fort yields a considerable XP payout, making them primary targets in the early game.
Keeps: After a Fort, the last line of a lane's defense before the Core are Keeps. These function similarly to Forts, and will also pay out big XP if destroyed. If a keep is destroyed, the opposing lane will start spawning long-range, high-damage catapults alongside the usual minions. Therefore, it's very important protect your keeps while destroying your opponents'.
Healing Wells: If you have played Warcraft 3 then you are probably familiar with the Healing Wells, as they operate similarly to the Moon Wells of the Night Elves. They are on a timer, and restore Health and Mana when you click them. The Health and Mana provided by these Wells is not instant, as the restoration happens over time.
Spawn Point: Each team spawns behind their Core in the safety of their base. There is a magical shield barrier that prevents the enemy team from entering the spawn location, and this shield stops all spells and attacks. Spawn Points also have instant-mounting while you are inside, and you regenerate Health and Mana at a very fast rate while standing in the spawn.
Minions spawn down the lane like merry lemmings just waiting to die to a tower or hero. They are...
1. Soldiers: Dudes with swords, they lead the minion waves. Tend to have higher-than-average HP and a weak melee attack.
2. Archers: Dudes with, get this, bows. They're in the back of the wave, boasting lower HP but a decent ranged attack.
3. Mages: Wizards that coast in the middle of the pack. They deal ranged damage, but the more important thing is that they drop a green orb on death that will give you and nearby teammates a little bit of HP and mana back. There's only one per minion wave, so try to get that orb!
4. Catapults: Beefy siege units that assault bases with a long-range attack. They only spawn when the enemy's final fort in that lane has fallen, giving you incentive to keep that damn fort alive. They can easily outrange towers/forts/cores, meaning they will slowly whittle down a base unless stopped.
Each map also contains a scattering of Mercenary Camps in the "jungle" area between the lanes. These Merc Camps are neutral NPCs that can be defeated by players and hired to fight for the team that captures them. To capture a Mercenary Camp, the players must defeat them in combat (or bribe them) and then stand within a capture circle for a few seconds to gain control of the camp. It is possible for the enemy team to steal the camps if they push you out of the circle or kill you before you can claim it.
1. Siege Camps: These camps contain two giant siege monsters which hurl large rocks at their enemies. They have long range and can out-range towers and forts, which make them very advantageous for lane pushing. These are the easiest camps to defeat and can be solo'd by most heroes by level 10.
2. Bruiser Camps: Formerly known as the "Knight Camps," these are squads of 4 soldiers (3 melee and 1 spellcaster) who possess a lot of HP and decent damage damage. These camps are more difficult to take and typically require 1-2 people to capture.
3. Boss Camps: These camps generally require 3+ heroes to kill, depending on team levels and what heroes are present. These are high HP / high Damage monsters that can do devastating amounts of damage in a lane. They ignore minions and other mercenaries and will only target enemy structures. They cast a Pound skill that can be avoided by moving out of the telegraphed smash circle. They also cast a targeted root spell on occasion against enemy heroes, telegraphed by a smaller circle.
4. Map-Specific Creeps: From pirates on Blackheart Bay to the plant monsters in the Garden of Terror, these mercs will NOT join your side, but instead drop objective-relevant items that help you win the game like skulls, coins, and so on. Difficulty and rewards vary by map.
So what else? There is no item shop. No in-game gold. No items to be bought. No shoes or rods of whatever. "Blasphemy!" you might say, but Heroes is feeling pretty heretical. Instead of items, you get talents roughly every 3-4 levels. These are anywhere from 2-5 choices that change how your character functions. It might be "killing minions gives you more damage" or "your auto-attacks now slow enemies." At level 10 you unlock your Heroic Ability (aka your ult), and even that has choices! Every character has two heroic abilities, so pick the one most suited for the current game.
If you have played other MOBAs and are accustomed to buying boots, this game doesn't have them. Instead it has Mounts (default Z key). Attacking or taking damage dismounts you, and re-mounting does have a brief cooldown. Not all characters can mount up, but instead have mobility skills that in most cases let them get to an area REALLY FAST but has a much longer cooldown.
At regular intervals waves of NPC Minions spawn in each base and march down pre-defined lanes to attack the enemy. It is the job of the players to help attack down these lanes and destroy the enemy team's base and ultimately their Core. To help with this, each of the maps has a special map objective that gives a big bonus of some sort to the team that completes the objective. Generally each objective will be completed 3-5 times per match before the core is destroyed.
Just like the waves of NPC Minions who spawn and march towards each other in battle, so too do the player characters respawn when they die and continue to fight. The amount of time it takes to respawn is directly related to how long the game has been running. In a new game that is only minutes old, a player will respawn almost immediately. In games over 15 minutes in length the spawn timers will reach a full 60 seconds.
Core: The first team to destroy their opponent's Core wins the map. The Core has a recharging shield which is worth about 15% of the total health of the Core. This shield regenerates very quickly when the Core is out of combat for 8 seconds. The Core also shoots a lightning blast at a target that will also damage enemies near that target. It follows the same targeting rules as Forts and Towers (see below), but is immune to many effect that shut down structures.
Tower: The first line of defense in each base. Towers have limited ammo which regenerates over time. Towers prioritize minions and summoned units and will ignore player characters as long as there is a minion or summoned unit within range. Unlike other MOBAs, the Towers in Heroes will not target a player character if that character attacks an enemy hero while within range.
Forts: Each lane has one Fort, which is located behind a wall and two towers. These Forts have a lot of HP and attack with ammo just like Towers do, but they also slow enemy movement and attack speed which makes them a decent place to defend from. Destroying a Fort yields a considerable XP payout, making them primary targets in the early game.
Keeps: After a Fort, the last line of a lane's defense before the Core are Keeps. These function similarly to Forts, and will also pay out big XP if destroyed. If a keep is destroyed, the opposing lane will start spawning long-range, high-damage catapults alongside the usual minions. Therefore, it's very important protect your keeps while destroying your opponents'.
Healing Wells: If you have played Warcraft 3 then you are probably familiar with the Healing Wells, as they operate similarly to the Moon Wells of the Night Elves. They are on a timer, and restore Health and Mana when you click them. The Health and Mana provided by these Wells is not instant, as the restoration happens over time.
Spawn Point: Each team spawns behind their Core in the safety of their base. There is a magical shield barrier that prevents the enemy team from entering the spawn location, and this shield stops all spells and attacks. Spawn Points also have instant-mounting while you are inside, and you regenerate Health and Mana at a very fast rate while standing in the spawn.
Minions spawn down the lane like merry lemmings just waiting to die to a tower or hero. They are...
1. Soldiers: Dudes with swords, they lead the minion waves. Tend to have higher-than-average HP and a weak melee attack.
2. Archers: Dudes with, get this, bows. They're in the back of the wave, boasting lower HP but a decent ranged attack.
3. Mages: Wizards that coast in the middle of the pack. They deal ranged damage, but the more important thing is that they drop a green orb on death that will give you and nearby teammates a little bit of HP and mana back. There's only one per minion wave, so try to get that orb!
4. Catapults: Beefy siege units that assault bases with a long-range attack. They only spawn when the enemy's final fort in that lane has fallen, giving you incentive to keep that damn fort alive. They can easily outrange towers/forts/cores, meaning they will slowly whittle down a base unless stopped.
Each map also contains a scattering of Mercenary Camps in the "jungle" area between the lanes. These Merc Camps are neutral NPCs that can be defeated by players and hired to fight for the team that captures them. To capture a Mercenary Camp, the players must defeat them in combat (or bribe them) and then stand within a capture circle for a few seconds to gain control of the camp. It is possible for the enemy team to steal the camps if they push you out of the circle or kill you before you can claim it.
1. Siege Camps: These camps contain two giant siege monsters which hurl large rocks at their enemies. They have long range and can out-range towers and forts, which make them very advantageous for lane pushing. These are the easiest camps to defeat and can be solo'd by most heroes by level 10.
2. Bruiser Camps: Formerly known as the "Knight Camps," these are squads of 4 soldiers (3 melee and 1 spellcaster) who possess a lot of HP and decent damage damage. These camps are more difficult to take and typically require 1-2 people to capture.
3. Boss Camps: These camps generally require 3+ heroes to kill, depending on team levels and what heroes are present. These are high HP / high Damage monsters that can do devastating amounts of damage in a lane. They ignore minions and other mercenaries and will only target enemy structures. They cast a Pound skill that can be avoided by moving out of the telegraphed smash circle. They also cast a targeted root spell on occasion against enemy heroes, telegraphed by a smaller circle.
4. Map-Specific Creeps: From pirates on Blackheart Bay to the plant monsters in the Garden of Terror, these mercs will NOT join your side, but instead drop objective-relevant items that help you win the game like skulls, coins, and so on. Difficulty and rewards vary by map.
So what else? There is no item shop. No in-game gold. No items to be bought. No shoes or rods of whatever. "Blasphemy!" you might say, but Heroes is feeling pretty heretical. Instead of items, you get talents roughly every 3-4 levels. These are anywhere from 2-5 choices that change how your character functions. It might be "killing minions gives you more damage" or "your auto-attacks now slow enemies." At level 10 you unlock your Heroic Ability (aka your ult), and even that has choices! Every character has two heroic abilities, so pick the one most suited for the current game.
If you have played other MOBAs and are accustomed to buying boots, this game doesn't have them. Instead it has Mounts (default Z key). Attacking or taking damage dismounts you, and re-mounting does have a brief cooldown. Not all characters can mount up, but instead have mobility skills that in most cases let them get to an area REALLY FAST but has a much longer cooldown.
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dude hell no
i don't want that responsibility
don't you put that voodoo on me
ANYway, from the old thread:
She's melee Nova with a stun/silence. Stun a dude, burst them for A Million Damages, collect your kill.
She's great at getting onto the enemy backline and bursting squishies, or disabling dumb dive assassins like Illidan or Greymane or Genji. Nova/Zera can't do that.
I'll never say no to a good Valeera
Assuming they're smart and not going stupid Ambush build. Yes, trade off your amazing CC for some extra burst OKAY
Battle.net Tag: Dibby#1582
It's like a guaranteed kill set-up or follow-up to just finish off a dude
She adds a lot to a coordinated team
Only real counter is *protected* or cleanse plus burst healing
Witty signature comment goes here...
wra
And it's because of two-three things.
Cheap shot, vanish, and smoke bomb ult.
Valeera is the only stealthier with a stun and the only one who can make herself not even show a fucking shimmer.
She's a bitch to deal with.
That's what the silence is for tho :bzz:
They're nerfing the fuuuuck out of Cheap Shot when she gets her rework though (stun duration goes from 1.25 down to 0.75, albeit with a long Blind after). But CS will still be good against AAers due to the Blind. This DOES encourage more usage out of Garrote now, which I like, since that was her least used opener.
Valeera will be a lot more palatable after the Stealth changes though since you'll be able to see her coming and prepare and all. Or knock her out of stealth.
Battle.net Tag: Dibby#1582
Today my least favorite thing is when someone on my team complains about us not engaging properly when they time and again refuse to pay attention and show up to the objective on time while the team is trying to disrupt the enemy.
Like oh yeah we seem out of place and on the back foot or desperately moving in? Almost like there's some really important OBJECTIVE we don't want the enemy to CLAIM or TURN IN and so we're trying to CONTEST that and not just fucking around in the lanes for 5 minutes wondering "Where's the rest of my team"?
Yesterday's least favorite thing was A. Fucking Genji. Just... fuck Genji so much. and B. Ragnaros Lava Ult like goddamn. I hope when Blizzard is trying to play up the importance of the lanes and pushing they nerf the fuck out of that ult so Rag can't just eliminate any lane his team is losing because his team are doing something else.
General Info:
Official Rules:
Battlegrounds:
Each team gets one map ban in all Rounds. Map bans happen before first pick or map choice decisions are made.
Teams: (TBD)
Hellish Hirelings
Knight_ (Knight#1522) Master Warrior/Fill
MMMig (MMMig#1238) Diamond Specialist
Traib (Traib#1952) Platinum Support/Specialist
SeGaTai (SeGaTai#1225) Gold Warrior/Assassin
Tim is on the Internet (timbit1639) Bronze Support
Merciless Menagerie
Nyht (Dreamwalker#1530) Diamond Tank/Assassin
Supagoat (Supagoat#1884) Platinum Assassin/Support
Munkus Beaver (Munkus#1952) Platinum Specialist
The Escape Goat (EscapeGoat#1913) Gold Warrior/Assassin
Korror (NullPointer#1191) Gold Support/Specialist
Five Murky Meta
ArcticLancer (ArcticLancer#1969) Master Assassin/Specialist
Kime (Kime#1812) Diamond Bruiser/Specialist
Morgan_Coke (Morgan Coke #1589) Platinum Tank/Healer
Gachnar (Gachnar#1212) Gold Support/Spec/Ranged DPS
Ketbra (ketbra#1692) Silver Assassin/Support
New Ranch Soda
WingedWeasel (WingedWeasel#1173) Diamond Tank
Finnith (CavilatRest#1874) Diamond Support/Specialist
Kieri (kieri#1440) Platinum Assassin/Support
Auralynx (Auralynx#1772) Gold Support/Warrior
Megatin (megatin#1596) Silver Non-Diver Assassin
Commentators: (TBD)
Dibby
Inquisitor77
MNC Dover
Milk Ducks
Twitch Streams: (TBD)
MNC Dover's Twitch Channel! (Commentary)
Milk Ducks' Twitch Channel! (Commentary)
Legends of Runeterra: MNCdover #moc
Switch ID: MNC Dover SW-1154-3107-1051
Steam ID
Twitch Page
That matchup really depends on the other three heroes on either team, but yeah, it's probably going to favour the former.
Steam: CavilatRest
In a vacuum I'd say that the Rehgar/Tassadar has a much better chance of winning than the Ana/Morales. But it's highly dependent upon whether or not the former recognize that the latter have absolutely no waveclear.
Basic win conditions:
Rehgar/Tassadar - Take advantage of greater waveclear to gain a level advantage, push/control lanes and the map (jungle, objectives). Avoid fights where both Ana and Morales are present unless you can delete one of them immediately.
Ana/Morales - Hold without losing too much in structures or losing soak, maintain enough level parity to win late-game team fights. Consider double stacking a lane with both healers or allowing them to rotate where needed.
Other considerations:
1) Access to a carry hero like Valla. If R/T have one, they almost certainly win. If A/M have one, it opens up their basic win condition by allowing them to stack both healers in a lane with the carry and shoving the lane as hard as they can, potentially threatening keep.
2) If it's a 3-lane or 2-lane map, the latter mitigating the waveclear problems with A/M and increasing the value of their sustain. The specific map actually has a massive impact on which team is stronger. Maps like Braxis or Warhead would make Ana/Morales much more powerful, while maps like Shrines
3) The amount of burst damage and dive available to the R/T team to pressure A/M
4) Access to globals - for R/T it would give them added lane control, for A/M it could very well be a game-changer
Battle.net: morgancoke#1589
Titan's Creed: Jump first, don't ask questions, punch everything
COME FORTH, AMATERASU! - Switch Friend Code SW-5465-2458-5696 - Twitch
Why yes my run of support and assassin quests did butt up against valeera 4 games in a row. Oh you don't have enough hp to to even live through silence duration? Womp womp
I have no idea what I am doing
Damage taken by bubbles gives energy. Energy decays over time. Energy makes your attacks do more hurts.
Or play draft mode and pick whoever you want for the quest :P
3DS Friend Code: 3110-5393-4113
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That's what I thought but I was really just flinging grenades and zapping trash both games since diablo and Kharazim where glued to each other
They're pretty good!
Apparently the artist was also the source of the Alarak/IT image I posted earlier.
Pinging past players to see if there is any interest.
@ArcticLancer @WingedWeasel @Jookie @So It Goes @running1di0t @CareerKnight @Invictus @tyrantula22
Legends of Runeterra: MNCdover #moc
Switch ID: MNC Dover SW-1154-3107-1051
Steam ID
Twitch Page
I recall this came up ... well, probably not actually recently. Fair enough.
The trick with Zarya is that she's honestly terrible to play in QM unless you're in a party and can at least have a baseline strategy to mitigate the problem of her being in the "pseudo-support" bucket. Otherwise you're okay picking her in draft, but then you aren't doing it for dailies, so ... yeah.
She's a weird 2nd support 2nd tank who can only barely help in either of those roles. The compensation for this is that when supporting your team as a midliner/anti-dive-hero, you get to do boat loads of damage. However if you get caught out AT ALL you're dead, because you get to walk slowly away with a single shield on a 12(?) second cooldown. Essentially Johanna with none of her tools for survival. :P
I love the hero. She's an amazing character and a really fun design when she gets to do her thing, but that isn't often. Again, based on where she gets popped in QM it's even worse because she doesn't compete well with anyone that she'll get matched with (she will be an almost strictly worse version of Medivh, pretty much).
Perhaps I can interest you in my meager selection of pins?
Perhaps I can interest you in my meager selection of pins?
Just give me your two primary roles. Not really accepting Fill as an option this time.
No problem, just let me know. Also might want to check if the b.net streaming re-enabled itself. Could explain lots of lag issues.
Legends of Runeterra: MNCdover #moc
Switch ID: MNC Dover SW-1154-3107-1051
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Twitch Page
Zarya has a deceptively high skill floor. She's is all about whether or not you are doing damage. If you aren't doing a lot of damage and don't know how to get up in people's faces to do so safely, then you should just play Tassadar or another hero entirely.
She's basically a melee assassin with shields that conditionally have to be hit in order for her to do meaningful damage. Oh, and she has no escapes. Oh, and she has to stand still as long as possible to really maximize damage. It's not an easy kit to use at all, and if you have trouble making decisions with melee assassins who actually have escapes (see: Greymane) then Zarya is not for you.
But if you're really good with Zarya she can absolutely carry a game, especially in QM where the lack of true tanks/supports in many games means that you can trade very well with squishy heroes who feed your shields but have no way to mitigate or heal up your return damage.
This is incredibly YMMV. The other heroes she'll get matched with actually provide a lot of sustain in comparison to Zarya (Abathur less so of course, but still, if he wants ...). The higher you expect your general rank is the harder she's going to be to play, because in the sorts of games she gets you might well not have a support, and she gets blown up real good. Or the other team has a real tank and can stun/pick you easily. She's just ... so very conditional, and the better the average player in your games, the harder she's going to be to make work most times.
Ironically, Zarya will benefit from infinite ammo towers in a way no other hero in the game will. So, like, there's that I guess. XD
Perhaps I can interest you in my meager selection of pins?
WoWtcg and general gaming podcast
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I feel obligated to share this one:
Rhegar is the best solo healer in the game (imo) and one of the best secondary healers.
Ana is the best secondary healer and an absurd anti-healing specialist.
So when you are comparing two teams and one is any two healers against Ana and another healer, it pretty much is gonna depend on whether the Ana is good enough. Because a good enough Ana will just just dominate.
I won't be able to make this one. The timing just didn't work out for me.
Steam ID
Steam: CavilatRest
I guess blizzard likes cuphead seeing some of those sprays
*shrug* I have no strong opinion either way.
I'm pretty sure someone made the exact same comment after the last In Dev video. Was it you? :P
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