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[Heroes of the Storm] Old Thread.

milk ducksmilk ducks High Mucky MuckBig Tits TownRegistered User regular
edited April 2019 in Games and Technology
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What's new?
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.

milk ducks on
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Posts

  • MNC DoverMNC Dover Full-time Voice Actor Kirkland, WARegistered User regular
    edited November 2018
    Ah that new thread smell. Why is Mal'Ganis still super stronk? And why am I so bad?

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    MNC Dover on
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  • The Escape GoatThe Escape Goat incorrigible ruminant they/themRegistered User regular
    did you only uninstall for two days, dover

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  • MNC DoverMNC Dover Full-time Voice Actor Kirkland, WARegistered User regular
    did you only uninstall for two days, dover

    I didn't uninstall at all, that was the wife...who reinstalled the next day. :)

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  • Knight_Knight_ Dead Dead Dead Registered User regular
    Valla needs 150 more hp or her 13 talents at 7 or something.

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  • Inquisitor77Inquisitor77 2 x Penny Arcade Fight Club Champion A fixed point in space and timeRegistered User regular
    Knight_ wrote: »
    Valla needs 150 more hp or her 13 talents at 7 or something.

    I was thinking they could bump her HP and lower the Hatred requirement. That could potentially be enough, because part of the issue is that she just takes too long to ramp up.

  • SupagoatSupagoat Registered User regular
    I was thinking they could bump her HP and lower the Hatred requirement. That could potentially be enough, because part of the issue is that she just takes too long to ramp up.

    The whole hatred mechanic never made sense. Who hates someone more after they attack them? The mechanic should be reversed. After not attacking for a while she should be at maximum hatred and then as she attacks she forgives her target and does less and less damage. It could even be tracked on a per-enemy basis so she forgives each opponent individually.

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  • ToothyToothy Registered User regular
    Supagoat wrote: »
    The whole hatred mechanic never made sense. Who hates someone more after they attack them? The mechanic should be reversed. After not attacking for a while she should be at maximum hatred and then as she attacks she forgives her target and does less and less damage. It could even be tracked on a per-enemy basis so she forgives each opponent individually.

    Deff more of a, "Why won't you DIE!?" type situation.

  • DibbyDibby I'll do my best! Registered User regular
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    Maw/Corrosive Zagara strikes again lads

    I'm tellin' y'all this build is fukken legit when comp/map calls for it

    fukken beefed on butcher hard with this shit. never saw it coming.

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  • A Dabble Of TheloniusA Dabble Of Thelonius It has been a doozy of a dayRegistered User regular
    What do you take at 4 and 13 with that?

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  • DibbyDibby I'll do my best! Registered User regular
    edited November 2018
    What do you take at 4 and 13 with that?

    Shit I'll just link you my full build: https://www.heroesfire.com/hots/talent-calculator/zagara#gpY0

    Volatile Acid is going to be your best waveclear option if you're not taking Nydus, hands down. Also gives you some really damn good poke.

    Medusa Blades at 4 still. Serrated if you think you can stack it well, but.

    I've been leaning Viscous Acid at 7 because the slow is really potent and helps in teamfights a lot. Baneling Massacre can give more frontloaded damage but I typically don't fire all my Q's off at once, I fire them individually. Also provides zero benefit after that initial burst unless you specifically let the CD tick back up. Shruggg.

    It's really hard to get value from Protective Coating at 13 because you can't constantly lay Creep down, so Transfusion does quite nicely.

    You can still take Mutalisk at 16 if you want, it's still really goddamn good. But Corrosive helps punish melee/high health Heroes even more. Or, yknow, it just punishes squishies in general. It's just kinda nuts all around, tbh. I'd slap Hydra on Ana in that game above and she literally couldn't kill it herself so it'd force her out of the fight entirely.

    Either Fury or Tyrant Maw at 20.

    Dibby on
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  • A Dabble Of TheloniusA Dabble Of Thelonius It has been a doozy of a dayRegistered User regular
    Very nice thanks!

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  • übergeekübergeek Sector 2814Registered User regular
    Finally got Whitemane to 10.....god that was a chore. Just not my kind of healer.

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  • SupagoatSupagoat Registered User regular
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    Holy crap matchmaker.

    And somehow we still managed to win.

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  • MNC DoverMNC Dover Full-time Voice Actor Kirkland, WARegistered User regular
    Supagoat wrote: »
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    Holy crap matchmaker.

    And somehow we still managed to win.

    Matchmaker believes in you!

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  • The Escape GoatThe Escape Goat incorrigible ruminant they/themRegistered User regular
    Tychus into quad mage sounds like a special circle of hell.

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  • DibbyDibby I'll do my best! Registered User regular
    Tychus into quad mage sounds like a special circle of hell.

    hammer into quad mage sounds like the fucking shadow realm

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  • fortyforty Registered User regular
    latest?cb=20180324002944

    I got this portrait in a chest and now I'm not sure what else this game has to offer me anymore.

  • Inquisitor77Inquisitor77 2 x Penny Arcade Fight Club Champion A fixed point in space and timeRegistered User regular
    Drafting and winning with a 5 specialist comp feels so dirty.

  • MMMigMMMig Registered User regular
    Y'all never believe me that full specialists is op af on any 3-lane map.

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    Witty signature comment goes here...

    wra
  • fortyforty Registered User regular
    The specialists' last hurrah. RIP soon...

  • MMMigMMMig Registered User regular
    Building ammo is coming back though, ya?


    If so, maybe there's still hope!

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    Witty signature comment goes here...

    wra
  • milk ducksmilk ducks High Mucky Muck Big Tits TownRegistered User regular
    edited November 2018
    RIP specialists. You'll live on forever in the hearts of every Zagara who split-push all game and show up late, if ever, to objectives / team fights.

    So, in my heart, essentially.

    milk ducks on
  • kimekime Queen of Blades Registered User regular
    MMMig wrote: »
    Building ammo is coming back though, ya?


    If so, maybe there's still hope!

    Uh, no? I don't think they ever said that. And the specialist class is literally going away, which I think was the point

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  • A Dabble Of TheloniusA Dabble Of Thelonius It has been a doozy of a dayRegistered User regular
    I straight ruined a butcher's day yesterday with Maw zag. Once I hit 10, I don't think he ever actually landed a ruthless onslaught/ lamb successfully the rest of the game.

    Well. He landed them. Then would be immediately sarlacced while his victim and I either skipped merrily away or waited to obliterate him when he popped out.

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  • LucascraftLucascraft Registered User regular
    Specialist going away entirely? Are they just rolling them all up as assassins or something?

    That makes me sad. I like games that have roles outside of the holy trinity, and I wish more games moved away from that. There is definitely a place in a lot of games, not just HotS, for characters who have super strong buffs, debuffs, utility, disruption, and so forth that just don't fit the role of a healer or assassin. In HotS Medivh comes to mind. That guy has utility out the wazzoo, but he is definitely not a support.

  • DibbyDibby I'll do my best! Registered User regular
    Lucascraft wrote: »
    Specialist going away entirely? Are they just rolling them all up as assassins or something?

    That makes me sad. I like games that have roles outside of the holy trinity, and I wish more games moved away from that. There is definitely a place in a lot of games, not just HotS, for characters who have super strong buffs, debuffs, utility, disruption, and so forth that just don't fit the role of a healer or assassin. In HotS Medivh comes to mind. That guy has utility out the wazzoo, but he is definitely not a support.

    Literally nothing is changing other than the labels.

    The current "specialists" will still play exactly the same as they do now. They're just being relabeled as Assassins because, surprise, they have Assassin-level damage. They just also happen to have really damn good waveclear, but so do a lot of other regular Assassins too? So the label doesn't really make any sense anymore. It hasn't for a long time. What even is a Specialist anymore??? Hence the removal of the role, it doesn't mean anything.

    Also Medivh is 100% a Support. He's not a Healer, but he is a Support, in the same sense that Tassadar or Zarya are. They're reclassifying that role as well, splitting out Healers and Supports, with the latter being utility-focused Heroes (TLV and Abathur also slot into that category).

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  • tyrantula22tyrantula22 Registered User regular
    Yeah, they're also redoing the other roles and splitting them up into different things as well. Here's the new roles and breakdown of heroes in them.
    New roles:
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  • Tim is on the InternetTim is on the Internet On the Internet Edmonton, ABRegistered User regular
    edited November 2018
    Lucascraft wrote: »
    Specialist going away entirely? Are they just rolling them all up as assassins or something?

    That makes me sad. I like games that have roles outside of the holy trinity, and I wish more games moved away from that. There is definitely a place in a lot of games, not just HotS, for characters who have super strong buffs, debuffs, utility, disruption, and so forth that just don't fit the role of a healer or assassin. In HotS Medivh comes to mind. That guy has utility out the wazzoo, but he is definitely not a support.

    Medivh will fit the new Support role, which is distinct from Healer, along with Tassadar, Zarya, and Abathur. Things take a bit of a turn by including The Lost Vikings in there, but I think having utility supports in their own role means we're more likely to see new characters that fill it.

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  • SeGaTaiSeGaTai Registered User regular
    Think of aba and tlv as a "map support" hero. They support your team by providing global waveclear, so the rest of your team can focus on other things more, similar to how other supports are supporting the healer role

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  • fortyforty Registered User regular
    The support role is still clearly kind of a muddled mess, especially for QM purposes, since e.g., TLV do completely different things than Zarya.

    Have they said what they're going to do with the existing role-based daily quests?

  • DibbyDibby I'll do my best! Registered User regular
    edited November 2018
    forty wrote: »
    The support role is still clearly kind of a muddled mess, especially for QM purposes, since e.g., TLV do completely different things than Zarya.

    Have they said what they're going to do with the existing role-based daily quests?

    Fortunately, in the new QM role ruleset, there will be no mirroring of "Support" "Bruiser" etc.

    (at least, I think so, anyway!)

    The only rule is that there will be a minimum of:

    - 1 Tank
    - 1 Healer
    - 1 Ranged DPS

    The two remaining spots on the team can literally be anything. Your team might get say, Zarya as a Support and then like, Artanis as a Bruiser! But the other team isn't then guaranteed a Support or Bruiser also.

    In the current ruleset it does work like that but I'm pretty sure this new ruleset will override the current one.


    ed: I do agree that Support does seem to be somewhat of a mess, but, I think that will get better over time. They can now actually design real Support Heroes from the ground up instead of "we tried to make a Healer but failed, oops". It's brave new territory!!

    Although they've hinted at re-slanting Tassadar to just becoming a straight up Assassin when they get around to giving him a major rework. Hm.

    Dibby on
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  • fortyforty Registered User regular
    Dibby wrote: »
    forty wrote: »
    The support role is still clearly kind of a muddled mess, especially for QM purposes, since e.g., TLV do completely different things than Zarya.

    Have they said what they're going to do with the existing role-based daily quests?

    Fortunately, in the new QM role ruleset, there will be no mirroring of "Support" "Bruiser" etc.

    (at least, I think so, anyway!)

    The only rule is that there will be a minimum of:

    - 1 Tank
    - 1 Healer
    - 1 Ranged DPS
    That does sound familiar. Probably true!

  • Knight_Knight_ Dead Dead Dead Registered User regular
    the mirroring is just a halfassed version of the 1 tank/1 healer side of the new rule anyway, so dropping it makes sense.

    i look forward to that change and also malganis not being ridiculous so qm sucks.

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  • SeGaTaiSeGaTai Registered User regular
    Only to be replaced with orphea being ridiculous in qm and one shoting your team

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  • fortyforty Registered User regular
    2 more days until the next Mal'ganis nerf.

  • Undead MonkeyUndead Monkey Anchorage, AKRegistered User regular
    So which group are they shoe-horning Murky into?

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  • kimekime Queen of Blades Registered User regular
    So which group are they shoe-horning Murky into?

    Melee assassin

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  • Knight_Knight_ Dead Dead Dead Registered User regular
    SeGaTai wrote: »
    Only to be replaced with orphea being ridiculous in qm and one shoting your team

    shit i forgot about that.

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  • finnithfinnith ... TorontoRegistered User regular
    We're gonna need 5 bans per team soon.

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  • The Escape GoatThe Escape Goat incorrigible ruminant they/themRegistered User regular
    kime wrote: »
    So which group are they shoe-horning Murky into?

    Melee assassin

    as is right and proper

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This discussion has been closed.