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Heroes of the Storm |OT3| Chromiehounds

Maledict

Member
I found playing Valla against Garrosh to be utterly miserable. His pull is perfect for normal auto attack range, and Valla's damage works really poorly against his trait.

Definitely high burst, long range mages against him.
 

Prelude.

Member
I like Thrall, but I think he needs a bit more sustain. They buffed his healing a while ago, but it's not really enough, he's still really squishy.
 
You lost me on QM

But

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Alur

Member
One thing I'll say...though I like it, the Murk-a-lot costume is a bit disappointing compared to what I would have expected. The back of it is basically bleh, and the colors are particularly muted and drab on the tints we got. I feel like they tried a bit too hard to include Murky arms and legs to remind people it's a murloc in armor and should've just armored up the whole thing.
 

scoobs

Member
Looks like its going to be another big Gamescom for HOTS. Blizzard flying out a lot of the big personalities (chu, MFPallytime, Dunk, Kendic, etc.) to stream and create content there.

Last year we got 2 starcraft maps announced and 2 heroes, surely it won't be to this level of hype but we should probably expect at least 2 new heroes shown! :D
 

kirblar

Member
Looks like its going to be another big Gamescom for HOTS. Blizzard flying out a lot of the big personalities (chu, MFPallytime, Dunk, Kendic, etc.) to stream and create content there.

Last year we got 2 starcraft maps announced and 2 heroes, surely it won't be to this level of hype but we should probably expect at least 2 new heroes shown! :D
Kel'Thuzad/Firebat should be up.
 

kirblar

Member
Or maybe the something special planned for Alexstrasza?

I'm down for the Firebat though.

Let's buuuurnn
That was specifically mentioned as a Blizzcon thing, and someone in the comments backed it up. (they said she's in the HOTS cinematic at Blizzcon, but that's about all they know.)

edit: beaten like a dead murky
 

Alur

Member
IMO they'd be silly to show Alexstrasza at Gamescom and not Blizzcon. People been begging for a real dragon for ages.

Honestly if they went 1/2 Kel'Thuzad/Alexstrasza at Blizzcon people might orgasm themselves into a coma right there. I'm glad they are (apparently) gonna drop Kel'Thuzad at Gamescom, though...don't make me wait bb.
 

Skab

Member
One of the 'leaks' says she's in the Blizzcon cinematic, so if it's true, we shouldn't see her until then.

That was specifically mentioned as a Blizzcon thing, and someone in the comments backed it up. (they said she's in the HOTS cinematic at Blizzcon, but that's about all they know.)

edit: beaten like a dead murky

Where was the Blizzcon/Alexstrasza leak?

Missed that one.
 

scoobs

Member
Kendric outed himself as gay if I saw right couple weeks ago.
Lol what does that have to do with anything? Also I'm fairly sure he has a gf so that seems unlikely.

I'm sad the upcoming heroes have all leaked again, I liked having no clue what was coming 😢

Having said that, Kel'Thuzad would mean we are finally getting another mage so that's cool I guess. We really don't have many mages.
 

Rhaknar

The Steam equivalent of the drunk friend who keeps offering to pay your tab all night.
Gamescom is very soon and it seems they are sedning a bunch of streamers there, so there will probably be anouncements, we dont have to wait for Blizzcon

edit: oops im pretty late with this lol
 

Alur

Member
Whatever Kel'Thuzad is, I hope he's viable for Quick Match and not something akin to Medivh. After waiting all this time it'd be a shame if he's simply a niche hero.
 

kirblar

Member
Whatever Kel'Thuzad is, I hope he's viable for Quick Match and not something akin to Medivh. After waiting all this time it'd be a shame if he's simply a niche hero.
Medivh's a massive outlier. All the other secondary supports are fine in QM.

Even w/ those AFK Abathurs.
 

Alavard

Member
I can only make some educated guesses as to Kel'Thuzad's kit.

Frost Nova - exactly what it sounds like. An icy point blank AOE that slows and/or roots.
Death and Decay - very likely a heroic. Historically this has been a powerful targeted AoE. In warcraft 3, it was a channeled ability that did percentage-based damage to all units and buildings in it.
Dark Pact - maybe his trait? Sacrifice a friendly minion to restore his mana?

They could probably also do something with Frost Armor. Give shields to an ally and make them slow enemies that hit them for a few seconds?
 

scoobs

Member
I can only make some educated guesses as to Kel'Thuzad's kit.

Frost Nova - exactly what it sounds like. An icy point blank AOE that slows and/or roots.
Death and Decay - very likely a heroic. Historically this has been a powerful targeted AoE. In warcraft 3, it was a channeled ability that did percentage-based damage to all units and buildings in it.
Dark Pact - maybe his trait? Sacrifice a friendly minion to restore his mana?

They could probably also do something with Frost Armor. Give shields to an ally and make them slow enemies that hit them for a few seconds?
Problem with those ideas is Jaina already has Frost Nova and Frost Armor
 

Maledict

Member
And also Dark Pact is fairly useless in HoTs. It's not like Dota where it has real value, it would be a complete waste of an ability in this game. (Consider Possession *never* gets picked and it doesn't just kill minions, it converts multiple minions at once).
 

Alur

Member
Medivh's a massive outlier. All the other secondary supports are fine in QM.

Even w/ those AFK Abathurs.

I would disagree with that. Queuing into QM as Tyrande and Tassadar has perennially been a rough go unless you are just skilled at those heroes. Tyrande is doing alright in QM right now, but that's the exception instead of the rule. Secondary supports aren't great heroes for playing solo or for queuing with a friend in a mode like QM because you aren't good enough at any one thing to make any real difference.

Gating a hero that will be as popular as Kel'Thuzad behind that would be shitty. With that said, that's probably exactly what they'll do cause derp.
 

scoobs

Member
She does not have Frost Nova, she has Ring of Frost.
Is there a discernible difference between Frost Nova and Cone of Cold with numbing blast talent? They do the exact same thing, or am I thinking of something else?

Point being: I hope they can come up with some abilities that don't overlap with other mages.
 

Skab

Member
Is there a discernible difference between Frost Nova and Cone of Cold with numbing blast talent? They do the exact same thing, or am I thinking of something else?

Point being: I hope they can come up with some abilities that don't overlap with other mages.

ring of frost is a big delayed root. frost nova is a small targeted aoe nuke that slows. they are pretty different.
 

kirblar

Member
Is there a discernible difference between Frost Nova and Cone of Cold with numbing blast talent? They do the exact same thing, or am I thinking of something else?

Point being: I hope they can come up with some abilities that don't overlap with other mages.
Like Iron Star clearly not being on Garrosh because it overlaps w/ Junkrat's ult, Jaina not having Frost Nova despite it being an iconic frost mage spell always signaled that it was deliberately being held for someone else.
 

scoobs

Member
ring of frost is a big delayed root. frost nova is a small targeted aoe nuke that slows. they are pretty different.
Not talking about RoF, cone of cold is her E ability and it does exactly as you described.

Not saying blizz wouldn't make another Frost mage that has essentially the same ability as Jaina, but it seems like kind of a waste and something they would purposely avoid.
 

Alavard

Member
And also Dark Pact is fairly useless in HoTs. It's not like Dota where it has real value, it would be a complete waste of an ability in this game. (Consider Possession *never* gets picked and it doesn't just kill minions, it converts multiple minions at once).

Dark Pact would only work on friendly minions.

And it's not such a weird concept for Hots. Gul'dan has to give up health to get mana, KTZ would have to give up lane presence.
 

Maledict

Member
ring of frost is a big delayed root. frost nova is a small targeted aoe nuke that slows. they are pretty different.

Um, that's not frost nova.

Frost Nova is an AE spell centred on the caster that freezes everything around them (it Hots terms, roots them). It's not targetable and it doesn't slow.
 

Maledict

Member
Dark Pact would only work on friendly minions.

And it's not such a weird concept for Hots. Gul'dan has to give up health to get mana, KTZ would have to give up lane presence.

Gul'Dad has infinite sustain in return for his trait, and massive self healing. Making Kel'Thuzad's trait just be a mana tap from saccing a minion would be incredibly, incredibly weak. Minions just don't have the impact or importance they do in other games.

(Lets remember that in Dota being able to kill your own minions with Lich is a bonus, it denies gold and XP - it wouldn't be worth anything near the same in Hots).
 

Alur

Member
A good number of matchups would make that trait a negative instead of a positive, though certainly there are a few where it could go the other way as well.

I just hope he's a legit mage of some sort. Delete Jaina from the game if you have to.

That's right, I said it.
 

Skab

Member
Not talking about RoF, cone of cold is her E ability and it does exactly as you described.

Not saying blizz wouldn't make another Frost mage that has essentially the same ability as Jaina, but it seems like kind of a waste and something they would purposely avoid.

I don't think theyre that similar really. Cone of Cold is a fairly small cone thats attached to Jaina herself that doesn't require a target. Frost Nova is a circular aoe with a longer range and requires a target.

That being said I don't think Kel'Thuzad would just be a WC3 lich anyway. He'll be a mix of wc3 lich and his own thing, with maybe a dash of his naxx raid boss tossed in.

Death and Decay, summoning scourge, a frost spell or two, etc
 

Milly79

Member
Mewn had his kid

And Jake uploaded a THH from either last week or the week before and the first 10~ mins about Bakery and the banana at blizzcon are hilarious
 
Not a fan of the Thrall re-work. Despite his talent tree being heavily reworked adding a bunch of quests and new talents, he still feels like he's you're building him exactly the same and it's all-in on Windfury. The only thing that feels significantly different are his level 1 talents.
 
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