Heroes of the Storm > NewsAug 4, 2015 1:00 pm CT

Heroes of the Storm free hero rotation and sales for August 4

If you’re just getting started with Heroes of the Storm, here’s the deal: Every week there are some heroes you’d usually have to pay for that you can play for free in the free hero rotation, plus a number of heroes and skins on sale in the weekly sale. It’s a great way to try out new heroes without committing to buy, as well as grabbing new heroes, skins, and mounts at bargain prices.

This week’s rotation has some solid options, like Li Li, who’s a great starting support hero, and Azmodan, whose Azmodunk is the stuff of legend. Plus we expect Leoric to drop down to 10,000 gold and it’s the first time the Butcher has entered the free rotation, so we’re sure to see plenty of Butchers out on the battlefield for the first time… but will they be searching for fresh meat or will they be the fresh meat? With this fairly fragile assassin, the latter may be true.

We’ll start out this week’s free heroes:

Li Li
E.T.C.
Nova
Tassadar
Thrall
Azmodan (Available after you reach player level 12)
Butcher (Available after you reach player level 15) — check out our guide to the Butcher

I polled our team of Heroes players to get some thoughts on what the rotation means for players this week:

Mitch: As always, my reaction to Azmodan is that Azmodunking offers some of the game’s most satisfying kills ever.

Dan: Lili is support ez mode if you need to knock out the daily and hate playing support. Azmodan can summon armies and destroy fortifications with the right build and can often solo his own lane. Tassadar is great at zoning other players (forcing them away or trapping them). But, when it comes down to it, all shall bow before the glory that is Roller Derby Nova. Snipe while cloaked, gracefully skate away…

Anna: Nova is a little odd because she’s ranged so when she’s not doing stuff her default is to shoot what she can hit, which breaks cloak. Not a huge deal, can be circumvented by either hiding in the bushes or just moving constantly, but it can be life and death if you’re not playing bots.

Adam: Nova is my default hero. You just need to learn to retreat more than normal, which isn’t a bad skill to have.

Mitch: Nova is a difficult hero to play, imo, because you need to be patient. You are a sniper, so you have to wait for your moment. My biggest issue with her is jumping into every team fight when I should be stealthing and just waiting.

Anna: Tassadar’s Oracle trait will make it a lot more difficult for those Novas to get anything done.

Mitch: Tassadar’s Force Wall can be incredibly useful for blocking off your opponents… Or it can totally disrupt your team if placed wrong.

Anna: Oh god, it’s going to be a slapfight between force walling Tassadars and noob Novas isn’t it?

Alex: I’ve never played Butcher, Thrall, or Azmodan so this seems like a good free week to me!

Adam: I played Li Li for the first time yesterday, tons of fun. I thought i’d hate it, but it almost felt like playing a Shaman in WoW.

Matt: Butcher’s gonna be so easy to eliminate. Many players out there don’t know how to properly not die with him. He’s not exactly the most tankiest but he can wreck face if left alone long enough. Don’t commit until you can find an opening.

Mitch: It’s worth mentioning (I totally didn’t know this until recently), that you can cancel Butcher’s charge midway through.

If you need a starting point, check out our guide for the Butcher, then move on to our more general assassin guide, specialist guide, support guide, and warrior guide for quick rundowns on each hero.

If you’re in the market for new heroes or skins, here’s what’s on sale this week: