Xul joins this week’s hero rotation in Heroes of the Storm

It’s Tuesday all over again, which means it’s time for a fresh batch of free heroes in Heroes of the Storm. This week, we’ve got some excitement with Xul joining the lineup — as usual, he’ll start off at the new hero price of 15,000 gold, but budget Heroes shoppers will be able to pick him up in two weeks for 10,000.

So let’s get right to it, shall we? We’ve got some poetry, the team’s thoughts, and a surprising amount of discussion about Trolls.

We’ll kick things off this week with a poem from our resident librettist, Mitch:

The heroes made their stand,
ETC stunned their enemies with his one-man band,
With a well placed Nova strike,
The team faced a five-person wipe.
They pushed forth, ahead now in XP,
Each hero cheered with glee!
But then one hero started feeding,
Who among them wouldn’t want to be leading?
“Xul, what are you doing?! You haven’t even picked your talents!”
He only replied, “I must preserve the balance!”

And now, what everyone’s been waiting for, the introduction of Xul with his talent preview video.

Mitch: XUL!!!! Who is not, in fact, Zul or Xhul. Until we get Kel’Thuzad (the OG “KT,” by the way) I think this will be a great way to satisfy my itch for an Undead Necromancer. He seems designed specifically to disrupt the current meta and is one of those heroes I really, really hope does not fail to meet expectations. The past three Assassins have all been excellent, so I am very excited for Xul.

Anne: Don’t mind me I’m just sliding in to point out that every time I see Xul the necromancer I think of Zul the mysterious Zandalari prophet instead and then I spend at LEAST ten minutes wondering why there are no trolls on the HotS roster and and and…yeah I’ll just see myself out now. But you know Zen’tabra would make a badass hero and we don’t have a shapeshifting feral druid-ish type yet. Look I’m JUST SAYING.

Joe: I too would like to see some Trolls in the lineup. TROLLLSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSS.

Matticus: Or ZA’s version of Zul’Jin.

Joe: Zulathra or Mengazi IMO. Ghostly versions of them doing awesome voodoo things.

Anna: Really? Y’all got this far without “there is no Jaina, only Xul?” Fired.

Joe: I felt I make enough bad jokes as it is and wanted to spare the team.

Assassins

The Butcher

Joe: I have a love hate relationship with the Butcher. If he’s on my team, I love him, if he’s not I hate him. He’s so tanky and his charge closes gaps so quickly it’s just silly. He’s got some great chase down potential.

Jaina

Mitch: I can’t remember who pointed it out, but Jaina’s boobs change size depending on the skin you use. This probably won’t make it into the post, but it’s definitely… something.

Liz: Winter Veil Jaina has had some work done is all I’m saying.

Nova

Unlocked at player level 15

Mitch: I haven’t had a chance to play Nova since the changes, but considering she and Rehgar are constantly being hotfixed, my gut tells me Blizzard hasn’t quite nailed what they were going for. I kind of hope they revert the changes because Old Nova was incredibly unique and lots of fun. I am curious, though, to see if the changes make free-Nova week any better. They were just god awful in the past. Like, seriously, you could feel the whole time sigh when a free Nova showed up.

Thrall

Unlocked at player level 7

Specialists

Azmodan

Unlocked at player level 12

Liz: I’m compelled to say “Azmodunk” at least once whenever he’s on rotation. Azmodunk, Azmodunk, Azmodunk. (Hey, I only said “at least.”)

Gazlowe

Support

Li Li

Joe: Li Li is an incredibly powerful healing support. She’s a ton of fun to play and can make some incredible plays happen.

Mitch: Sorry, I don’t like Li Li. She’s boring. I mean, I think that’s the point; she’s the newbie-friendly Support class. But she takes up space on the free rotation and it’s hard to say much about her each week. Make her free all the time already, Blizz.

Liz: Not cool Mitch, not cool. Li Li is awesome. (But, okay, yes, she should really be free.)

Uther

Unlocked at player level 5

Warriors

Artanis

Joe: Artanis is a recent favorite of mine, he’s just fun to play. He’s capable of crazy amounts of damage and watching him dash around in a team fight is just amazing.

Mitch: Artanis is great but kind of tough because of his shield mechanic. But I don’t know what else to say about him because I said “shield mechanic” and now I’m picturing a mechanic rushing to Artanis mid-battle with a wrench and wrenching (that’s the correct verb, right?) Artanis’ laser shield. It doesn’t make sense but it’s a funny visual.

E.T.C.

If you need a starting point with any of these heroes, check out our Assassin guide, Specialist guide, Support guide, and Warrior guide for quick rundowns on each hero. This week’s freebies should be going live this afternoon, so jump online to take advantage of them. And, as always, we’ll see you in the Nexus!