Dehaka and huge balance changes arrive with this week’s hero rotation

It’s new content week in Heroes of the Storm, with a new hero and a new patch, too. Dehaka, the game’s latest Warrior, has arrived and he comes bearing gifts… or nerfs, depending on how you look at it. A new patch went live today, featuring a new map and a ton of hero changes.

Just how many changes makes a ton? The patch brings everything from minor tweaks to total reworks to more than 20 heroes, including  Abathur, Azmodan, The Butcher, Brightwing, Chen, Gall, Gazlowe, Greymane, Illidan, Jaina, Johanna, Kael’thas, Kerrigan, Li Li, The Lost Vikings, Lunara, Sylvanas, Murky, Nazeebo, Rehgar, Rexxar, Tychus, Xul, and Zagara. It’s far too much to list every change here, so take a look at the patch notes for all the details.

But there’s still a hero rotation to be had, so let’s check out what’s on deck this week. Spoiler: It’s Raynor. Again.

Of today’s Dehaka-themed intro song, Mitch says, “Don’t blame me, blame Blizz.”

You used to ping me on my
You used to, you used to
Yeah

You used to ping me from my Zerg home
Late game when you need burrow
Ping me from my Zerg home
Late game when you need burrow
I know when that map goes ping
That can only mean one thing
I know when that map goes ping
That can only mean one thing

Ever since I joined the Nexus you
Got a talent build for yourself now
Rest of the team knows and I feel left out
Zag, you got me down, you got me stressed out
‘Cause ever since I joined the Nexus, you
Started laning less and pushin’ mercs more
Talents that weren’t made for pushin’ their fort
Hangin’ with some Zergs I’ve never seen before

You used to ping me from my Zerg home
Late game when you need burrow
Ping me from my Zerg home
Late game when you need burrow
I know when that map goes ping
That can only mean one thing
I know when that map goes ping
That can only mean one thing

Ever since I joined the Nexus, you, you, you
You and me we just can’t lane for long
You make me feel like hearthing is wrong
Tanking team fights where you don’t belong
Ever since I joined the Nexus, you
You got exactly what you asked for
Running out of minions for your team’s fort
Hanging with some Zergs I’ve never seen before

You used to ping me from my Zerg home
Late game when you need burrow
Ping me from my Zerg home
Late game when you need burrow
I know when that map goes ping
That can only mean one thing
I know when that map goes ping
That can only mean one thing

These days, all I do is
Wonder if you spendin’ all your talents for someone else
Wonder if you soloing a merc camp for someone else
Doing plays I taught you gettin’ cocky for someone else
You don’t need no one else
You don’t need no other Zerg, no
Why’m I never preferred
Why you always Abathur’d
Used to always lane with me, be a good team
You was in the zone
You should just be yourself
Right now, you’re someone else

You used to ping me from my Zerg home
Late game when you need burrow
Ping me from my Zerg home
Late game when you need burrow
I know when that map goes ping
That can only mean one thing
I know when that map goes ping
That can only mean one thing

Ever since I joined the Nexus…

And now on to the rotation!

Assassins

Jaina

Lunara

Unlocked at player level 12

Raynor

Thrall

Unlocked at player level 7

Specialists

Azmodan

Anna: I’ll just take a second to set my coffee on a table and step out of the way before Mitch careens in here screeching about Azmodunk.

Liz: I think Mitch burned out all of his creative energy on Dehaka today. You’re safe.

Zagara

Unlocked at player level 5

Anna: I’ve been playing a bit more Zagara recently. I tend to favor ranged heroes with a lot of poke and harassment capability, and Zagara really fits that bill, especially with talents that can boost her range and zerglings which can keep bothering her opponents for a bit even if Zags herself steps out to sip from a fountain. Creep gives good vision and healing, so plunk it down whenever you can remember, preferably in strategic locations (ie, objective points).

Support

Brightwing

Unlocked at player level 15

Anna: I kinda love Brightwing. I’m usually not a Support player, but I felt like I had a duty to level her up to unlock what I think of as her ‘Blizzard Watch skin’ (check out our Heroes landing page to see our little mascot in action ). She’s all about the lane placement. Stay close to your friiiiends and you’ll heal them periodically. Brightwing’s best counter to burst is using polymorph proactively, not healing, which can take a bit of getting used to. Also, she keeps telling me that I’m good at murder, and I kinda like that in a companion.

Uther

Warriors

Diablo

Muradin

Anna: Muradin is extremely popular right now across the gamut of players. Pros like him because he’s a powerful tank with stuns and a lot of disrupting capability. Newbies like him because he’s actually pretty forgiving if you mess up. Use Dwarf Toss to get out of sticky situations and then just wait for Second Wind to kick in before diving back in. His Storm Bolt is a skill shot, but a good one to learn skill shotting with, since its stun component gives you immediate feedback as to who or what you hit with it.

This week’s freebies should be going live soon, so jump online to take advantage of them. And, as always, we’ll see you in the Nexus!