Beware of Chromie plus this week’s hero rotation

Watch out, Nexus, because this week Chromie is going live — and this dragon can put a real damper on your day. Last week’s huge PTR patch is also going live, and the hero changes there are sure to shake up the ongoing meta.

This week we have a special treat because after a long absence, Mitch has once again written a Heroes poem for us. Hooray! For that and a look at this week’s lineup, read on.

This week’s poem is inspired by our new favorite hero, Chromie:

Chromie’s a dragon, disguised as a Gnome,
Altering time, she fights with her tome.
You may get the upper hand,
But she’ll turn back the clock’s sand,
Repeating the cycle, sending you home.
For Chromie’s a dragon, disguised as a Gnome,
She can alter time with the help of her tome.
And when you think you get the upper hand,
That’s when her spells hit, exactly as planned.

Somewhat less poetically, Dan has this to say of Chromie:

Chromie is a great deal of fun to play. She does massive Hero damage from long range and you will be able to target Heroes that normally keep their distance. Kael’thas, Jaina, Sgt. Hammer, Tracer, Li-Ming and others are going to find themselves on the wrong end of Chromie’s W+Q combo which will appear to come out of nowhere to take out most of their health. (Pro tip: Cast W first on your target, then Q. Due to their casting time difference, they will land at the same time giving your target no chance to evade.)

Her E is a trap you can place that will put the enemy in stasis for a second and a half which is all the time you need to set up your W+Q combo or get away. These are great to place around contested points on the map (shrines, tributes, gem turn-ins) and can be hidden in bushes as well. I’ve caught many a Zeratul trying to sneak up on me with this.

While her ultimate abilities may not look powerful on paper, they both serve to help her either run down opponents for the kill or escape. She has few escape options and not much health, so you must plan ahead and use what abilities you have wisely. Both her ultimates are useful, though, so try them both out.

For talent builds, go with a heavy Dragon’s Breath (W) build if you’re on a map that requires a lot of minion kills (Infernal Shrines, Garden of Terror). Otherwise, go with talents that buff her Shifting Sands (Q). When you get to 20, definitely try the Past and Future Me talent. It creates a copy of Chromie when she casts Q and the next time she casts it, the copy recasts an untalented version as well. It’s quite fun and you’ll find yourself strategically placing copies of yourself for maximum impact.

How good is Chromie? You’ll find out the first time you’re up against her…

And now on to the week’s rotation!

Assassins

Kerrigan

Tychus

Valla

Specialists

Nazeebo

Sergeant Hammer

Unlocked at player level 12

Mitch: Sgt. Hammer is probably too good at standing out of range of towers and nuking them down, so I’d be on the lookout for newbie Hammers trying this without giving themselves enough of an escape route. Also, if you have Xul, he’s a really good counter to Hammer — with all the people trying her this week, it’ll be fun to pick them off >:D. Oh, and if you don’t have Xul, get Xul.

Support

Brightwing

Unlocked at player level 15

Alex: DPS builds on Brightwing can be surprisingly fun. People simply don’t expect support characters to kick their butt unless they’re Karazhim, Tyrande, or maybe Li Li. If you’re playing with people who won’t mind you being silly, go with an Arcane Flare build on Brightwing for a change. Chain-casting Arcane Flares on a group of enemies is a beautiful thing.

Malfurion

Alex: Similar to Brightwing, with Malfurion, if I’m just screwing around (not in ranked or anything like that), I like surprising people with a DPS build. Twilight Dream is awesome now, plus effectively infinite Moonfires which actually do decent damage? It’s hilarious. Way more fun than his bog standard healing build.

Warriors

Arthas

Mitch: Is tomorrow when Arthas is getting his big rework? Yes? Okay. Well then I’d say give him a try tomorrow whether you have before or not. Blizzard even notes that he was one of the first heroes created and his design has fallen behind as a result, so I’m curious if they can spice him up enough to keep him as interesting as the newer additions. I haven’t played him on the PTR so I can’t really speak to the changes, but chances are he’s going to take adjusting for pretty much everybody and now might not be a bad time to master him if you’re looking for a Warrior to fill that void.

Leoric

Unlocked at player level 7

Mitch: Leoric is pretty much a standard Warrior with one twist — he doesn’t ever really die. He hits slow but hard, and his life drain can be surprisingly effective. If you go for his Entomb ultimate, I’d try to be aware of whom you’re using it on. A Muradin who can jump out of there will completely negative it, but one who’s just wasted his jump will be cursing you. (Wnd who doesn’t want that in a MOBA?)

Tyrael

Unlocked at player level 5

Mitch: Tyrael is another hero whose design feels a little outdated, but I honestly like that. It’s mostly outdated because it really hasn’t changed… but it hasn’t changed because it’s always been pretty damn solid. He is notorious for mana issues but otherwise, he’s an all-around good Warrior hero that might help you ease into the role if you’re more used to Specialists or Assassins. He had long been my favorite hero until Greymane came along.

Alex: I’m going to (potentially violently) disagree with Mitch on Tyrael. Pro teams still use Tyrael because he has some great support/utility tools in a coordinated team, but beyond that, I find him to be one of the most boring heroes in the game. Tyrael having mana issues is a huge understatement. The best way to play Tyrael is to avoid pushing his buttons as much as possible unless you’re in a team fight, and even then, you need to be careful. With Heroes of the Storm continuously adding new heroes who aren’t reliant on mana at all, Tyrael’s “don’t push your buttons” playstyle simply feels terrible. And some of the talent changes in the upcoming patch actually make Tyrael slightly worse than he already was.

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!