Heroes of the StormFeb 27, 2017 4:56 pm CT

Latest Heroes of the Storm balance patch nerfs Tychus, Murky, and more

By Alex Ziebart
Editor-in-Chief, Emeritus

The latest Heroes of the Storm patch notes are out and they’re slapping down the upstart heroes who’ve begun to dominate the Nexus. Varian’s point-and-click stun is no more as Warbringer loses its stun component, instead greatly increasing the slow applied by Charge. Colossus Smash and Twin Blades of Fury, however, have each received small buffs in an attempt to make them more viable.

Tychus has been hit hard with a decrease to his range, reducing it to 4.5–effectively placing him on the front line–in response to his dominance in HGC. In a bizarre change, his healing from That’s the Stuff! has been changed to build up and heal him all at once when Minigun ends. The change means his talent In The Rhythm, which extends the duration of Minigun, could become a liability working against Tychus rather than synergizing with That’s the Stuff!

Murky is also among those being nerfed, his power generally being tuned down across the board. Malfurion’s roots, too, have had their duration decreased. You can find all of these details and more in the patch notes below.

Originally Posted by Blizzard Entertainment (Official Post)

Heroes

Assassin

Tychus

Stats

Basic Attack Range decreased from 5.5 to 4.5

Abilities

Overkill (Q)
- Cooldown decreased from 15 to 13 seconds
- Mana Cost reduced from 75 to 65
Commandeer Odin (R)
- Attack range increased from 8.8 to 9

Talents

Level 1
- Press the Advantage (E)
  - Range increase reduced from 1.9 to 1.5
  - Duration reduced from 4 to 3 seconds
Level 13
- That’s the Stuff! (Trait)
  - New functionality:
    - Minigun heals Tychus for 100% of the bonus damage done to Heroes after the ability ends.
      - This will show a Heal preview during Minigun’s duration that will heal Tychus as soon as the ability goes on cooldown.
- Neosteel Coating (Active)
  - Increased Spell Armor from 50 to 75

Developer Comments: Tychus has proven to be just as good at Assassin-busting as he is at Tank-busting, which was never our intention. This has made drafting him a good choice against just about any enemy team composition, which has led him to be one of the highest contested Heroes in HGC. We would like to see him gain the most value from sticking to front-line targets so we are lowering his Basic Attack range to limit his options while allowing other ranged Heroes to trade a bit more favorably against him.

Multi-Class

Varian

Abilities

Charge (E)
- Cooldown reduced from 14 to 12 seconds
Colossus Smash (R)
- Damage bonus increased from 75 to 100%
Twin Blades of Fury (R)
- Basic Attack damage penalty reduced from 25 to 20%

Talents

Level 4
- Warbringer (E)
  - Now increases Charge’s slow from 75% to 85%, instead of adding a stun
Level 13
- Juggernaut (E)
  - Damage reduced from 6% to 5% of the target’s maximum Health.

Developer Comments: The frequency and power of a ranged point click stun was too powerful from Warbringer. While it may have been “balanced” in terms of winrate, its potency wasn’t healthy or fun for opponents. It didn’t offer many options for opponents that were stunned and then Taunted for over 2 seconds, greatly increasing the reliability of other abilities (like Sulfuras Smash). By making Warbringer a massive slow instead of a stun, it allows enemies to use abilities to defend themselves (or forces a Varian to use Taunt early, greatly reducing the duration of his opening crowd control). We’ve shifted more of the power of Warbringer over into the mobility aspect to compensate (since Warbringer makes Charge a 6 second cooldown now). The other part of these changes is providing some buffs to the Assassin focused Heroics to bring them up to par with Taunt, so that Varian can frequently opt into any of the Heroic choices to really fulfill the multi-class Hero fantasy that makes him unique.

Specialist

Murky

Stats

Murky Base Maximum Health reduced from 761 to 730
Base Health Regeneration reduced from 30.43 to 29.20

Abilities

Slime (Q)
- Slow duration reduced from 8 to 6 seconds
- Slime slow amount reduced from 25 to 20%
March of the Murlocs (R)
- Cooldown increased from 80 to 110 seconds

Talents

Level 1
- Fishy Deal (Active)
  - Number of Bribe stacks needed to bribe a Mercenary increased from 7 to 8
  - Maximum stacks increased from 30 to 32
- Egg Hunt (Trait)
  - Vision range of Fake Eggs reduced by 1
Level 4
- Slime Time (Q)
  - Slow reduced from 35 to 30%
Level 7
- Slippery When Wet (E)
  - Movement Speed bonus increased from 35 to 40%
- Time to Krill (Passive)
  - Slow reduced from 8 to 7%
Level 13
- Rejuvenating Bubble (E)
  - Healing reduced from 50 to 40% of maximum Health

Developer Comments: Murky slimed his way back to the top of the Nexus, and we’re all still cleaning the gunk out of our shoes as a result. His release pushed him much further than intended, so we’re targeting a series of nerfs at some of the frustrating aspects of the Hero. Overall, his effectiveness will be less reliable, and his ability to slow and zone opponents will be less powerful. Nerrrrfgggle Mrrggl.

Support

Lúcio

Abilities

Amp it Up (E)
- Healing Boost reduced from 16.5 to 15.5

Talents

Level 4
- Boombox (Active)
  - Duration increased from 20 to 30 seconds
- Party Mix (W)
  - Bonus range decreased from 25 to 20%

Malfurion

Abilities

Entangling Roots (E)
- Root duration reduced from 1.5 to 1.25 seconds
Twilight Dream (R)
- Mana regen reduced from 1.5 to 1.25

Talents

Level 16

Tenacious Roots (E)
- Root duration bonus decreased from .5 to .25 seconds

Developer Comments: Malfurion has seen a lot of play at all levels to the point that he is crowding out other Support heroes. While we like his established place in the Nexus, his Entangling Roots is much stronger for its consistency relative to the CC that other heroes in the game provide, particularly when he takes the Tenacious Roots talent. We’re also happy to see that Twilight Dream is so highly valued considering it’s against a strong Healing heroic, but wanted to lower some of the hidden power that it provides in its Mana regeneration to make the decision of which Heroic to take a little more thoughtful.

Tassadar

Talents

Level 1
- Khaydarin Resonance (Q)
  - New functionality:
    - Quest: Regeneration Globes grant an additional 50% Mana.
    - Reward(1): After collecting 15 Globes, increase the value of Plasma Shield by 20%.
    - Reward(2): After collecting 30 Globes, increase the duration of Plasma Shield by 100%.

Developer Comments: One of our major goals with Hero reworks is attempting to keep as many of the current builds and playstyles that exist for a Hero, trim out older or unhealthy ones, and hopefully open doors for new ones to emerge. When shifting the old Khala’s Embrace to a questing talent (Khaydarin Resonance), we had hoped to lock the immense power that it brought behind a barrier that was difficult to overcome on a lot of maps. In theory, this would make it feel rewarding to take on certain maps, but rarely the most powerful choice. Instead, we found that locking this kind of potential behind an extremely difficult Globe-collecting talent made for a more frustrating experience than a fun one. When taking a step back and considering our options, we felt it best to remove the permanent shielding capabilities and replace it with a less-powerful questing talent.

Warrior

Rexxar

Now has a visual indicator for Misha’s leash range.
Can now issue Misha commands outside of her leash range. Misha will run to the edge of her range and leash if she attempts to go beyond.