Heroes of the Storm releases Sonya and Medivh update notes and highlight videos

Art

Heroes, Abilities, and Talents

• Nova: Precision Strike has received updated visual effects.
• Sgt. Hammer: Has received a custom Hearthstone animation.
• Thrall: After learning the Thunderstorm Talent, a UI indicator will now appear under the Health bar of Thrall’s most recent Chain Lightning target.

Design

Trait Quests

• The following Hero Traits are now categorized as Repeatable Quests:
  • Alarak: Sadism
    • Quest progress visual and sound effects will now play when earning Takedown credit.
    • Alarak’s Sadism Quest will now appear on the in-game Score Screen (TAB)
  • Diablo: Black Soulstone
    • Quest progress and completion visual and sound effects will now play when Diablo gains Souls.
    • Quest completion will now appear in the Event Log on the left side of the screen.
    • Diablo’s Black Soulstone Quest will now appear on the in-game Score Screen (TAB).

Specialist

Medivh

Stats

• Health scaling increased from 4% to 4.5% per level
• Health Regeneration scaling increased from 4% to 4.5% per level

Abilities

• Arcane Rift [Q]
  • Damage reduced from 200 to 170
  • Additional Functionality:
    • Quest: Hit 40 enemy Heroes without dying.
    • Reward: Permanently increase Arcane Rift’s damage by 75 and the cooldown reduction granted for hitting a Hero by 1 second
• Force of Will [W]
  • Cooldown increased from 5 to 8 seconds
  • Mana cost increased from 50 to 60
  • Upon expiration, allies are healed for 20% of the damage absorbed
• Portal [E]
  • Cooldown reduced from 20 to 16 seconds
  • Mana cost reduced from 75 to 65

Talents

• Level 1
  • Winds of Celerity [Z]
    • Moved from Level 13
  • Portal Mastery (Active)
    • Additional Functionality:
      • Portals can now be cast while in Raven form
  • Raven’s Intellect (Z)
    • Additional Functionality:
      • Now also increases Health regeneration by 75% while in Raven form.
    • Mana regeneration bonus reduced from 100% to 75%
• Level 4
  • Bird’s Eye View (Trait)
    • Removed
  • Mage Armor [E]
    • New functionality:
      • An ally now gains 25 Armor for 4 seconds the first time they enter a Portal.
  • Raven Familiar [E]
    • Moved from Level 7
    • Additional functionality:
      • Now also Slows enemies by 30% for 2.5 seconds.
      • A Raven now joins an ally each time they enter a Portal
  • Dust of Appearance (Active)
    • Adjusted Functionality:
      • Permanently increases vision range in Raven Form by 25%.
      • Activate to greatly increase Medivh’s vision range for 5 seconds, and reveal enemy Heroes in the area for 8 seconds. Does not cancel Raven form.
• Level 7
  • The Master’s Touch [Q]
    • Removed
  • Arcane Explosion [W]
    • New functionality:
      • Deals 90 damage to nearby enemies when Force of Will expires. Also deals an additional 100% of damage taken, up to 365 bonus damage
    • Explosion radius increased from 3 to 3.5
  • New Talent: Mystic Assault [Q]
    • If Arcane Rift hits an enemy Hero, Medivh’s next Basic Attack within 6 seconds deals 40% more damage and Heals for 40% of the damage dealt
  • New Talent: Force of Magic [W]
    • Preventing 268 or more damage with a single Force of Will grants Medivh 20% Spell Power for 12 seconds. This can stack up to 2 times
• Level 13
  • Quickening [Q]
    • Removed
  • Astral Projection [E]
    • Removed
  • Circle of Protection [W]
    • Moved from Level 16
    • Now applies a talented version of Force of Will to nearby allies
    • Radius increased from 2.5 to 3
  • Enduring Will [W]
    • Moved from Level 16
    • New functionality:
      • If Force of Will absorbs 268 damage, its cooldown is reduced to 3 seconds
  • Reabsorption [W]
    • Moved from Level 16
    • Increases Force of Will’s Healing to 50% of the damage taken
• Level 16
  • Arcane Charge [Q]
    • Moved from Level 7
    • Damage bonus reduced from 30% to 15%
  • Stable Portal [W]
    • Moved from Level 1
    • New Functionality:
      • Reduces Portal’s cooldown by 25% and increases Portal duration by 50%
  • New Talent: Temporal Flux (Passive)
    • Basic Attacks reduce Medivh’s Heroic cooldown by 1 second. Hitting enemy Heroes with Arcane Rift reduces Medivh’s Heroic cooldown by 3 seconds
• Level 20
  • Invisibility (Active) renamed to: Dust of Disappearance (Active)
    • No longer costs Mana

• (!) indicates a Questing Talent.
• Italic text indicates a NEW Talent.
• Underlined text indicates a MOVED Talent.

Support

Ana

Abilities

• Shrike (Trait)
  • Added functionality:
    • Ana Heals for 50% of Shrike damage dealt to Heroes
• Healing Dart [Q]
  • Healing reduced from 237 to 215
• Biotic Grenade [W]
  • Adjusted functionality:
    • Amplified Healing now only affects Ana’s Healing output
    • Amplified Healing duration increased from 3 to 4 seconds
• Nano Boost [R]
  • Cooldown increased from 50 to 60 seconds
  • Mana cost increased from 40 to 60
• Eye of Horus [R]
  • Self-cancelling no longer places the Ability on a 10 second cooldown
  • Cooldown reduced from 60 to 45 seconds
  • Mana cost reduced from 75 to 45
  • Number of shots reduced from 8 to 6

Talents

• Level 1
  • Grenade Calibration [W]
    • Add base functionality
    • The amplified healing effect of Biotic Grenade now works on all healing
  • Piercing Darts [E]
    • 1st quest unlock
      • Range increase from 50 to 25%
    • 2nd quest unlock
      • Range increase from 50 to 25%
  • Detachable Box Magazine (Passive)
    • 1st quest unlock
      • New functionality
        • The self-healing for Shrike now also applies to non-Heroes
• Level 4
  • Aim Down Sights (Trait)
    • Shrike activation cooldown reduced from 10 to 3 seconds
  • Air Strike [W]
    • Airborne duration reduced from 4 to 3 seconds
• Level 7
  • Debilitating Dart (Active)
    • Cooldown reduced from 45 to 20 seconds
  • Mind-Numbing Agent (Trait)
    • Spell Power reduction per Shrike stack decreased from 15% to 10%

Warrior

Sonya

Talents

• Level 1
  • Block (Passive)
    • Removed
  • Furious Blow [W]
    • Moved from Level 16
    • New functionality
      • Every fourth Seismic Slam deals 40% more damage and costs no Fury.
  • New Talent: Tough as Nails (Passive)
    • Every 12 seconds gain a stack of Block that grants 75 Physical Armor against the next Hero Basic Attack. Stores up to 3 charges. Cooldown refreshes 200% faster while Fury is active.
• Level 4
  • Focused Attack (Passive)
    • Removed
  • Shattered Ground [W]
    • New Functionality:
      • Seismic Slam deals 75% damage to all targets hit and its splash damage travels 66% farther.
  • Mercenary Lord (Passive)
    • Removed
  • New Talent: Battle Rage (Active)
    • Passively increases damage dealt to Mercenaries by 25%.
    • Activate to Heal for 10% of Sonya’s maximum Health. 30 second charge cooldown. Stores up to 3 charges.
• Level 7
  • Follow Through (Passive)
    • Removed
  • Ferocious Healing (Active)
    • Removed
  • Shot of Fury (Trait)
    • Moved from Level 1
    • New Functionality:
      • Activate to instantly gain 50 Fury. 40 Second cooldown.
      • After casting Seismic Slam, your next Basic Attack deals 40% more damage.
• Level 13
  • Aftershock [W]
    • Removed
  • Spell Shield (Passive)
    • Removed
  • No Escape (Trait)
    • Moved from Level 16
    • Movement Speed bonus reduced from 25% to 20%.
  • New Talent: Ruthless [E]
    • Whirlwind deals an additional 50 damage to Heroes below 33% Health. This damage does not generate additional Healing.
• Level 16
  • Imposing Presence (Active)
    • Removed
  • New Talent: Giant Slammer [W]
    • Seismic Slam deals an additional 2% of Heroes’ maximum Health as damage.
  • New Talent: Rampage (Passive)
    • Increases Basic Attack damage by 25%.
    • Basic Attacks decrease the Ancient Spear’s cooldown 0.75 seconds.
• Level 20
  • Anger Management [R]
    • Removed
  • Nexus Blades (Passive)
    • Removed
  • Ignore Pain (Active)
    • Armor reduced from 75 to 60.
  • Composite Spear [Q]
    • Moved from Level 7
    • New functionality:
      • Increases Ancient Spear’s range by 50%.
      • Hitting an enemy Hero with Ancient Spear grants 25 armor for 4 seconds.
  • New Talent: Striding Giant [R]
    • Wrath of The Berserker increases maximum Health by 10% and grants the Striding Giant Ability while it is active.
    • Striding Giant can be activated to become Unstoppable for 2 seconds. 30 second cooldown.

• (!) indicates a Questing Talent.
• Italic text indicates a NEW Talent.
• Underlined text indicates a MOVED Talent.

Collection

New Bundles

• The following new bundles are available for a limited time!
  • Enforcers Bundle
  • Enforcer Johanna Heroic Bundle
  • Paramedic Morales Heroic Bundle
  • Watchdog Greymane Heroic Bundle
  • Medivh Remastered Bundle
  • Sonya Remastered Bundle

New Skins

• Greymane
  • Watchdog Greymane
  • Arctic Watchdog Greymane
  • Desert Watchdog Greymane
• Johanna
  • Enforcer Johanna
  • Arctic Enforcer Johanna
  • Vigilante Enforcer Johanna
• Lt. Morales
  • Paramedic Morales
  • Covert Paramedic Morales
  • Fiery Paramedic Morales
• Azmodan
  • Competitive Azmodunk
• Lúcio
  • Vermelho Lúcio
• Medivh
  • Dark Medivh
• Sonya
  • Angelic Sonya

New Mounts

• STORM Strider
  • Smart STORM Strider
  • Supercharged STORM Strider
• Lucky Piggy Bank
  • The Lucky Piggy Bank mount can be purchased for 7,000 gold
• Ranked Season Mount Rewards
  • The following Mounts have been awarded to players who reached Platinum in Hero League or Bronze in Team League:
    • Elemental Boar
    • Azure Elemental Boar
    • Verdant Elemental Boar
  • The following Mounts have been awarded to players who reached Master or higher in Hero League or Team League:
    • Epic Elemental Boar
    • Epic Azure Elemental Boar
    • Epic Verdant Elemental Boar

Bug Fixes

General

• Fixed a number of typo and tooltip errors across several aspects of the game.

Art

• Abathur: Fixed a pair of small holes in Xenotech Abathur’s model.
• Blaze: Talent icons for Adhesive Petroleum and Oil Dispersal now use different colors so they are easier to differentiate at a glance.
• Greymane: Greymane’s Health bar will no longer move during his victory animation.
• Greymane: The Doctor Wolf & Stein skin’s Inner Beast visual effects no longer appear misaligned during Greymane’s Hearthstone animation.
• Sgt. Hammer: Neosteel Plating’s visual effects now correctly match Sgt. Hammer’s model while in Siege Mode.
• Tassadar: Moving while in the Mecha Tassadar Skin’s Mount form on Sky Temple will no longer cause flickering visual effects to appear on-screen.
• Valeera: After activating Crippling Poison and Wound Poison, visual effects on Valeera’s blades will no longer flicker while she is riding certain mounts.

Battlegrounds

• Mage Wars (Brawl): Kael’thas can now correctly cast Verdant Spheres as soon as its cooldown completes.
• Mercenaries: Fixed an issue in which neutral Mercenaries could spawn twice at their Mercenary Camp under specific circumstances.
• Try Mode: Zul’jin’s Headhunter Talent will now progress correctly after killing The Lost Vikings.

Heroes, Abilities, and Talents

• Brightwing: Soothing Mist will no longer Heal allies who are standing nearby while Brightwing is inside Anub’arak’s Cocoon, Lt. Morales’ Medivac, Stitches’ Gorge, or Zagara’s Devouring Maw.
• Brightwing: Phase Shift can no longer be cast on Allies who are in Stasis.
• D.Va: Fixed an issue that could cause Big Shot to deal no damage after learning the Pew! Pew! Pew! Talent and becoming affected by another damage or Spell Power reduction effect.
• Gall: Shadow Bolt Volley’s targeting reticle is no longer visible to enemies through the Fog of War.
• General: Fixed an issue that allowed certain Abilities to affect enemy Heroes in their own Hall of Storms:
  • Alarak – Telekinesis [W]
  • Brightwing – Emerald Wind [R]
  • Dehaka – Drag [Q]
  • Medivh – Ley Line Seal [R]
  • Stitches – Hook [Q]
• Hanzo: Casting Storm Bow with Quick Cast turned off will no longer prevent the player from issuing movement commands by holding down right-click.
• Hanzo: Issuing a Stop or Hold command will now correctly halt Hanzo’s movement and cancel Storm Bow’s primed state.
• Hanzo: Casting Storm Bow immediately after Dragon’s Arrow will no longer cause Hanzo to become stuck in Storm Bow’s primed state.
• Hanzo: Striking an enemy Hero with Sonic Arrow just before they enter their Hall of Storms will no longer cause Sonic Arrow to display odd visual effects.
• Nazeebo: Using a mine entrance or exit on Haunted Mines during Gargantuan’s summoning animation will no longer cause Nazeebo to lose control of the Gargantuan.
• Raynor: Cooldown reduction granted by A Card to Play will no longer trigger twice after killing Leoric or Uther.
• Rexxar: Entering a Garden Terror while Misha is dead will no longer prevent Rexxar from issuing commands to Misha after she respawns.
• Samuro: Can no longer swap places with a Mirror Image that is in the allied Hall of Storms.
• Samuro: Mirror Images now correctly play Level Up and Quest Completion visual effects when Samuro levels up or completes a quest.
• Sgt. Hammer: Commands can now correctly be queued while Sgt. Hammer is returning to Tank Mode.
• Tassadar: Fixed an issue that could cause Basic Attacks in Archon form to deal splash damage twice to secondary attack targets after learning Prismatic Link.
• Tassadar: Completing the Templar’s Will quest and learning Twilight Archon will no longer grant extended range to Tassadar’s first Basic Attack in Twilight Archon form.
• Tyrael: The remaining duration on bonus Armor granted by the Stalwart Angel Talent after using El’Druin’s Might to teleport will now correctly appear in the Buff Bar.
• Tyrande: The Darnassian Archery Talent’s Buff Bar icon now correctly displays the current number of stacks in addition to its duration.
• Zagara: Fixed an issue that could cause Heroes who were caught in the center of Devouring Maw to display their exit locations before Devouring Maw expired.

Sound

• Ana: Debilitating Dart activation is no longer audible when the player camera is far from Ana’s location.
• Falstad: Lightning Rod is no longer audible to enemies through the Fog of War.
• Greymane: Gilnean Cocktail will now correctly play sound effects when it hits a target in the Fog of War.

User Interface

• Minimap: Ping icons will no longer appear faded on the Minimap while shaders are set to medium.
• Score Screen: The in-game Score Screen will now correctly track quest progress for D.Va’s Crash Course Talent.