BlizzCon 2015's Heroes of the Storm panel reveals a new and chaotic Arena gamemode as well as 3 new Heroes, including the most unique MOBA character ever.
With BlizzCon 2015 currently under way, Blizzard is taking the opportunity to reveal what's coming next in several of its most popular games including its new MOBA, Heroes of the Storm. During yesterday's Heroes of the Storm panel, the company announced a new Arena mode for the multiplayer game, describing it as "a play experience that you can never really prepare for".
In the Arena, players will have a 45 second period to choose from 3 random Heroes presented to them, before taking part in a 5-minute, non-stop team fight, based around a single map objective. Blizzard have stated that the Arena will not limit players to their current roster of Heroes, instead providing everyone with access to the full range of characters which makes Arena an ideal place to try out someone new
The gamemode is described as being too quick for talents or experience and will instead, immediately grant the Heroes one heroic of their choice for the game.
[HTML1]
The Arena maps have a more compact layout than players will be used to and, in order to add to the chaos, the layout will change each round to keep players on their toes. The Arena matches will be a best of 3 and will have a reduced death timer so Heroes have to wait less time before respawning. The Hall of Storms will also heal a player instantly to full health, instead of a gradual heal as a "fitting adjustment to the Arena's intensity". In the Arena preview video above, Blizzard Community Manager Kevin "Cloaken" Johnson, concludes:
"Keep in mind that there is a lot we still want to do with the mode, so you can expect a great deal of change as we continue to iterate and add additional features."
Besides all the new exciting Arena news, Heroes of the Storm have also revealed 3 new World of Warcraft Heroes that players will soon be able to access, shown in the image below. The character in the center is Lunara, first daughter of Cenarius, a dryad and agile ranged attacker who effortlessly bounds in and out of the fray. Attacking with deadly spears, she cripples her foes with debilitating poisons for their crimes against nature.
The Hero on the right is Greymane, Lord of the Worgen. Greymane employs his bestial fervor and human tenacity in tandem to ensure the safety of the Alliance; shapeshifting quickly between human and Worgen forms to make himself a versatile and formidable threat in any combat situation. Whether firing from behind the lines of battle, dousing enemies in explosive Gilnean cocktails or pouncing fang-first into battle, the Lord of Worgen will do what is necessary to protect those he holds dear.
Lastly, the Hero on the left is Cho'gall and is by far the most unique of the three. Armed with Cho's madness and Gall's intellect, the Chieftain of the Twilight Hammer clan continues his mad quest for power in the Nexus - provided that the brothers can cease their squabbling. Cho'gall is a unique character, not only to Heroes of the Storm but to any MOBA and, for the first time ever, the Hero will allow two players to team up to control him.
The player controlling Cho will be a warrior class, whilst Gall is an assassin. Between the two of them, the two-headed ogre have a huge array of dark spells as well as a brutish strength that can break even the most durable of opponents. If the ogre team manage to use their powers as one, Cho'gall will crush, burn and break apart anything that stands in their path. Blizzard will have to work hard to balance a Hero like Cho'gall, or else risk him being banned.
This is unlikely to be all that we'll hear for Heroes of the Storm during BlizzCon 2015 as there are still a number of panels coming up throughout the rest of the day so for those of you that aren't attending the near $200 a ticket event, stay tuned for more information.