The Lunar Festival has arrived in Heroes of the Storm along with new assassin, Valeera

Overwatch isn’t the only game that’s celebrating the Chinese New Year. Heroes of the Storm, is joining in on the festivities too! The latest patch for the MOBA includes the Lunar Festival – an event that contains a slew of themed content and goodies to tie in with the occasion.The new update even features a brand new hero just for good measure.

Excitement awaits during this year’s Lunar Festival event! Over the next few weeks, you’ll be racing to complete new special event quests that offer handsome rewards, you’ll find a few new skins and mounts in the Shop, and you may even spot a few fireworks at the end of your matches.

Each day during this year’s Lunar Festival event, you’ll receive a new quest to complete the Rooster Race. If any players on your team have not yet finished that day’s quest, there’s a chance that the Lunar Rooster will appear near your Core before the match begins. Many festive items will also be scattered around your team’s starting area. Work together with your allies to collect the required items and return them to the Rooster to advance its position. Return four items before time runs out to help your Rooster cross the finish line!

Completing the Rooster Race once will net you 200 gold. Do it a total of 25 times, and you’ll score yourself a Lunar Rooster portrait, and a new chicken mount too! If you’d like even more themed content, the shop is packed with a variety of new items you can throw your cash at.

If you’ve been hoarding up in-game gold to spend on a new hero, Valeera might just be the one you’ve been waiting for. Here’s an overview of all her kit. They’re rather extensive because she has gains access to a whole separate set of abilities when she makes use of the Vanish trait:

Trait

Vanish (D)

• Valeera vanishes from sight, becoming Stealthed and increasing her Movement Speed by 10%. For the first second, she is Unrevealable and can pass through other units.
• Using Vanish grants Valeera an alternate set of Abilities that she can use while Stealthed.

Basic Abilities

Sinister Strike (Q)

• Dash forward, dealing damage to all enemies in a line. If Sinister Strike hits an enemy Hero, she stops dashing immediately and the cooldown is reduced to 1 second.
• Awards 1 Combo Point.

Blade Flurry (W)

• Deal damage in an area around Valeera.
• Awards 1 Combo Point per enemy Hero hit.

Eviscerate (E)

• Consume all stored Combo Points to Eviscerate an enemy, dealing increased damage per Combo Point spent. Valeera can store a maximum of 3 Combo Points.

Vanish Abilities

Ambush (Q)

• Ambush a target, instantly dealing damage to them.
• Awards 1 Combo Point.

Cheap Shot (W)

• Deal a small amount of damage to an enemy and stun them for 1.5 seconds.
• Awards 1 Combo Point.

Garrote (E)

• Garrote an enemy, instantly dealing a small amount of damage to the target, as well as a larger amount of bonus damage over 7 seconds, and Silencing them for 2 seconds.
• Awards 1 Combo Point.

Heroic Abilities

Smoke Bomb (R)

• Create a cloud of smoke. While in the smoke, Valeera is Unrevealable, can pass through other units, and gains 25 Armor, reducing damage taken by 25%. Valeera can continue to attack and use Abilities without being revealed. Lasts 5 seconds.
• Using this Ability does not break Vanish.

Cloak of Shadows (R)

• Valeera is enveloped in a Cloak of Shadows, which immediately removes all damage over time effects from her. For 1 second, she becomes Unstoppable and gains 75 Spell Armor, reducing Ability damage taken by 75%.
• Using this Ability does not break Vanish.

Valeera, of course, will be available indefinitely. The Lunar Festival on the other hand, is a limited time event. It’ll stick around for quite a while at least, from now right through until February the 14th. What are you waiting for? Those Roosters need racing!

Last Updated: January 26, 2017