Home Gaming Blizzard launch of Heroes of the Storm with a new hero and bonus goodies

Blizzard launch of Heroes of the Storm with a new hero and bonus goodies

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Johanna

Heroes of the Storm is officially out! Have you tried it yet? You should… the game is ridiculously accessible, even to the greenest of gamers. It’s honestly the best way to test the hazardous, piranha filled, shark infested waters that is the MOBA genre – without getting eaten alive. To celebrate its release, Blizzard have patched in a whole lot of bonus content. This includes a brand new hero and a bunch of other awesome freebies

A wild Crusader appears!

The newest hero is one I’ve been wanting to see for a long time. Say hello to Johanna – a female crusader ripped straight from Blizzard’s other clickathon game – Diablo. Here’s her launch trailer and her skillset (via the Heroes of the Storm blog):

Trait

  • Iron Skin (D)  – Become Unstoppable and gain a Shield that absorbs damage for 4 seconds.

Basic Abilities

  • Punish (Q) – Deal damage and slow enemies by 60%, decaying over 2 seconds.
  • Condemn (W) – After a 1 second delay, you pull nearby enemies toward you, stunning them and dealing damage.
  • Shield Glare (E) – Deal damage to enemies and cause them to miss their next 2 Basic Attacks within 4 seconds.

Heroic Abilities

  • Falling Sword (R) – You leap toward an area. While in the air, you can steer the landing location by moving. You land after 2 seconds, dealing damage to nearby enemies and knocking them into the air.
  • Blessed Shield (R) – Deal damage and stun the first enemy hit for 2 seconds. Blessed Shield then bounces to 2 nearby enemies, dealing half damage and stunning them for 1 second.

I have not tried her yet myself, but a quick glance at her abilities shows that she has a nice balance of everything; stun, slow, damage and fight setup. With that trait, she’ll also be an unstoppable tank.

Bonus goodies!

Who doesn’t like free stuff? Here are a bunch of rewards now available to Heroes of the Storm (and other Blizzard titles)…

Extra XP

There will be bonus XP for everybody over the next three weeks. Trust me, this is a big deal. Getting your account to a certain level (30 if I remember correctly) unlocks ranked play. If you’re competitive, that’s the mode you want to be a part of, and thanks to this XP event, you can get there a lot faster. Here’s a breakdown:

  • 25% XP Bonus: June 2 – 9
  • 50% XP Bonus: June 9 – 16
  • 100% XP Bonus: June 16 – 24

Mounts

Billie the Kid Mount:

  • Any players that complete a real-money transaction using the in-game Shop on, or after June 2, will receive the Billie the Kid Mount as a bonus reward.

Play Hearthstone and/or World of Warcraft? You can earn rewards for those games, and use them to earn rewards in Heroes of the Storm too!

Hearthstone Rewards:

  • Reach player level 12 in Heroes of the Storm to receive the Heroes of the Storm Cardback in Hearthstone.
  • Win 100 games in Hearthstone’s Play Mode to receive the Hearthstone Cardback Mount in Heroes of the Storm.
  • This reward will not be available immediately on launch day, but will be granted in the coming weeks.

World of Warcraft Rewards:

  • Reach player level 20 in Heroes of the Storm to receive the Grave Golem World of Warcraft Pet.
  • Reach level 100 in World of Warcraft to receive the Ironside Dire Wolf Heroes of the Storm Mount.

Exclusive Player Portrait

  • All players who log in to Heroes of the Storm during the week of June 2 – 9 will receive an exclusive player portrait that they can use to show off their excitement for the game’s release.

Stimpack Discount

  • During the week of June 2 – 9, all players will receive a 50% discount on the purchase of one 30-day Stimpack. Once purchased at the discounted rate, subsequent 30-Day Stimpacks will return to normal price.

 The Nexus Awaits…

Remember, Heroes of the Storm is entirely free to play. If you haven’t done so already, I would highly recommend trying it out. What do you have to lose, other than several dozen, maybe hundreds of hours of your life?

(Header)

Last Updated: June 3, 2015

16 Comments

  1. Brienne has a sister? O_o

    Reply

    • hairyknees

      June 3, 2015 at 14:13

      O_O

      Reply

  2. RinceTheElfRoot

    June 3, 2015 at 13:38

    Obligatory cabbage comment of the day. +1 used.

    Reply

    • Hammersteyn

      June 3, 2015 at 13:42

      One guy noted, “they complain about the guy not smoking, but they have zero qualms about playing as the Diablo” who essentially is the devil…

      Reply

  3. Admiral Chief's Adventure

    June 3, 2015 at 13:42

    How does Mr Cabbage rate Dota2 vs HotS?

    Reply

    • Ottokie

      June 3, 2015 at 13:47

      Could not find one for HOTS but this should be a close guess.

      http://rs2img.memecdn.com/moba_o_253831.gif

      Reply

      • Hammersteyn

        June 3, 2015 at 13:54

        Say hello to the ground!

        Reply

    • hairyknees

      June 3, 2015 at 14:13

      I still prefer Dota 2 🙂 HotS is genuinely fun too though!

      Reply

      • Hammersteyn

        June 3, 2015 at 14:14

        He said Mr. not Ms.

        Reply

        • hairyknees

          June 3, 2015 at 14:17

          #CabbageShot

          Reply

          • Hammersteyn

            June 3, 2015 at 14:35

            XD

  4. SmurFyZA

    June 3, 2015 at 13:44

    IF only I could play the game. There is a ridiculous FPS drop issue out there. Game was fine till shortly after open beta started. I cry…

    Reply

  5. Blood Emperor Trevor

    June 3, 2015 at 13:46

    Johanna doesn’t look that great, imagine she just… flails… about!

    Reply

    • Ottokie

      June 3, 2015 at 13:48

      hehehehe

      Reply

  6. ReaperOfSquirrels

    June 3, 2015 at 13:51

    Mehroes of the Meh?

    Reply

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