Greymane has leapt into the Heroes of the Storm Nexus

Blizzard swelled the Heroes of the Storm character count quite nicely during 2015. The roster is now starting to look nice and packed, and before long, will probably hit that sort of density and diversity that’s seen in other competing MOBAs like League of Legends and Dota 2. There’s a long way to go still, but to keep the momentum rolling, Blizzard have released a new hero nice and early this year.

His name is Greymane, and he has a bit of a fuzzy problem…

Armed with pistol and claw, Greymane is both a cunning ranged and brutal melee Assassin Hero. With the ability to transform into worgen form on a short cooldown, Greymane trades the safety of his ranged abilities for devastating melee attacks.

But as Greymane is well aware, transformation comes at a cost. In order to gain the benefits of worgen form, Greymane must dive directly into the battle, often making him a vulnerable and high-priority target for enemies. Because of this, the best Greymane strategy is often to weaken your opponent with pistol and potion, then execute your opponent in worgen form.

Here’s a spotlight and overview of he’s capable of. Note that he has two different forms, human and worgen, which both have their own unique abilities.

Basic Abilities

Curse of the Worgen (trait)

Use certain Abilities to shapeshift between a Human and a Worgen.While Human, your Basic Attack is ranged.While Worgen, your Basic Attack is melee but deals 40% more damage.

Human – Gilnean Cocktail (Q)

Hurl a flask that deals 152 (72 + 4% per level) damage to the first enemy hit and explodes for 454 (216 + 4% per level) damage to enemies in a cone behind them.

Worgen – Razor Swipe (Q)

Swipe towards the area in front of you for 349 (166 + 4% per level) damage.

Inner Beast (W)

Gain 50% Attack Speed for 3 seconds. Basic Attacks refresh this duration.

Human – Darkflight (E)

Shapeshift into a Worgen and leap at an enemy dealing 193 (92 + 4% per level) damage.

Worgen – Disengage (E)

Roll away and shapeshift into a Human.

Heroic Abilities

Go for the Throat (R)

Leap at an enemy Hero and shapeshift into a Worgen, slashing 3 times for 822 (390 + 4% per level) total damage. If this kills them, the Ability can be used a second time within 10 seconds for free.

Marked for the Kill (R)

Mark – Shapeshift into a Human and fire a shot hitting the first enemy Hero for 149 (71 + 4% per level) damage. For 5 seconds, they are Vulnerable, taking 25% more damage, and you can re-activate this to leap at them and shapeshift into a Worgen.

Leap – Shapeshift into a Worgen and leap to the target of Marked for the Kill, dealing 97 (46 + 4% per level) damage on impact.

I was fortunate enough to play Greymane at last year’s BlizzCon. He’s a lot of fun, but does take some getting used to. Wrapping one’s head around all the abilities due to his two different forms will take a good few games.

What I’d like to know now though, is who’s coming to Heroes of the Storm next. Greymane, Lunara, and Cho’gall were the three new heroes announced at BlizzCon (along with Tracer – she’ll join the Nexus later this year around the same time as the release of Overwatch I presume). From which franchise will Blizzard draw from next? Any guesses?

Last Updated: January 13, 2016