Home Gaming Heroes of the Storm: Customise with the Talent System

Heroes of the Storm: Customise with the Talent System

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MOBA’s are a strange thing. They are hard to learn, difficult to master, yet, they remain mindlessly addictive. I do personally think the market is on its way to being saturated with maybe just a few too many extra offerings being developed, but Heroes of the Storm is one in particular entry in the genre that I cant wait to get some hands on time with.

Blizzard are pretty well known for their formula; easy to learn, hard to master. I’m interested to see their approach with Heroes of the Storm, because by nature, MOBA’s genuinely are assholes in the learning curve department. It can take weeks, or even months just to grasp the nature of the game and understand just a few of its intricacies. Even with years and years of play, I’m still constantly learning new things in Dota 2.

Heroes of the Storm, if correctly implemented with Blizzards formula, should be user friendly enough for newcomers to not just write the game and genre off. They’ve taken an interesting approach really, with the game having shared experience and no item shop at all for example. I think the latter is one of the factors that scares people the most; deciding just what the hell to buy and figuring out what item synergises well and benefits the character the most.

Instead of having to worry about items, players get to customise their hero abilities. Each hero has core skills, but these can be customised with buffs or different effects thanks to the Talent System as the character levels up This is not to say that heroes won’t fall into their specific classes (Assassin, Warrior, Support, and Specialist), but at least the player has the option to customise further depending on what their team needs.

In this latest video from Blizzard, they show just how one of their characters, Muradin, can be anything such as a utility stunner, a tough tank, or a badass damage dealer. It looks interesting, as a player can choose just how they should play their hero depending on the situation at hand. One of the most important skills a MOBA player can have is the ability to react to their enemy and their item choice. In the case of Heroes of the Storm, Blizzard are currently looking for ways to implement a system which gives players a view of their enemies talent choices.

Blizzard have a pretty darn solid track record, so I’m keen to see how this game turns out. Who are you looking forward to playing as?

Last Updated: July 3, 2014

No Comments

  1. How about NO-ba :/

    Reply

    • Rince&pop

      July 3, 2014 at 14:17

      Yeba

      Reply

  2. Matthew Holliday

    July 3, 2014 at 14:10

    the game looks too one dimensional, theyv removed 90% of the mechanics from other mobas, and placed ALL the emphasis on team fight.
    dunno about others, but the lack of depth the game displays doesnt give me much hope for replay value. been playing dota on and off since 2006, becaues the game had depth.
    how does blizzard hope to compete in the moba genre, with a game that has only half the depth? trust in casuals? hope for a billion players to last 50 games?

    customising item builds to change the heroes impact on the game is nothing new to any of the other mobas out there, feels like theyr highlighting something so simple, because theres nothing else to highlight.

    normally, id say taking a blizzard game would be worth the money, but this one, just doesnt feel like theyv thought about the big picture.

    Reply

    • Gerhard Davids

      July 3, 2014 at 14:40

      People had this same argument when LoL came onto the scene.
      It simplified laning by removing denies and many cited that it would not be competitive because of this, well look at them now.

      I unfortunately didn’t make the HOTS cut but I sure as heck will give it a try.
      After seeing how they can simplify the tcg scene with HS it might be just what I want from a MOBA

      Reply

    • ToshZA

      July 3, 2014 at 15:13

      I think you’re missing the point there – I don’t think Blizzard are trying to create the next best eSports game. I think they’re making a game that’s fun for a lot of people, not just those who are dedicated enough to climb that learning curve, which is inherently steep in MOBA’s. They’re not trying to do what others have done. They’re trying to do something new.

      And they’re willing to fail and fix in the process. Just look at Diablo 2, and Diablo 3 as prime examples.

      Reply

      • B3ware_za

        July 3, 2014 at 17:04

        It’s just bad that I have to pay full price for a expansion to go and enjoy D3 with my friends again. They are willing to make things right, but at a cost. Probably wont happen to HotS at least.

        Reply

        • ToshZA

          July 3, 2014 at 17:13

          At least it’s not a monthly sub to play a 12 year old game. Plus the cost of the expansion. #Justsaying

          Reply

      • Matthew Holliday

        July 3, 2014 at 18:15

        but mobas are all about the skill. skill is 90% of the game.

        had they not compared it to dota or LoL when it was first announced, or made it clear that its not meant to compete with dota or LoL, then there wouldnt be a problem, and i could just ignore it.
        but they did compare themselves to other mobas and pitched it as a competitive title at blizzcon last year.

        Im fine with a game aimed at casuals, but the hype train is aiming it at core gamers instead.

        Reply

  3. Kensei Seraph

    July 3, 2014 at 14:30

    Sounds good.
    People will be able to choose their favourite heroes and not be locked into a single role.

    Reply

  4. ThisIsBullShlt

    July 11, 2014 at 12:46

    “Blizzard have a pretty darn solid track record”

    WAT

    They couldn’t even implement a combat system for Diablo3 correctly. SC2 was so hard to balance (for them) that it ended up being a grindfest. Half a SC2 game could be played better if it was automated. The only thing Blizzard has gotten right since WC3 is Hearthstone and that is because it’s a Magic:The Gathering clone. They are not innovators, they are copycats that have beaten all their legacy titles to death and are looking for new hunting grounds. They are basically Zinga.

    Reply

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