While she is attached to a hero with her Revolving Sweep, the target can still move around, effectively “dragging” her into a different location.
While Blizzard always wants to nail the power fantasy of a new character, there are obviously drawbacks as well, and Dates provides counters for Qhira, for those of you who will be diving into the PTR this week: “there are still ways you can counter play Qhira’s tools as well. We’re eagerly awaiting the kinds of crazy plays that will be made with her kit.” We’re always striving to introduce heroes with unique gameplay styles that make you view the game differently and Qhira is no exception. I asked what the closest analog to her style is, observing that her ability to rush and escape from combat mirrors Alarak, and Dates says that she doesn’t really fit into a current role and feels like her own thing: “Her kit really makes you think about the battlefield in a different way so it’s really hard to nail down her playstyle to an existing hero. The idea of this hero moving about the battlefield so dramatically really excited us! There weren’t any Blizzard characters who matched this identity the way we liked so it made a lot of sense to us to deliver this in the form of a new Nexus hero.” One of the first ability designs was to extend the blade and attach to enemies, swinging around them in an acrobatic fashion. We started off with a kit design for a hero who wielded a whip-like chainblade that could extend and retract on demand. Dates dished on what led to her creation with us: “Even before Orphea had launched, we were excited to explore the idea of other Nexus-born heroes and what that might mean for the game. Qhira is an original “Nexus” creation along with Orphea: meaning, she doesn’t hail from the popular universes of Warcraft or Diablo or what have you, and the team couldn’t be prouder of her. Right now though Blizzard is giving us Qhira, who is live today in the PTR (public test realm). I had the chance to talk with Lead Game Designer Brett Crawford and Hero Designer Kyle Dates about the state of the game, what’s in the pipeline, and what they’ve learned so far.Īmazingly, the post-cataclysm Heroes team has been sticking to a three month hero release cadence, and although Dates notes that they aren’t locked into it,” there are several heroes in the design pipeline, which will be released “when the team feels they are ready.” What kind of heroes? Well Dates is giving us a tease: “Without giving away anything I can say we do have more heavy hitters in the pipeline and are extremely excited about what’s to come in the future!” For those of you who don’t play the game, Grommash Hellscream is currently a huge favorite, as is Deathwing, so we’ll see soon enough if those are heavy enough. Yet, in this past eight months, the remaining team has pushed out three new heroes (Imperius, Anduin, Qhira), reworked many existing characters, given us several big events, and removed paid loot boxes. It feels like forever ago that Blizzard announced that they were winding down operations for Heroes of the Storm and cutting their entire eSports program, but that just happened this past December. Players will also get to use voice chat during matches and play with a new camera to get a better view of the battlefield.We chatted with Lead Game Designer Brett Crawford and Hero Designer Kyle Dates There are also improvements on the way for the laning system and a reworked stealth mechanic. This include new matchmaking methods, which will use your performance in game to determine your ranking. The developers recently made major changes with the 2.0 update, and they have even more features to add in the coming months.
The addition of Alexstrasza and Hanzo is the latest in a series of ongoing updates in Heroes of the Storm. His quick speed also makes him the ideal choice to scout ahead for potential traps and enemies. On the field, Hanzo plays the role of a ranged assassin, which allows him to deal damage from a distance. Players can use Alexstrasza as a ranged support character, but you can also utilize her dragon form to help your allies in a tough spot. Alexstrasza first fought with Hanzo in her human form, but she then transformed into a dragon in an effort to test his skills. The two characters were revealed in the usual Blizzard fashion: a cinematic trailer.