When I was 22, I was an aspiring HotS pro. I got a gaming PC to start a YouTube channel devoted solely to HotS (which I abandoned after 2 videos) and even tried to build my own team. What frustrated me the most during that time was the inability to escape the possibility that I would be matched with someone who was below everyone else's skill levels and my team would pay the ultimate price of LOSING THE GAME, OH NO.

I ended up migrating to LoL, which is a thousand times more toxic and honestly a thousand times more miserable. Sure, you can hard carry and get hard carried in ways that are impossible in HotS, but that also means players are much more ego-driven, and 5v5 teamfights are relatively uncommon.

Not that League is a bad game, but it did rob some years of my life that I would like back. Now I'm back to playing Heroes with a completely different attitude and fully embrace its more laid-back approach to competitiveness.

Even if one person can drag the entire team down, you're still winning and losing as a team. It's not I WON THE GAME but WE WON THE GAME. And that also means that you'll get some matches where you will randomly lose because someone had a bad day or whatever, but that doesn't really matter. It's not like your rank will affect your salary, and most people playing HotS are probably well aware of that, so the community is a lot more chill.

I like this environment and if I wanna be a super tryhard and try my best to climb to Gold (my definition of "making it" in ranked these days), I can play League for a few days. But I think for now I prefer playing one or two games of hots that last 20 minutes and relax.

Despite the Tank class, ramatra is ranged by default and have bruiser defensive stats. (still have the tank class dmg output)

Passive - Omnic Cordination - Whenever you autoattack a enemy hero it apply a ranged mark or a meele mark depending on the type of your auto-attack. while a enemy have a mark if you or an ally do the other type of attack on the target, consume the marks and stun it briefly, (each enemy get an individual cooldown so you dont perma stun them)

Q- Void Acelerator - deal damage in a line that apply the "Ranged mark"
Q - Pummel (Nemesis form) - deal 3 rapid punches in single target in your meele attack range, it also deal damage in an area around it applying "meele mark" on everyone and slowing them

W - Nemesis Form - For X seconds give yourself a shield and increase your defensive stats to match the tank class, you also gain move speed and become meele, your Q change effect while you are at this form.

E - Ravenous Vortex - Make an area small area on the ground that grow into roughly dragon alextraza size that slow enemies and disable movement abilities while they are on it.

R1 - Annihilation - enter in nemesis form and start doing damage over time and reducing the damage of all enemies in an area around you.
this nemesis form duration have no conection to W and stays for all the ult duration.

R2 - Omnic Crisis - Create 4 omnic meele units that follow you and count as heroes for you passive.

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Design notes
Why no barrier? - i dont think the game engine handle those things
Why no damage reduction stance? - you already got the form giving you defenses, two abilities increasing self defense didnt look good.

intended niche - Anti movement pick that do well controling area.

pros - have the range that tanks dont normally have.
cons - does not have tank stats 100% of the time.

I will never not suicide for them

One of the most fun matches I've played lmao

I’m kinda rediscovering hots during a few months break I have, and in learning what’s changed about the game, I feel like at some point in the last few years Tychus got a buff or something? Maybe I’ve just been sleeping on his Q build.

I’ve always considered Tychus one of those, “better hope they have tanks” so you can deal your %dmg and be useful.

However the last few weeks I’ve been grabbing him in aram I’ve found myself just going Q build with the last 3 talents and it seems like it’s just the right call every time. Like his level 20 upgrade on Q has literally flipped losing games into wins.

What’s wild to me is how his trait is still insanely good, there’s not many heroes that can go toe to toe trading against it. BUT then you add onto this a hypermobile move with massive aoe that is giving Tychus 40 armor while slowing enemies allowing him to jump into the fray and glue himself to someone AND that is now increasing in damage with every hit, AND he still has the burst potential of grenade to finish off that tiny bit of remaining health, oh and a laser he can just toss down for fun, AND to top it off a dash for getting himself out of trouble.

I do see how with the right comp you could lock him down, but in aram where the comp balance is uncertain, I’m finding him to be one of the best picks. While I think Xal is just overall more powerful, I do think Tychus with Q build destroys her, and almost everyone else.

He’s one of those heroes that creates an immediate problem for the enemy team (like Qhira), which forces them to react to you, which takes some heat off your team.

Idk just some rambling thoughts, I’m sure it’s been discussed. I’m just a little surprised I don’t see more talk about how solid of a damage option he is, especially at 20 with Q build specifically.

(But we're on the same team .D)

/Edit Also starring Sherlock Vala.

I really like the Warcraft and Diablo heroes. I mostly play offlaners, bruisers and/or assasins which can proactively influence the game.

Is samuro worth it regarding those Points? I Always never see him but I love how close his design is to the WC3 version

Now it is slow as fuck; not only do I need to open each loot chest individually, but I also have to unveil each four of the items inside individually---and when you accumulate hundreds of them...you just never wanna do it...

I was playing Fenix and my friend was playing Zarya, so we had a nice combo of grav and planet cracker which killed the Anubarak. But by pure coincidence, Aba happened to be exactly in line with the planet cracker!

People still cant do objectives. I'd understand if they are lvl 10, or lvl 20. Youre new, but lvl 100+ still not regrouping and doing whatever is such a bad taste. Boss up boys.

"There ain't nothin' I can't fix!" — Rory Swann

Rory Swann is a Terran Engineer, a Veteran of the Kel-Morian Revolution and Raynor's Rocketeer, wearing his Modified Marauder Combat Suit.

Swann is a ranged tank capable of dealing much damage and efficiently pinning his enemies in place. He applies constant CC, which grows stronger as the fight progresses.
You can think of Swann as an alternative to Blaze — a mix of ranged DPS and a bulky tank; but Rory is a bit more on the "ranged DPS" side.
Note, that the raw numbers of damage/shields etc. in the teaser above may be a bit off. Its supposed to present the raw concept and ideas for Rory, not create production-ready, perfectly balanced hero.

Auto-attacks — Swann has standard auto-attack range with solid damage and fairly low attack speed (without stim). He can also hit in melee with his mechanical claw. In the teaser it deals less damage, but It could as well deal much more, to compensate for not applying Concussive Shell stacks or Punisher Shrapnel effect.

Concussive Shells (Passive) — Each ranged basic attack slows the target by 8% up to a maximum of 40%, for 3 seconds. With Swann's low baseline attack speed it takes time to apply maximum stacks, but overall its much harder to disengage the fight if there is enemy Swann in it.

Breach Missile (Q) — After a long wind-up shoots out a projectile that damages and stuns the first enemy hit. Teaser does not ephasize this, but the wind-up makes it very telegraphed (similarly to Blazes Jet Propulsion); it is also a moderately slow moving projectile, so slow down your target with Concussive Shells for easier snipe with your Breach Missile.

Reflective Shell (W) — Shields Swann for moderate amount of shield points. If it expires after 5 seconds – nothing else happens – but if it's broken via enemy damage — it damages and knocks back all nearby enemy heroes. Its a strong defensive ability, that can be used both to mitigate ranged burst damage, or to keep enemy melee heroes at bay.

Punisher Shrapnel (E) — Upon activation, each ranged auto-attack deals additional damage behind the main target for 50% of basic attack damage. The search area is a shape of a cone, which makes it easy to use it for waveclear, but challenging to use efficiently in teamfights (similarly to Greymane's Hunter's Blunderbuss). Use it to quickly clear a wave, force your enemies to spread out, or damage enemy backline through shooting at their tank.

Stimpack (R1) — Upon activation, grants Swann 20% movement speed and 50% attack speed. It costs no mana and has no cooldown, but in return it costs 20% of Swanns Max HP, taken over the duration. Make note, that this is pure HP damage, so it cant be mitigated with Reflective Shell or shield from his allies, so you will need a healer if you like your stims. Use it to quickly apply a lot of Concussive Shells stacks, instantly clear minion wave with Punisher Shrapnel or just simply dish out a lot of damage.
And yes, I know there are already many stim abilities in HotS: Morales Stim-Drone, Raynor's Adrenaline Rush (sort of), Blaze even got three different stims. But in my opinion none of them actually are "stims". StarCraft stimpack is supposed to be "become a devastating war machine, while your hearts tries to escape your chest" button, and thats what Swanns Stimpack is. The only other ability that actually resembles StarCraft stim in HotS is... Zul'Jins Amani Rage...

Empty?? (R2) — What would be your ideas for the second ult? I thought of Flaming Bettsy — a turret that Swann throws down, which engulfs nearby enemy hearoes in flames. Similar to Drakken Laser Drill, but deals AoE damage and is not so easy to destroy, but in return has much lower attack range, so its more of a zoning tool. Maybe you could come up with something better?

Some talent ideas:

• Punisher Shrapnel applies applies Concussive Shell stacks to enemy heroes.
• Increased cone size of Punisher Shrapnel.
• Basic attacks against heroes with max Concussive Shell stacks deal %dmg.
• Reflective Shell can be manually detonated.

Please Share with me what would you change or add! I love both Rory from SC2 and Marauders are my favourite unit in terran army (right after Siege Tanks of course), so I felt I had to make this.

PS. sorry for instant delete & reupload... the post got uploaded when I clicked on the video for some reason...

EDIT. to all dear ignorants who accuse me of making "AI concept": literally the only little place that AI ever touched in this entire post is blending in the text in the Swann's spotlight splashart, because I had trouble doing it myself. No other word, art or a second in the teaser was touched by AI. If thats enough for you to discredit the rest of enormous amount of work mainly in the game editor but also in video editor as "AI made", then I have no words for you...

Will there be a Hallow's End event this year? There are some Hallow's End cosmetics I want, but don't want to spend gems on them yet if they become handouts during the event or at least discounted (not sure if that's how it even works)

Hi team, i am doing this as basically a shot in the dark as i dont know what to do.
As title says, I am a former mid-platinum player from EU (i was diamond 5 once), stopped playing around Anduin release (2020). Played only QMs since then every couple of months.

Now, with the "revival", I came back with a friend (he was mid gold always) and we were placed after the 3 games into silver 4 (me) and silver 5 (him). Mind you, we won all the 3 games very easily. And its been a struggle since then. I think what is happening is that I am trying to apply the team strategies from higher ranks and trying to pick something good for comp, but that is not working in my matches. I found people not caring about comp at all, picking random heroes into their counters or being coutner picked and not playing safely, people just roam around the map and do random duels, no teamfights, no soak.... and when i try to call it out, i get blamed for everything (i am not saying i play perfect, but the problem is that i am often the first one to name a problem and people very often instantly go into defensive and flame me). When I call it out, i also sometimes get answer like "its just a game" and that they dont care if we win of lose, they want to play whatever and however. But QM is for that, not ranked... When i get a game with 3 other people who actually want to play the game, we usually stomp the other team.

Can anyone relate or does anyone have any advice for a "way out" please? My friend usually plays tanks or bruisers (most often malganis or hogger), while i am flex. My current theory is that at least one of us needs to be on a hero that can solo-carry the game, e.g. valla or something that has high kill potential when playing as a duo. That means i never can go healer. I also am starting to think that maybe i just need to "dumb down" and just stick to someone on my team and just follow him/them like a mosquito and just help them in anything that they do, with the hope that the enemy team is dumb too and we will get a free kill at some point that will swing the game. But i am really losing my hopes of trying to play properly and getting out of this hellhole. I really think that this issue will just dissapear once I am at gold, since more people will actually want to play the game and win.

Sorry for the rant, i dont know if anyone will actually read this or not, but any comment is valued greatly. But yes, i think i just needed to vent.

Hi guys

Well, im kinda stuck in silver 3 rn, been s1 few days ago, and i would like suggestions of heroes that are independants (being able to push, clear waves, damage structures, doing camps and being useful in teamfight) so i can at least try my best to win the game when i got thoses guys looking stats and trying to teach everyone how to play getting 10 deaths at 8min game.

Every kind of role is fine for me in the end.

I like to play malthael but to dmg structures, that's a black hole.

Probius, but lack of utility in team fight (i mean ur dmg aren't reliable) and kind of low health that can be abused by some counters.

I tried every champ in the game, im not new, just a returner, and i guess there is heroes that can do what i would want to but maybe i didn't understand how to play them ect ect or whatever i've could miss.

I got a good macro, im fine "mechanically" even if a lot of heroes arn't that hard to play (talking about the majority compared to League of legends champs for example, ofc there is some hard to play).

I can take good decisions depends of the timing and able yo understand how to get more xp or use a situation like a kill to take enemy camp or whatever ect ect.

So im searching for advices about heroes that could take this role and doing it well so i can get every chance i could to get a positive impact on the games.

(Ofc depends of the map but still in general, and im waiting for multiples choices so i can choose depending the comp / map).

I hope im understandable, thks

At one point, our Core was at 9%, we had no keeps or forts, and they had everything.

So I just tried my first Ranked match ever, figured I should try and so I can work on the higher skills of the game.

Never again.

constant abuse 4 minutes in until the very end for not understanding comps, not doing enough damage, not diving into a 2v4 (I guess they would prefer I feed), and having low team fight damage even though I was running around capturing camps (as Sonya).

Where am I supposed to learn about comps from playing this game? QM? Not a chance.

Told to just stay out of ranked which sounds INSANE to me since that's pretty much the core pillar of the game, and the ONLY place to learn and experience comps, drafting, etc. If these people want their game to stick around why are you telling people never to try? I am literally unranked; that means I'm new and if you're there with me you're probably just as bad or you would be higher up.

in LOL you get every hero even who just released and exp boost

same in valorant

in Fortnite you get v-bucks and free skins

but in hots you get 30 heroes that most players already have

not even 25% exp boost

Decided to follow the lead of u/Blackshell. Judge my profile!

I can understand having 5 mans facing 5 mans in ranked atm, but why are 3-4 mans even allowed? Makes solo queuing completely miserable by how many smurfs there are in the queue where you often have them teaming up with multiple. Duo smurf accounts are bad enough, but by how unrestricted the rules are now there is no legitimacy to any of the rankings anymore.

Added to that the amount of people who just troll games with no repercusions and really poor balancing with the meta Heroes being bonkers broken make this season feel absolutely awful. Heck, last weekend I had one guy who I got 3 games in a row with who apparently used a scripted hack to play the game in ranked and he even straight up said that he wanted to lose just to spite some people on the ladder, even when we had a solid chance of winning if he just played. Of course no reports in the world will ever have any effect either despite how deliberate it is. I remember ranked being historically a bad experience, but man. This season takes the cake. Makes me even regret coming back to the game by how poor it has been.

So with D5 getting announced I got thinking about the old bundle releases they used to do, where you'd get a map and a couple heroes all from the same universe at once. Eternal Conflict was probably my favorite patch the game ever had. Figured I'd throw out what I'd want if they ever did one for D5.

Map: Fallen Westmarch

D5 is set after Diablo already won so the map is just Westmarch wrecked with Hell leaking into it. 3 lanes, normal forts/keeps/camps.

The mechanic is Helltides. Every 3 min or so (first one around 3:00) the sky goes red and for about a minute and the map starts spawning cinders. Cinders come from 3 places

• demon packs wandering around. small amount each
• Tortured Gifts, which are chests. they spawn in pairs on opposite sides of the map and both teams see them. you channel to open them and getting hit cancels it
• a Herald mini boss in the middle partway through. biggest payout so theres always a reason to group for it

You drop your cinders when you die like doubloons on Bay. I really wanted it so you can win by fighting but you dont have to. If the other team is way better at teamfights you can just split and farm the chests on the far side since they cant be on both at once.

When the Helltide ends you bring cinders back to your altar (short channel, can get interrupted) and it summons a Blood Maiden to push a lane. Bigger stack = stronger Maiden.

Also during the Helltide there's meteors and fire coming up out of the ground.

Hero 1: Plague Knight (bruiser)

Blizz said he spreads disease and then consumes it for power so I just went with that.

Trait puts Plague stacks on people (max 5), it ticks damage and jumps to anyone standing next to a plagued enemy every couple seconds. His D button rips all the stacks off everyone nearby, damages them and heals him per stack. That's basically the whole hero, everything else is about getting stacks on people.

Q is a cleave that gives 2 stacks. W is a slowing cloud that keeps stacking while they stand in it. E is a charge.

Heroics: - Blight Lord, 8 sec aura that maxes stacks on everyone around you - Epidemic, mark someone and after 3 sec their stacks explode and copy to everyone around them

Hero 2: Lilith (ranged assassin)

Biggest Diablo character not in the game and Helltides are literally from her expansion so she had to be the second hero.

Trait is a blood meter that fills when you hit heroes, and when it's full your next ability gets a bonus. Q is a long skillshot (pierces when empowered), W is a delayed blood petal burst (roots when empowered), E is a quick flight with her wings where she can't be targeted (2 charges when empowered).

Heroics are a blood rain zone where she gets lifesteal, or Temptation which charms people in a cone and walks them toward her for like 1.5 sec.

I'm of the crowd who stopped playing for several years (right before Hogger was released, hence not having played him at all), and come having come back now. I used to do Storm League back in the day (high gold/low plat), but these days it's just QM and ARAM for me, solo or with friends.

I don't like "proper" "meta" builds and will do weird stuff just to be obstinate. If I was on your team and played a Q-build Xal'atath, I'm sorry that I'm not sorry.

Anyway, tell me all about how I suck at this game and my hero selection and preferences are literally the cancer killing HotS. GLHF!

I used to play HOTS a lot back in the day. And I'm very happy to see that HOTS is getting a new hero and new content. That bodes well for a prospective revival. I guess I should be happy that they're making new content to begin with

But I find it very disappointing that they always make heroes from Warcraft and Overwatch these days. It's getting tiresome.

It's been ages since we've gotten a hero from Diablo or SC. I admit I'm not much of a Starcraft fan so I can't speak much about SC, but give us Baal and Lilith for crying out loud. There are so many cool and interesting characters from Diablo but they rather make some B-tier obscure WC hero instead. Especially on Diablo's 30th anniversary it's disappointing we didn't get a Diablo hero