14 DAY TRIAL // Blizzard confirms that the upcoming Heroes of the Storm closed beta that's set to begin tomorrow, January 13, will include an all-new Hero League competitive mode that's designed to offer a more intense experience to players of the studio's upcoming MOBA (multiplayer online battle arena) title.
Heroes of the Storm is the final iteration of Blizzard's long-in-development rival to popular experiences like Dota 2 or League of Legends. Throughout 2014, the game was available as a closed technical alpha stage, with just a few systems and heroes available to participants.
Tomorrow, January 13, the game is set to enter a closed beta stage and Blizzard promises big additions to the game so that all types of players can find enjoyable things in the online title.
Hero League offers a competitive mode
Among them, according to the official website, is Hero League, a competitive mode that's different from the old Versus mode, which is going to be renamed to Quick Match once the beta goes live.
After changing their desired modes, players will be able to compete against others and progress through the matchmaking ranks (MMR), which start at rank 50 and end at rank 1.
Some requirements must be met
Bear in mind that, in order to access this mode, players need to meet certain requirements, which relate to how many heroes they own, to how big of a player level they have.
"Given that Hero League is a competitive game mode, we want to make sure that everyone participating in ranked play has enough experience with Heroes of the Storm that they can contribute to their teams in meaningful ways. We also want to ensure that everyone has enough heroes unlocked that they can’t be prevented from selecting a hero while teams are draft picking before a game begins, since duplicate hero choices are not allowed," the studio confirms.
First up, players must have a level of 30 or higher and own 10 or more heroes. Bear in mind that the free heroes offered in the weekly rotation don't count to this requirement, as in Hero League you can only pick from the heroes you already own.
"If you’ve met the requirements mentioned above, you’ll see your current rank, win/loss record, and a few notable stats displayed on the Hero League Play Screen. From here, click 'Ready' at the bottom of the screen to jump into the Hero League queue alone, or in a party of any size," the studio confirms.
Expect to hear more about Hero League in the following days, as it debuts alongside the actual closed beta for Heroes of the Storm.
