14 DAY TRIAL // Blizzard has released a brand new and informative video to serve as a one-stop place for everything there is to know about Heroes of the Storm's closed beta.
Blizzard Entertainment is launching the closed beta stage of its MOBA-like game Heroes of the Storm today, adding a bunch of content and some tweaks to the already popular formula.
The game is very similar to traditional multiplayer online battle arena games, with a couple of twists. The company itself refers to the game as a hero brawler, due to its focus on combat and hero- based interaction, instead of the ubiquitous creep farming and slow but steady lane pushing of other similar titles.
Sure, there are creeps to slay and towers to demolish in Heroes of the Storm too, but Blizzard's innovations make the game much more dynamic and much more focused on teamplay than on individual performance.
The experience pool is shared, so everyone is working for the team, and the level differences between heroes (which only apply to the opposing team) aren't as dramatic as they can be in all the other games.
There are no items to buy, you start with a full set of skills, and as you grow in power, you are able to select from different talent points that modify your already existing skills in order to tweak your build to the role you play in the current game.
In addition to this, there are many different objectives on the map, and each one of them has a certain theme, like capturing two shrines on the top and bottom lane in order to summon a powerful dragon in the middle one, or defeating neutral creeps in order to gain doubloons which can be utilized to order a bombardment from a pirate ship captain in the middle of the battleground.
The closed beta brings many new features
First and foremost, the closed beta comes with a revamped tutorial system, enhanced in order to educate newcomers and prepare them for battle, also including helpful tidbits about how Heroes does things differently from similar games.
The debut of the closed beta will introduce a brand new map to battle on, titled Sky Temple, a desert-themed battleground that was unveiled at BlizzCon 2014.
The massive three-lane battleground will challenge players to dominate certain points of interest in order to summon powerful aid in battle, blasting their enemies' fortifications from afar.
Thrall, the Warchief of the Horde, is joining the already extensive roster of playable characters. He is a brutal melee assassin, also able to dole out massive damage at range, who heals himself every time he uses five abilities.
In addition to this, the development team has made a number of changes to some of the existing heroes, meant to improve the game's balance, with significant tweaks made to Abathur, Falstad and Li Li.
Furthermore, players who want to customize their in-game experience will be able to do so with a few new hero skins, as well as a brand-new magic carpet mount.
Ranked play
At BlizzCon 2014, Blizzard announced that it planned to implement two different types of competitive experience, Hero League, targeting individual skill, and Team League, meant to showcase the prowess of a dedicated team.
For the time being, Team League remains under development, but Hero League will be available starting today, for people looking to prove their mettle.
Hero League will be accessible for people who have reached account level 30 and who own at least 10 heroes.
To support the new league, the developers have also implemented Draf Mode, an integrated part of the competitive experience, meant to prevent using duplicate heroes in a single game.
Teams take turns picking heroes, in order to be able to counter the enemy composition and to make games more balanced.
In addition to this, some changes are coming to the in-game shop, in the form of regular sales and Stimpacks, timed boosts that increase the amount of experience and gold gained while playing.
