Heroes of the Storm

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Heroes of the Storm
Hotslogo.png
Developer(s) Blizzard Entertainment
  Team 1
Publisher(s) Blizzard Entertainment
Platforms Microsoft Windows, macOS
Release June 2, 2015
Genre(s) Team Brawler, MOBA

Heroes of the Storm, often shortened to Heroes or HotS (even though "HotS" can also refer to a StarCraft II expansion), is a Blizzard Entertainment "hero brawler" game which was initially inspired by the Defense of the Ancients custom map for Warcraft III. The game features characters from across the Warcraft, StarCraft, The Lost Vikings, Diablo and Overwatch franchises, who are seized by an unknown force and brought together in a mysterious location known as the Nexus to do battle.

On 13 December 2018, Blizzard decided to pull some developers to other projects and announce that the Heroes Global Championship and Heroes of the Dorm will not return in 2019.[1] New content for the game came to a halt in July 2022 but would still receive support in the form of client sustainability and bug fixing along with balance updates as needed.[2]

Gameplay

Heroes of the Storm is a team-based competitive game in which each player controls a powerful hero with unique abilities, and works with his or her team to invade and destroy the enemy team's base. However, it has a number of features which set it apart from other DOTA-style games. Experience is shared between all players on a team (so there is no benefit to last-hitting). There are no purchasable items (but characters can be customized by learning talents as they level up). All skills are unlocked at the beginning of a match. Games are intended to last for about 20 minutes each, and each map has unique objectives.[3]

Heroes

There are a total of 89 playable hero characters, 43 of which are Warcraft characters.

One of the game's features is the ability to purchase or earn skins for each hero, with each skin often available in different color schemes alongside the 'traditional' colors. Some skins represent characters from the past, evolved forms via Master Skins, a different timeline, incarnations in the Starcraft, Diablo, Overwatch, or even a parallel universe within the Nexus such as:

  • The Stormrage twins had their roles switched as well as Tyrande and Maiev with Lunara joining the Sentinels and later the Wardens.
  • A version of Tyrande who is a blood elf descendant of her namesake, Tyrande Windrunner.
  • Thrall embraced the power of the Aspect of Earth, becoming consumed by living rock and permanently changed.
  • Uther survived his last battle with Arthas and later lead the Alliance forces in Northrend during WotLK, claiming Sulfuras from the Firelord in the Molten Core.
  • Uther was Arthur Light, humble lumberjack from British Columbia.
  • In a world made from confections, Muradin was king of Kandy Mountain.
  • Versions of Warcraft Heroes that exist in the StarCraft universe, including but not limited to Rexxar, who is a mutated human called military ursine-handler Cpl. Rex Arkk.
  • Version of Warcraft Heroes that exist in the Diablo universe, some as adventurers, others as demons and/or servants of said infernal beings.
  • Versions of Warcraft Heroes that exist in the Overwatch universe as members of Overwatch or Talon.
  • Versions of Starcraft, Diablo, Overwatch and original heroes from the Nexus that appear in Warcraft.
  • Versions of Warcraft Heroes who walk the path of the Adventurer, wearing Tier Set armor.
  • Versions of Warcraft Heroes that live within the various realms of the Nexus in different roles, or are corrupted variants or twisted doppelgangers created by the Dark Nexus.
  • A version of Jaina that is a Dreadlord.
  • A version of Valeera that is a demon hunter.
  • A version of Malfurion that is Majordomo of the Firelands.
  • A version of Arthas that emerged victorious against the Ashen Verdict.
  • A version of Chromie that is queen of the Fel Drakes.
  • A version of Rehgar that sabtoages Garrosh's Iron Horde from within.
  • An alternate version of Outland where the Hellblade Samuro seeks to avenge his warchief Blackhand, murdered by Warlord Goe'l Hellhammer of the Ashwolf Clan who seeks retribution against his father's killers, Gul'dan chief among them.
  • A version of Li Li who leads a the rebellion against Lei Shen and his army of Warmasters.
  • A timeline where the Alliance led by the Raena, the Lady of Thorns, Vanndar Stormpike and Grand Marshal Varian fight the Horde led by Raven Lord Oberon, Drek'thar and High Warlord Garrosh in Alterac Pass.

A model for Gelbin Mekkatorque has been shown been shown at past BlizzCons but he was never added to the game. Other characters Blizzard have considered from the Warcraft universe include Aggra, Azshara, Brann, Cenarius, Dagg'um Ty'gor, Dr. Boom, Gallywix, Grom, Harth, Kil'jaeden, Moira, Varimathras, Vashj, Velen, and Vol'jin.[4]

Battlegrounds

Battlegrounds or maps are the battlefields upon which the heroes do battle and matches are fought. Each battleground has a different layout as well as unique features that set it apart from the others.

14 battlegrounds that are currently playable, one of which is Warcraft-themed: Alterac Pass.

Notes and trivia

  • The original name, Blizzard DOTA, was at the heart of a legal battle between Valve, who wanted to trademark "DOTA" for their own use, and Blizzard, who wanted to prevent the trademark so that it could be freely used by the gaming community. Ultimately, they decided that DOTA could be freely used non-commercially, while Valve retained exclusive rights to its commercial usage. As a result, Blizzard DOTA was renamed Blizzard All-Stars. Rob Pardo commented that the new title "ultimately better reflects the design of our game."[5] On 17 October 2013, the game was renamed yet again to Heroes of the Storm.[6]
  • Blizzard originally did not use the terms "ARTS" or "MOBA", feeling that the game is more accurately described as a "hero brawler".[3] However with the 2022 redesign of the Blizzard.com website, they now list the game as a "MOBA".[7]
  • Carbot Animations drawn characters are shown in Heroes of the Storm as collectable portraits and sprays.

Gallery

Hero models

  • Warcraft-themed skins for heroes from other franchises
  • Apothecary Morales

    Apothecary Morales

  • AzGul'dan

    AzGul'dan

  • Crypt Queen Zagara

    Crypt Queen Zagara

  • Death Knight Sonya

    Death Knight Sonya

  • Deathbringer Sonya

    Deathbringer Sonya

  • Draenei Executor Artanis

    Draenei Executor Artanis

  • D.Va the Destroyer

    D.Va the Destroyer

  • Farstrider Hanzo

    Farstrider Hanzo

  • Fel Reaver Blaze

    Fel Reaver Blaze

  • God-King Leoric

    God-King Leoric

  • Herald of N'zoth Alarak

    Herald of N'zoth Alarak

  • Knight-Lieutenant Morales

    Knight-Lieutenant Morales

  • Legion Mistress Kerrigan

    Legion Mistress Kerrigan

  • Legion's Wrath Sonya

    Legion's Wrath Sonya

  • Lurkablo

    Lurkablo

  • Necrotopologist Mei

    Necrotopologist Mei

  • Sapper Junkrat

    Sapper Junkrat

  • Sgt. Doomhammer

    Sgt. Doomhammer

  • Spellbreaker Johanna

    Spellbreaker Johanna

  • Spirit Healer Auriel

    Spirit Healer Auriel

  • Succubus Kerrigan

    Succubus Kerrigan

  • Vrykul Leoric

    Vrykul Leoric

  • Warsong Johanna

    Warsong Johanna

  • Wrath Sonya

    Wrath Sonya

  • A jungle troll head is carried by Nazeebo a Diablo franchise hero.

    A jungle troll head is carried by Nazeebo a Diablo franchise hero.

Other

  • Heroes of the Storm.

    Heroes of the Storm.

  • Heroes of the Storm.

    Heroes of the Storm.

  • The Eternal Conflict, a Diablo event.

    The Eternal Conflict, a Diablo event.

  • Welcome to the Arena.

    Welcome to the Arena.

  • Machines of War, a StarCraft event.

    Machines of War, a StarCraft event.

  • Echoes of Alterac, a Warcraft event.

    Echoes of Alterac, a Warcraft event.

  • Echoes of Alterac logo, Warcraft-themed

    Echoes of Alterac logo, Warcraft-themed

  • Echoes of Alterac, a Warcraft event (Alliance skins).

    Echoes of Alterac, a Warcraft event (Alliance skins).

  • Echoes of Alterac, a Warcraft event (Horde skins).

    Echoes of Alterac, a Warcraft event (Horde skins).

  • Alterac Pass loading screen.

    Alterac Pass loading screen.

  • Alterac Pass catapult prop.

    Alterac Pass catapult prop.

  • Alterac Pass ballista prop.

    Alterac Pass ballista prop.

  • CraftWars event art.

    CraftWars event art.

  • CraftWars logo, StarCraft and Warcraft-themed

    CraftWars logo, StarCraft and Warcraft-themed

  • Legends of the Past event art.

    Legends of the Past event art.

As Blizzard DOTA
  • Blizzard DOTA

    Blizzard DOTA

  • Muradin

    Muradin

  • Stitches

    Stitches

  • Arthas

    Arthas

  • Illidan Stormrage

    Illidan Stormrage

  • Samuro

    Samuro

  • Uther

    Uther

  • Ogre mercenary concept

    Ogre mercenary concept

  • Ogre mercenaries

    Ogre mercenaries

Other development and unused content

Videos

Load video
Video Link

Trailers

Other

References

 
  1. ^ Heroes of the Storm News.... Blizzard Entertainment (2018-12-13). Retrieved on 2018-12-13.
  2. ^ Heroes of the Storm Update - July 8, 2022. Blizzard Entertainment (2022-07-08).
  3. ^ a b GameSpot: Blizzard explains why it doesn't call Heroes of the Storm a MOBA
  4. ^ List of unconfirmed heroes - Warcraft, accessed on 2016-05-05
  5. ^ Valve and Blizzard settle over use of DOTA
  6. ^ Alex Ray Corriea 2013-10-17. Blizzard All-Stars rebranded as Heroes of the Storm. Polygon.
  7. ^ Blizzard Entertainment - All Games. Blizzard Entertainment. Archived from the original on 2022-03-20.

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