They're giving away 500 free codes for Malthael in Heroes of the Storm

The good folks over at pc gamer are giving away 500 free codes for Malthael in Heroes of the Storm! Malth just came out in Heroes and he's a pretty cool dps character. I've been trying to earn him the good 'ol fashion way (doing dailies and earning gold) but I'm still sitting at about 8,000 out of 15,000. I hope I win! Malth is a melee assassin that excels in damage over time (like bleed effect from warrior class in World of Warcraft). He has a passive that deals damage based on a percentage of his target's max health, which means he's a perfect tank killer but he won't be great against heroes of smaller health pools like Valeera or Valla. Send 'em your email at http://www.pcgamer.com/were-giving-away-500-codes-for-malthael-in-heroes-of-the-storm/ and see if you win, never hurts to try to win something for free, especially for one of the coolest Blizzard games.

Blizzard's Remaking Diablo Within Diablo III, Plus Necromancer reveal

Blizzard's going to release a remake inside of Diablo III as part of a 20th anniversary patch. It will have a 16-level dungeon and the four main bosses from the first Diablo. It will be called the Darkening of Tristram and will be free to all Reaper of Souls owners on both PC and console. Blizzard said in a press release:

"Celebrate 20 years of Diablo by traveling back into the depths of the Cathedral where it all began in this upcoming Diablo III: Reaper of Souls content update. Get ready to explore a monster-filled dungeon 16 levels deep, and come face to face with the four main bosses from the original game—all with retro touches like special graphics filters and eight-direction character movement."

The patch will be on the ptr next week.

This is exciting! Time to start playing Diablo again. I kind of got out of it after getting bored with barbarian builds. I experimented with a really cool zombie bears witch doctor build but I used mainly barbs for those higher torment levels.

Blizzard's also going to have a Necromancer pack that will add the necromancer to the game as well as an in-game pet, two more character slots, two more stash tabs (on PC), a portrait frame, pennant, banner, and banner sigil. 

Check out all the info about it and watch the cinematic trailer for the necromancer here.

This might get me back into playing Diablo. The main reason I stopped playing was that I didn't find it competitive enough for me. It felt more like a grind to me in way. I preferred playing Diablo II pvp back in the day when I was a middleschooler. My best character was a level 98 elemental tornado (nado) druid. Good times playing pvp in D2. My friends were always playing and liked to go pking (player killing) together. A lot of trolling went on back then. :D

So yeah this will be a game changer for Diablo. It's always been a pretty popular game and the necro will definitely make it better. Who wouldn't want to wield the powers of the undead and spells?

BlizzCon 2016 predictions

So as you all probably know BlizzCon is tomorrow. My good buddy from work is going. As you can imagine I'm super jelly. Maybe next year I'll go.

Anyways, lets do some speculation because I love doing that. Blizzard does all their big reveals right at the beginning so I will know all the major important news by the time I wake up and check the internet. Let's start with what we know will probably happen for sure.

They're going to announce a new Hearthstone expansion, one of the heist/mobster variety theme. Blizz even did a fake newspaper article from the Gadgetzan Gazette about a vault heist. There might be more news about the game, possibly even a new game mode or something but a new expansion will definitely be revealed.

For World of Warcraft there might be more information about more content for Legion but probably not much more than that. New WoW expansions have been coming out every 2 years so we probably won't hear anything about a new expansion. But perhaps something about patch 7.2.

There probably won't be anything crazy revealed about Starcraft. It's a dying game. A game that I played competitively and seriously for years from 2010 up until about 2013. I'm sad to see the state that its in but let's face it, it's a dead game with not much of a player base despite the tournaments. I don't think anything game changing will be revealed about it but there's a chance they could do another expansion with a new story. But honestly Starcraft is a dying breed. It would be great if Blizzard did what they've done with Starcraft 2 and make Warcraft 4 out of it but I don't think that's going to happen. World of Warcraft and Starcraft 2 are both in lulls as of right now. WoW has momentum from the new expansion but how long will people keep playing until they get bored of the MMO grind? Despite all this I don't think Blizzard is done with Starcraft just yet.

Now for Diablo. We're all expecting a bunch of things. A new Diablo 3 expansion, a Diablo 1 and 2 HD remake, and the possibility reveal of a Diablo 4. The most likely of all of these would be a new Diablo 3 expansion. Diablo 3 is the go to action rpg that everybody loves. The least likely is of course a Diablo 4 reveal but that would be amazing!

Heroes of the Storm has a lot of possibilities for tomorrow as well. Gaming sources have predicted two new maps, three new heroes (one of which is from Overwatch), and possibly a new game mode. A wild guess would be an entire Overwatch theme where they add characters from that game-with Sombra definitely in there. Two years ago they announced Lost Vikings. Last year it was Cho Gall. So this year they'll do some other weird character. Sources say it could be the Hearthstone innkeeper.

And now for Overwatch. We all know we're going to get a Sombra reveal. Good God that's been a long time coming. There will probably be a new map or two revealed as well as the Overwatch Pro League. They're going to step up their esports division for Overwatch. Sombra though will definitely be there. "She'll almost definitely be playable on the show floor before going on the PTR next Tuesday, and then live in the game the week after." (PC Gamer) There will probably be a new cinematic or two as well as some comics. The hope is that they create some kind of interesting new game mode or something. Like a co-op Brawl like Junkenstein's Revenge. That would be sweet.

All these predictions will be answered by the time I wake up tomorrow and check all my gaming sources. I already have an idea of what could happen but I'm hoping that Blizzard does a 180 and pulls a rabbit out of their hat.

Blizzard Legend Chris Metzen Retires

Chris Metzen, Senior VP of Story and Franchise Development at Blizzard, has announced his retirement from the company after 23 years. He's one of the most well-known faces from Blizzard and had a strong influence on Diablo, Warcraft, and Starcraft series as well as serving as creative director on Overwatch. What a resume! This guy is a freakin' legend, like the Gabe Newell of Blizzard.

Metzen announced the move in a blogpost on the battle.net forums. "For nearly twenty-three years I’ve had the very distinct privilege of shaping worlds and building games with the brightest creative minds in entertainment," Metzen wrote. "I’ve walked with giants (and stood on some giants’ shoulders, too). In short, I’ve had the time of my life." (Pc Gamer)

This isn't a career move or change. He's retiring to spend more time with his family. He has a new baby and all that jazz. Things like that make you focus your priorities and what's really important in life.

"The reason I use the word 'retire' is because I’m not going to some other company or starting up new projects or anything remotely like that," he wrote. "It’s been a long, amazing stretch of years. Now it’s time to slow it down. Rest. Lay around on the couch and get fat. Well, fatter…"Seriously though, I’ll be focusing on the one thing that matters most to me in all the world—my family. They’re the core of my life and the source of my deepest joy and inspiration." (Pc Gamer)

He left a remarkable mark in the gaming industry and for Blizzard. Overwatch has been a hit game since launch and Warcraft Legion has brought World of Warcraft to the forefront of Mmorpg gaming again. Things are looking great for Blizzard. I wonder who will become the next Chris Metzen in the company. This guy did so much and was such a cool public figure for the company it would be hard to replace him. I've seen him in pretty much every Blizzard documentary talking about all the games. I especially like the Starcraft documentaries with him. Those were epic. Thanks Chris and have a happy, enjoyable retirement.

Auriel, the Arch Angel of Hope arrives to the Nexus

"Auriel, The Archangel of Hope, is a member of the Angiris Council. She first appears in The Veiled Prophet, where she votes in favor of saving Sanctuary and humanity. She resides in the Gardens of Hope in the High Heavens. When Sanctuary was discovered, she was its most ardent defender and opposed Imperius who wanted to destroy it. She wanted to uphold the inhabitants' right to life and wanted to see them grow and mature. She seems compassionate towards others and respects life."(Wiki)

Auriel arrived to the Nexus August 9 but all the Overwatch hype had my attention so I'm giving Heroes some love right now. Let's go over her abilities and ultimates. I won't go over the talents because I want to keep this post short and straight to the point. Take note that Auriel doesn't use mana whatsoever and instead uses energy gained from bestow hope (passive) and allies damage.

Bestow Hope (D)
Cooldown: 1.5 seconds

Passive: 40% of the damage you deal to Heroes and 8% dealt to non-Heroes is stored as energy. Bestow an allied Hero with Hope. While they remain near you, damage they deal causes you to gain energy. You can only have Bestow Hope to 1 ally at time. You can store up to 1107 (526 + 4% per level) energy.

 

This is her passive. You put this onto a hero near you and the damage they deal gives you energy that you can use to heal people with your W ability-Ray of Heaven. I find that putting this onto dps heroes is the best. But sometimes dps aren't near you so you have to put it onto tanks or other supports. This ability makes Auriel unique from all the other healers because basically the more damage she and her allies do the more healing will be done. No mana needed for this hero. 

Sacred Sweep (Q)

Cooldown: 8 seconds

Sweep the area with sacred power, dealing 176 (84 + 4% per level) damage to enemies and an additional 351 (167 + 4% per level) damage to enemies caught in the center.

 

This is her bread and butter attack. Although I'm level 6 with her now I still have a hard time getting each sacred sweep cast to hit enemies in the center for that bonus damage. You're going to be using this ability a lot to finish off enemies after you've used detainment strike to stun them into terrain or a wall. It's a great killing move as well as poking ability. 

 

Ray of Heaven (W)

Cooldown: 4 seconds

Consume your stored energy and heal allied Heroes in the area for the amount of energy consumed.

 

This is her only healing ability. The thing is that it has a 4 second cooldown so you have to choose and use it at the right moments. Its an aoe (area of effect) heal so you can heal multiple allies at once. Really great ability!

 

Detainment Strike (E)

Cooldown: 14 seconds

Deal 220 (104 + 4% per level) damage to the first enemy Hero hit and knock them back. If they collide with terrain, they are also stunned for 1.25 seconds and take an additional 220 (104 + 4% per level) damage.

 

This is part of her best combo. You use detainment strike on someone as they're running away and stun them into a wall or terrain, then you use sacred sweep, and your teammates pile on them to kill them. I've gotten countless kills doing this simple combo and it never fails as long as you're team is targeting what you're targeting. Not only is it good for getting frags (kills) but its also useful when you're trying to make a run for it. Just slap them away and run to safety. Always works unless they have a projectile with Chromie or something. 

 

Crystal Aegis (R)

Cooldown: 60 seconds

Place an allied Hero into Stasis for 2 seconds. Upon expiration, Crystal Aegis deals 592 (281 + 4% per level) damage to all nearby enemies.

 

Out of these two ultimates I see crystal aegis being used more so than resurrect from other players. It's a more offensive ultimate, gives your ally a chance to live, and it deals a bit of aoe damage to all nearby enemies. My only problem with it is that the aoe damage is very weak and usually when you use it on an ally they often die when they come out of it because the enemy team crowds around the crystal waiting in anticipation. I've used it a lot and I've come to the conclusion that I don't like it. Most of the time I go for resurrect. However, I will go crystal if there's another support and the team isn't dying often.

 

Resurrect (R)

Cooldown: 90 seconds

Channel on the spirit of a dead ally for 3 seconds, bringing them back to life with 50% of their maximum health at the location where they died.

 

This is my favorite ability of her and the main reason I bought her for the 16,000 gold. It only brings them back to life with half health and you have to be near their dead body to cast it. This ability will save your team a lot of time and get you a lot more pushes and chances to take objectives. Its basically saving time, one of the most important tools in a moba. I would say this is one of my favorite abilities in the game and a game changer. I do think that the cast range could be better so you didn't have to be so close to your teammates to cast it but other than that its a fantastic tool for your team. 

 

To conclude, what we have here is basically a dps healer than can rez allies and doesn't use mana. Her kit is simple and straight to the point-unlike Heroes' last two heroes Gul'Dan and Medivh who are much more complicated characters. Anyone can pick up Auriel and play her right out of the box. But only great support players will learn the intricacies of her kit (like always hitting people in the center) and maximizing their energy usage to get the most out of ray of heaven. I usually like the more complex characters in Heroes of the Storm but Auriel is just so damn fun. Although her abilities seem simple I think it takes a good player to use her well. A lot of Auriels I've seen in pubs play her more as a support character but I feel she's more of a dps support character-akin to Tyrande and Rehgar. 

 

Its good to see that Blizzard is still caring a lot about Heroes. They announced at Gamescom that they're going to be adding two new Starcraft themed maps as well as Alarak (from Starcraft 2) and Zarya (from Overwatch). This is just a sample of more fun to come. 

 

"Evil will triumph over those who give into despair. But despair cannot defeat the power of hope. Hope is the voice that will never be silent. Hope is the stream that fills the wells of courage. Hope is the light in the darkness. And in the darkness, I will be that light." 

-Auriel