Valeera, Rogue Assassin enters the Nexus

Blizzard updated Heroes of the Storm today and released Valeera as their newest hero.

"Valeera Sanguinar, Shadow of the Uncrowned, is a melee assassin hero from the Warcraft universe. For a time, the gladiator Valeera Sanguinar served dutifully as one of Varian Wrynn's personal bodyguards. Now, her shadowy skills find her a natural fit within the secretive rogue order, the Uncrowned, in their fight against the Legion. She is a tricky assassin who can gain access to different abilities while stealthed, and builds combo points to eviscerate her opponents." (heroesofthestorm.gamepedia.com)

"Valeera Sanguinar, along with Broll Bearmantle, was a companion of Varian Wrynn. She eventually became an enforcer for the New Council of Tirisfal, and accepted the position of an advisor and bodyguard to Varian in Stormwind, with the caveat that she retain her independence. She culturally identifies as a blood elf, taking pride in her people's traditions and defending their tribulations and loyalties. However, she herself acts independently of the Thalassian government, and has formally joined neither the Horde nor the Alliance since her introduction but is fiercely loyal to Varian and his son. Valeera herself maintains that her loyalties are personal, to her friends and her ideals." (heroesofthestorm.gamepedia.com)

Ok, so now you know a lot about her. Now let's get to the nitty gritty-the skills and abilities. To keep this post short and sweet I'm only going to talk about the main skills rather than the additional talents you get as you level up.

Vanish

Cooldown: 8 seconds

Valeera vanishes from sight, becoming Stealthed and increasing her Movement Speed by 10%. For the first second, she is Unrevealable and can pass through other units.
Using Vanish grants Valeera an alternate set of Abilities that she can use while Stealthed.

This is her passive that allows her to be very powerful. Once she goes stealth she stays invisible unless she's hit or revealed. Not only that but using vanish gives you an alternate set of abilities that you can only use while invisible. It's awesome that they added another stealth character like Nova, Zeratul, and Samuro but Valeera has a much cooler stealth than all of those characters because it gives her great abilities. 

Q

Sinister Strike

30 Mana Cooldown: 5 seconds

Dash forward, dealing damage to all enemies in a line. If Sinister Strike hits an enemy Hero, she stops dashing immediately and the cooldown is reduced to 1 second.
Awards 1 Combo Point.
Stealth: Ambush
Heavily damage an enemy.

This is her bread and butter attack that you're going to be using a lot. The dash can go a pretty decent distance and you can also use it to run away. It is also good for general attacking, killing, and gaining combo points.

Q

Ambush

20 Mana Cooldown: 1 seconds

Ambush a target, instantly dealing damage to them.
Awards 1 Combo Point.

This is her stealth Q ability. It's a great general attacking skill used for killing and gaining combo points. It does more damage than sinister strike but it doesn't do a dash attack, instead its just a close range assault. 

W

Blade Flurry

40 Mana Cooldown: 4 seconds

Deal damage in an area around Valeera.
Awards 1 Combo Point per enemy Hero hit.
Stealth: Cheap Shot
Stun and damage an enemy.

This is her small aoe attack. It will hit enemies around you but it doesn't have much range so they will have to be close to you to be effective. Its great for clearing lanes but if you're playing Valeera most likely you don't want to be clearing lanes that much. I find the stealth version of her W ability to be much more useful. 

W

Cheap Shot

30 Mana Cooldown: 1 seconds

Deal a small amount of damage to an enemy and stun them for 1.5 seconds.
Awards 1 Combo Point.

This is my favorite ability for Valeera because it stuns an enemy and does damage. With the stun you can follow up with more rogue attacks and if your team is with you you'll instantly kill them. If you use this at the right time you'll always be able to secure kills. Very useful ability. 

E

Eviscerate

25 Mana Cooldown: 1 seconds

Consume all stored Combo Points to Eviscerate an enemy, dealing increased damage per Combo Point spent. Valeera can store a maximum of 3 Combo Points.
Stealth: Garrote
Silence and damage an enemy over time.

This is a great all around attack when you have a lot of combo points stored up. Like cheap shot it will help you secure a lot of kills. I have to use it more and learn its uses better.

E

Garrote

30 Mana Cooldown: 1 seconds

Garrote an enemy, instantly dealing a small amount of damage to the target, as well as a larger amount of bonus damage over 7 seconds, and Silencing them for 2 seconds.
Awards 1 Combo Point.

This one I have to mess around with more because usually when I'm in stealth mode I go for cheap shot and ambush more so than garrote. But I do see that it is very powerful, mostly because of the silence for 2 seconds. I have to use this ability more.

Ultimates

R

Smoke Bomb

Cooldown: 60 seconds

Create a cloud of smoke. While in the smoke, Valeera is Unrevealable, can pass through other units, and gains 25 Armor, reducing damage taken by 25%. Valeera can continue to attack and use Abilities without being revealed. Lasts 5 seconds.
Using this Ability does not break Vanish.

This is my favorite ulti for Valeera, at least for now. I like the fact that it has a short cooldown and that damage is reduced, armor is gained, and you can keep attacking and using abilities without being revealed. It's also great when you're super low on health. You can pop smoke bomb, run out, and use your passive stealth to run away. So good.

R

Cloak of Shadows

Cooldown: 25 seconds

Valeera is enveloped in a Cloak of Shadows, which immediately removes all damage over time effects from her. For 1 second, she becomes Unstoppable and gains 75 Spell Armor, reducing Ability damage taken by 75%.
Using this Ability does not break Vanish.

This ulti seems great too. I've used it during my first couple games and I love the short cool down. But so far I prefer smoke bomb for most games. However, if I'm getting targeted hard and don't have a healer this does seem like a much better option. The fact that it only lasts 1 second makes me not like it as much but the fact that its on a 25 second cool down is just insanely good. 

All in all Valeera has turned out to be one of the coolest and most fun characters to play in heroes of the storm. I probably won't get bored of her until I reach level 10 on her. Then I'll go back to my usual roster of heroes. Playing her reminds me of playing my Undead Rogue in World of Warcraft (oh, those were the days), albeit a much simpler and easier play style. She's super fun! 

Now you're thinking like a rogue.

Zul'jin has entered the Nexus

So a new patch hit Heroes of the Storm the other day. It's brings a new champion to the Nexus-Zul'jin from Warcraft 2 and World of Warcraft! I was super excited when I heard he was coming to Heroes but I didn't expect his playstyle to be so fun, rewarding, and technical for a ranged dps character. First his backstory...

"Zul'jin is a warlord of the Amani forest trolls and has been chieftain of the Amani tribe since before the Second War. Zul'jin and the Amani tribe were allied with the orcish Horde for the duration of the Second War, but Zul'jin himself was captured near its end by the Alliance. Upon gaining his freedom he went into hiding to rebuild his army and plan an attack on the remnants of the high elves, now known as blood elves, only to find them allied with the Horde.

A fierce forest troll of the Amani tribe, Zul'jin's ability as a warrior and leader meant he was able to do what no other troll had done since the Troll Wars: unite the warring tribes of Zul'Aman under a single leader. He was infamous for his daring raids on the outskirts of Quel'Thalas at a time when trolls had been completely beaten into obscurity by the high elves. Some claimed he planned to unite all trolls, but his plans were quickly put on hold by the events of the Second War." (heroesofthestorm.gamepedia)

Now lets go over his abilities. I won't go over all his talents because that's where the player is suppose to improvise given the battle, situational awareness, and team/enemy composition.

D

Berserker

Activate to increase Basic Attack damage by 25% but consume 2% maximum Health per attack.
Passive: Zul'jin attacks 1% faster for every 1% of maximum Health missing.

This is passive, he's a berserker. It increases attack damage by a ton but it consumes your health per attack. But at the same time Zul'jin attacks faster for the health he's missing. This is what makes him so great. While he's losing health he's becoming stronger and attacking faster. I've been able to kill a lot of heroes before they kill me because of this great passive skill. If you've ever played World of Warcraft this is a passive skill that all trolls have, they're straight up berserkers!

Q

Grievous Throw

50 Mana Cooldown: 8 seconds

Zul'jin throws an axe forward, dealing 130 damage to the first 2 enemies hit and marking them for 8 seconds. Marked enemies take 50% bonus damage from Zul'jin's next 3 Basic Attacks against them.

This is his bread and butter basic attack. It's got a short cool down and it marks enemies, making them take bonus damage. Not bad for a regular q button ability.

W

Twin Cleave

60 Mana Cooldown: 8 seconds

Throw 2 axes in a large, circular arc, dealing 116 damage and slowing affected enemies by 15% per axe for 2 seconds.

This skill is so good. I've been seeing most Zul'jins rely on this skill heavily and get the talents that make it a lot better. Honestly I don't go for those talents because I prefer the more passive berserker builds that I do but I can see that this ability is amazing if utilized correctly. Basically the circular arc is positioned anywhere you want within a small area and you can hit anything in that area. Great aoe axe attack. You'll hit things with this every time once you get used to the arc. You'll be killing people as they're trying to run away often with this skill.

E

Regeneration

75 Mana Cooldown: 15 seconds

Zul'jin channels to regenerate 25% of his maximum Health over 4 seconds. Moving while channeling or taking damage will interrupt this effect.

This is one of my favorite things about this dude. He can regenerate without need for a support or healer. I've been getting the talent that increases the healing and makes it so that you don't have to channel-meaning I can get increased health regeneration as well as move around and get healed still. Kind of reminds me of Gul'dan in a way how these two ranged dps characters can regenerate health back very quickly. When you channel and gain health the game plays some tribal troll music that sounds like it came straight outta Africa. Nice touch Blizzard.

R

Taz'dingo

50 Mana Cooldown: 60 seconds

Zul'jin is Unkillable for the next 4 seconds, and cannot be reduced to less than 1 Health. Taz'dingo!

This is my favorite ultimate for him because 'cmon, who doesn't want to die for 4 seconds? That's godlike man. This skill has saved me from death so many times. Just gotta wait and pop it at just the right moment and you can escape a lot of deaths.

R

Guillotine

70 Mana Cooldown: 45 seconds

Zul'jin launches a massive axe into the air that drops on the targeted area, dealing 210 damage plus bonus damage the lower his Health is.

This skill is a bit tricky to use. I've landed it and hit people with it a couple times. It deals massive damage but the thing is that its hard to actually hit them when they are spacing you out well. More of an ability I would get if we had a secure tank and healer in the game. Otherwise, I'll probably be going taz'dingo all the time mon.

This new hero was a fresh surprise to the game, which has gotten a little stale. The winter update for the game was only okay and Ragnaros seemed super op when he came out. I think he's stabilized now. With the addition of Zul'jin the game has gotten a new sparkle to it. He plays like a strong ranged dps but has technical aspects like that of a support and/or specialist. You gotta know when to back out and regenerate, when to commit to team fights when your health is low (b/c you have increased dps and attack speed with lower health), and when to pull back. He's quite technical for a dps and I would say he's not for beginners. However, that's not to say that you have to be a pro to understand how he works. Get online and try him out.

I gotta get back to the Nexus mon!

Welcome the new Symmetra, Nummetra

So a new patch hit the ptr today and it completely changed the way Symmetra works. She has an ultimate change, she now has two ultimates! Once her ultimate is full she can use either the teleporter or the shield generator. This puts a strong shield on all teammates in a substantial radius. As long as everyone's within the radius everyone will get it. Her regular shield ability has been removed. She has a new shield ability called photon barrier. It moves on a projected path. It's a shield projectile! It's been compared to Reinhardt's barrier so you know its pretty strong. Very cool new abilities. An ultimate alternate and this photon barrier.

The turrets have been completely reworked. The max holding charge for six. She can place all turrets before the match starts and also she can quickly replace them if they're destroyed. Her primary fire distance has been slightly increased. Barely.

These are some major big changes to Symmetra. She can become a character that is needed in every comp.

Symmetra is definitely a lot better now. The community was crying out for Symmetra changes and for a while we didn't get them. But today it finally happened.

I hopped on the ptr today and sure enough everybody is playing Nummetra. Every match I played (this was Quick Play) Symmetra got play of the game doing some insane killing spree with turrets and her laser. Her projectile shield (photon barrier) is so strong and cool looking. It looks like a bubble shield projectile. It can absorb a ton of damage. In fact, when I tried continuously shooting at it I couldn't tear it apart. It seems very powerful indeed.

I feel like Nummetra could become a thing. Comps could be running Ana/Symmetra as supports, Mercy/Symmetra, or Lucio/Symmetra. With Sombra in the mix the game has certainly become very exciting within the last week. By now we can all say that Overwatch is a game that is constantly evolving and changing. Nothing stays the same for a long period of time.

Side notes to mention is that there is now a stay as party system after a match. This is perfect for solo queue players like myself. Now when I win a match with a team I like I can choose to stay as party and we can group up to play more. Great tool! In addition, there's an unlockable "boop" voiceline for Sombra. Lastly, players can play custom games for 3v3 elimination and 1v1 mystery duel.

Welcome to Symmetra hell.

Sombra Is Live-Patch 1.5

Overwatch's patch 1.5 is now live on pc, ps4, and xbox1. The update brings the new latina hacker hero Sombra as well as an arcade mode, a new map-Ecopoint: Antartica (Mei's map), and a bunch of hero balance changes. Pharah can fly pretty much forever. Ana's nanoboost no longer increases speed, and Zarya has changed a bit in an only slightly nerfy way.

The biggest change to the game was the fact that all ultimate abilities costs have been increased by 25%.

Developer Comment: Game-changing ultimate abilities were coming up a bit too frequently. This change helps keep them in check while still allowing them to be powerful.

This has changed the game in a drastic but good way. Games feel better paced. Ultimates are used in better ways now whereas before people would just ult whenever. I've noticed this especially in competitive play. These are good changes. The shooting in the game feels better too. More gunplay is always good.

Ana's nanoboost nerf isn't cool to me but I can see how Blizzard felt it was too overpowered. Ana was becoming a must pick mostly for the fact that she could nanoboost tanks or dps and just teamwipe easily.

Developer Comment: The increased speed from Ana’s Nano Boost made the ability feel unstoppable and forced Ana players to select targets that could really take advantage of the speed boost. Removing the speed boost means that Ana has a reason to apply Nano Boost to a larger variety of heroes, and enemies can fend off the attack more easily. 

Another change I don't like is that Lucio's healing got nerfed by 10%. Not cool. But at the same time I can see why. Lucio has been a mandatory pick on every team since the beginning. I think they want a more diverse healing cast. I myself would like to see more Zenyatta again. The old 30% damage buff discord orb made Zenyatta godlike.

Developer Comment: Lúcio’s overall healing output has always been on par with (or even higher) than Overwatch’s other healers, and his other benefits made him an almost mandatory pick.

Mercy's passive healing regeneration activates when Mercy doesn't take damage for 1 second (formerly 3 seconds). This sounds like a great buff for Mercy. I feel like she's still a big part of the meta in terms of my level of play but I hardly ever see her in current pro teams.

Developer Comment: This change allows Mercy to survive more easily by evading enemy fire. 

Torb now passively gets armor packs. Soldier got a whole lot better. Pharah's rocket lifts can fly forever. Zarya got slightly nerfed.

A big patch and day for Overwatch.

I can say that Sombra brings a whole to the table with a lot of new and cool firefights and situations in Overwatch. It feels new and exciting again like when Ana first came out. The meta will probably change and be based around having an Ana and a Sombra. That would be cool.

I feel like Sombra will become a must pick because she can hack health packs for the entire team as well as sneak in backlines and back out before the rest of the team nails her. But we'll have to see how the community responds with her. On the ptr everybody seemed to like her but she does have weaknesses. She goes down like a wet paper nap and her gun is a full auto uzi that doesn't have as much damage output as Tracer's.

The Arcade mode introduces a 1v1, 3v3, the good Weekly Brawls, and 6v6 no hero limit. The 1v1 and 3v3 modes are a best of 10 rounds and you only get one life. Great new way to play Overwatch. Its going to be fun playing and seeing how the community reacts to these new game modes. I feel like they're built with the competitive aspect in mind in its very nature and it could be an esports thing too. Who knows.

A lot is happening in the world of Overwatch. Cool beans.

Overwatch Patch Notes-September 13, 2016

Overwatch just got a new patch that reduces Mercy PotGs (boooo), speeds up the payload on Eichenwalde, and corrects egregious ranking glitches. The new map can be tough on attackers, so hopefully the payload change helps. The patch also fixes some bugs and adds a new match complete screen. (Kotaku)

Overwatch Patch Notes – September 13, 2016

GENERAL UPDATES

General
Players should now see fewer Plays of the Game featuring Mercy’s Resurrection ability
Increased payload speed on Eichenwalde

USER INTERFACE UPDATES

General
A new Competitive Tier legend has been added to the Competitive Play info screen
A new Match Complete splash screen has replaced the former Round Complete splash screen in competitive matches

BUG FIXES

General
Fixed a bug which prevented the Triple Kill announcement from being played after a kill streak of 3 or more
Fixed several issues causing some players obtain a skill rating that's higher than their actual rating
Note: A very small number of people were affected by these issues, but those who were affected will have their skill rating adjusted appropriately

Heroes
Fixed a bug causing the wrong arrow to be shown on Hanzo's bow, or disappear entirely (the correct arrow would still be fired)
Fixed a bug preventing Junkrat’s RIP-Tire from receiving credit for kills, achievements, and other stats

Maps
Fixed a bug allowing Reaper to Shadow Step to unintended locations on Hollywood

Okay, so what the fudge is up with Blizzard getting rid of Mercy resurrection Play of the Games? Seriously, that's pretty lame. I like Mercy rez Play of the Games because usually when that gets PotG (Play of the Game) that Mercy's team wins-because she did that. It takes skill on knowing when to resurrect people. You can't just use it whenever somebody on your team dies. It depends on how many people die, tanks, supports, dps, and things like that. So I'm a little sad that there won't be a lot of Mercy PoTG's now. :'(

The major thing about this update is that they increased the Payload speed on Eichenwalde. This actually sounds like a great idea to me. If you've played Payload on Eichenwalde you will agree that the Payload seemed to take too long to push. Not because its a big map, just because there's a lot of obstacles, nooks, and crannies that you have to get through. I really dig the new map and I feel like Payload will feel a lot smoother now with increased speed. Nice little early September update. Nothing too fancy here. They saved that for Heroes of the Storm, which I will talk about in another post. 

Overwatch's Latest Update Brings Season 2 & New Map

Overwatch's latest update came a week earlier than it was originally planned. I tend to think this is because people are tired of waiting for the new Season to start and also because people could possibly be not playing it as much as say Warcraft's Legion expansion and other games. To be honest I haven't been playing as much Overwatch because I don't like playing Quick Match (back then Season 1 was done so no competitive). So instead I was playing a lot of Heroes of the Storm, another wicked title.

Anyways, this update is major. It adds the new German-themed map Eichenwalde as well as Competitive Season 2. Blizzard was originally planning on releasing it on September 6 but here it is in time for Labor Day weekend. Season 2 rids of Sudden Death and changes the skill system-using tiers (Bronze, Silver, Gold, etc) to show player skill level.

Eichenwalde is just a straight up German medivel castle map. It seems pretty big but its not its just that way because of all the turns, nooks, and crannies there are.

The most significant balance change was the major nerf to everybody's favorite cyborb ninja Genji. Zenyatta's Orb of Discord no longer does increased 50% damage, instead it does 30%. A big nerf to one of my favorite and main characters. When Season 1 ended I played a ton of Zenyatta and got really good with him. I'm still more confident in my Mercy and Ana though for competitive. But I am still down for competitive Zenyatta and Lucio-love that combo.

They also buffed Mei and Mercy. Mei's ultimate goes farther and pierces through shields. Mercy's single target healing is better. I thought Mercy would become a must pick now because of how good her healing is now but I haven't been seeing too many Mercy's in my Season 2 competitive placement matches. Maybe I'll find some soon.

A lot of the characters got slight tweaks so all the characters feel a bit different. Not different that its difficult to get used to but the feel of the game seems slightly different if you know what I mean. However, its still the same 'ole Overwatch that we know and love. Get out there and earn some competitive points so you can buy some golden skins!

Just Give Us Sombra Already

Blizzard has been giving us clues for the next Overwatch hero Sombra for quite a while now. At first it was just little hints and clues on maps and stuff but it expanded and turned into a great ARG (alternate reality games: the idea that devs could leave clues and hints about the game, its characters, and its history in and outside of the game through comics, articles, in-game easter eggs). I spent a lot of time in other posts writing about some of the main developments in the Sombra ARG. But right now a lot of people are sick of the whole thing.

The most recent clue came from a glitchy post on Overwatch's official forums that appeared to come from Sombra herself. It led players to a site that seemed to be counting down to an impending reveal. I just tried it right now and it leads you to a page that shows this with black background like some kind of computer coding program:

...Estableciendo conexión...
...Protocolo Sombra v1.9 iniciado...

...Transmitiendo información a ómnicos activos... 5%

...Terminando conexión... 

And then it never reveals anything. It's been stalled at 5% for a while and nobody can figure out what they need to do to get it moving. Right now people are working to figure out how the Sombra site works. But clearly all the hype and enthusiasm for this new character is on the decline. 

I felt like the Sombra ARG was super fun to read about. But now Blizzard has taken the hype too far-to the point of no return. I'm not excited for the reveal because we've been teased with all these clues and none of it has really led anywhere-yet. At the same time some random dudes could figure this out and might be able to tell us when Sombra's going to be revealed and/or anything about her. 

It's definitely a new way of giving players new content, that's for sure. All this ARG stuff and easter eggs in modern gaming is definitely fun. But at the same time you can't just give us all these clues, have nothing happen, and expect the players to still be hyped. I understand devs want to keep the players excited but they could've done it a lot better. Anyways, I hope Sombra is a stealth melee character. That would be awesome!