The initmitable competitive gaming spirit: 3 years later

Greetings! This is a post about competitive gaming. I used to write a lot of posts about PC games, even going to the excruciating details of Blizzard Tuesdays patch updates. It's been a while since I've written anything like that so I figured I'd do an update from when I wrote about this stuff back in 2016. 

I've been a competitive PC gamer since 2010 when Starcraft 2 Wings of Liberty came out. I was so addicted I used to play team matches with my college classmate in the middle of class. We were a great Terran/Zerg combo. However, I also played a lot of Smash Bros Melee against all my friends in middle school, Halo 3 multiplayer in high school, and a lot of Starcraft Brood War [also middle school]. 

I was also really into single player jrpgs since grade school. To this day some of my favorite gaming moments have been from playing Xenogears, Final Fantasy 7, and Final Fantasy Tactics. 

Anyways, I'm still a big gamer today. Last Thursday I was at my first Smash Ultimate tournament at Fire and Dice [local hobby shop] and I did pretty well for my first tournament. I beat a really good Lucina player in bracket and did pretty well [but still lost] against two other players. It was a good exhibition for me and my friend Neal, a Yoshi player. I played Samus and Dark Samus most of the time but I did two matches [where I almost won both] as Fox. 

I still play some of the old games I used to play three years ago. I've found that I'm not only much better at them, but that I'm getting better and better each day, exponentially. It was a very slow, gradual change that took me three years.

Part of it was that in the past I didn't have as much confidence. Also, I didn't have the right mindset. I would go into a competitive game with the mindset that I just want to have fun and losing didn't matter. Now I go in with the mindset that I will have fun AND win. That's a huge difference. 

When I play certain games like Ovewatch and Team Fortress 2 [my personal favorite fps games of all time] there's actually a lot going on in my head, especially as I play the healer role most of the time. 250 of my 600 hours on Overwatch are on Mercy, the best healer in the game. And 65 out of my 200 hours on Team Fortress are on medic, the only healer in the game. 

Anyways, there's a lot going on in my head when I play. In every given scenario I'm running subroutines in my head: If I follow this person will that lead to a successful frag? If we're outnumbered and my allies die fast and I fall back and let my teammates die will I be able to live and regroup with them out of spawn before the enemies kill me? If I take out the syringe gun and shoot down an enemy soldier/scout/demo/pyro/spy will I be able to live/run away back to safety? Its endless really.

Its like a puzzle. There are endless variations of what could really happen. You could play the perfect game and your team can still lose because of your allies' inefficiencies. The main reason why I lose certain Team Fortress games [I always play Control Point] is because my allies will run in fast, get killed, and get backcapped [killed as they run to the point out of spawn] before I can get to them. That's a very common way to lose a game in Team Fortress. Probably the most common. 

These same 'subroutines' apply to fighting games. I recently became friends with a guy I met through work that plays a lot of fighting games. And he's very good at all of them. He was surprised as heck and applauded me when I was able to figure out how to play all these technical fighting games and after 2 matches where he'd win, I had figured it out and starting defeating him in loops. The reason I was able to figure it out is because I'm playing with this same logical thought processes. 

It takes a lot of practice to get to the point where you don't have to run through the endless variations/variables. Anything can happen really. But then again if you can make what you want happen and it comes to pass, that is where the power of the smart, thoughtful gamer comes in place. 

It took me a while to understand games. For the longest time I just played games to relive stress. But at some point I realized I wanted to be great and 'git gud' [Kranky's advice] at every game I would ever pick up. Although I'm no e-sports champion I would say that I'm a damn good gamer at the games I play: Heroes of the Storm, Starcraft, Overwatch, Team Fortress, Smash Bros, and Marvel Vs Capcom 2. I've even gotten to the point where I see single player games as extremely relaxing and enjoyable. Its good to find out that you don't need to always have that competitive mindset to have a great time. 

Gamers take their gaming very seriously. You're always going to run into those toxic people that will talk shit about your gameplay and hurl insults/slurs, harassing people, etc. You might even become one of those people during some of your matches. The thing you gotta realize is that even when you're so good you're at the point where most people you play against/with are scrubs, in the end its all just a game. If you can't understand that then you should stick to the single player arena. Rage will only hurt your gameplay and your mindset. To be a winner you have to think like a winner. 

"Experience transcendence." 

Original post from 2016 here: https://ofigueroamusic.blogspot.com/2016/07/the-inimitable-competitive-gaming-spirit.html

What are you playing this weekend? End of April Edition

Hey, I wanted to take the opportunity tonight to talk about video games! Its been a while since I've posted about gaming. Here's what I've been playing lately.

Overwatch: After putting in about 500 hours into this game I'm really progressing into a much better Mercy player. The higher up the ranks you go the harder the game becomes but there's a very gradual skill ceiling so that it doesn't feel overwhelming. The great thing about being a Mercy main in competitive? Everybody loves you!

Team Fortress 2: I used to be so bad at TF2 it was kind of pathetic. I've got about 200 hours put in and now I'm an Uber-God Medic (laughs). You know you're good when you're the only medic in a 12 player game and you're top of the scoreboard most of the time. My friend Griff (steam name) has about 8,000 hours and sometimes I play with his hardcore TF2 buddies, which sometimes includes famous players from back in the day, like Vexon (check him out on YouTube). When I play with this great players being a beginner medic with like .1 of the amount of hours they have, I just have to sit back and play my best. After all we're just doing pub casual games. Its super fun.

Warcraft III Frozen Throne: So I had been talking about playing Warcraft III for a super long time and I'd always attempted 1v1 matches but didn't really get anywhere. I took my friend Brian's advice and started doing teams, mostly 4v4 games. Brian used to be one of the top ten Warcraft III teams games players back in the day. He still plays to this day. And I'm finding improvement in my playing although it is still a steep learning curve. The main thing I like about this game as opposed to Starcraft is that the units and battles are smaller, with more focus on the hero play, like a moba. Heroes of the Storm anyone? Its pretty cool. I main Undead, really focusing on learning the race as best I can.

Heroes of the Storm: This has been a mainstay game for me since technical alpha. Still enjoying it. I don't enjoy ranked mode so much but unranked draft is my main hangout. I play most of the healers but I also dps with Nova, Guldan, and Illidan. My main character is Lt.Morales, of course I'm always the medic.

Starcraft Brood War: So I finally got back into Brood War ever since I bought the new and visually improved Starcraft HD. You can pick it up for as cheap as 15 smeckles. The game looks like a brand new baby, a shiny new coat that improves upon its outdated pathing and visual discolorations. Like in Warcraft III I play team games with a focus on the Zerg race. For the Swarm!

Marvel Vs Capcom 2: I've been playing this game for a long time with my buddies in real life. We play this more than Super Smash Bros now, its become a cult classic. My main team is Spiderman, Rogue, and Doctor Doom with a rotating roster of those three sometimes mixed with Magneto, Jill, and Jin. Its a true fighting game and takes a lot of skill to master the infinite combos.

World of Warcraft: So I resubbed to WoW and I've been enjoying pvp a lot. Its super fun. I'm even leveling a low level character with my friend Griff and we're doing a lot of low level pvp. Its surprisingly fun although difficult. Pvp  in WoW can be super tricky, especially at max level on my Holy Priest. I think Holy Priest might be the hardest class I've ever played in the game. I've got my work cut out for me on this one. Especially because I mostly just log on to pvp.

Honorable mention: My friend Gordon's Super Nintendo and N64 collection. We've been playing a lot of classic video games from Nintendo at my friend's house. They have nostalgic value as well as amazing replay-ability.

I play a lot of games but I also try to play in moderation with a rotation of the games so it doesn't get too stale. This is going to be a great weekend for gaming!

What's going on? August 2017 Edition

So it occurred to me that its been a super long time since I've written anything for the blog. This is mostly due to the fact that I had a super bad cold that kept me pretty down in the dumps for the last two weeks. It was pure hell. Nothing worse than a summer cold/flu after not being sick for over a year. It hit my immune system hard but I'm starting to feel better now. About 80%-85%, just in time for my promotion at work!

That's right, I got promoted at my grocery store job. Instead of being a combo clerk (cashier/bagger) I will now instead be working as a cheese department personnel working under the cheese department manager. I'm looking forward to the change of work pace and my next chapter of employment. I really hope everything works out great and that my new manager likes me. So there's that. I'm really looking forward to increased pay and raises. Which means more money for games, guitar/music equipment, and saving money for my future. I start training for the cheese department Tuesday at 7 am. No more closing shifts. No more bagging groceries. This is all so exciting!

I also have to talk about the new Starcraft Remastered. This game is everything I could have hoped for in a remaster. The fact that the new version of Brood War runs at 300 frames per second is freaking astounding. Blizzard has really outdone themselves. I've been playing the game a lot, mostly practicing my Zerg tactics in 3v3 big game hunters, which is my favorite team practice map. I've gotten to the point where I can survive most rushes and make it to mid to late game but I still have to work on my late game when it comes to Zerg tactics. I'm about twenty years behind on Korean Brood War tactics. I'll probably start studying some builds on Team Liquid once I start to get more serious. As of now I'm just enjoying the sick graphics and the amazing hardcore rts gameplay. This is a golden game with a great remaster. Now if only Blizzard could get a Warcraft III Frozen Throne remaster that would be great. 

More stuff about my personal life incoming. I recently lost a bit of weight. Nothing too big but I lost about ten pounds. During the weeks I was sick I lost my appetite and dropped some weight. I've since gained two or three pounds since but I'm going to work hard to keep the weight off and lose even more. I'm really watching my diet, making sure to drink plenty of water, and never overeating at dinner or restaurants. Easier said than done but I'm on my way.

I've also been practicing a lot of guitar. Even if I'm just chilling at my friends' house I always pick up their guitar and practice my legato, scales, jazz standard heads, whatever. I haven't been able to make it to an open jam for a few weeks but I will get there when I can. I've been trying to setup jam sessions with my friend/bass player Dennis for a while but I was sick last week and had to cancel. There's another guy at work that wants to start a band with me but I don't think he's serious because every time we're suppose to meet up he bails with some sort of excuse. It's all good. I just wish I could find band members more easily and have my own group. Until then I'll just keep practicing, going to open jams, and recording and releasing tracks on Soundcloud.

I had a really good day today. It was my last day of cashiering on the front end then tomorrow I'm off, and then Tuesday I start my training for cheese department. Not only was my last day fun and stress free but earlier in the day before work I was hanging out with my good buddy Eric at Fire and Dice (local hobby shop, board games, smash 4 tournies, etc) and I won a free board game! It's a great fun board game called Smashup! So not only did I have a great day hanging out with my buddy playing Magic the Gathering and board games but I also got a free prize! It was a great way to commemorate my last day of cashiering. I even got some cool weeb anime girl sleeves for my Magic decks.

The next couple weeks will test my working skills hardcore because I'm going from a primarily labor intensive cashiering to a more food orientated environment that involves using your peoples skills in a different way from just being a cashier. I'm excited!  

"The future is ours to decide" -Shulk, Xenoblade Chronicles

Orcs in spaaaace

Tonight I'd like to talk about about a game that is pretty dear to my heart, Starcraft. I probably played Starcraft Brood War more than any other pc game around 2002-2004. By the time I was in 7th grade I was already a master 6 pool player that won many games just off that one cheap tactic. I really loved the game. Fast forward to 2010 and Starcraft II arrives to the gaming scene. I had a cheap laptop and I decided to buy the game while I was away at college. That was when I knew I had to be a pc gamer!

Starcraft is many things. It's an rts (real time strategy game) where you have to build an army and use it to fight an opposing player in real time going as fast you can with the mouse and keyboard, referred to as apm (action per minute). The single player campaigns have always been great and satisfying but the true heart of Starcraft is its multiplayer modes. There's nothing like crushing an opponent through wits and cunning plays. South Korea took the game and ran with it. Brood War and Starcraft II are still super popular games that are huge in esports mainly because of South Korean players and fans. Blizzard never would have guessed that their orcs in space (original Starcraft was created using Warcraft I engine, but they soon scrapped it and completely redid everything) game would blow up and become one of the most famous gaming franchises in history.

I've spent years playing Starcraft II and around 2013 I was even in a guild called Team Peace. We used to run tournaments and stream them online. I only participated in a few matches (usually won because I was usually placed against low level players) but the entire experience made me aware of the social aspect of PC gaming (ie voice chat, text chat, guild, party systems, team-speak, Skype, all before discord). It was one of the most fun gaming experiences I've ever had. However, over the years everyone from Team Peace stopped playing and the guild eventually disbanded. Rip.

But that doesn't stop me from reliving the hardcore rts experiences of 1998 and 2010. In an old post (that can be viewed here) I talked about games I wish I could play if I had the time to do so. Well I've found the time and I've been playing a lot of Starcraft Brood War and Warcraft 3 Frozen Throne. Its made my gaming time much more fun and strategic. These games are so incredibly hard to play that even after playing the games for two days straight now there are still things I'm trying to figure out, relearn, practice, and master. I really dig the challenge! Nothing like getting your ass handed to you, figuring out what you did wrong and winning the next match because you fixed up your mistakes from the loss game.

There's just something about Starcraft and Warcraft 3 that is incredible to me. Part of it is the fact that after nearly twenty years both games hold up extremely well. The colours are vibrant, the graphics are unique albeit a bit cartoony, and the gameplay is so rewarding, competitive, and complex. Put all of this together and you have in my opinion the two best rts games ever.

I'd like the end this rant here but if anyone from Blizzard is reading my blog I have one proposition for you. Warcraft 4: Orcs in Space. Orcs go through a portal that takes them through space and time and they end up in a future world where they find the Alliance is still around but with advanced technological weapons! They then have to mobilize their troops, setup camp in the new world, and learn everything they can about this new secret hidden tech. Good idea?

Picture is Starcraft made in the original engine, which was the same engine as the original Warcraft Orcs and Humans, it looks so trippy man! 

Heroes of the Storm's Stukov is the coolest support in the game

Tonight I'd like to talk about Heroes of the Storm's latest new hero, Stukov.

Here's his backstory: 

"In the 25th century of Earth's history, the United Earth Directorate Expeditionary Fleet was dispatched to reign in the Terran Colonies of the Koprulu Sector. Over time, these expatriate colonists that were once loyal had wavered in their allegiance, threatening the fabric of government which had been sewn across the galaxy. Of the formidable commanders tasked with this imperative endeavor, Vice Admiral Alexei Stukov was second in command.

During the violent campaign in that system, developments ensued that would eventually cast Stukov in a traitorous light to his superiors. Having been found to be in violation of a direct order to destroy the powerful Psi Disrupter, Stukov was subsequently executed for his disobedience. Unbeknownst to the UED at the time, their ranks had been infiltrated by a powerful shape-shifting alien entity that sought to sow confusion about the importance of Stukov's mission. After his death, Stukov's corpse was later recovered by the Zerg, who sought to infest human leaders and mutate them into leaders of their own colonies. As the first of their attempts to blend their genetics with that of humanity's, the once lifeless husk of Stukov was reanimated into something at once both more and less than human.
The infested Admiral known as Stukov has now entered the Nexus as a formidable melee support, ready to spread his healing pathogens and deadly disease across the battleground." (heroesofthestormgamepedia.com)

And also you should also know his abilities.

Bio-Kill Switch

Cooldown: 16 seconds

Activate to detonate all of Stukov's Viruses. Each Healing Pathogen heals its target for 500 health, and each Weighted Pustule does 100 damage and Slows its target by 70% for 2 seconds.
Can be cast while channeling Lurking Arm.

Q

Healing Pathogen

30 Mana Cooldown: 10 seconds

Infest an allied Hero with a Healing Pathogen that heals the target for 240 Health over 4.5 seconds. Healing Pathogens can spread to a nearby allied Hero every 0.75 seconds, and a single Healing Pathogen can spread to each allied Hero 1 time.
Can cast it on self, and spread to self.
Cannot spread to targets to whom it has already spread.

W

Weighted Pustule

50 Mana Cooldown: 10 seconds

Hurl a pustule that impacts all enemy Heroes in its path, dealing 20 damage and Slowing by 5%, increasing to 50% over 3 seconds. Deals an additional 80 damage upon expiring or being removed.

E

Lurking Arm

60 Mana Cooldown: 8 seconds

Channel at a target location, creating an area that Silences enemies inside and deals 144 damage per second to them. Deals 50% reduced damage to non-Heroes. Does not cost Mana while Channeling, and lasts until canceled or interrupted.

R

Massive Shove

50 Mana Cooldown: 20 seconds

Extend Stukov's arm. If it hits an enemy Hero, they are rapidly shoved until they collide with terrain, taking 200 damage. Stukov gains 50 Armor while shoving an enemy.

R

Flailing Swipe

100 Mana Cooldown: 80 seconds

Swipe 3 times in front of Stukov over 1.75 seconds, dealing 50 damage to enemies hit and knocking them away. Each swipe is larger than the previous.

Alright now lets talk about his kit. He's technically a healer but his melee damage is pretty strong and attacks moderately fast so you can defend yourself for a while before retreating to fellow teammates. His q key (Healing Pathogen) is a super strong heal once activated with d (Bio-Kill Switch) which will increase the healing by a ton. Its a super strong heal. The kill switch has a long cooldown but if your teammates are smart and don't get hit all the time your heals will always be enough.

One of the strongest tools for Stukov is his e key (Lurking Arm). It silences enemies. This is probably his greatest asset as a support in the game. The fact that he can silence enemies and do it often and its not an ultimate ability is astounding. You have to channel the spell so once you move the silence is automatically turned off. However, if you can cast lurking arm when your enemies are out of position or trying to run away you easily pick them off. Its become one of the coolest and strongest abilities in the game right now. It's super effective!

Weighted Pustule (w key) is a great way to slow enemies to give your dps allies the chance to finish them when they have low health. Its not very strong and the slow is better overtime. Still not bad though.

My favorite ultimate for Stukov is Massive Shove. It has a super short cooldown of just 20 seconds and it pushed an enemy as far as an enemy will go until they hit something like a wall, tower, or other part of the map. He extends his zerg arm super far, sometimes going almost across the map. Not only does it look super cool but it helps get your team in a better position for team fights. If this ultimate is used effectively the enemy team will be one less player during team fights, giving your team the advantage until that enemy hero runs back.

I would say that Stukov is a good healer that can also dish out good dps while also dishing out great utility and crowd control (the silence, slow). Because of this he's become one of my favorite heroes. His play-style can be a bit tricky at first but once you play a few games with him you start to learn that he's most effective when you're always in good positions. Positioning is key with this hero so you can't just run out in the middle of a random fight and hope to come out killing everybody. He's kind of like a healer specialist in a way. He's very unique, and super fun!

Not to mention he's from one of my favorite Blizzard games, Starcraft II. When I found out he was coming to hots (heroes of the storm) I knew he would be some kind of interesting character but I didn't think he was going to be a healer with such a cool kit. Its about time they added a new support hero and I'm glad they did a great job with it. Not to mention his squid skin is just awesome!

For the Queen!

Making limited time work as a passionate gamer (that loves Blizzard)

I was thinking about ideas for things I could write about and this idea popped up in my head. How do you create time to play video games and how do you manage your gaming time in order to get the full gaming experience? Pretty interesting question that would vary for every passionate gamer. Here, I'd like to go into details of my gaming time management and what games I focus on playing.

First, when do I play games? Life goes fast and you only have so much time within a given day. That's why I like to wake up early (10am, I know that's late for most people lol) and that's pretty much my prime time gaming spot for the entire day. I do sometimes play late at night (12am-3am) as well but not all the time due to my roommate needing sleep for work. So when I wake up at ten I get ready for the day, maybe eat something small, grab some water or iced tea, and then hop on the computer. I'll usually game from then on until I need to go to work. Lately I've been going in around 330pm so that gives me about a good five hours. Those five hours are spent wisely (on the right games), at least I like to think so.

Okay, so first things first I like to start off by playing some Heroes of the Storm matches. I always do the quests for gold because I always want to be ahead of the curve when a new hero comes out. I always want to have enough gold to buy them right away upon release. It's a super fun game and I'm really great at it as well so it doesn't feel like a chore just to do quests, akin to doing quests in World of Warcraft. After I finish the quests I hop off quickly and move on.

Then, there's Overwatch. I still play Overwatch frequently but not as often as last year. Now I play for just a little bit and then I like to move onto other games. Lately, I've been playing dps heroes (mainly Reaper with mariachi outfit) in Quick Play so I've just been practicing my aim and not really focusing too heavily on competitive at all. I'm waiting around for Doomfist to be released before I play more competitive. I think the game will be more interesting then. So yeah I play a few rounds and then stop playing.

Here's a curve ball for ya. I recently started playing World of Warcraft again and I've already leveled to 110 (max level currently) but the game's really only just beginning at that point. Finding the time to play has been super difficult as I'm already on a time budget as it is. I think I've found the solution. I should focus on pvp for the time being. I pretty much only played wow back in 2013 just for pvp so I can do it again. It doesn't require hours and you can farm pvp gear which will still increase my item level. Problem solved. But still fitting this game into my schedule is really pushing my time to its limits.

So World of Warcraft is just a game that I might maybe play within those five hours but a game that's more likely to be launched is Diablo 3 Reaper of Souls. Ever since I bought the necromancer dlc the game has become much more fun to me. I already played the game a lot before and I have every character to max level and I can do some pretty high torment levels on my barbarian but the necro has just reignited the fun switch for me. I typically don't play this game often either. I just log on, do a few rift runs, farm a bit, test out all the skills and abilities all the time, and that's everything I do for now. I've been trying to farm more set gear and increase my toon damage but as you know it's all just a grind. A fun grind, like doing a five-o down a handrail on a skateboard!

Playing just Heroes, Overwatch, and Diablo 3 can take up the entire five hours but sometimes I'll play other stuff other than those games. These are some more curve balls.

Honorable mention to Team Fortress 2. I love TF2. Honestly, its probably the best first person shooter game I've ever played. Everything about it is amazing and once I start playing its hard for me to stop, even though there's no real incentive to keep playing (like lootboxes) other than just for the love of the game. I've been meaning to play it more but sometimes Overwatch takes that fps game slot. I can't play both in the same day (or if I do I have to play tf2 a lot more) because too much fps gaming gets repetitive to me.

The next two are games that I don't really play competitively or anything, just for funzies. I started playing Starcraft 2 again but I'm so out of practice that I can barely remember the units (especially the new legacy of the void ones) or even the buildings that require other buildings to make units. Its all coming back to me now and I've even been playing zerg and protoss. The last time I played competitively (on the ladder) I only played terran.

And then there's Warcraft 3 Frozen Throne. This game is just so cool. It reminds me of Heroes of the Storm but much more difficult to play. I'm enjoying the steep learning curve this game has. I think I can learn to play pretty well if I just keep messing around with it here and there but it would take me a super long time before I could start wrecking people in 1v1's. For now I've just been practicing 4v4's. Its fun, casual, and I'm learning how the game mechanics work. I'm only about 12 years late on this one guys!

That would pretty much cover any given day with a five hour time slot. Sometimes I'll get an extra three hours late at night if my roommate is up  so in total I could possibly have eight hours in total. That's a lot of gaming time for any person but when you're passionate about games and you love the multiplayer experience its not like a job, its a chore of love.

I should also mention that when I'm playing most of the time I'm chatting with my friend Sean from Wisconsin on discord, my Warcraft guild, my friend Eric, and gaming friends that I met through my brother. They're all super chill people and talking to them makes the entire experience more meaningful.

Sometimes after these long sessions I feel like I was time hopping with Chromie! 

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.

Heroes of the Storm Patch Notes-September 27, 2016

The latest Heroes of the Storm patch was a biggie. Gaming changing. Great. Incredible. All those jazzy kinda words. Blizzard added Zarya from Overwatch into the game as well as another Starcraft themed map. Let me lay out some of the patch notes for you and explain.

New Hero: Zarya

Aleksandra Zaryanova is one of the world's strongest women and was a promising athlete, but all that changed when the Siberian omnium reawakened. As a soldier in the Russian Defense Force, she now proudly uses her strength to protect the ones she loves.
Trait

• Energy
  • Each time Zarya’s Personal Barrier or Shield Ally absorbs 10 damage, her Energy is increased by 1. Each point of Energy increases Zarya’s damage by 2%. After 0.5 seconds, Energy decays by 3 per second.

Basic Abilities

• Particle Grenade (Q)
  • Launch a Particle Grenade that deals damage to enemies within a small area. Deals 50% damage to Structures.
• Personal Barrier (W)
  • Gain a Shield that absorbs damage for 3 seconds.
• Shield Ally (E)
  • Grants an allied Hero a Shield that absorbs damage for 3 seconds.

Heroic Abilities

• Graviton Surge (R)
  • Launch a gravity bomb that detonates after 1 second and draws enemy Heroes toward the center for 2.5 seconds.
• Expulsion Zone (R)
  • Launch a gravity bomb that deals light damage and creates an expulsion zone for 3.5 seconds. Enemies who enter the affected area are knocked back and have their Movement Speed reduced by 50% for 1 second. 
   

Zarya is pretty cool. Right now I'm trying to save up the gold so I can buy her. I saw her in every game I played today and she is a pretty strong tank. She seems to have a lot of offensive power too, at least in the games I played. Zarya's were getting like 30 assists easy and plenty of kills to boot. I really love how her ultimate from Overwatch, Graviton Surge made it into Heroes. Not gonna lie, it does feel a lot like Overwatch when she uses that ability. And you know you're going to do a ton of damage to your enemies in that gravity bomb. She's awesome. I'll probably enjoy playing her when I get the 15,000 gold to purchase her. 

New Battleground-Warhead Junction

Once a testing facility for nuclear weapons, Warhead Junction has since fallen into ruin. However, the site's abandonment hasn't stopped its glitchy adjutant from continuing to produce and hand out nuclear weapons. Join the arms race of Warhead Junction, build up your stockpile, and rain hell on your enemies!

Warhead Deployment

• Multiple Warheads will spawn periodically across the battleground.

Collect Warheads

• Pick up a Warhead to activate your Nuke. Use it or you will drop it when you die!

Call Down the Thunder

• Launch Nukes to devastate the enemy team's fortifications.

Performance

General

• Additional improvements have been made to Heroes of the Storm’s overall frame rate, affecting all game modes and Battlegrounds.

This is major! Everyone that's played Heroes has been affected by lag or had frame rate issues. For instance, I used to be able to run Heroes fine on my laptop but suddenly whenever I went on to play it became too laggy to even run properly. It's good to see that Blizzard is making improvements to the frame rate. Maybe they could work on improving the netcode too? 

Shop

Bundles

• New Bundles
  • Thunder Guard Zarya Bundle – Available until October 11, 2016.
  • Raider Rexxar Bundle – Available until October 11, 2016.
  • Undying Legends Bundle – Available until October 18, 2016.
  • Ultimate Undying Legends Bundle – Available until October 18, 2016.

New Hero

• Zarya has been added to the in-game Shop.

Mounts

• Returning Mounts
  • Judgement Charger
• Removed Mounts
  • Lunar Dragon
  • Spectre Phantom
  • Dire Wolf

Skins

• Raider Rexxar
• Thunder Guard Zarya
• Master Zarya

Price Changes

• Diablo’s prices have been reduced to $3.49 USD and 2,000 Gold.
• Muradin’s prices have been increased to $6.49 USD and 4,000 Gold.

Everyone that plays mobas knows its cool to have the sweet looking skins. I'm pretty proud of the skins I've bought in both Overwatch and Heroes of the Storm. I have some of the best in both games. It's pretty rad going into battle looking like a suave dapper character. I'm already interested in the Thunder Guard Zarya and the Raider Rexxar skins. Both of which look awesome. 

There was a ton of changes to a bunch of heroes as well. But the biggies here is the addition of Zarya and the Starcraft map Warhead Junction. Warhead is an okay battleground. It doesn't bring anything new to the table, just a fun gamemode to add to the mix. You basically just pick up nukes and you can nuke your enemies' base or wherever you want. If you die you lose the nuke. Nothing too crazy but pretty fun. It's great to see Heroes of the Storm getting some much needed love and attention from Blizzard. I want to see Heroes stay in the limelight it has, however dim that may be compared to League and Dota. It's still a great game. I enjoy playing it over Overwatch even sometimes because I can just relax and listen to music while I play. 

I've heard a lot of great albums playing Heroes. A lot of metal but a lot of jazz too. Anyways, I can't wait to get Zarya and add her to my tank playing roster.

Heroes of the Storm Patch Notes-September 13, 2016

This is one of the biggest patches Heroes of the Storm has ever received. It's great to see that Blizzard is still giving this game much deserved love. Here's all the stuff you need to know.

General

New Special Event: Xel’naga Artifact Hunt

Xel'naga artifacts have begun to appear all across the Nexus, and SCVs are being deployed to collect them. Terminate these interlopers with extreme prejudice and collect artifact pieces to earn some sweet new rewards!

• Daily Quest:
  • Collect 12 Artifact Pieces during a single game.
  • Reward: 1 Day Stimpack
• Event Quest:
  • Collect 150 Artifact Pieces before the Machines of War liftoff from the Nexus on October 18, 2016.
  • Reward: Xel’naga Artifact Portrait

• SCVs and Artifact Pieces will have a 50% chance to spawn at the start of a game if any players on the team have not yet completed their Artifact Hunt Daily Quest. This task will be difficult to accomplish alone! Teammates must work together to eliminate the SCVs and reclaim the Artifact Pieces before the game begins.

Free Hero for All!

After downloading today’s patch and logging into Heroes of the Storm, all players will be able to add a new Hero to their collections for free!

• On login, players will be able to pick one of the following three Heroes: Anub’arak, Thrall, or Tyrande.
  • If any of those Heroes are already owned, they will be replaced by Nazeebo, Sonya, or Uther on the selection screen.
  • Players who already own all six of these Heroes will automatically receive 4,000 Gold instead.
• Learn more by reading our recent blog post.

New Battleground, More Often

We are currently working to resolve an issue affecting the reduced Battleground pool, and New Player Battleground Progression rules mentioned below. During this time all players can be matched for games on any of the Battlegrounds that were available in matchmaking queues prior to today's patch. Click here for more information.

• Starting today, the pool of Battlegrounds available in all modes, except Custom Games, will be temporarily limited to the following:
  • Braxis Holdout
  • Towers of Doom
  • Cursed Hollow
  • Sky Temple
  • Infernal Shrines
  • Tomb of the Spider Queen
• This has been done to increase the frequency with which players encounter the new Battleground, Braxis Holdout.
• During this time, players can still select and play on any Battleground they wish using Custom Games.

• A second group of 6 Battlegrounds will replace those listed above during the week of September 26, and the reduced Battleground pool will remain in effect until the Machines of War event concludes during the week of October 17.

New Player Battleground Progression

• New Heroes of the Storm players who enter matchmaking modes will initially only be matched for games on certain Battlegrounds. As they complete more games, new players will unlock additional Battlegrounds as follows:
  • 0 games played: Players will only receive matches on Cursed Hollow. 
  • 5 games played: Players can now be matched on any of the Battlegrounds listed in the reduced pool mentioned above.  
   

  New Hero: Alarak

  Not all heroes are born of altruism. . . some, like Alarak, simply desire vengeance. As the new Highlord of the Tal’darim, Alarak leads his people to a destiny free of the corrupt influence of the fallen Xel’naga, Amon.
  Trait
  Sadism
  You deal 100% bonus Ability damage versus enemy Heroes.​
  Basic Abilities
  Discord Strike (Q)
  After a 0.5 second delay, deals damage to enemies in front of you and silences them for 1.5 seconds.
  Telekinesis (W)
  Push yourself and any enemies hit from the targeted point toward the targeted direction. Enemies pushed by Telekinesis also take light damage.
  Lightning Surge (E)
  Deals damage to an enemy and all enemies between you and the target. You are also Healed for 75% of the damage dealt to Heroes.
  Heroic Abilities
  Counter Strike (R)
  Become Protected and channel for 1 second. If you are attacked during this time, you will send a shockwave forward that damages enemies in its path.
  Deadly Charge (R)
  Channel and then charge in the targeted direction, dealing damage to all enemies in your path. Charge distance increases based on the amount of time spent channeling, up to 1.6 seconds.
  While channeling, movement commands will cancel Deadly Charge at no cost. Taking damage will interrupt channeling.
  
  

  New Battleground: Braxis Holdout

  The Dominion used the remote and hostile planet Braxis to conduct experiments on ways to turn the Zerg swarm into a weapon they could unleash on their enemies. Though the Dominion's main psi disrupter was destroyed, this space platform's beacons remain fully operational and ready to be used. Capture the beacons and watch what happens when a flood of weaponized Zerg ravages the battlefield.
  
  Capture the Beacons
  

  • Two Beacons will periodically spawn near the center of the Battleground. Capture both to fill your team’s Holding Cell with Zerg over time.

  Fill Holding Cells
  

  • The longer a team holds both Beacons, the stronger and more numerous their Zerg army will become. Once either team has completely filled their Holding Cell, both will open, unleashing Zerg forces into each lane.

  Unleash the Swarm
  

  • Each team must decide whether to defend against the opposing Zerg rush, or push with their own to lay siege to all who stand in the way of the Swarm. 

  Art

  Battlegrounds
  

  • Several Battlegrounds have received additional optimization to help improve performance.

  Heroes, Abilities, and Talents
  

  • The following Heroes have received new Talent icon tints to help players more easily differentiate between talents that modify the same Ability and exist on the same Talent tier:
    • Muradin
    • Tyrael
    • Zagara
  • The Butcher has received updated visual effects to coincide with his Talent rework.
  • Medivh’s Portals have received additional visual polish to make their presence on the battlefield more apparent to allies.
  • The Imposing Presence Talent has received updated visual effects to coincide with its new functionality.

  Bundles
  

  • New Bundles
    • Machines of War Bundle – Available starting September 13 until October 18, 2016.
      • Gain early access to all of the StarCraft-themed items from the Machines of War event by purchasing the Machines of War Bundle.
      • Click here for complete Machines of War Bundle details!
    • Herald of N’zoth Alarak Bundle – Available until September 27, 2016.

  New Hero
  

  • Alarak has been added to the in-game Shop.

  Mounts
  

  • New Mounts
    • Ghost Speeder*
    • Obsidian Cyberwolf**
  • Returning Mounts
    • Demonic Hellsteed
    • Blackheart’s Doubloon
  • Removed Mounts
    • Cloud Serpent
    • Cyberwolf

  Skins
  

  • Herald of N’zoth Alarak
  • Master Alarak
  • Queen of Ghosts Kerrigan*
  • Raider Rexxar*
  • The Butcherlisk*

  * This item is exclusive to the Machines of War Bundle until it is officially released at a later date. Click here to view a full release schedule for Machines of War items.
  ** The Obsidian Cyberwolf Mount is exclusive to the Machines of War Bundle, but may return to the Nexus at a later date.
  
  
  

  Sound

  General
  

  • Even the music of Heroes of the Storm has been invaded by the Machines of War!
    • Enable music in the Sound Options menu (or press CTRL+M) to listen as the sounds of the Koprulu Sector clash with those of the Nexus.

  Heroes, Abilities, and Talents
  

  • All Heroes should now properly play voiceover lines when clicked repeatedly.
  • Medivh’s Portals have received some additional sound effect polish to make their presence on the battlefield more apparent to allies.
  • The Lost Vikings have received unique death notification sounds which should be a little less jarring for allies.
  • The Spell Shield and Imposing Presence talents have received updated sound effects to coincide with their new functionality.

   
   

  User Interface

  General
  

  • The Breaking News icon will no longer display in the menus when there is no breaking news to read.

  Color Blind Mode
  

  • The Health bar color for the player’s own hero has been changed from dark blue to yellow.
  • Neutral Mercenaries will now appear dark purple on portions of their models that use team colors. This should help players and observers better differentiate them from captured mercenaries.

  Daily Quests
  

  • Any Hero selected during Ranked or Unranked drafts will now count toward progression of any role or universe-specific Daily Quest.
    • This has been done so that players can still complete their Daily Quests while picking the best Heroes for their team composition, rather than Heroes who satisfy a quest requirement.
  • ​Daily Quests are now available to all players, beginning at account level 1.
  • New Daily Quest: Play 3 games
    • Reward: 300 Gold
    • This is the only Daily Quest that level 1 players can receive and will only be available until account level 11. After reaching level 11, it will be replaced by the Play 8 Games quest.

  MVP System and Commendations
  

  • Players can now show off their individual prowess on the field of battle via the MVP System and end of match commendations.
  • Five players will receive awards for their in-game performance and individual achievements at the end of every game played in any mode except Custom Games.
  • MVP and End of Match Awards
    • Each match will feature one MVP, or Most Valuable Player, and four other players will receive awards for specific in-game feats.
      • The MVP award is granted to the player who had the greatest overall impact on the match, which is determined by their performance across all in-game stats.
      • The remaining four match awards will be granted for a wide variety of achievements, such as top healing, longest killstreak, most Doubloons turned in on Blackheart’s Bay, and so on.
      • End of match awards, including MVP, can be granted to players on either team, regardless of victory or defeat.
  • Commendations
    • Once the awards have been given out, all ten players can then commend the award recipients to show appreciation for their in-game accomplishments.
      • Players who receive many commendations at the end of a match will also be rewarded with a little extra fanfare.
    • Award-specific icons will also appear on the end of game stats screen next to the name of each player who received an end of match award.
  • Click here to read our recent blog post on the End of Match Awards System.

  Hero Select
  

  • Hero Search
    • Searching for a Hero during Draft Mode or Hero Select will now sort the results first by the Hero whose name most closely matches the player’s search terms.
      • For example: Searching for “Diablo” will now show Diablo as the first result, followed by all other Heroes from the Diablo Universe.
  • Hero Sorting
    • New sorting buttons have been added to Hero Select and Draft Mode, and can be found next to the search field:
      • Toggle Favorites: Heroes who have been marked as favorites in the player profile will be sorted to the top of the Hero list.
      • A-Z: Sort Heroes alphabetically
      • XP: Sort Heroes by level

  Ranked Play
  

  • Grand Master League
    • The maximum number of Hero League Grandmaster players has been reduced from 500 to 200. The Team League maximum remains at 100 players.
  • Promotion and Demotion Matches
    • Players will no longer receive a flat 250 ranked point adjustment after winning a promotion match or losing a demotion match. Instead, these matches will now award or remove the same amount of points as a normal ranked game.
    • Upon earning enough ranked points to reach a promotion match, any points earned beyond the 1,000 point division cap will now be stored and applied at the end of the promotion match.
      • Winning a promotion match will now award any excess points that were stored prior to that match in addition to the normal ranked points earned for the win.
      • Losing a promotion match will subtract the normal ranked points for a loss minus the number of excess ranked points that had been stored prior to the promotion match.
      • Demotion matches do not store lost ranked points, and losing a demotion match will only cause the player to lose the normal amount of ranked points.
       
     

    Design and Gameplay

    Mounts
    
  • Movement Speed reduced from 40 to 30%

  Regeneration Globes
  

  • Time before Globes despawn reduced from 8 to 6 seconds

   

  Battlegrounds

  Mercenaries
  

  • Timing Changes
    • Previously all Mercenary camps spawned at 120 seconds. The following adjustments have been made to spawn times:
      • 90 seconds: Sappers, Doubloon Pirates
      • 120 seconds: Siege Giants (unchanged), Impalers (unchanged)
      • 150 seconds: Knights, Fallen Shaman
      • 180 seconds: Grave Golem (unchanged)
      • 300 seconds: Headless Horseman (unchanged)
  • Captured Mercenaries will no longer grant Experience when killed.

  Developer Comments:  We started playtesting with staggered Mercenary Camp spawn times, and quickly began to realize that it added more strategic depth to the game, and coincided with some of our Battleground events. We have been happy with the changes overall, and are listening to any feedback you may have!

  Try Mode
  

  • The following features have been added to Try-Me Mode:
    • Boss Camp
    • Ability to change the enemy hero
    • Ability to change the game speed​

  Towers of Doom
  

  • Headless Horseman
    • Attack damage increased from 145 to 158

  Battlefield of Eternity and Infernal Shrines
  

  • Khazra Impaler
    • Captured Impaler attack damage increased from 40 to 46

       Return to Top
  

  Talents

  Imposing Presence (Active)
  

  • New functionality:
    • Heroes that attack you have their Attack Speed slowed by 20% for 2.5 seconds
    • Activate to Slow the Attack Speed of nearby Heroes and Summons by 50% and Slow their Movement Speed by 20% for 2.5 seconds

  Developer Comments:  We did not like the power of the Attack Speed slow for Imposing Presence given how little counter-play there is. We’ve decided to move some power out of the passive portion of the Talent and give it a new activated effect in order to create some bigger moments for players who choose to take it.

  Spell Shield (Passive)
  

  • Added functionality:
    • Spell Shield can now be toggled on or off to allow for better control of which Abilities you want to mitigate

  Support

  Brightwing

  
  Talents
  

  • Level 1
    • New Talent: Pixie Charm (Active)
      • Each time Soothing Mist heals an allied Hero, excluding yourself, gain a stack of Bribe. Use 20 stacks to Bribe a Mercenary, instantly defeating them. Does not work on Bosses. Maximum of 80 stacks.
    • Bribe (Active)
      • Replaced by Pixie Charm

  Developer Comments:  See Falstad’s comment for Bribe changes.

       Return
  

  Kharazim

  
  Talents
  

  • Level 13
    • Relentless (Passive)
      • Removed
    • New Talent: Sixth Sense (Passive)
      • Stuns and Roots against Kharazim grant 50% damage reduction from Basic Attacks for 4 seconds.

  Developer Comments:  See Greymane’s comment for Relentless changes.

       Return
  

  Li Li

  
  Talents
  

  • Level 16
    • Shake it Off (Passive)
      • New functionality:
        • Stuns and Roots against Li Li grant Resistant, reducing all damage taken by 25 for 3 seconds. Cannot occur more than once every 10 seconds.

  Developer Comments:  See Greymane’s comment for Relentless changes.

       Return
  

  Lt. Morales

  
  Abilities
  

  • Displacement Grenade (E)
    • Displacement Grenade no longer explodes on contact and passes through everything. After a 0.0625 second delay, players can now re-activate the Grenade causing it to explode on command, damaging and displacing enemies. Displacement Grenade automatically explodes if it reaches max range.

  Talents
  

  • Level 4
    • Upgraded Ballistics (Passive)
      • Removed

  Developer Comments:  We have been looking for ways to add gameplay to our Supports, and believe that Lt. Morales’s Displacement Grenade is a place where we could give her more control. We’re hoping that this gives players an opportunity to make bigger plays by having more control of where they want the enemy hero to move with the Grenade’s knockback

       Return
  

  Malfurion

  
  Talents
  

  • Level 16
    • Hindering Moonfire (Passive)
      • Now only slows Heroic units

       Return
  

  Rehgar

  
  Abilities
  

  • Ghost Wolf (Trait)
    • Movement Speed reduced from 30% to 20%

  Talents
  

  • Level 1
    • Wolf Run (Talent)
      • Movement Speed reduced from 40 to 30% while in Ghost Wolf

  Developer Comments:  Alongside the adjustments to Mount speed, we’re also reducing the Movement Speed bonus offered by Rehgar’s Ghost Wolf Trait.

       Return
  
  

  Warrior

  Anub'arak

  
  Abilities
  

  • Burrow Charge (E)
    • Anub'arak is no longer Invulnerable when Burrow Charging, and is now only Unstoppable

  Developer Comments:  When looking at Burrow Charge, we liked that this Ability provided an immense amount of mobility and allowed Anub’arak to dive the back line, but we didn’t like that he had an Invulnerability on a 16 second CD. Essentially, Anub’arak could hold this to completely nullify a Pyroblast or any huge damage source, which is not intended. By changing this to Unstoppable, we still allow Anub’arak to be very slippery and get out of bad situations quickly.

       Return
  

  Cho

  
  Talents
  

  • Level 13
    • Surge of Stamina (Q)
      • New functionality:
        • Using Surging Fist grants Resistant, reducing all damage taken by 25% for 3 seconds.  Reduces the cooldown of Surging Fist by 4 seconds if it hits an enemy Hero.

  Developer Comments:  See Greymane’s comment for Relentless changes.

       Return
  

  Diablo

  
  Talents
  

  • Level 7
    • Devastating Charge (Q)
      • New functionality:
        • Shadow Charge grants Resistant, reducing all damage taken by 25% for 4 seconds.

  Developer Comments:  See Greymane’s comment for Relentless changes.

       Return
  

  E.T.C.

  
  Talents
  

  • Level 7
    • Just Keep Rockin’ (E)
      • Removed

  Developer Comments:  See Greymane’s comment for Relentless changes.

       Return
  

  Johanna

  
  Abilities
  

  • Condemn (W)
    • Added functionality:
      • Now deals 200% increased damage to Minions and Mercenaries

  Talents
  

  • Level 1
    • Knight Takes Pawn (W)
      • Removed

  Developer Comments:  As our heroes develop over time, we often find niches for their roles that are only available via Talents. While we love that our Talents augment our Heroes in interesting ways, we are wary when a Hero is picked specifically for a role that they are given via a Talent. We did a pass on our current roster and found a couple of these cases in Johanna and Muradin. We like how Johanna is seen as a warrior with good wave clear, and how Muradin is seen as an anti- auto-attacker. We’ve decided to make these features part of their base kits, and will be keeping an eye on others in the future.

       Return
  

  Muradin

  
  Abilities
  

  • Thunder Clap (W)
    • Added functionality:
      • Now also slows enemy Attack Speed by 25% for 2.5 seconds

  Talents
  

  • Level 1
    • Reverberation (W)
      • Moved to Level 4
      • New functionality:
        • Increase Thunder Clap’s Attack Speed slow to 50% and increase the duration of Thunder Clap from 2.5 to 3 seconds
  • Level 4
    • Third Wind (Trait)
      • Moved to Level 1
    • Thunder Burn (W)
      • Now also applies the 25% Attack Speed slow with the second activation of Thunder Clap.

  Developer Comments:  See Johanna’s comment.

       Return
  

  Stitches

  
  Talents
  

  • Level 7
    • Relentless (Passive)
      • Removed
  • Level 13
    • New Talent: Flea Bag (Passive)
      • Whenever Stitches is Stunned or Rooted, reduce basic ability cooldowns by 3 seconds.

  Developer Comments:  See Greymane’s comment for Relentless changes.

       Return
  

  Bug Fixes

  General
  

  • Corrected a number of typos and tooltip errors across several aspects of the game.
  • Repeatedly changing Region and Language settings to and from Chinese will no longer limit region selection to China on the login screen.
  • Fixed an issue that was preventing a small number of players from rejoining games.

  Art
  

  • Core: Fixed a bug in which Shield impact effects on the Core were not displaying when struck by some Abilities.
  • Keep: Flags will no longer appear detached from a Keep’s model when it is heavily damaged.
  • Artanis: Activating Twin Blades just as Hearthstone completes channeling will no longer cause Artanis to stand while Mounted.
  • Rehgar: The Totemic Projection Talent now uses the correct icon tint.

  Battlegrounds
  

  • Tomb of the Spider Queen: Medivh will now properly fly over the Spider Queen’s Altars while in Raven form, rather than path around them.
  • Towers of Doom: Sappers can sometimes stop attacking their targets and start following enemy Heroes.
  • Try Mode: Brightwing can now properly Phase Shift to the Healing Dummy.
  • Try Mode: Helping Hand is no longer removed from Stitches’ Ability bar after clicking Reset Talents.
  • Try Mode: Repeatedly casting Stitches’ Gorge on the Target Dummy will no longer prevent it from leashing back to its spawn location.

  Heroes, Abilities, and Talents
  

  • Fixed several bugs in which splash damage from Basic Attacks could still deal damage while the attacking player was Blind or the target was Evading.
  • Heroes can no longer push captured Mercenaries by walking into them.
  • Fixed an issue that could cause Tyrael, Uther, and Gall players to incorrectly receive AFK Warnings due to the combination of their post-death effects and lengthy death timers at later levels.
  • Abathur: Monstrosity can no longer push Minions or captured Mercenaries by walking into them.
  • Anub'arak: Beetle damage listed in the Scarab Host Trait tooltip will now update correctly when Anub’arak levels up.
  • Auriel: Sacred Sweep’s increased range, gained by learning the Majestic Span Talent, will now correctly benefit from the Righteous Assault Talent.
  • Chromie: Temporal Loop’s clock graphic will no longer disappear if the target becomes polymorphed.
  • Dehaka: Isolation’s parasite will no longer visually persist until death on a target that was simultaneously hit by Isolation and Chromie’s Time Trap.
  • Diablo: Overpower’s target will no longer be stunned for the Ability’s full duration if Diablo is interrupted by a knockback at the same time Overpower is cast.
  • Diablo: Apocalypse will now correctly target enemies trapped by Anub’arak’s Cocoon.
  • E.T.C.: Rockstar’s Attack Speed bonus will now be properly applied when E.T.C. casts Stage Dive.
  • Gall: An icon has been added to the buff bar for the Dark Descent Talent, and the icon’s tooltip will track Runic Blast damage bonuses earned via Hero Takedowns.
  • Gul'dan: Learning the Health Funnel Talent and using Drain Life to kill a Hero with a post-death effect, such as Uther, will now properly reduce Drain Life’s cooldown.
  • Johanna: Condemn will now be correctly interrupted when Johanna becomes Polymorphed.
  • Kerrigan: Using the Overdrive Talent will no longer remove the Energizing Grasp Talent’s Mana cost reduction for Primal Grasp.
  • MULE: Will now properly acquire a new repair target if the Structure it is actively repairing is destroyed.
  • Murky: The camera will no longer automatically snap to Murky’s Egg location if he is killed with camera follow enabled.
  • Nazeebo: Zombie Wall will no longer attack Murky’s Pufferfish.
  • Li Li: The Shake it Off Talent will no longer reduce the duration of the Garden Terror's Queen's Curse Ability.
  • Lunara: Fixed a rare issue in which casting Leaping Strike toward terrain could cause Lunara to run back to her original location after landing.
  • Lunara: Will no longer receive the “Stuck” notification when a Wisp is stuck by Tracer’s Pulse Bomb.
  • Rexxar: Misha’s Basic Attack target can now correctly be switched by right-clicking as long as she did not already have an order to Focus on a particular target.
  • Rexxar: Misha can now push Minions and allied Mercenaries, but will not push enemy or uncaptured Mercenaries.
  • Uther: The tooltip for the Gathering Radiance Talent will now properly indicate the amount of bonus Healing and Damage earned after multiple nearby Allies are hit by Holy Radiance.
  • Sgt. Hammer: Basic Attack range indicators should now appear consistent while Sgt. Hammer is in both Tank and Siege Modes.
  • Stitches: Vile Gas applied by a Retchling after learning the Restorative Fumes and Indigestion Talents will now properly Heal Stitches, rather than the Retchling.
  • Tychus:  Attack commands should no longer automatically switch targets after using Run and Gun.
  • Xul: Skeletal Warriors will no longer attack Murky's Pufferfish if it is in their path.
  • Zagara: After learning Medusa Blades, Zagara will now deal the correct amount of damage to her secondary Basic Attack targets.
  • Zeratul: Void Prison will no longer cancel Rehgar’s Feral Lunge or Olaf's Charge as long as the target of either Ability is still in range when Void Prison ends.

  User Interface
  

  • Color Blind Mode: Fixed an issue which caused damage and Heal over time effects in Hero Health bars to display in red and green while Color Blind Mode was enabled.
  • Death Recap: Zagara’s Healing received from the Hydralisk Transfusion Talent will now be correctly displayed in her Death Recap.
  • Draft Mode: Fixed an issue that could cause the draft interface to become unresponsive if the player’s game client was minimized while entering draft mode.
  • Replays: Pausing a replay prior to opening the Talent Panel (TAB) will no longer prevent Quest Talent progress from displaying.
   
   My goodness! Quite the update. This might just change everything. I feel like it already has and I haven't even played Alarak or the new Battleground yet. The most noticeable thing is all the tweaks to the heroes. Some of their abilities are slightly different or perhaps even a lot different. The biggest thing I noticed is that you have to hit E to detonate Lt. Morales' knockback grenade. Took me a second to realize that. Before it would just hit stuff and blow up on its own. I also noticed the mount speed nerf to one of my favorite characters Rehgar. It's okay. He's still awesome. It's just he's less fast. It's very noticeable as soon as you play him.
  
  Another thing that stands out is the new end game screen. You get to vote for players on your team or the enemy team that got awards like MVP, most killstreak, most damage, etc. It's basically just like Overwatch's system. Kind of funny how they added that. It does make the game feel more like a community I suppose so kudos to Blizzard for doing that.
  
   
  I haven't gotten to play the new Battleground because when I played my matches today I just never got placed in it. However, I did get to see an enemy Alarak player in action. He wasn't that good and got rekt super hard by me and my team but I see good things from this new hero. He seems like he's going to be a very strong dps character-at least for now. One player described him as near Li-Ming launch damage level. That sounds very promising. 
   
  I'll be playing more of the game and let you know about all this stuff as I experience it. I'm at 14,000 gold so I should be able to get Alarak by tomorrow-quests and stimpacks pending.