Heroes of the Storm balance patch takes aim at assassins, supports

Taylor Cocke
Zul'Jin is getting nerfed in the latest HotS patch (Blizzard)
Zul’Jin is getting nerfed in the latest HotS patch (Blizzard)

With the latest balance patch for Heroes of the Storm, Blizzard is making sure that two classes don’t get completely out of hand: assassins and supports.

Five assassins are getting balance tweaks. Cassia’s Ball Lightning Heroic Ability and Charged Strikes active damage are being reduced, while her Valkyrie Heroic is getting a damage buff, just in case you wanted more options with her. Genji is getting less damage with Dragon Claw, a cooldown increase on Dodge, and a Spell Armor duration buff. Illidan’s Unending Hatred now gains less basic attack damage by killing minions. Nova’s Snipe Master no longer loses stacks when hitting non-Heroic targets. Finally, Zul’Jin is getting a nerf to his basic damage, but a significantly shorter cooldown to his Voodoo Shuffle active.

As for supports, Auriel gains less Hope when damaging non-hero units. Lili is getting massive nerfs all around, losing damage on her Cloud Serpent and gaining both cooldown time and mana costs on her Blinding Wind, all the while losing damage on Talents Gale Force and Lightning Serpent. Lucio’s Healing Boost heal amount is getting reduced, while his level 16 Talent Heliotropics is being removed. Luther regains less mana from his Wave of Light.

Don’t think Blizzard has forgotten the other classes. Multi-class hero Varian is getting a buff to his basic attack damage, reduced the damage bonus on his Overpower, increased the damage reward damage on his High King’s Quest, adds a mana reduction of Charge on his Warbringer Talent, and increased the number of necessary parried attacks to reduce the cooldown of Parry on the Live by the Sword Talent.

Probius is getting nerfs to both the health bonus and damage on its Pylon Overcharge, while getting a slight damage buff to Null Gate. Anub’arak’s Locust Swarm does less damage, while his Nerubian Armor talent has its cooldown increased, Bed of Barbs damaged is reduced, and Chitinous Plating grants more cooldown reduction. Sonia’s Whirlwind cooldown has been increased.

You can read the full changes over at the Heroes of the Storm patch notes page. Keep in mind that everything is about to change because D.Va has hit the PTR. For more, head over to the Yahoo Esports Heroes of the Storm hub.

Follow Taylor Cocke on Twitter @taylorcocke.