Ranked Play
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2018 Ranked Season 3 Has Begun!
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•Ranked rewards have been granted to players based on their performance during 2018 Ranked Season 2.
•Learn more about the rewards that are up for grabs during the new season by checking out our 2018 Ranked Season 3 Dates and Rewards blog.
•A number of ranked play improvements have also been made with the start of 2018 Ranked Season 3, including the addition of a third ban, rank decay, seeding changes, and Hero League matchmaking adjustments. Read on for details.
Third Ban
•A third Hero ban has been added to draft modes as part of the initial ban phase.
•During the initial ban phase, teams will alternate until each has banned two Heroes.
•Ban and pick times have been adjusted in order to offset the addition of the new ban.
•The number of level 5+ Heroes required to participate in Hero League has been increased from 14 to 16 to ensure players will always have a Hero available if they pick last.
Rank Decay
•Diamond, Master, and Grand Master Hero League players who have placed in the current season but haven’t completed any games in a while will be considered “inactive”.
•Once a player becomes inactive, they will receive a small amount of rank and MMR decay each day until they complete one Hero League match.
•Diamond, Master, and Grand Master each have their own threshold for inactivity.
•Players can earn additional “grace period” days by regularly playing Hero League matches during the current season.
•Inactive players can avoid decay and regain active status by playing a single Hero League match to completion.
Seeding Changes
•Players who enter ranked play for the first time can no longer be seeded into placement matches higher than Gold 5.
•Players who return to Hero League after an extended break will no longer be re-seeded into placement matches based on their performance in other modes.
Hero League Matchmaking Changes
•Ratings Rather Than Points
•For Master and Grand Master players, the Master-level players they are matched with and against are now determined by skill rating, and rank points no longer play a role.
•This should provide better experiences for players of very high skill levels who start playing later in a season.
•These players’ games should have allies and opponents of more consistent skill levels, which also match their own.
•Match Quality Restrictions and Notifications
•Players below Master who have waited fewer than three minutes in queue will not be placed into any matches that are outside of the game quality restrictions that would have been used if the match had been formed around that player.
•Players will now receive a notification in the UI when these quality restrictions are expanded in order to help them find a match more quickly.
•Stricter Rank Difference Requirements
•Master and Grand Master players will now only be matched with allies and opponents who are within 1 division of their own ranks. This means:
•Master players can be matched with players who are either ranked Diamond 1 or Grand Master, but never both.
•Grand Master players will not be matched with players below Masters.
•This restriction will not loosen for players in Europe and North America. However, it can loosen for players in other regions after they have waited in queue for 1 hour.
•Stricter Rating Differences
•Master and Grand Master players now have narrower ranges of acceptable skill ratings for the players they are matched with. For example:
•It is extremely unlikely that a top Grand Master player will be matched with a Master who is on the cusp of demotion to Diamond.
•If a Master player is placed into a Grand Master game, it is because that player’s skill rating is very similar to that of the Grand Master players.
•In this situation, the Master player’s ranked points have not yet caught up to their rating.
Battlegrounds
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Non-Ranked Battleground Pool
•All Battlegrounds that were temporarily removed during the Echoes of Alterac event have returned to Versus A.I., Quick Match, and Unranked matchmaking queues.
Mercenaries
•Heroes can no longer Heal, Shield, or target allied Mercenaries with Abilities unless an Ability specifically states that Mercenaries are valid targets.
Alterac Pass
•Ice Giants
•Attack speed reduced by approximately 30%.
•Neutral Ice Giant Attack damage increased from 240 to 312.
•Captured Ice Giant Attack damage increased from 400 to 520.
•Cavalry •The damage bonus provided by Cavalry units is now a flat 10%, and no longer scales with each completed event.
Battlefield of Eternity
•Minimap
•The Minimap icons that represent Immortals during an event have received updates.
•The opposing Immortal now uses an icon depicting crossed axes, while the allied Immortal displays a shield icon.
•This should help players more quickly identify which Immortal to attack and which to defend.
Braxis Holdout
•Beacons
•Now become contested immediately when Heroes from both teams are on the point.
•Zerg Waves
•The baseline zerg wave has been strengthened significantly.
•This should encourage teams to split up in order to defend against an incoming zerg wave, rather than send all five players to attack with an allied wave.
•Beacon Progress Bars
•The progress bars in the lower-right corner of the screen have received visual updates to coincide with the above changes.
Cassia
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Abilities
•Blinding Light (W)
•Now also deals 50 damage (+4% per level) to enemies in the target area.
Chromie
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Abilities
•Time Trap (E)
•Melee Heroes who can see a Time Trap can now use melee attacks to destroy it without triggering its effects.
RAYNOR
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Stats
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- Health from 1302 to 1450
- Regen from 2.71 -> 3.02
- Damage from 122 to 92
- Base range set to 6.5 (no longer trait driven)
- Scaling from 4 to 5%
Abilities
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- (New) Acquire Weak Point (Trait):
- Every 4th Basic Attack is empowered and deals an additional 125% damage to your target and splashes for 50% in a small area around your target (2.25 Radius)
- Every 4th Basic Attack is empowered and deals an additional 125% damage to your target and splashes for 50% in a small area around your target (2.25 Radius)
- Penetrating Round (Q):
- Damage from 240 to 220
- Mana cost from 60 to 50
- New functionality:
- Slows enemies movement speed by 20% for 2 seconds
- Knockback range is dependent on proximity to Raynor
- Damage from 240 to 220
- Inspire (W):
- Cooldown from 10 to 12 seconds.
- New functionality: Reset your Basic Attack. You and all nearby Minions and Mercenaries gain 30% Attack Speed and 10% Movement Speed for 4 seconds.
- Cooldown from 10 to 12 seconds.
- Adrenaline Rush (E):
- Cooldown from 30 to 45 seconds
- Mana cost from 0 to 75
- New functionality: Heal for 25% of your max Health over 1 second. Basic Attacks lower this cooldown by .5 second (double vs. Heroes)
- Cooldown from 30 to 45 seconds
- Raynor’s Raider (R2):
- Health from 766 to 1000
- Damage from 31 to 24
- Attacks per Second from 0.8 to 2
- New functionality: Raynor gains a Banshee that flies by his side and auto-acquires his Basic Attack target. The Banshee can be killed which will start a 45-second cd before another is called down
- They gain 75 HPS when out of combat for 4 seconds
- Health from 766 to 1000
Talents
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Level 1
- Seasoned Marksman: Removed
- Scouting Drone: Removed
- (New) Veteran Marksman (Trait): Quest: If an enemy Hero is hit with the empowered Acquire Weak Point attack, increase the bonus damage of Acquire Weak Spot by 0.75%
- (New) Ace In The Hole (Passive): Deal 30% more damage to Stunned or Slowed enemy Heroes.
- (New) Exterminator (Passive): Increase your Basic Attack damage against Minions, Mercenaries and Monsters by 50%. Increase this bonus to 100% if Inspire is active
Level 4
- Focused Attack: Removed
- Vigorous Assault: Removed
- Confident Aim: Removed
- Relentless Leader: Removed
- Fight Or Flight (E): ( Moved from Level 7)
New functionality: Lower the cooldown of Adrenaline Rush by 10 seconds. Activating it grants 25 Armor for 4 seconds - (New) Behemoth Armor (Trait): Quest: Gain 250 Health. Increase this by 5 every time you hit a Hero with Acquire Weak Spot
- (New) Sustaining Rounds (Trait): Acquire Weak Spot attacks heal for 3% of your max health. This is increased to 6% against Heroes
Level 7
- Hamstring Shot: Removed
- Revolution Overdrive: Removed
- Puttin’ On A Clinic: Removed
- (New) Heavy Slugs (Active): Activate: Your next Penetrating Round has 30% increased range and increases the slow duration of Penetrating Round by 200% (30 second CD)
- (New) Fuel The Rush (W/E): While Inspire is active, increase Adrenaline Rush's cooldown bonus from Basic Attacks by 200%
- (New) Unstable Compound (Trait): Increase the area of effect of Acquire Weak Point by 15%. Enemies hit by it are slowed by 10% for 3 seconds
Level 13
- Giant Killer: Removed
- Double-Barreled: Removed
- Steel Resolve: Removed
- (New) Debilitating Rounds (Q/W): Decrease the cooldown of Penetrating Round by 3 seconds. While Inspire is active, the slow amount is increased by 100%
- (New) Rallying Cry (W): Increase the duration of Inspire by 1 second. All nearby Heroes gain 10% movement and attack speed for the duration.
- (New) Giddy-Up (W): Gain 10% movement and Mount Speed permanently. Increase Inspire’s Movement Speed bonus to 20%.
Level 16
- Executioner: Removed
- Cluster Round: Removed
- Bullseye: Removed
- Give Me More (E): (Moved from Level 1) New functionality: Increase the heal amount from Adrenaline rush by 50% and gain 1 additional attack range while Inspire is active
- (New) Bounty Hunter (Active): Acquire Weak Spot attacks that hit a Hero deal an additional 3% of a Heroes max health and grant you 10 Armor for 3 seconds. Activate: Your next Basic Attack is empowered with Acquire Weak Spot (40 second CD)
- (New) Paint Them Red (Q): Increase the damage of Penetrating Round by 50%. Heal for 100% of the damage it deals to Heroes
Level 20
- Scorched earth: Removed
- A Card To Play: Removed
- Nexus Frenzy: Removed
- (New) Indomitable Resolve (R1): Acquire Weak Spot attacks against Heroes lower the cooldown of Hyperion by 5 seconds. Casting Inspire grants 2 seconds of Unstoppable.
- (New) Dusk Wing (R2): Banshee Health, Damage, and leash range are increased by 100%. When killed, Inspire and Adrenaline Rush are activated for free.
- (New) Weak Spot Acquired (Trait): The primary target of your Acquire Weak Spot loses 25 Armor for 2 seconds
- (New) Execute (Passive): Increase your attack speed by 20%. Your Basic Attack damage is increased by 25% against targets below 50% Health
Developer Comment: We're extremely excited to bring Raynor’s long-awaited rework to the Nexus! We've been reading and absorbing all the amazing feedback that you have sent us over the past year and think the new design will do him justice. We've massively increased his wave-clear potential with a new Trait and completely overhauled his Talent tree (one of the oldest in the game). Raynor mains should have a whole new set of tools to play around with while new users should still be able to pick him up and right-click their way to victory. We have been having a ton of fun with the changes and hope you do as well. As always, please send us any feedback you have and get ready to fill your enemies full of daylight!
Azmodan
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Stats
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- Health reduced from 2738 -> 2464
- Health regen reduced from 5.7031 -> 5.1328
Abilities
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- Globe of Annihilation (Q):
- New baseline quest
Hitting Heroes and killing minions within 1.5 seconds of being hit by Globe grants 2 stacks of Annihilation. - Each stack of Annihilation increases Globes’ damage by 1, up to 400.
- Warning splat is now created earlier in the ability cast.
- Range decreased from 35 to 30
- Cast time reduced from .75 -> .5625 seconds
- Globe speed increased from 15 to 18.
- New baseline quest
- Demon Warrior (W):
- Can now be cast while channeling All Shall Burn.
- No longer has charges.
- Demon Warriors now deal a small amount of damage to nearby enemies every second.
- Attack damage reduced from 37 -> 28
- Health increased from 365 -> 390
- Move speed decreased from 4 -> 3.6
- Weapon range decreased from 1.5 -> 1
- Can now be cast while channeling All Shall Burn.
- All Shall Burn (E):
- New functionality
Channel for up to 2.5 seconds on a target, dealing damage every second. If the channel lasts its full duration, deal additional damage to the target. - Azmodan’s Movement Speed is reduced by 30% while Channeling.
- Cooldown increased from 6 -> 8 seconds.
- Mana cost changed from 12/sec to 30 flat mana.
- Range decreased from 7 -> 6
- New functionality
- General Of Hell (Trait D):
- Renamed to Demon Lieutenant
- New Functionality
- Can now be cast on the mini-map and has a small slop range.
- Spawn a Demon Lieutenant at any friendly minion, merc, or Azmodan Summon for 20 seconds. The Lieutenant will cast Demonic Smite at a random nearby minion every 7 seconds, instantly killing them. Lasts 20 seconds. Can be used while channeling All Shall Burn. 60 Second cooldown.
- Renamed to Demon Lieutenant
- Demonic Invasion (R1):
- New Functionality
Calls down 8 Demon Grunts in a circle around the targeted location, dealing damage to enemies in each impact zone. Demon Grunts last for up to 8 seconds and explode when they die, dealing damage to nearby enemies. - Demon health increased from 365 -> 750
- Demon health now decays over 8 seconds
- Attack damage decreased from 51 -> 42
- Cooldown reduced from 100 -> 90 seconds
- Mana cost reduced from 100 -> 60
- New Functionality
- (New) Tide Of Sin (R2):
- New functionality
Activate to cause your next Globe of Annihilation to cost no Mana and deal 50% more damage. 20-second cooldown.
- New functionality
Talents
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Level 1
- Taste For Blood (Q): Removed
- Sieging Wrath (Q): Removed
- (New) Greed (Q):
Increases the timeframe that minion kills will grant Annihilation from 1.5 to 3 seconds. After gaining 200 stacks of Annihilation, Globe of Annihilation’s range is increased by 33% and it deals 20% increased damage to minions and mercs. - Gluttony (Q): (Moved from Level 4)
New functionality: The amount of Annihilation granted for hitting Heroes is increased by 1. After gaining 200 stacks of Annihilation, each enemy hit by Globe reduces its cooldown by .25 seconds, doubled against heroes - (New) Wrath (Q):
Basic Attacks against Heroes under 75% health grant 1 stack of Annihilation. After gaining 200 stacks of Annihilation, Heroes hit by Globe of Annihilation take additional damage from your next Basic Attack equal to your Annihilation stacks. Lasts 4 seconds.
Level 4
- Hellish Hirelings (Trait): Removed
- Army of Hell (W):
New Functionality: Summon Demon Warrior summons an additional Warrior but its cooldown is increased by 10 seconds. - Hellforged Armor (W): (Moved from Level 13)
New Functionality: Demon Warriors and Lieutenants gain 35 armor and last 4 seconds longer. - Battleborn (Passive): (Moved from Level 16)
New Functionality: Basic Attacks reduce the cooldown of Summon Demon Warrior by .5 seconds and Demon Lieutenant by 1 second.
Level 7
- Infernal Globe (Q): Removed
- Bound Minion (Trait): Removed
- Gluttonous Ward (Active): Removed
- (New) Art of Chaos (Q):
If Globe of Annihilation hits 2 or more Heroes, 30 mana cost is refunded. If it hits 3 or more Heroes, you gain 5 Annihilation. - Master of Destruction (E): (Moved from Level 1)
New Functionality: All Shall Burn’s final damage hits all enemies in a large area. Each hero hit grants 2 stacks of Annihilation. - (New) Bombardment (Q): Casting Globe Of Annihilation increases your Basic Attack Range by 50% and can hit 2 additional targets for 3 seconds. Each hero hit by Basic Attacks empowered by Bombardment generate 1 Annihilation.
Level 13
- Hedonism (Q): Removed
- Infused Power (E): Removed
- (New) Brutish Vanguard (W): Demon Warriors gain 25% increased health and slow the movement speed of nearby enemies by 20%.
- (New) Cydaea’s Kiss (Q): Reduces the channel time of All Shall Burn by .5 seconds. If All Shall Burn channels for its full duration on a Hero, Azmodan is healed for 8% of his maximum health.
- (New) Chain of Command (D): Demon Lieutenants increase the damage of nearby non-heroes by 25%.
Level 16
- Demonic Smite (Trait): Removed
- Sin for Sin (Active): Removed
- Forced Recruitment (D): Removed
- (New) Total Annihilation (Q):
Globe Of Annihilation deals additional 5% max health damage to Heroes. - Sin’s Grasp (E): (Moved from Level 4) New Functionality:
Increases the range of All Shall Burn by 20%. If All Shall Burn channels for its full duration on a Hero, its cooldown is reduced by 4 seconds. - (New) Hell Rift (E): If the channel lasts its full duration, a Demon Warrior is summoned at your target and your Demon Warriors deal 100% increased damage for 4 seconds.
Level 20
- (New) Siegebreaker (R1): Azmodan’s summoned units deal 50% increased damage to Structures
- (New) Black Pool (R2): Tide Of Sin creates a Black Pool at the impact location, dealing light damage and reducing armor over 5 seconds to enemies in the area.
- (New) Pride (Q): After reaching 400 stacks of Annihilation, Globe Of Annihilation’s area is increased by 15% and its damage is increased by 100.
- (New) Trample (Active): Activate to dash a short distance, dealing damage and slowing enemies in the path. 60 second cooldown.
Developer Comment: In Azmodan’s update, we’ve embraced and expanded his role as a late-game siege monster. He now has a baseline stacking quest for Globe of Annihilation that’s a hybrid of the old Taste for Blood and Sieging Wrath Talents. Whether you’re focusing on PvE or PvP objectives you should see Globe of Annihilation become more powerful as a game goes on. To compensate for this increase in baseline power, we’ve made Globe’s impact area more quickly visible to enemies, which will give them a chance to dodge their impending doom. We’ve also made major mechanical changes to Black Pool (now called Tide of Sin) and focused it solely on Globe’s damage without the need for targeting or alt-casting. Demon Warriors are now individually stronger and deal constant AoE damage, but are slower and no longer have multiple charges. The new All Shall Burn should be much more consistently useful and certain Talent combinations can be used boost Azmodan’s short to mid-range potential. Demon Lieutenant (formerly General Of Hell) is still a global pushing ability, but is less reliant on needing a large Minion wave to get value. Demonic Invasion’s changes are geared towards expanding its use in PvP scenarios without affecting its old structure-bustin’ potential. Dropping an Invasion on the enemy team will force them to run away or take a large amount of delayed damage.
Alexstrasza
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Abilities
•Life-Binder (R)
•Now also heals Alexstrasza and her target for 300 Health per second during channeling.
Collection
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New Bundles and Skin Packs
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•The following new bundles will soon become available for a limited time: •Heroes of the Dorm 2018 Bundle – Available now until July 23.
•Raiders of Warchrome Bundle – Available now until August 6.
•The following new skin packs are available now until August 6:
•Dominus Vile Azmodan Skin Pack
•Diesel Speaker Nazeebo Skin Pack
•Roadraider Raynor Skin Pack
Warchrome Skins
•Azmodan
•Dominus Vile Azmodan
•Hazardus Vile Azmodan
•Machinus Vile Azmodan
•Nazeebo
•Diesel Speaker Nazeebo
•Hexplug Diesel Speaker Nazeebo
•Neon Diesel Speaker Nazeebo
•Raynor
•Roadraider Raynor
•Ghostly Roadraider Raynor
•Nameless Roadraider Raynor
Additional New Skins
•Arthas
•Ruby Frostwyrm Arthas
•Stromgarde Prince Arthas
•Azmodan
•Champion Azmodunk
•E.T.C.
•Fel E.T.C.
•New Glam Metal E.T.C.
•Gul’dan
•Shadowmoon Gul’dan
•Kerrigan
•Champion Cheerleader Kerrigan
•Li-Ming
•Champion Striker Li-Ming
•Samuro
•Fel Burning Blade Samuro
•Draenor Burning Blade Samuro
New Mounts
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•Celestial Billie
•This Mount will be granted to players the first time they purchase gems using real money following the release of this patch.
•Helldorado
•Helldorado
•Ghostly Helldorado
•Nameless Helldorado
•2018 Ranked Season 2 Mount Rewards
•The following Mounts have been awarded to players based on their performance during 2018 Ranked Season 2:
•Primal Direhorn
•Sholazar Direhorn
•Hellfire Direhorn
•Epic Primal Direhorn
•Epic Sholazar Direhorn
•Epic Hellfire Direhorn
Bug Fixes
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General
•Fixed a number of typo and tooltip errors across several aspects of the game.
Art
•Diablo: Will no longer appear to face the wrong direction while walking after Shadow Charge is interrupted.
•Malthael: Fear the Reaper’s icon art in the buff bar now correctly matches its icon art in the Talent pane.
Battlegrounds
•Haunted Mines: Fixed an issue that could cause the Grave Golem in the Mines to stop issuing Basic Attacks and casting its Root Ability when defending against nearby Heroes.
•Warhead Junction: Visual effects created by Boss and Podling Abilities are no longer visible through the Fog of War.
•Try Mode: Changing the Enemy Hero setting to None and then using the Set Level button no longer causes an enemy Hero to spawn.
Heroes, Abilities, and Talents
•Abilities: Fixed an issue in which certain Abilities, like Stukov’s Lurking Arm, could be unintentionally canceled immediately after casting.
•Alarak: Deadly Charge will now always fire in the direction the player clicked, instead of the direction Alarak was facing when the Ability was cast.
•Alexstrasza: Can no longer use Cleansing Flame to switch between the upper and lower levels of Haunted Mines.
•Alexstrasza: Fixed an issue that could cause Cleansing Flame to fail if it was cast in the same moment that Dragonqueen was ending.
•Cassia: Fixed an issue in which the Plate of the Whale Talent required more Basic Attacks to be absorbed per Health Regeneration stack than intended.
•Deckard: Can now correctly use Healing Potions while affected by Zarya’s Graviton Surge.
•Deckard: Canceling Stay Awhile and Listen no longer prevents the next source of damage from waking Sleeping enemies.
•Diablo: No longer becomes unable to use any Abilities if Shadow Charge fails to cast.
•Diablo: Fixed an issue that could prevent Diablo from using additional Abilities after casting Shadow Charge on an enemy who is using a dash, like Chen’s Flying Kick or Illidan’s Dive.
•D.Va: Shift-queuing movement commands during Boosters no longer causes D.Va to become stuck indefinitely.
•Garrosh: Can now correctly cast Into the Fray on Unstoppable allied Heroes.
•Garrosh: Warlord’s Challenge no longer cancels Abilities that end upon taking damage, like Muradin’s Second Wind or Fenix’s Shield Capacitor.
•Nova: After learning Anti-Armor Shells, the Target Info Panel now displays the correct amount of Basic Attack damage dealt.
•Sleep: Damage over time effects that do not initially apply damage, like Gul’dan’s Corruption and Blaze’s Combustion, will now correctly wake Sleeping enemies.
•Stukov: Healing Pathogen’s timer is no longer visually removed if the target becomes Polymorphed.
•Takedown Credit: Fixed an issue in which takedown credit could still be granted to a Hero even if they left combat long before the target was killed.
•The Butcher: Ruthless Onslaught’s visual effects will no longer persist on the target if they interrupt the Ability by entering Stealth.
•Valeera: Sinister Strike’s targeting indicator now more closely matches the Ability’s area of effect.
•Varian: Colossus Smash now moves Varian to a valid landing location, rather than placing him within a space that’s already occupied by the target.
Sound
•Sonya: The La Pantera Sonya skin no longer plays sword impact sound effects when attacking Structures.