Six weeks after going live as Heroes of the Storm’s first new hero in almost six years, Xal’atath is taking the biggest cuts in Blizzard’s November 9 Public Test Realm patch. The patch changes nine heroes in total, and most of the other eight come out ahead.
Xal’atath arrived on September 28 with Patch 57. These numbers are on the test realm for now, not the live game.
Xal’atath’s Void Volley bonus drops from 50% to 35%
Her Mythic Reward on Void Volley loses almost a third of its damage bonus, and several talents go with it:
- Fractured Reality: damage bonus reduced from 25% to 15%.
- Void Eruption: damage per second and speed each reduced by 10%.
- Harbinger’s Consumption: cooldown reduction per hit reduced from 14 to 10 seconds, and the three orbs orbit more slowly.
- Cloak of Shadows: Spell Armor now applies only while actively blinking, instead of lasting 2 seconds.
- Anchored Core: no longer increases duration.
- Toxic Mark: no longer increases debuff duration, but now benefits from Cold Feet’s duration bonus.
Shadow Mark gains range and Dark Heart Ritual gains damage in return
Blizzard is reshaping the kit as well as trimming it. Shadow Mark’s range goes from 8 to 9, and Dark Heart Ritual’s detonation damage goes from 245 to 260. Marked Resilience’s shield rises from 160 to 200, and Cold Feet’s duration bonus doubles from 1 to 2 seconds.
Two talents change what they do. Relentless Whispers loses its Attack Speed and instead grants 75% more Basic Attack damage per teleport. Unstable Core drops its damage over time, while its impact damage rises from 45 to 75.
Gazlowe gains 100 Health and Mei’s Blizzard detonates faster
- Gazlowe: Health up from 2275 to 2375, Basic Attack damage from 100 to 105, and Deth Lazor Life Leech from 25% to 30%. Bomb Toss no longer grants an additional charge.
- Mei: Blizzard’s detonation delay drops from 2 to 1.875 seconds and its damage rises from 75 to 80. Icing’s cast time falls from 0.625 to 0.5 seconds, and Avalanche’s cooldown from 90 to 80 seconds.
- Lúcio: Summer Anthem’s Unkillable lasts 2.5 seconds, up from 1.5. Sound Barrier’s shield per stack goes from 27 to 31, and Slip lingers for 2 seconds instead of 1.
- Mephisto: Malicious Intent’s Spell Power bonus rises from 25% to 30%, Hateful Mending restores more Mana and healing, and Static Barrier’s shield goes from 40% to 50%.
- Stukov: Flailing Swipe damage rises from 48 to 62, and Fetid Touch’s cooldown reduction from 5 to 6 seconds.
- Chromie: Once Again the First Time goes from 50% to 55% damage and Deep Breathing from 0.5% to 0.6% per stack, while Timewalker’s Pursuit falls from 15% to 12%.
- Greymane: Incendiary Elixir’s bonus per stack goes from 25 to 30, but Gilnean Roulette no longer reduces the percentage-based Health damage.
Medivh’s Raven’s Intellect doubles to 400%, and Portal’s cooldown grows by 4 seconds
Medivh gets the most unusual trade in the patch. Portal’s cooldown rises from 16 to 20 seconds, while Arcane Rift’s damage goes from 170 to 185 and Force of Will’s cooldown drops from 9 to 8 seconds. Raven’s Intellect’s bonus doubles from 200% to 400%.
Casting Portal in Raven Form without dismounting also moves from Portal Mastery to Dust of Appearance, whose cooldown falls from 45 to 40 seconds.
Blizzard hasn’t given a live date for the PTR patch
The post doesn’t say when these changes will reach the live game, and asks players to report bugs on the PTR forum in the meantime. The patch also fixes Sapper warning areas that lingered indefinitely and Sapper attacks that instantly hit nearby targets.
