Heroes of the Storm II: Thread. Augmented. Logical Decision

[Gandariel]

The threshold increases as levels go by.

And Spotlights should not say completely false things. It'd be weird if in the Chromie spotlight it showed Chromie tanking for the team (and succeeding)

[Keltest]

The threshold increases as levels go by.

And Spotlights should not say completely false things. It'd be weird if in the Chromie spotlight it showed Chromie tanking for the team (and succeeding)

I mean, I wouldn't want to outright tank thrall in the early game, even post rework thrall, but in the later game I'm pretty sure Malthael will win that fight on even levels. Thrall's self sustain against a single target got pretty heavily nerfed in the PTR, and malthael's only gets stronger as the game goes on as he gets more abilities to help him survive.

[Togath]

have they announced how much the treasure goblin mount will cost? I'm sitting on only about 12000 gold currently.

[Gandariel]

I mean, I wouldn't want to outright tank thrall in the early game, even post rework thrall, but in the later game I'm pretty sure Malthael will win that fight on even levels. Thrall's self sustain against a single target got pretty heavily nerfed in the PTR, and malthael's only gets stronger as the game goes on as he gets more abilities to help him survive.

It still looks like Malthael absolutely does not counter Thrall. More like, an even match, tilted by levels and talent choices.

Same with Sonya. I actually think Sonya (with War Paint) should beat Malthael in 1v1 pretty easily, due to her monster DPS and sustain.

Point is, it's just a weird pairing for a spotlight IMO, because it doesn't really make sense. Wow, he has %damage, decent sustain and chase... easily a Thrall counter!

Why didn't they make him fight Cho'Gall, Azmodan or even just Muradin/ETC/Johanna?

Mount : I'd bet on 20k, don't get your hopes up :P

[Togath]

20k is plenty easy.

[Keltest]

It still looks like Malthael absolutely does not counter Thrall. More like, an even match, tilted by levels and talent choices.

Same with Sonya. I actually think Sonya (with War Paint) should beat Malthael in 1v1 pretty easily, due to her monster DPS and sustain.

Point is, it's just a weird pairing for a spotlight IMO, because it doesn't really make sense. Wow, he has %damage, decent sustain and chase... easily a Thrall counter!

Why didn't they make him fight Cho'Gall, Azmodan or even just Muradin/ETC/Johanna?

Mount : I'd bet on 20k, don't get your hopes up :P

Outside of a duel scenario, Malthael can seriously reduce Thrall's survivability by dropping his -50% heal debuff on him. thrall really needs the sustain to survive in a teamfight, so just doing that can screw thrall over something fierce. Plus, constant damage is nontrivial.

[CarpeGuitarrem]

Hey Gandariel, random question: how long do Heroes Lounge seasons run for? Depending on how much longer I'm working at my current overnight job, I might try getting into the next one, just because it actually syncs well with my availability, unlike Chair League. (Also, is there any significant negative effect ping-wise if I'm playing from the East Coast NA on EU servers?)

[Frog Dragon]

Heroes Lounge seasons run 9 weeks + playoffs (unless they change it but there's no indication they will). Right now it looks like season 4 will begin on the tenth of july. As far as ping goes, playing from EU to East Coast is tolerable for me, though I can feel the ping difference. Probably depends on how good your internet is as well. Like if you already have bottlenecking or spikes, adding Atlantic ping will hurt. Otherwise, it should be fine, at least if you don't play a lot of timing-sensitive combo heroes like Kerrigan.

[CarpeGuitarrem]

Thanks for the info! I'll have to think on that--I've been slowly trying to get a more normal-schedule job.

[Gandariel]

https://youtu.be/HaT9D0vW5Zg

Really, really entertaining game. Also, my new go-to answer when someone asks me who my favorite character is

[Draken]

https://youtu.be/HaT9D0vW5Zg

Really, really entertaining game. Also, my new go-to answer when someone asks me who my favorite character is

I rate this game 6.5/10.

[Togath]

Got the new mount. It's surprisingly cheap.
Also sort of surprised by how... kind of weak Maltheael seems. Like, in a group versus a big tough npc or very high hp hero? He might do okay, but as a solo character he... kind of sucks compared to a lot of other options with a lot more burst.
Buuut then again, that's just my impression from trying the "try" mode.

[Keltest]

Got the new mount. It's surprisingly cheap.
Also sort of surprised by how... kind of weak Maltheael seems. Like, in a group versus a big tough npc or very high hp hero? He might do okay, but as a solo character he... kind of sucks compared to a lot of other options with a lot more burst.
Buuut then again, that's just my impression from trying the "try" mode.

He has a specific role in fighting heavy sustain comps. Lots of giant killer, early access to decreased healing, moderate self sustain...

I doubt he will see much quick play use, but in drafts he will do well to deter early warrior picks.

And he might actually be a decent partner with cho'gall. He deals with leo and anub'arak well, and picking him means the enemy cant get him.

[CarpeGuitarrem]

Interestingly, he's currently at low popularity, high winrate. So he's either very niche or has a high skill cap.

[Draken]

Interestingly, he's currently at low popularity, high winrate. So he's either very niche or has a high skill cap.

Well, I had one ranked game with one on my team and was pleasantly surprised when the enemy drafted two warriors and an Azmodan into first pick Malthael. Early game was going fine for us too.

Then I was less pleasantly surprised when our Malthael played incredibly cocky, moved way too far ahead of the team into a very control heavy team that included an ETC and a Diablo while we were behind in levels, and I want to complain about his build choices but that feels in poor taste.

I will go with niche and people not knowing how to play against him yet. I myself got too close to one in a game last night.

[Spore]

Interestingly, he's currently at low popularity, high winrate. So he's either very niche or has a high skill cap.

People just don't know how to handle him yet. Most people are:

"Curious little grey flame on me, this doesn't hurt that much."

"It should be gone soon."

"Why is my flesh still melting from my bones?!"

"GET HIM OFF OF ME!"

[Togath]

Anyone have advice for recording HotS? My attempts have been... well. Weirdly choppy. Not the game, but the video. It records as much more choppy than it plays.
Could the issue be due to a lack of a framerate cap?
I'm using OBS if it matters.

[Spore]

People just don't know how to handle him yet. Most people are:

"Curious little grey flame on me, this doesn't hurt that much."

"It should be gone soon."

"Why is my flesh still melting from my bones?!"

"GET HIM OFF OF ME!"

Uh, so Carbot pretty much sums up my experience:

Spoiler

Show

[Gandariel]

So, yesterday night I came home to randomly catch the final game of the finals of the big tournament that's been going on this weekend.

I will say that the one game i got was not really very good (won't spoil, but it was kinda decided on draft), but the massive viewership and the hype were certainly there. I'll catch the rest of the finals if I get the time.

I did remember watching another game that was really really cool. Towers of Doom, one team is ahead in core health but is down in levels, 20 to 17.

They managed to hold on, soak, concede objectives, and trade keeps until they got 20. Then, having only 1 remaining hp on the core, they swung back, wiped the enemies, and won.

[Keltest]

So, yesterday night I came home to randomly catch the final game of the finals of the big tournament that's been going on this weekend.

I will say that the one game i got was not really very good (won't spoil, but it was kinda decided on draft), but the massive viewership and the hype were certainly there. I'll catch the rest of the finals if I get the time.

I did remember watching another game that was really really cool. Towers of Doom, one team is ahead in core health but is down in levels, 20 to 17.

They managed to hold on, soak, concede objectives, and trade keeps until they got 20. Then, having only 1 remaining hp on the core, they swung back, wiped the enemies, and won.

I love games like that, both to spectate and to play. Its great seeing somebody get their act together and improve mid game.

[CarpeGuitarrem]

BTW, Blizzard and Twitch are partnering up, and if you scroll down on that announcement, you'll see that it's not just Overwatch getting bonus Prime loot...

[Gandariel]

Woo! Yay for Prime! I don't own Overwatch, and I'm barely touching Hearthstone lately, but free stuff is always free stuff :D

[ChaosOS]

So I've been writing a blog for a few weeks now, I'll plug today's post: https://heroeshearth.com/b/chaosos/r...good-is-block/

[Gandariel]

Hah! I found your post on Reddit and kept thinking about the user name, but I just couldn't remember you. Scrolled my friends list, some names at Heroes Lounge.. That's where that name comes from!

Super interesting write up.
Personally, my gut feeling is to never take block because it feels kind of a minor effect, but numbers don't lie.

I should mention, however, that I don't play any "solo lane" hero, so I don't really see the benefits of the talent.

I do take it on ETC sometimes, because it's really good in some circumstances, and I've taken it on Artanis on maps like Braxis or Mines.

But for someone like Muradin, I'd never ever take it. Hearing that "bling" every time I Q is worth so much more, I'd take it even if the talent did nothing.
(Related: I stopped playing Tychus when they nerfed the In The Rythm build)

[Togath]

So I've been writing a blog for a few weeks now, I'll plug today's post: https://heroeshearth.com/b/chaosos/r...good-is-block/

Wow, if I'm reading that right... Thrall has a pretty decent attack speed AND the second highest attack damage? Maybe I should play him more. With windfury on top, he seems like he could dish out some amazing damage.

[Spore]

Wow, if I'm reading that right... Thrall has a pretty decent attack speed AND the second highest attack damage? Maybe I should play him more. With windfury on top, he seems like he could dish out some amazing damage.

He is Tier 1 right now too according to nubkeks, Tier 3 according to TenTon and Tier 1 to Tenton QM.

I feel he is a new player trap. He is great when you don't know how to counter him but higher level play requires to build a team around him or else he is dead on a bad engage. She should win any trade however when CC was used.

[Keltest]

He is Tier 1 right now too according to nubkeks, Tier 3 according to TenTon and Tier 1 to Tenton QM.

I feel he is a new player trap. He is great when you don't know how to counter him but higher level play requires to build a team around him or else he is dead on a bad engage. She should win any trade however when CC was used.

The thing about Thrall is that he is very much reliant on not being focused. If you don't focus him, he will basically never die, and be able to do all sorts of nasty things to you. In the low levels, not being focused is basically a given as long as there are other team mates. At the higher levels though, you really need to build for strong peel and CC to take advantage of him, or he just gets clobbered first thing. He's also a decent duelist, but they took some of that away from him.

[ChaosOS]

I've started to "redo" the categorizations in game, thoughts? https://docs.google.com/document/d/1...it?usp=sharing

[Togath]

Sylvanus seems a little more on the "weird" category end(since almost all of her abilities interact with minions and mercenaries), while Murky seems like a good melee damage hero(just a tad squishy).

[Draken]

Honestly, Cho'Gall isn't weird so much as easily countered. But besides that, the duo is really just really a bruiser/mage combo with their health fused into one main tankish package.

Your list definitely needs to add the Siege/Map Control (where Sylv enters along with, admittedly, most mages) and Split Soak/Push classifications which I feel are more integral to the game's meta than splitting Healers and Supports into separate categories. You won't see Abathur, Tassadar, Tyrande and Medivh in many winning comps but you will see a global split soaker in them (Dehaka, Falstad, Abathur, etc).