Deep look at weather anomaly - it is a mess!

General Discussion
1

Today, I decided to test new weather anomaly on the PTR. Unfortunately, I tested only Rain Storms (movement speed + dmg) and Snow (shield), because it was so disgusting. :frowning: I will try to update this thread later.

Snow Flurries
It is active fro the start of the game, so you gain shield before the game even starts. You keep the shield till the anomaly deactivates. After some time it reactivates again and this repeats the whole game. Now, the problem is timing is quite random. I tested it in two games:

Game 1

  • Active from the start (0:00).

  • Deactivates at 2:04

  • Reactivates at 4:23

  • Deactivates again at 6:25

Game 2

  • Active from the start (0:00).

  • Deactivates at 1:36

  • Reactivates at 4:09

  • Deactivates again at 6:20

The shield itself starts regenerating after approximately 2 seconds of not being in combat.

Rain Storms
This is just one big mess and I think it is one of the dumbest things ever added to this game! Timing is completely broken and the effect itself breaks some heroes really hard.

At first glance, it looks similar to Snow Fluries, it is raining on the map from the start for some time, then it stops raining (= it deactivates), later it starts raining again and so on. Rain itself is pure visual, the actual anomaly randomly activates during the rain.

There is no warning, no other indicator, suddenly, your hero is hit by a lightning, you hear a thunder and from this moment movement speed + lightning shield is active for 8 seconds. It repeats multiple times during one rain. However, how many times and how often it happens is purely random! I tested it in five vs AI games on the PTR.

Game 1
Active from the start (0:00).
Lightnings at 0:24, 0:55, 1:20
Deactivates at 1:29
Reactivates at 3:58
Unfortunately, 10 sedonds later I was disconnected due to lost internet connection :smiley:

Game 2
Active from the start (0:00).
Lightnings at 0:24, 0:54, 1:21, 1:53
Deactivates at 2:28
Reactivates at 4:30
Lightnings at 5:06, 5:33, 6:02, 6:36, 7:01
Deactivates again at 7:06

Game 3
Active from the start (0:00).
Lightnings at 0:24, 0:52, 1:18, 1:51
Deactivates at 2:09
Reactivates at 5:07
Lightnings at 5:43, 6:09, 6:41, 7:13
Deactivates again at 7:21

Game 4
Active from the start (0:00).
Lightnings at 0:24, 0:55, 1:22, 1:53, 2:21
Deactivates at 2:23
Reactivates at 5:00
Lightnings at 5:31, 6:00, 6:27, 6:54
Deactivates again at 7:03

Game 5
Active from the start (0:00).
Lightnings at 0:24, 0:54, 1:25, 1:53
Deactivates at 2:06
Reactivates at 4:27
Lightnings at 4:58, 5:33, 6:01, 6:35, 7:03
Deactivates again at 7:19

As you can see, there is no way you can predict when this nonsense activates…

Now to the anomaly itself

Lightning shield’s dmg isn’t that high, I think it wouldn’t be problematic, BUT it brings one huge problematic interaction with Sleep effect, because it wakes up targets. Ana won’t be hit that hard, because she dart has long range, but Deckard and especially Malganis will be unplayable on all maps with rain! Malganis won’t be able to engage when weather effect is active, because everyone he puts into sleep he also instantly wakes up by the lightning shield, Deckard and his Stay Awhile and Listen is the same…

However, this is still nothing compared with movement speed bonus. Movement speed bonus is so bad and dumb that I think it should be immediately completely scrapped!

The biggest issue is that IT DOESN’T STACK WITH OTHER MOVEMENT SPEED EFECTS. It just gives everyone flat 25% movement speed bonus.

I tested it with Lucio. His passive aura gives everyone 10% bonus movement speed. Boom, Anomaly activates and I had 25% movement speed bonus. Enemy also had 25% movement speed bonus. My teammates out of my range also had 25% movement speed bonus. This anomaly simply removes Lucio’s aura from the game!

It affect so many heroes abilities and talents. Every single thing which 25% or less movement speed is becomes completely utterly useless because of this anomaly… Lunara, Lii Li’s trait, Valla’s trait, Raynor’s Inspire, Alex’s lvl 4 and dozens others…

Abilities and talents which gives more than 25% movement speed are nerfed so hard. Lucio’s Amp It Up increases movement speed bonus of his aura to 30%. But anomaly gives everyone else 25%. Basically, instead of 30% Amp It Up gives only 5% movement speed bonus… It is a big nerf for so many things like Thrall’s Windfury, Varian’s TB etc…

Oh and what about Slows? Well, the interaction between Slows and Movement speed is (from heroes wiki): If a unit is simultaneously affected by a Movement Speed buff and a Slow, the unit’s Movement Speed will be determined by their difference. Basically, all Slows up to 25% will be useless too…

30 Likes
2

it’s the rain one that sounds most problematic. since the lightning is another layer of RNG on top of everything. other than that, this should be a fun and temporary anomaly.

8 Likes
3

Shield can stay, it only needs some small tweaks, but the rain is so bad.

2 Likes
4

there’s also the stealth one that should be very fun

1 Like
5

I plan to test the stealth one tomorrow. :slight_smile:

1 Like
6

For the first time ever I cba to really bother thinking about some middle ground, how to improve the idea etc. Just begone…

… unless…

… Im not really sure how I feel about the idea of those effects working only on the team behind, only when xp gap reaches 2/3 levels or X (a lot) xp. Meh.

1 Like
7

Yeah, I tried, I really did, but I can’t think of any way to make this one salvageable. In addition to the things already listed, Ragnaros’ Blast Wave would be nerfed, and that build always used to be fun to play. Dehaka won’t have his Brushstalker advantage, and I wonder how it interacts with slows and heroes that do bonus damage on slowed heroes?

I have never, ever been a fan of RNG in PvP games.

11 Likes
8

No one ever asked for random effects. It’s really funny to then see people on the forum suddenly discussing how a completely useless feature, that no one ever wanted, can be turned into something that “might” be useful instead of just saying: Get this crap out of this game and let those random effects be in Hearthstone, which was a kids’ game from the start anyway.

People in this forum are llike this:

Someone slaps them hard into their faces and instead of complaing they discuss that it would not be so bad if the slap was just a little bit softer or if it would hit their left cheek instead of the right one.

3 Likes
9

I’d rather Blizzard create a NEW MAP that has multiple weather anomalies that are tied into the map’s objective. Maybe there’s a neutral camp in the center that once it is taken, the team that takes it can CHANGE the next weather anomaly. This can quickly be changed if the enemy team takes it and decides to CHANGE it for themselves. Maybe one team would benefit from the fog more than the snow, and the other team benefits more from the rain than the fog. Could be interesting.

10 Likes
10

Doesn’t it make sense for the timing to be slightly varied? If it wasn’t players would anticipate it and play around it. Having lighting hit you at the same time would also feel weird and unnatural.

11

How can you play around something random?

I found this on Heroes wiki:

If a unit is simultaneously affected by a Movement Speed buff and a Slow, the unit’s Movement Speed will be determined by their difference.

1 Like
12

Their intent (and it’s not a bad one) is to add some complexity to the game. When going into a match, in addition to the enemy and the map, you also have to take into account the weather. All of this goes into how you form and play your comp.

The problem is that this isn’t how the game was originally built. The characters’ kits weren’t designed with this stuff in mind, and the players who fell in love with the game did so without the weather (or other anomalies) being a factor.

It’s a good idea, but one that required much more testing on the PTR. They should probably hold off from implementing this stuff.

Aren’t all of these games “kid games”?

Was there an age limit in the EULA?

That’s actually a neat idea!

5 Likes
13

That was my point. You aren’t supposed to play around it. If you knew it was about to pop you could engage a team fight and make it an advantage. With it random it cant be abused as easily.

4 Likes
14

It can’t be abused, but it can give one team huge advantage if it activates in the right time. And you have no idea when it activates.

15

I was just thinking these weather effects could make for an interesting map objective. If the devs make a new map make it nexus themed “battlegound of storms”

Instead of a boss pushing after winning an objective one team gets a weather buff if they win the objective!

2 Likes
16

Sounds like rewarding bad players.

17

Sure, but that only makes it feel worse when it has impact. Instead of getting outplayed, you just lose to a random die roll. It’s awful.

You’re right that it makes sense flavor-wise for it to be random, but that only demonstrates what a terrible idea this is in the first place. It sucks even when it works like it’s supposed to.

4 Likes
18

i haven’t played or tested these affects, but i can say its going to turn out bad. randomly gain a shield even if a small one… how many times have u walked away with under 100 health, or an enemy has? now u randomly gain a speed boost, get that last hit in to kill that person.

the xp globes and tower changes were static. u knew where they were at all times, what to except. the tower change was a bit strong now its too weak. i am personally sad to see it gone. now its replaced by this thing. i will give it a chance like all things but so far meh.

1 Like
19

So for once the forum hivemind is on my side :ferris_wheel:

2 Likes
20

Maybe, just maybe, ok here me out, but what if, your ideas aren’t that popular to be agreed with.

2 Likes