For those who aren’t aware, the Heroes of the Storm PTR has recently been receiving a number of changes, which is a signal that there is some update planned in the near future.
This has not been officially announced any where, and the PTR servers are currently not playable, but because it’s possible to discern the changes to the game logic by extracting the assets of the PTR and comparing them to old versions, a list of the changes can be created.
Abathur
Fixed an issue that prevented the Monstrositty from using the Force Move command
Fixed an issue that caused Ultimate Evolutions of Lost Vikings talents when cloning a Viking who had selected select talents
Alexstrasza
Fixed an issue that caused Flames of Fury to not reduce the amount of Mana gained from hitting an ignited enemy with Flame Buffet
Anduin
Fixed an issue that caused Speed of the Pious to not grant cooldown reduction when bringing an allied Hero to full health with Divine Star
Blaze
Fixed an issue that caused the Bunker to be destroyed by the Punisher on Infernal Shrines in a single hit
Cho
Fixed an issue that caused Cho’s radius to be increased after casting Surging Fist
Chromie
Fixed an issue that caused Temporal Loop to permanently reveal the target when used in certain conditions
Chromie may no longer attempt to place a Time Trap in locations it cannot be placed
The Lost Vikings
Fixed an issue that prevented the Longboat Raid from using the Force Move command
Sylvanas
Fixed issues with Withering Fire’s projectile missile
Fixed an issue that caused Black Arrows to apply from Basic Attacks prior to the damage being dealt, increasing the damage from the attack that applies the third stack of Black Arrows by 25%
Fixed an isue that caused Black Arrows to apply from Basic Attacks prior to Lost Soul checking for stacks, causing the attack that applies the third stack of Black Arrows to grant cooldown reduction
Fixed an issue that caused Black Arrows to apply from Basic Attacks prior to Remorseles checking for stacks, causing the attack that applies the third stack of Black Arrows to activate Remorseless
Fixed an issue that caused Black Arrows to apply from Basic Attacks prior to Overwhelming Affliction checking for stacks, allowing the attack that applies the third stack of Black Arrows to slow the target, and then deal percent damage in that same attack if the target was able to be slowed, but was not slowed prior to the attack
Fixed an issue that caused Remorseless to apply Black Arrows prior to the damage being dealt, increasing the damage dealt by 25% if the target had two stacks prior to the damage being dealt
Fixed an issue that caused Withering Fire to apply Black Arrows(when the Withering Barrage talent is selected) prior to the damage being dealt, increasing the damage dealt by 25% if the target had two stacks of Black Arrows prior to the damage being dealt
Fixed an issue that caused Haunting Wave to apply Black Arrows(when the Festering Wounds talent is selected) prior to the damage being dealt, increasing the damage by 25% if the target did not have three stacks of Black Arrows prior to the damage being dealt
Fixed an issue that caused the impacting damage from Shadow Dagger to grant Unfurling Shadows quest progress prior to the damage being dealt, increasing the damage dealt by 0.5%
D.Va
Fixed an issue that allowed Self-Destruct to be activated while D.Va’s Mech was disabled by taking enough damage to eject D.Va if her Boosters were active
Fixed an issue that caused Liquid Cooling to not apply properly if Call Mech was used shortly after activating Self-Destruct
Fixed an issue that allowed Defense Matrix to push targets not intended to be pushable if Diverting Power was selected
Fixed an issue that caused Diverting Power to not increase D.Va’s Self Healing when it restores Health to the Mech
Hogger
Fixed an issue that allowed Hogger to use his Dance without incurring movement restrictions
Samuro
Fixed an issue that allowed Samuro to activate Image Transmission on a Mirror Image directly after his Hearthstone activates
Fixed an issue that caused Samuro to lose the benefits of the Deflection talent if Three-Blade Style is selected while any Mirror Images are active
Orphea
Fixed an issue that allowed Orphea to have her Shadow Waltz be fired at an enemy without aiming in their direction
Zeratul
Fixed an issue that caused Singularity Spike when cast from Might of the Nerazim to act as a non-Might of the Nerazim Singularity Spike
Zarya
Fixed an issue that could cause Defensive Shielding to not grant allied Heroes stacks of Block if they already had Block granted from other sources
Mounts
Fixed an issue that prevented the Robin Woodland Guardian from being usable
Fixed an issue that prevented the Tangerine Woodland Guardian from being usable
ARAM
Reduced the chance of everyone being forced to select the same Hero from 5% to 2%
Spawn area restores health in static increments rather than a percentage value, so by mid-game it becomes impossible to fully heal using the trick. In other words, it becomes less potent as the game progresses and Samuro’s health increases. Balance wise this always seemed as a more elegant alternative to buffing Way of the Wind because he is required to disengage combat.
Compensating in a different manner without a roster-wide rebalance might just make him more impossible to kill.
I think they just wanted to fix the bug to be honest. They will probably use the data post patch to buff him in other areas in case his winrate drops too much.
True, but in early game knowing this trick is pretty mandatory to maintain a good win rate as Samuro even if it’s not an intended mechanic.
I have always thought of it more an exploit or trick to increase his skill ceiling, rather than a bug, because Blizzard chose for some reason to reintroduce it to the game even after it was already patched out once.
As he has no life steal, that was pretty crucial to getting an occassional ‘healing fountain’ or a few health globes for free instead of having to walk back into lane all the time.
Amusing that the fixes needed for Sylvanas take up half a page, Syl always has to steal the spotlight.
My thinking exactly when I saw this posted on Reddit a few days ago. Don’t mess with Hogger’s fiendish passion for the dance!
For those players asking (demanding) this change for the past few months, remember this and refrain from saying your complaints are never heard or addressed.
Speaking of Samuro, the specific number is around 1000 hp restored through this trick. In early game that is around 70% of your HP value and slowly creeping down to 40% or less by level 16 when things become serious.
This is beneficial but not exactly game breaking and at most it helps with map presence and soaking, but not combat, because if you execute the sequence with a sliver of health remaining, you won’t be very good state to contest an objective with full teams present.
I wouldn’t just double the health restoration effect from regen globes via Tracer talent method because that will screw up the balancing once scaling kicks in and instead I’d allow the globe effect extension similar to Imperius’ Press Forward, but with a cap since Samuro is much more mobile and slippery (images could contribute as well and critical strike would add more time than a basic hit).
Again, we don’t want to buff his late game fighting potential or combat sustain in any way. He just needs a little something for the first ten minutes.
They probably don’t want something in the game that feels like an exploit. Doesn’t matter how balanced it is or not, it feels stupid that Sam can do that because it’s not part of his kit. That’s the #1 thing I despise about DOTA is how they balance around crap that wasn’t intended and isn’t intuitive.
I hope so but we haven’t gotten a real change in so long. I worry were in bug fix only mode. If they are going to compensate him for losing almost all his sustain id be less upset but I want to see it happen in the same patch.
It would be so lame for them to break someone’s favorite hero and then not unbreak them for another 3 months.
Also drives me crazy that some people are saying this wont hurt him to much because he can’t heal in combat. Any healing at all is really important for an off laner and this is just about 100% of samuros sustain at the moment. I’m pretty sure sam ia going to loose entire matchups because of this change.
Well she is no longer in the spotlight in WoW after two expansions so she needs some attention here. It will be interesting to see how it all affects her performance because other than Withering Fire occasionally getting the zoomies I never noticed, but than again it may have been around since the dawn of time.
Too bad the complainers wanted the mirror gone and not have its pop up chance reduced. Atleast we now know its was 5% and not 80% as some of them claim.
They will still leave the mirror if it pops up cause thats what they collectively do each time it shows up so nerfing the % pop up wont stop that from happening.
They wont be satisfied before mirror matches are 100% gone or made into a new game mode cause they would rather split it up instead of just playing it.
Remove mirror match topics will still be a thing until its gone.
More alarming that one hero actually has that many bugs. Now I wonder how many more has that many…
And map hacking is still not fixed so you will still se people useing map hack in this game.
Because of the way Syl’s trait works. Having her attacks apply the trait before the damage was actually dealt causes issues with a LOT of talents. (Basically, everything that checks for 3 stacks won’t apply properly)
The only problem is that now that it’s fixed. She will be weaker than she’s supposed to be since it had been that way for a while and they considered her balanced. She had already taken a hit when they overnerfed “Unfurling Shadows” quest. (That no one ever picks now)
To give credit where it’s due, some of the more reasonable people who have been complaining did ask for a flat reduction in the chance for mirror games to occur.
I agree with you that some players will still leave mirror games, but as Xen and others have pointed out, players already leave regular ARAM games for very trivial reasons, such as not liking the three heroes they were presented with, or not liking the healer or tank pick of your team, or someone took Valeera, etc.
Sadly, I can’t argue with this statement.
I’ve seen some potential examples of map hacking, when going against the very high win rate 5 stacks in QM, I agree this should be patched.
We could complain about what hasn’t been addressed in this upcoming patch, but I’m personally surprised and grateful that we are getting anything. Yes, throw me a bone and, like Hogger, I’m happy to gnaw on it with the hope of a bigger bone in the future.
My only real gripe is aimed at the patch loop bug. Yeah, yeah, I know people will tell me that the Dev’s working on Hots aren’t the same people who maintain the client. But, but, in the maintenance patch notes “client stability” was one of their three stated objectives.
It’s been two years now, and it’s a very bad look.
I wish you were correct. It seems I’m cursed to be matched in ARAM and QM with Syl players who take this quest and end the match with about 20 stacks!
If I recall correctly, Unfurling Shadows takes close to triple digit stacks before it breaks even with Might of the Banshee Queen and only really becomes wortwhile in the 150+ range. In vs A.I I’ll take it every now and then, but I prefer the other two as they offer more immediate benefits while US is for the long game.
I imagine with these changes that Might of the Banshee Queen will be taken more on account of the attack speed boost ensuring that her trait gets stacks quickly. It may also result in more people taking Festering Wounds on the count of it immediately applying full stacks.
In vs A.I I do not see any changes in performance outside of maybe Elite A.I where sitting on bots can be a lot harder depending on their composition.
Do you happen to know where I can find that information? I’ve been told that before and haven’t found it mentioned in any of the patch notes that reference samuro yet, and I’m searching. Even if you remember a rough year that it happened it would help a great deal.
Samuro:Can no longer swap places with a Mirror Image that is in the allied Hall of Storms.
After some consideration, we believe this tactic can make for clever plays and have decided to revert this change.
From what I’ve read on the forums so far, there are a host of bugs with Samuro, and each of them keep referencing to something else, but usually not a primary source. Even in the above example from Shapeshifter, the reverted fix there is not the same hearthstone heal fix, but it does tend to be the one people recall in topics from years ago. I’ve seen claims from AMA’s having mentions on bugs, but at least one said the comment was in the context of mounting bug/features regarding Samuro so people may be attributing the wrong comment to a different bug than intended.
