We've brought the Heroes of the Storm service down for a period of extended maintenance today in order to release a brand new patch for the Technical Alpha. Maintenance is ongoing, but don't worry; we'll let you know as soon as the Nexus is back online! In the meantime, you can check out complete patch notes below.
General
64-Bit Client Now Available
A 64-bit version of the Technical Alpha Client is now available on 64-bit systems.
The 64-bit version of the Heroes client allows the game to utilize available RAM beyond 4GB, reducing the risk of Out-of-Memory errors.
To use the 64-bit client, please follow the steps below:
Launch the Battle.net App and click the Battle.net icon in the top left corner of the app.
Click “Settings” from the dropdown list, and then select “Game Settings” from the Settings menu.
Next, find Heroes of the Storm on the Game Settings menu and uncheck the box labeled “Launch 32-bit client.”
Finally, click “Done” in the lower right, and then launch Heroes of the Storm to begin using the 64-bit Technical Alpha client.
To return to using the 32-bit version of the Heroes client, simply re-check the box labeled “Launch 32-bit client” in the Game Settings menu.
Further improvements for the 64-bit client will be included in future updates.
Please also note that the 64-bit Heroes client is currently available only for Windows users. A Mac version of the 64-bit client will be available in the future.
Much like other Blizzard games, Heroes of the Storm now makes use of streaming technology when updating to the latest version of the game. This means that players will be able get in-game and start playing Heroes even if an update has not finished downloading.
While downloading game data, a progress bar will now appear at the bottom of the Heroes of the Storm page on the Battle.net App.
The progress bar will change colors to indicate current download status, as well as the earliest possible moment that the game becomes playable.
The following progress bar colors represent each download state.
Red: Core game content is being downloaded. The game is not playable during this time.
Yellow: Heroes is now available for play, though not all game content has been applied.
Green: Final game content is nearly complete.
If the Heroes client is launched prior to completing the entire update, the game will continue downloading data in the background during gameplay until the update is finished.
In some cases, low-resolution textures may be displayed in-game while high-quality assets continue downloading in the background. Often, players will not even notice that this is occurring.
New Hero
Chen Stormstout, Legendary Brewmaster, has been added to Heroes of the Storm and is now available for play! Read on for a brief overview of his Abilities, and check out Chen’s Hero Week blog for much more information on this powerful new Warrior Hero.
Abilities:
Flying Kick (Q)
Kick through target enemy.
Keg Smash (W)
Drench enemies in a nearby area with Brew, slowing them.
Breath of Fire (E)
Breathe fire in target direction, dealing damage and igniting Brew-soaked enemies.
Trait:
Fortifying Brew (D)
Instead of Mana, power your Abilities by drinking Brew. Gain a Shield while drinking.
Heroic Abilities:
Wandering Keg (R)
Jump in the barrel and knock enemies around, dealing damage.
The reconnect screen now indicates progress toward rejoining an on-going game.
Please note that the time required to reconnect to a game depends on several factors, such as computer performance, network conditions, and game length. The reconnect feature is still in development and will receive additional improvements with future updates.
Date-based XP promotion testing is now complete.
This was previously implemented in the form of a fixed “Weekend XP Bonus” promotion, which has now been removed from the Technical Alpha.
However, a variety of additional date-based XP promotions will regularly make their way into Heroes of the Storm in the future.
Menu navigation has been reworked and several UI elements have been moved.
Players can now freely navigate among game menus while queued for matchmaking.
The menu navigation bar has been moved to the bottom edge of the screen.
The Character Portrait has been moved to the lower left corner of the screen.
Current Gold total is now displayed next to the Character Portrait, and remains visible while navigating through most game menus.
Home Screen
Access the Home Screen by clicking the Heroes of the Storm icon found on the menu navigation bar at the bottom of the screen.
Play Screen
The Play Screen has received several improvements.
Access the Play screen by clicking the Play button on the navigation bar at the bottom of the screen.
The Play Screen remembers the most recently selected Hero and game mode.
Click the Change Mode button near the bottom center of the Play screen to switch among Practice, Cooperative, and Versus modes.
Hero Select can be toggled by clicking the Change Hero button that appears underneath the Party Panel at the top of the screen.
Shop
The Shop’s top navigation bar has been moved to the left side of the screen. Click each button to sort by each Shop category.
Party Panel
The Party Panel has been reworked.
The Party Panel is now displayed along the top edge of the screen, and remains visible while navigating through most game menus.
Party members’ current Hero selections are now visible in the Party Panel at all times.
Hover the cursor over the currently selected Hero in the top center of the screen to display player information. Click it to access the Player Profile.
Click the Invite buttons on the Party Panel to invite others to join the party.
In-Game UI
Hero Stats (C)
An in-game Hero Stats panel has been implemented, which displays total Health, Mana (or other resource,) Attack Damage, Ability Power, Movement Speed, and much more.
Toggle the Hero Stats panel by pressing “C” during gameplay.
The Camera Follow hotkey has been changed to “L” to account for the new Hero Stats panel hotkey.
Minimap Icons
Most Minimap indicators have been updated with brand new icons, including: Battleground-specific objective points, Mercenary Camps, Cores, Towns, and Watchtowers.
Several Hero Abilities now have unique minimap indicators, including: Tyrande’s Sentinel, Sgt. Hammer’s Blunt Force Gun, Murky’s Egg, and Zagara’s Nydus Worms.
Tab Screen
Hero portraits on the in-game Tab screen now display a skull icon when the associated Hero is dead.
Countdown timers are now displayed on teammates’ Heroic Ability icons in the “Show Talents” portion of the in-game Tab screen whenever their Heroic Abilities are on cooldown.
Daily Quests
Completion requirements for the following Daily Quests have changed, and their Gold rewards have been increased accordingly:
“Win 1 Game” is now “Win 3 Games”
This Quest’s completion reward has been increased from 200 to 600 Gold.
“Play 2 Games” is now “Play 8 Games”
This Quest’s completion reward has been increased from 200 to 800 Gold.
“Play 2 Games with a(n) Assassin/Warrior/Support/Specialist in Any Mode” is now “Play 3 Games with a(n) Assassin/Warrior/Support/Specialist in Any Mode.”
This Quest’s completion reward has been increased from 200 to 300 Gold.
Earning Gold
Wins in Versus mode now award 30 Gold each, down from 40.
Losses in Versus now award 20 Gold each, up from 10.
Hotkeys
Basic support for hotkey modification has been implemented.
Open the Main Menu (F10), click Options, and then click the Hotkeys tab at the bottom of the Options menu. Use the Hotkeys menu to:
Create a custom Hotkey profile.
Set Hero Ability and Activated Talent hotkeys.
Set hotkeys for in-game features such as the Tab Screen, Talent Menu, Quick Talent Menu, and Ping Menu.
Please note that this is a first pass at hotkey support, and work on this feature is not yet complete. Additional art, layout, and functionality improvements will be made with future updates.
Player Levels and Rewards
Several Player Level Rewards have been changed:
Player Levels 8 and 10 no longer award a free-to-play Hero rotation slot. Instead, each now grants 2,000 Gold.
Player Levels 12 and 15 no longer grant 2,000 Gold. Instead, each now awards a free-to-play Hero rotation slot.
Gold rewards at Player Levels 20, 25, 30, and 35 have been removed.
Tutorial
Questionnaire
Upon logging in to Heroes of the Storm for the first time, players will now be asked to estimate their experience level with games like Heroes of the Storm.
Health Regeneration has been removed from the Core, but Shield regeneration is unchanged.
Siege Giants
Health regeneration when Siege Giants are out of combat for 8 or more seconds has been removed.
Garden of Terror
This Battleground has received significant updates.
Upon collecting 100 Seeds, the Fertile Soil (located near the Core) will automatically grow into a Garden Terror after 15 seconds.
Once the Garden Terror has spawned, a 1 minute countdown timer will begin. Right click the Garden Terror to take control of it before the timer expires.
If no player takes control of the Garden Terror within 1 minute, it will reset to its Fertile Soil state, and the team will lose the ability to unleash the Garden Terror.
100 Seeds will be automatically consumed whether or not a player takes control of the Garden Terror.
Infested Servants
Experience reward increased from 30 (+1.5 per minute) to 60 (+2 per minute)
Garden Terror
Experience reward increased from 175 (+5 per minute) to 350 (+12 per minute)
This specific change refers to the neutral Garden Terror found in the Gardens during the Night sequence.
Spore Queen’s Curse (Q)
Radius increased from 2.5 to 3
The curse is now a persistent effect which continues to pulse once per second for 3 seconds.
Garden Terror Overgrowth (W)
Health increased from 960 (+55 per minute) to 1250 (+80 per minute)
New Ability: Sprint (E)
Increases the Garden Terror’s Movement Speed by 30% for 3 seconds
Haunted Mines
This Battleground has received significant updates.
The underground mines have been reduced in size and received layout changes, which will allow the mines to be cleared more quickly.
Skull collection has changed:
The underground mines now contain 35 Skeletons, each of which drop 2 Skulls upon death.
The Grave Golem in the underground mines now drops 30 skulls.
Mercenary Camp count reduced from 5 to 3.
Merc Camps include two Siege Giant Camps and one Knight Camp.
Mercenaries captured by a team now only attack down the lane opposite from that team's Grave Golem.
Several typos and tooltip errors have been corrected across various aspects of the game.
Alt + tabbing out of, and back into, a Heroes client that is set to Fullscreen while recording with Fraps now causes an error message to display, rather than producing a black screen.
Please note that this is not limited to Alt + Tabbing. Locking the computer or giving Fullscreen access to another application while recording with Fraps will also cause this error message to display, whether or not the Heroes client is set to Fullscreen.
Attack-move commands are no longer stopped when an Ability is cast while issuing Basic Attacks on an enemy target.
Elapsed game time on the end-of-game Score Screen now appropriately matches the in-game timer.
Hero Abilities in which the Hero turns to follow the mouse cursor have been optimized and should now use significantly less network bandwidth.
Team colors have been added for Brightwing’s Arcane Flare and Malfurion’s Entangling Roots Abilities.
Art
Physics have been enabled in the Shop for the Prince Arthas Skin and its Skin Variations.
The Dragon Knight now performs a dance animation when a /dance chat command is issued by the controlling player, rather than becoming frozen in place for a few seconds.
Battlegrounds
Abathur can now properly cast all of his Abilities in Try Me mode.
Corrected an issue in which Towers could unintentionally see through certain Line of Sight blockers.
Forts and Keeps will no longer expend ammo without firing when a player quickly moves in and out of range.
Mercenary Camps that are captured simultaneously by one team with the Mercenary Lord Talent, and one without, no longer causes the Mercenaries from both Camps to gain the Mercenary Lord buff.
Mounted Heroes on the Haunted Mines Battleground will no longer automatically dismount and attack enemy minions when exiting the underground mines.
Pings issued on Mercenary Camps no longer require the player to target an individual Mercenary in order to request assistance with capturing the Camp.
Uncaptured Mercenary Camps now appropriately reactivate when a player exits a Dragon Knight or Garden Terror.
Heroes and Talents
Attempting to cast Abathur’s Ultimate Evolution Heroic Ability on a Hero that is over unpathable terrain no longer causes the Ability to fail.
AI-controlled Heroes that are attempting to cast Hearthstone will now react more appropriately to an attacking Uther ghost.
The Calldown: MULE Talent can no longer be cast at locations in which the player does not have vision.
Channeled Abilities are now appropriately cancelled when a Hero comes under the effects of Zagara’s Devouring Maw Heroic Ability.
Cloaked Heroes no longer become visible when standing on or passing through a Gate.
Corrected an issue that could cause uncloaked objects to appear on a cloaked Hero that was cloned by Abathur’s Ultimate Evolution Heroic Ability.
Heroes are no longer automatically dismounted when attempting to cast Envenom on a target that is out of range.
Illidan will no longer drastically change elevation if he becomes rooted or snared while casting Dive.
Illidan’s Hero model no longer remains visible for the duration of the Spore Queen’s Curse if he is transformed while casting The Hunt.
Kerrigan’s Ultralisk no longer ignores the barrier created by Sonya’s Arreat Crater Heroic Ability.
Murky’s Octo-Grab Heroic Ability now appropriately receives a reduced cooldown timer if it does not cast properly.
Murky will no longer instantly respawn in base if he is killed just before his Egg is destroyed.
Nova no longer becomes stuck for the duration of her Triple Tap Heroic Ability animation if the target is killed by the first shot.
Nova’s Triple Tap Heroic Ability can now properly be blocked by the Dragon Knight, the Garden Terror, and Hero clones created by Abathur’s Ultimate Evolution.
Nova’s Triple Tap damage can no longer be nullified by short and medium ranged teleport effects.
Rehgar’s Feral Lunge Ability range can no longer be extended by clicking additional enemy targets while the Rehgar is mid-Lunge.
Right-clicking an enemy while using Sonya’s Whirlwind or controlling Nazeebo’s Ravenous Spirit now causes them to move toward the target.
Sgt. Hammer can now move appropriately after being transformed by the Garden Terror’s Spore Queen’s Curse Ability while in Siege Mode.
Sgt. Hammer now properly earns experience points when killing Minions that are outside of her normal experience range.
Sonya’s Ancient Spear can no longer strike more than one enemy with a single use when cast within melee range.
Stitches can no longer spit Gorged Heroes into the waters of Blackheart’s Bay when the Ability’s duration expires.
Stitches’ Hook projectile is now appropriately visible to enemy Heroes when the Ability is cast from the Fog of War.
Stitches’ Putrid Bile will no longer continue to cast when that Stitches becomes Gorged by an enemy Stitches.
Tassadar’s Psionic Storm Ability can no longer damage enemy Heroes while they are under the effects of Zagara’s Devouring Maw Heroic Ability.
Tyrande’s Sentinel Ability now receives an appropriate cooldown timer if she becomes stunned just as the Ability cast completes.
A Tyrande cloned by Abathur’s Ultimate Evolution Heroic Ability can now appropriately cast Light of Elune on the original Tyrande.
Uther’s Holy Light Ability is now properly affected by the Rewind Activated Talent.
Uther’s Holy Shock Talent no longer allows his Holy Light Ability to target allied Structures.
Uther’s Protect the Weak Talent can no longer be triggered by casting Holy Shock on enemy Minions or Mercenaries.
Valla’s Vampiric Assault Talent no longer causes healing numbers to display over her while dealing damage with Hungering Strike.
A Zagara clone created by Abathur’s Ultimate Evolution Heroic Ability that is also inside a Nydus Worm will now appropriately appear at the location where her last Nydus Worm is killed.
Roachlings spawned by Zagara’s Infested Drop when the Ability is cast on uneven terrain no longer become unable to attack or move into a nearby lane.
Sound
Corrected an issue which caused “Ready” voiceover lines for some Heroes to play for all participants in a game lobby.
Pinging a Grave Golem captured by the enemy team now causes the issuing Hero to play a more appropriate voiceover line.
Rehgar now plays a “Ready” voiceover line when readied in a game lobby.
User Interface
Accepting a game lobby invite while cycling through Hero Skin or Mount Variations no longer causes those models to display during Hero Select.
Death messages for Tyrael and Uther now correctly display the name of the Hero that killed them in the top corners of the screen.
Experience points earned by capturing Mercenary Camps are now appropriately counted and displayed on the in-game Tab screen.
It is no longer possible to pre-select Talents at Talent selection tiers that have not yet been reached.
Tyrande’s True Shot Aura buff icon will no longer rapidly swap positions with the Hall of Storms Protection buff icon.
Values for “Total Kills” and “My Team Level” on the in-game Tab screen are no longer reversed for the right-side team.
Crimsonfish
Crimsonfish 
