How do you Play HotS?
A HotS game starts with each player selecting a hero from the roster and playing as a team of five against another team of five. Players can eliminate the other heroes of the other team to gain advantage and reach a win condition. Each map decides the win condition of each match, although the most common win condition is the typical MOBA gameplay to win the lanes and invade the other team’s base and destroy it. There are 15 maps to choose from in the game.
With heroes, there are four separate roles to choose from; Assassin Warrior, Support, Specialist. Each role has its advantage and disadvantages but they are all equipped to make a significant impact on the game. Each hero has a set of skills that can help the team win the match, and each hero has its strengths and weaknesses.
There are also different game modes to choose from in HotS. There is the standard Tutorial and Training mode that allows new players to hone their skills and master the game. There is also Versus AI, which allow players to battle against five AI opponents, also known as bots. The difficulty of the AI’s can be chosen before each match.
There is also Quick Match mode, where players select a hero and a map is randomly selected. Then there is Ranked Match where players compete in different divisions. There are two types of Ranked matches, Hero League for solo play, and Team League for team play. There is also an Unranked Match mode, which is basically the same, without the stress and pressure of climbing the ladder in a Ranked Match.
Game Meta
When it comes to Blizzard’s Heroes of the Storm, the meta is not as clear cut as other MOBA’s. The different scoring system and the 15 different maps makes it difficult to have a consistent meta or strategy to emulate. But in terms of heroes, there are some that are more powerful than others. We take a look at the most popular and most powerful hero for each class in this current meta.
Best Warrior Class Heroes
Diablo – The lord of terror remains one of the best warrior class heroes in the game. His resurrection ability and his stuns make him the ideal front of attack for any lineup. His Overpower ability is great in team fights as it places an opponent in a very disadvantageous position.
Garrosh – When talking about tanks, there isn’t any hero that has the sustain prowess and survivability of Garrosh. His heroic skills of adding armor and life, and also getting close to heroes for incredible damage make him the perfect front line tank. He can also use his toughness to deal damage to enemies while losing little life.
Best Assassin Heroes
Genji – There is a reason why Genji is the most popular hero in the current meta. Genji is one of the fastest heroes in HotS, but this speed, when accompanied by his Swift Strike and Cyber Agility abilities almost makes it impossible for enemies to get their hands on him.
Raynor – Raynor is one of the first heroes you will learn to play with in the game because he is so easy to use. But don’t let his user-friendly game play fool you; this ranged marine is capable of massive damage at the highest tier level. He is also able to heal himself with the lifesteal trait, and can deal his damage from significant range.
Best Support Heroes
Deckard – Deckard is one of the best Support heroes because of his team-oriented skills. His healing potions are invaluable during clashes, but his Horadric Cube slow, and the wide range of his Stay a While and Listen makes for great support hero for any lineup.
Tyrande – Tyrande is one of the most versatile support heroes. Her skills allow her team to have vision, a lot of healing, and a global ability that can snipe dying heroes from across the map. Her stun and her boosts also make her great during team clash fights, so she works well alone and even better with others.
Best Specialist Heroes
Abathur – Abathur is one of the most complex and hard to play heroes. But in the right hands, he could shift the momentum of any game. His Symbiote ability allows him to attach to any structure or hero and either protect teammates or attack enemies. He can also soak tons of XP from using his symbiote on two different lanes.
Azmodan – Azmodan is a unique hero in that he specializes in pushing lanes. His abilities are made for crowd control and he can dominate a lane all the way to the enemy core if he is left unchecked. His Globe of Annihilation can wipe out a wave or get a hero in trouble, and it just getting more and more powerful as the game progresses.
History
Heroes of the Storm is Blizzard’s version of the popular MOBA (Multiplayer Online Battle Arena) format. Although Blizzard does not actually call it a MOBA, the gameplay and mechanics are essentially the same. It is among the most highly rated games of Blizzard and one of the most successful MOBA games to hit the market.
Arguably the biggest game to emerge from the WarCraft MOD game mode was DOTA All Starts. It started an entirely new genre called MOBA and it was one of the most played games during the time. It was essentially a different game, but it was still played under the WarCraft format of Blizzard. That was until the creator of the MOD eventually took the game and sold it to Valve in 2010.
Blizzard wanted to make their own MOBA and worked on a game that was separate and different from the popular DOTA MOD. At Blizzcon 2010, they announced a new MOD called Blizzard DOTA. It was so well received that they decided to launch it as an entirely new game.
In Blizzcon 2011, they had enough to gameplay footage to preview their newest MOBA game. But after a lengthy legal battle, Valve earned the rights to the name DOTA and Blizzard to make do with the name Blizzard All-Stars.
Blizzard’s new MOBA game was slowly teased in Blizzcon 2012, with the map previewed at the convention. Then in 2013, Blizzard decided to rename the game from Blizzard All-Stars to Heroes of the Storm. In Blizzcon 2013, the first trailer of the game was released and Blizzard also made a groundbreaking announcement that the game would have multiple maps, which as unheard of in the MOBA genre.
In 2014, the game was officially launched for Alpha testing. The game initially started with 22 heroes, including popular characters in the Blizzard Universe such as Raynor and Kerrigan from StarCraft, and Diablo and the Demon Hunter from Diablo. Five new heroes were also unveiled in the upcoming months.
The first exhibition tournament for HotS was launched at Blizzcon 2014, with Team Cloud9 winning the inaugural tournament. In 2015, Blizzard officially launched the game in closed beta. Later that year, a tournament named Heroes of the Dorm was launched.
The tournament was played by students of different universities from all over the country with the grand prize being tuition financing. The tournament broke ground as it was the first time an eSports tournament was broadcast on major American sports network (ESPN2).
Later that year, the game was launched in open beta, it would be the first time that players from all over the world could officially play the game. In June, 2015, Heroes of the Storm was officially released. In 2017, the game was re-launched as Heroes of the Storm 2.0, and it was described as a more streamlined version of the game, with several changes and upgrades made to the gameplay and cosmetics of the game.
