Heroes of the Storm 2.0

[DeathscytheX 9,732]

I started playing a bit of this for the skins... and 10 loot boxes in week 4. Plus if you log in between yesterday and May 22, you get 20 free heroes grouped into 4 bundles. Its a FTP hybrid MOBA/RTS game. I picked the Support/Specialist bundle because it had Lucio and Zarya... but man I blow at this game. I haven't played and RTS game since WarCraft III. I'm glad I only have to play 5 games a week instead of 5 wins.

[Sledgstone 8,672]

I've thought about playing this before but I always thought MOBA games had much longer matches. I like my pvp style games to be quick matches about 10 mins at most unless its conquest in battlefield. I go afk way too often as you know. From what you've played so far, how long do the matches generally last?

[DeathscytheX 9,732]

I haven't played with people yet, but AI matches last about 10 min I want to say. Depends on the game mode. The one I play the most has you gather 3 tributes to cures the enemy team, when they get a cruse, all their NPC grunts go down to 1HP and all their defense towers stop shooting. The objective is the core in their base. Its invulnerable until you destroy some keeps around it. I haven't really found anyone I care for so far. I doubt I'll never play this game outside of Overwatch skin events. Its not very fun to me.

[Sledgstone 8,672]

I had no idea there were AI matches in this game. Since its AI only, is it pausable?

[DeathscytheX 9,732]

Not sure, I'm not a big afker. you might as well download it before the 22nd and get your free 20 hero bundle. 

http://us.battle.net/heroes/en/heroes20/megabundles/

[Strider Hiryu 2,704]

I gave it a try on Saturday and the game is rather fun. You're looking at 20 minute matches when playing against others Sledge (in the normal mode, haven't tried it but friends of mine who play it say that's how long a normal match lasts), Brawl is roughly 10 minute matches (which is what I played, it's fucking fun as hell). If I had to assume I would guess, depending on how hard you set the A.I., you'd be looking at 10-20 minute matches (and whether you do it alone or with others). The thing about HotS is that everything is completely balanced unlike in other MOBA's. There are no weapons/trinkets/armor to buy (making it so there are no builds you need to go for) and everyone levels at the same time as long as NPC's/Heroes are being killed. Each character has talents that you choose from every few levels to help distinguish your build (kind of like how Battleborn was setup) from other Heroes. Honestly, as much as I love the original DOTA and Smite, this game is extremely fun, easy to get into, and extremely forgiving (I ignore party chat for the most part but from what I saw it's a lot tamer then Smite chat (which is downright toxic)). I'm suggest giving it a shot but then again MOBA's aren't for everyone (and for me the game is so much more fun then slogging through Quickmatch Overwatch, I still want to buy the game but I just don't want to slog through Quickmatch to get to 25 so I can play comp).

[DeathscytheX 9,732]

Adept is pretty brutal by yourself... Even though I'm not great. I found at least 3 enemy AI heroes around the tribute every time and they slaughtered me because none of my AI heroes came to help. Its def better to play with at least 3 people so there can be one in each lane. Tyrael is probably my favorite hero. That Sanctification elite skill is beastly when you need to make a push.

[DeathscytheX 9,732]

So after playing this sparingly for the last 3 weeks, I've learned 2 things.

1. Diablo is fucking OP as hell. WTF? I was lucky to get him as a lootbox drop and have wrecked face with him. He can win 1v2s and even 1v3s if you're decent and your opponents are poor. He has insane CC,  gap closers, damage, HP, and a massive MP pool. He can also trait to regen HP so you can retreat when you're in trouble, and regroup pretty fast. With a support healing and buffing you, you're an unstoppable god. Once I killed 20 heroes and didn't die one time. I'm not really good at this game, but I can beast with Diablo, and I've been rekted a ton by him. You cannot 1v1 him at all, unless you're some pro at the game. I think the only challenging opponent I've had is some dragon like hero that can split into 4-5.

2. The Monk from diablo is a 1v1 beast once you get your ult. 7 sided strike can make even Diablo retreat if you have back up. Spec it to hit more and you'll win every 1v1 encounter with any non tank hero. Once you lay it on them and they try to retreat, you can shadow step to them and continue the beat down. You can spec at the start to regen mana by using basic attacks... you pretty much get unlimited mana from this and can just spam your skills off CD without worrying about running out of juice. Plus you gain a ton of access to spirit shielding, and you have a self/group heal with a short CD. He's very tanky once you've gotten a few upgrades.

I pretty much play these two characters exclusively. Mostly because I lock down one lane by myself... even if I can't win the fight, I can stall indefinitely while my teammates go on the offensive.