First things first – Sun King himself. It's hard to tell his place in the meta right now since everyone is figuring him out. While in-depth overview will require another article i'll try to tell general story in few lines. Kael'thas is ranged assassin. Gameplay wise he feels like Jaina – when you position yourself properly you are able to dish out tons of damage, but you are very squishy and easy to kill. Unlike Jaina, Kael doesn't have any escape abilities on level 13. His defensive abilities come at level 16 – Arcane Barier(ability like Stoneskin, but provides shield based on mana amount) and at level level 20 – Bolt of the Storm. Both ultimates have low cooldowns so i feel he is best to be played on a small maps.
Global talent changes :
Clairvoyance (Kael'thas,Murky,Nazeebo,Uther,Rehgar)
Now breaks units within its radius out of Stealth, rather than revealing them
Doesnt seem to be a big difference at first look, but what this change actually does is it allows you to immediatly cancel buff that invisible hero had due to being invisible(like movement speed buff provided by "Advanced Cloaking" on Nova or "Assassin's Blade" on Zeratul).
Focused Attack (Kerrigan,Raynor,Rehgar,Sgt.Hammer,Sonya,Tychus,Tyrande,Zeratul)
Bonus to Basic Attack damage increased from 50% to 75%
Blizzard is doing good work of revamping underused talents, but this one just feels like cookie cuter. Problem is you have much better talents on the same tier and its just not enough to buff the actual didgits(unless you make them imbalanced).
Follow Through (E.T.C.,Sonya,Illidan,Thrall,Zeratul)
Bonus to Basic Attack damage increased from 25% to 40%
This talent seems to be a stepping stone to much larger plan new Sonya build after her changes(see Sonya specific talent changes below).
Healing Ward (Azmodan,Li Li,Malfurion,Tassadar,Tyrande)
Can now be struck by Area of Effect Abilities. Healing Wards now have 50 (+15 per level) Health
Developers continue to evaluate this talent is a such way that it wont be imbalanced/not used at all as it happened before. Overall this change is a nerf to a Healing Ward.
Ice Block (Brightwing,Malfurion,Nazeebo,Jaina)
Ice Block can now be reactivated to cancel its effects early
Remember dodging those sun strikes Precision Strikes with Ice Block ? Well now you can do it more efficiently. Expected "quality of life" change and ability to mind game your opponent a bit.
Promote (Brightwing,Gazlowe,Nazeebo,Tassadar,Azmodan,Zagara)
Buff duration increased from 15 to 30 seconds
I don't know what to say. Promote style of play was nerfed hard so you rarely see people using it. However, I've seen some Tempo Storm epic comeback with it on Haunted Mines from a Zagara player.
Hero specific talent changes :
Assassin
Nova
One in the Chamber(Talent)
Bonus to Basic Attack damage increased from 50% to 80%
Usually your "to go" talent on this tier is Anti-Armor Shells. As Nova you want to dish out as much damage as you can, as fast as you can. With such change this talent can becomes a valid alternative on maps and in hero compositions that favor prolonged fights.
Raynor
Penetrating Round(Q)
Knockback distance increased by about 23%
Inspire (W)
Attack Speed bonus increased from 25% to 30%
Allied Attack Speed bonus increased from 12.5% to 15%
Mana cost reduced from 50 to 40
Cooldown decreased from 15 to 10 seconds
Duration decreased from 8 to 6 seconds
Raynor’s Raiders (R)
New indicator art has been added that will highlight the Banshees’ current target
Slight buff to survivability as well as damage output, but it doesn't feel enough for Jimmy. He needs more love from the developers. Right now his damage output is huge in late game. Problem is before late game or at least level 13\16(depending on build) his damage output, presence and pressure are almost non-existing.
Specialist
Abathur
Locust Strain (Trait)
Bombard Locusts (Talent)
Bombard Strain Locust attack range reduced by 30%
Symbiote (Q)
Stab (Q)
Damage increased from 44 (+9 per level) to 46 (+9.5 per level)
Finally! Long awaited nerf to the backdoor abathur. So much hated and yet so effective build that has even made an appearance in some competitive matches is no more. Expected outcome change to the hero. Oh and there is invisible buff to damage of your "q"(in case you didn't notice).
Gazlowe
Rock-it! Turret (Q)
Mana cost decreased from 70 to 60
Rock-It! Turret XL (Talent)
Now acquires targets in a cone rather than a circle
This change was made to prevent cases where bonus shots could fire farther than the turret's indicated range.
Turret Storage (Talent)
Moved from Level 16 to Level 13
Maximum Turret charges reduced from 4 to 3
Long-Ranged Turrets (Talent)
Turret attack range bonus increased from 25% to 40%
Deth Lazor (W)
Damage gained per level reduced from 14 to 12
Mana cost decreased from 75 to 60
Cooldown decreased from 15 to 12 seconds, and now begins once Deth Lazor is fired
Damage now increases at 1.5 second, rather than 2 second, intervals while channeling, and reaches maximum damage at 3 seconds.
Maximum channel time decreased from 8 to 6 seconds
Goblin Fusion (Talent)
Moved from Level 16 to Level 4
Damage bonus reduced from 50% to 25%
EZ-PZ Dimensional Ripper (Talent)
Slow amount increased from 35% to 40%
Xplodium Charge (E)
Mana cost increased from 60 to 70
Kwik Release Charge (Talent)
Moved from Level 13 to Level 16
Grav-O-Bomb 3,000 (R)
Triggers 0.1875 seconds sooner in order to better align with the Ability’s visual effects
While all this changes, apart from the "quality of life" ones, seems to be a nerf he actually does more in team fights. His damage output, presence and pressure are higher due to DeathBall Deth Lazor charging much faster now. Cant say for sure if he become viable for the majority of the player base or competitive play, but you'll see more of him in games.
Murky
Spawn Egg (Trait)
Murky now spawns into the game with an Egg automatically placed in the Hall of Storms.
If both Murky and his Egg are killed, a new Egg will be automatically placed in the Hall of Storms once he respawns.
Spawn Egg will not be placed on cooldown in either of the above scenarios.
Some "quality of life" changes for the murloc players. This kind of stuff is always apriciated.
Sylvanas
New Talent (Level 7): Remorseless
After using an Ability, the next Basic Attack within 3 seconds deals 25% additional damage
This is a Sylvanas-specific replacement for the Follow Through Talent
Fifteen percent buff on this talent would be huge damage increase for the Banshee Queen. No wonder Blizzard is giving her “reduced” version of this common talent. Right now she feels in balanced spot. My only concern is her second ultimate. But it was already stated that it is marked for a rework in the near future.
The Lost Vikings
Jump! (Talent)
Cooldown increased from 20 to 30 seconds
Longboat Raid! (R)
The Lost Vikings will now become stunned for 1.5 seconds if the Longboat is destroyed before its duration ends
Play Again! (R)
All of the Lost Vikings are now restored to full Health upon casting Play Again!
So much hate towards jumping Vikings! However if we take more serious approach we can see that they were very hard to gank on bigger maps. And to stay in a “reasonably balanced” spot they need to have some weaknesses. Personally , I think that they are still imbalanced in a hands of a pro player. Regarding other changes – boat nerf seems a reasonable one. And a good opportunity to finally kill those pesky Vikings. Buff on the second ultimate is nice but I don’t think we’ll see ultimate other then boat for a long time.
Warrior
Anub'arak
Scarab Host (Trait)
Beetle A.I. has received several improvements.
If Anub’arak is attacking an enemy when a Beetle is spawned, the Beetle will also attempt to attack that target.
If Anub’arak is not attacking anything when a Beetle is spawned, the Beetle will attempt to find a nearby target to attack.
Beetles will now attack and pursue a target found this way until that enemy dies, or the Beetles lose track of the target (through teleporting away, for example). Only then will the Beetles return to a lane.
Impale (Q)
Casting delay removed
Burrow Charge (E)
Casting delay significantly reduced
You rarely see Anub’arak in YOLO solo queue, and from time to time in competitive scene exclusively played by ArthasStroitHram team. Reasons for that are simple – he is difficult to play and was nerfed some time ago. However with these changes he is coming back. Right now he feels much responsive, easier to play and oh my! damage from beetles – don’t even try to 1v1 him unless you know what you’re doing.
After massive talent overhauls like those below its hard to predict what will happen with heroes. Right now what I can tell for sure is developers are trying to break pre-patch 2-3 tanks meta (E.T.C., Diablo, Muradin) by reworking slightly overpowered tanks and shifting their gameplay to more “risk-reward” meta-game than just straight “I do this better then anyone else” meta-game.
Diablo
Diablo has received significant updates.
Health decreased from 1060 (+260 per level) to 1050 (+250 per level)
Amplified Healing (Talent) removed
Relentless (Talent) removed
Storm Shield (Talent) removed
New Talent (Level 13): Life Leech
Basic Attacks against enemy Heroes deal bonus damage equal to 1% of that Hero’s maximum Health, and heals Diablo for the same amount.
New Talent (Level 20): Lord of Terror
Activate to steal 10% of the maximum Health of all nearby enemy Heroes
Black Soulstone (Trait)
Maximum Health gain changed from +5 per Soul to +0.15% per Soul
Endless Death (Talent) removed
Soul Feast (Talent)
Health Regeneration bonus increased from 2% to 3% per Soul
Siphon the Dead (Talent) moved from Level 7 to 13
Will no longer interrupt movement when activated
No longer consumes Souls upon activation, and Black Soulstone now heals 15% of Diablo’s maximum Health over 3 seconds
Soul Steal (Talent)
This Talent has been repurposed and now affects Diablo’s Black Soulstone Trait.
Now increases the maximum Health gained per Soul from 0.15% to 0.25%
New Talent (Level 4): Soul Catcher
Passively generates a Soul every 4 seconds
New Talent (Level 4): Essence of the Slain
Gain 10 Mana whenever a nearby enemy Minion dies
Shadow Charge (Q)
Mana cost increased from 50 to 60
Cooldown increased from 10 to 12 seconds
Diablo is no longer Unstoppable during Shadow Charge.
Stun duration when the target of Shadow Charge is knocked into a wall has been decreased from 1 to 0.75 seconds.
Crippling Shadows (Talent) removed
From the Shadows (Talent) has been redesigned
Moved from Level 13 to Level 7
Now increases Shadow Charge’s stun duration, inflicted when the target is knocked into a wall, by 0.5 seconds
New Talent (Level 1): Overwhelming Force
Increases the range and knockback of Shadow Charge by 25%
New Talent (Level 7): Devastating Charge
Shadow Charge reduces the duration silences, stuns, slows, roots, and Polymorphs against Diablo by 50% for 3 seconds.
Fire Stomp (W)
Swallowing Flames (Talent) removed
Molten Impact (Talent) removed
Fire Devil (Talent) moved from level 16 to level 4
Damage reduced from 12 (+3 per level) to 10 (+2 per level)
Firestorm (Talent) moved from level 16 to level 13
Damage bonus decreased from 150% to 125%
New Talent (Level 16): Rampage
Fire Stomp increases Diablo’s Movement Speed by 20% and Basic Attack damage by 50% for 2 seconds.
Overpower (E)
Mana cost increased from 50 to 60
Demonic Strength (Talent) has been redesigned
Now slows the target by 25% for 2 seconds once Overpower’s stun expires
New Talent (Level 16): Domination
Overpower reduces Shadow Charge’s cooldown by 8 seconds.
Apocalypse (R)
Dying Breath (Talent)
Now also reduces Apocalypse’s cooldown by 20 seconds, in addition to its other effects
With these changes developers are shifting Diablo from being overtanky and having superb initiation and crowd control to a more single target focus based initiator as well as postponing his full tanky potential to a later stages of the game. Not being unstoppable during "q" seems like a huge nerf but his single target damage output got significantly buffed this patch.
E.T.C.
E.T.C. has received significant updates.
Scouting Drone (Talent) removed
Superiority (Talent) removed
Relentless (Talent) removed
Hardened Shield (Talent) removed
Follow Through (Talent) added at Level 7
Spell Shield (Talent) added at Level 13
Storm Shield (Talent) added at Level 20
Echo Pedal (Talent)
Moved from Level 4 to Level 16
Pulse damage increased from 10 (+3 per level) to 30 (+5 per level)
The first pulse now fires immediately, and fires the follow-up pulse after 2 seconds in order to allow for more cohesion with Face Melt and Powerslide.
Rockstar (Trait)
No longer affects allied Minions or Mercenaries
Duration increased from 3 to 4 seconds
Rockin’ Out (Talent) removed
Uber Rockstar (Talent) renamed to Speed Metal
Moved from Level 13 to Level 16
Now lasts 2 seconds, separate from Rockstar
New Talent (Level 4): Hammer On
Increases Rockstar’s duration by 2 seconds, and reduces the cost of all Abilities by 10 Mana while Rockstar is active
Powerslide (Q)
Mana cost increased from 50 to 60
New Talent (Level 1): Rolling Like a Stone
Increases Powerslide’s range by 25%
New Talent (Level 4): Double-Necked Guitar
Increases Powerslide’s width by 100%, and speed by 30%
New Talent (Level 13): Show Stopper
E.T.C. gains Resistant, reducing all damage taken by 25%, for 4 seconds after casting Powerslide.
Face Melt (W)
Mana cost increased from 50 to 60
New Talent (Level 4): Mic Check
Hitting 3 or more targets with Face Melt reduces its cooldown by 4 seconds
New Talent (Level 4): Pinball Wizard
Face Melt deals an additional 50% damage to enemies recently affected by Powerslide.
New Talent (Level 16): Encore
Face Melt now leaves behind an Amplifier, which will knock enemies back again after 2 seconds.
Guitar Solo (E)