My Top 10 Heroes Of The Storm Characters (2.0)

Hey fellow Otaku & Metalheads!

So last year marked the 1-year anniversary of Heroes of the Storm’s release, as well as my original list of my 10 favorite characters. A lot has changed since it’s release, both good & bad. A host of new characters from across Blizzard’s franchises came in, and shook things up (Again, both good & bad). New maps increased the worlds you’d come across, and overall expanded the game’s appeal. Since it’s now 2 years since HotS came out, I figured it’s only appropriate to talk about more of my favorite characters to use. With that out of the way, here are 10 more of my favorite Heroes of the Storm characters. Enjoy!

10) Lunara (Spotlight) & Ragnaros (Spotlight)           

We start off this list with characters that ended their respective years (2015 for Lunara & 2016 for Ragnaros). A strange way to start, but an appropriate one. For starters, there’s Lunara. A fragile ranged assassin, she’s also a wily individual, manipulating the forces of nature to poison her foes. Hoping around the battlefield, this exotic dryad can be a surprisingly powerful foe is played properly, as is evident by the numerous players that often get infuriated by her. If there was one complaint I had, it would be that she really wasn’t an appropriate concluding character. In a way she was rather underwhelming, especially since Cho’Gall was released the month prior (See my original list for details on him). She’s definitely improved since then, but still wasn’t the right choice to close out 2015.

On the other hand, there is Ragnaros the Firelord. A towering figure of flame & anger, this impressive melee assassin’s mastery of fire can’t be beat by anyone else in the nexus. Ragnaros was a far more appropriate character to end the year on than Lunara was: his skills are far more exciting & mighty that the dryad’s mastery of nature, and his ability to takeover his team’s keeps (As well as the ruined keeps of his enemies) to heighten his power leaves lesser being in awe. I was far more entertained by Ragnaros than Lunara. My only gripe.....was that, as a Warcraft character, was released the month that the original Diablo turned 20. Without going on a massive tirade, let me just say that I thought it was a slap in the face for Warcraft to end the year for Heroes of the Storm, when Diablo was being celebrated. Despite that, the Firelord was a scorching good time.....pun intended.

9) Greymane (Spotlight) & Zul’Jin (Spotlight)

From concluding characters, we make our way to starting characters. After concluding 2015 with a fine but ‘Meh’ assassin in the form of Lunara, 2016 started out with.....a ‘Meh’ character? Don’t take what I just said to heart, as Greymane is not a bad character. The King of Gilneas is a wily foe: able to take shots at enemies while he’s human, he can close the distance & embrace the worgen curse, slashing foes into chunky pieces. For a character like that, I’m actually quite surprised as to how little I think of Greymane now, much less play him.

Luckily, I wasn’t bored with the starting character of this year. The Warlord of the Amani, Zul’jin is what Greymane should have been at the start of 2016, and is absolutely fun to play. Despite being a ranged assassin, this vicious troll has a rough-and-tumble playstyle that lends itself well to players who like a “In Your Face” style. The more you hurt Zul’jin, the more furious his attacks are. Even if his health is low, all he has to do is retreat into his hiding place, and call upon the spirits of the forest to rejuvenate him. Build Zul’jin just right, and he can carry your team to victory numerous times.

8) Artanis (Spotlight/Trailer)

I distinctively recall being slightly angry at Artanis when he was first announced. For starters, people who pre-ordered Legacy of the Void got him a week early. In hindsight, I see the business side of it: a nice little bonus to show off a new product while establishing another product at the sametime. Then came his release, and I half to admit.....I was a little surprised at him. For a character claiming to be such a powerful warrior, I was shocked at how much damage I wasn’t doing. On top of that, a lot of his skill didn’t quite execute themselves as well as they should have been. So, I remained disgusted with him for a few months......then the fixes came.

After the fixes arrived, my opinion about Artanis changed dramatically. His attacks felt far more impactful than they did before, and his skills acted far more in line than they did before. I thought that he was mildly entertaining before, but after they fixed him, he was much more enjoyable. You know you find a character enjoyable when you buy one of their skins, which should tell you how I think of him now.

7) Varian (Spotlight)

When I heard that the king of Stormwind was coming into HotS, I was rather conflicted. On the one hand, it was another WoW character. Coming off of the Starcraft-themed Machines of War event, you’d think they’d put out another Starcraft character. On the other hand, I get why he’s in the game. One of the most central figures in Warcraft’s history, it makes sense that he would come to the Nexus, especially since he died in Legion. Perhaps the most intriguing about Varian is that he’s HotS’s first every multiclass character (Warrior/Assassin), and when it came time to play him, I gotta admit.....I liked em!

Not to say that Varian wasn’t gimmicky, cause he was. The multiclass concept behind him was intriguing, but ultimately it came across more as an attention grabber than something gamebreaking. Despite that, he was a solid melee combatant. He could go toe-to-toe with just about everybody, and thanks to his versatility, he could adapt his fighting style to suit whatever situation he runs into. Varian was quite the surprising character to be added to HotS, and despite him being from WoW, is more than welcome to stay for the ride.

6) Probius (Spotlight/Trailer) ***

A probe? They had the balls, to give one of the greatest MOAB games of all time a probe!? Nope! Nope! Does not compute, does not compute, does not compu.....(Please stand by)

To be honest, I was actually surprised by the inclusion of this character. The day before he was announced, there was a preview of some kind of Protoss hero on HotS’s facebook page, and I immediately thought of Karax from Legacy of the Void. I wasn’t completely wrong: we got a builder hero to be sure, and I was right that it came from the Protoss faction of Starcraft, but it wasn’t an actual member of the Protoss race. Immediately, Probius came across as something of a joke character, and in my first 2 games, I certainly went along with that thought. However, that would actually be doing this little probe a huge disservice, as he’s actually one of the most surprising heroes to be released in 2017 so far. If you manage to get him ahead of your team, you can setup a zone of attack due to his ability to warp in pylons, creating an energy field that recharges you & powers up your photon cannons. Coupled with your warp rifts, you can almost deal Assassin-level amounts of damage. For anyone that picks on little Probius, go back & give him a try. You’ll be just as surprised as I was.

5) Lt. Morales (Spotlight/Trailer)

When I talked Lili from my original list, I briefly talked about the character presented here, Lt. Morales. I couldn’t tie them back on that list, and so I thought that the Starcraft medic should be placed here instead. However, I couldn’t place Morales at number 4: since that list she’s gone through some changes, many of them good, but a small number that were bad. I would complain about her displacement grenade ability, but it would come across as childish. Taking her faults out of the picture, Lt. Morales can actually be a potent support character. Forgoing healing her entire team, she instead can focus on helping a single individual, restoring their health & bolstering their defense. Even if enemies manage to get in range, Morales can launch a grenade & blow them away. When she’s up there in terms of power, she can give a member on the team a stim drone, or she call down a medivac to transport the team to a point on the map. If you prefer to help out a single teammate rather than everybody else, Lt. Morales is the character for you.

4) Zarya (Spotlight) & Lúcio (Spotlight) & Genji (Spotlight)

Much like Tracer from my list last year, there was no way I could ignore Overwatch’s next two offerings to the Nexus. However, I kind of like these two a little more than the British firecracker. Unfortunately, Tracer had received changes that were rather.....unsavory. In many ways she was nerfed to a point where I found her to be nowhere near as fun as she was at launch. Zarya & Lúcio, however, have stayed their respective courses, and remain enjoyable to play.

Let’s start off with the Russian beauty, Zarya. Her abilities translated surprisingly well to Heroes of the Storm. While she isn’t mobile like Tracer or her Brazilian counterpart, she’s still capable of providing shielding to herself & her allies, increasing her damage in the process. Also capable of launching balls of plasma that can increase in power, the strongest woman in the world can eventually bend gravity to her will. She can pull people in with her signature graviton surge, or she can repel foes with her expulsion zone. Either way, you don’t want to mess with this pink-haired fury.

Then there’s Lúcio. You wouldn’t expect a DJ to be an invaluable member to a team, but you’d be wrong! Translating incredibly well as far as his abilities (Even his Wall Ride trait works surprisingly well), his ability to heal his allies through music is simultaneously simple yet incredibly potent, as is his speed boost song. Lúcio brings his signature sonic barrier to the nexus, but he now has the second ability to distort his music, and damage enemies in the process. Easily one of my favorite support characters, but not my number 1 support character.

Finally, there’s Genji. The one thing I have to give credit to the HotS team is how well they’ve been able to translate the characters of Overwatch over to a MOAB like Heroes, and our resident cybernetic ninja is no exception. Though he’s not quite as mobile as his FPS counterpart, the still more that successfully translated his abilities & flavor with laser precision. He still attacks with his shurikens, has agile leaping & movement abilities, and when he unleashes his dragonblade, the damage output is frightening as ever. Never underestimate a ninja with cybernetics in his body.

3) Cassia (Spotlight)

Much like Xul from last year, this year had some Diablo 2 nostalgia in store for the Nexus. I admit that the Amazon was my least favorite character from D2, as I thought she seemed to be a “All-For-Nothing” kind of character when it came to how she fought. With this version, it’s obvious where they put her (Ranged with javelins), and I’m thankful for that. I should say that, for an assassin character, she’s a bit more tanky than most. Thanks you her trait, you can actually absorb an impressive amount of damage as long as you’re on the run. Given that she has a shorter range that most ranged assassins, this damage absorption is definitely important. That said, this fearless Amazon is definitely welcome among the combatants of the Nexus, and I’ll gladly fight by her side.

2) Dehaka (Spotlight) & Gul’dan (Spotlight/Trailer) & Auriel (Spotlight/Trailer)

It was hard for my number 2 spot. Each of the characters that took this spot I enjoy using pretty often to such a degree, I couldn’t pick just one of them. Each of them all exhibit really cool traits: Dehaka is a beefy tank that can heal himself & be a little stealthy, Gul’Dan’s destructive magic is matched only by his desire for life-force, and the Angel of Hope is the first character I ever purposely played to level 10 under the old system. She was what Kharazim should have been: a healer that could not only help her teammates, but could also handle a fight by herself. For the longest time Auriel was actually my number 1 character, but another would surprisingly take the spot. What individual managed to take the number one spot? The answer......may surprise you.

1) D.Va (Spotlight)

I am genuinely surprised by the one that would take this spot. To be perfectly honest, I’m not exactly the biggest fan of Overwatch’s resident Korean gamer girl. She always seemed to be for more skilled players, and with her health & skill changes, the brat has become rather squishy as of late. However, leave it to the HotS team to translate an FPS characters to the MOAB format. To be honest I was incredibly worried that her play style would have been mangled in the change, but I was shocked when I played her, and realized that they translated her skills almost to the letter, and her attitude seemed to be a little more friendly. She’s genuinely a blast to play, and unlike her Overwatch counterpart, D.Va in the Nexus is a hardy hero.

So these were 10 more of my favorite Heroes of the Storm characters. It’s definitely been a chaotic game since my last list, but with all the stuff they’ve added & tweeked, it’s been a fun ride. See you all after next week, when we’ll resume with part 2 of Power Metal Pandemonium.


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If you’re curious about my original list, check out the link below:

My Top 10 Heroes of the Storm Characters (Original)

Also, like the Nostalgia Critic reference I did at my no. 6?