#6 - Into the Nexus: “Title”
• Garrett • Dills • Kyle
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Sponsors:
Into the Nexus is proudly sponsored by Doghouse Systems.com. If you use the code ITN at checkout, you will get double memory on your next Doghouse System!
Into the Nexus is also sponsored by TweakedAudio.com. The same code, ITN, will get you 30% off and free shipping on your entire order of noise-reducing earbuds from Tweaked Audio!
Intro: Welcome to Into the Nexus! The Heroes of the Storm podcast!
News
Massive news overload due to the latest Heroes Q&A
Team 1 sat down with Cloaken again this week to talk about the upcoming Tech Alpha patch.
Misc.
- They will be showing individual kills and individual killstreaks “better” in the future.
- Personal Killstreak Meter - Levels up as you get personal killstreaks.
- Bounty System - “Someone gets 3 kills on someone, a bounty goes out on their head, and the rest of the team has to hunt that person down.”
- Clan Support confirmed... duh.
- Party System being added in this upcoming patch.
- Matchmaking has rules in place to help prevent 5 of the same archetype from getting matched with each other.
- Matchmaking also tries to put premades up against each other, but due to the small player pool in the Tech Alpha, it isn't always the case.
- Adding franchise specific battlegrounds is something they will look at doing in the future. Other maps are currently in the works.
Links
New Patch is Here!
General
- Murky is now in the game
- The team level cap has been increased from 25 to 30
- Mount speed has been increased from 20% to 40% and mounts no longer gain speed per level.
- Now has a flat attack speed of 0.6 and no longer gains attack speed per level
- Hero rings have been added underfoot to improve hero clarity
- Rejoin Game feature is now live.
- Inactive Player Removal
- If a player does not issue a game command for 150 seconds during a match, that player will receive an inactivity warning via chat.
- If a player does not issue a game command within 30 seconds after receiving a warning, that player will be dropped from the game and returned to the Heroes login screen.
- Inactive players who are dropped in this way will be prompted to rejoin from the out-of-game menus after logging back in.
- As with leaving or disconnecting from a game before it is finished, the A.I. will take over the dropped player’s hero until that player rejoins the game. Additionally, that player will earn no experience points, quest credit, or rewards if they do not rejoin the game before it concludes
- No more than 3 Warriors.
- No more than 4 Assassins.
- No more than 2 Support.
- No more than 2 Specialists.
- No more than 3 Melee heroes.
- this does not prevent full parties from using any composition they prefer.
- If a party has spent longer than 6 minutes in the matchmaking queue, the team composition rules may be broken in order to find a match.
- Can be accessed in the Gameplay Options menu.
- Off (default): Press an ability hotkey to enter targeting mode and then left click to cast the ability.
- On: Press an ability hotkey to instantly cast that ability in the direction, or at the location, of the mouse cursor.
- On Release: Press an ability hotkey to enter targeting mode. Release the hotkey to cast that ability in the direction, or at the location, of the mouse cursor.
Ui
- A new Looking for Party panel has been added to the home screen and the Friends List.
- The Looking for Party panel will display players who are looking to join a party, as well as existing parties in search of more members.
- Players can indicate that they would like to join a party by clicking the checkbox in the Looking for Party panel on the home screen or in the friends list.
- Players of similar skill will have a star displayed next to their names in the panel.
Sound
- All Heroes now have complete voiceover kits.
- All Battleground characters (Blackheart, the Raven Lord, etc.) have received new voiceover and have replaced the previous default game announcer.
Battlegrounds
- Knight Mercenary Camp respawn time has been increased from 240 to 270 seconds
- Raven Court
- The Curse mechanic on this map was a major contributor to snowballing
- To reduce the snowballing on this Battleground the Curse no longer reduces building health by 50% when the Curse is active
- The Dragon Knight now scales more aggressively as the game time increases
- There have been significant layout changes to the jungle area of this map, including mercenary camp locations
- Two Watch Towers have also been added to the jungle
Hero Changes
Buff | Nerf | Early Game Nerf, Late Game Buff | Overhaul | Minor Change/Talent Only |
Diablo Li Li Muradin Witch Doctor Tychus
| Bright Wing Falstad Tassadar | Abathur Raynor Demon Hunter | Illidan Sgt. Hammer Stiches Tyreal Uther | Gazlowe Nova Tyrande |
There’s a ton of Hero changes across the board. So we’re only picking one Hero each for the sake of time.
Garrett’s Pick: Arthas
- Frostmourne Hungers (Trait) has been changed
- Can be activated to cause Arthas’s next basic attack to deal 100% increased damage, and returns 30 mana when a target is hit.
- Supporting Talents have been reworked
- Frost Strike (Q) and its supporting Talents have been removed.
- New Ability (Q): Death Coil
- Targeted ability, medium range, deals damage if used against an enemy, or heals Arthas if cast on himself
- New Talent (Level 1): Death Touch
- Death Coil will instantly kill minions.
- New Talent (Level 16): Embrace Death
- Death Coil deals 20% more damage for each 10% of health Arthas is missing.
- New Talent (Level 16): Immortal Coil
- Death Coil will now always heal Arthas. If Death Coil is used to heal Arthas, the amount healed is increased by 50%.
- Now applies a stacking move speed slow of 6% per second, up to 5 stacks
- Remorseless Winter Talent previously did this and has been removed
- Mana cost per second increased from 8 to 10
- Biting Cold (Talent) is now accessible at level 13 instead of 16
- Cooldown increased from 80 to 90 seconds
- Cooldown reduced from 100 to 90 seconds
- Search width increased from 5 to 8
- Damage gained per level increased from 10 to 15
- Health restore reduced from 8% to 6%
- Now has a flat attack speed of 0.6 and Illidan no longer gains attack speed per level
- Illidan’s ability kit has received a massive overhaul.
- Mark of Azzinoth (Trait), Betrayer’s Strike (Q), Crescent Sweep (W), Lunge (E), and their supporting Talents have been removed.
-
- New Trait: Betrayer’s Thirst
- Basic attacks lower ability cooldowns by 1 second and heal Illidan for 20% of damage dealt.
- New Talent (Level 1): Spar for Blood
- Basic attacks now heal for 30% of damage dealt
-
- New Talent (Level 7): Ultimate Duelist
- Betrayer’s Thirst can be activated to double the cooldown reduction from basic attacks for 5 seconds.
- 25 second cooldown
- Illidan dives toward target enemy, dealing damage on impact, and flipping over the target.
- New Talent (Level 4): Marked for Death
- Illidan’s next basic attack on the Dive target deals 100% additional damage.
-
- New Talent (Level 7): Rapid Chase
- Illidan gains 20% movement speed for 2 seconds after casting Dive.
-
- New Talent (Level 13): Betrayer’s Ally
- Dive can now be cast on allies
-
- New Talent (Level 13): Lunge
- Increases Dive cast range by 30%
-
- New Ability (W): Sweeping Strike
- Illidan dashes to target location, damaging all enemies in his path. If he hits an enemy his basic attacks deal 25% increased damage for 4 seconds.
- New Talent (Level 1): Battered Assault
- Increases the Sweeping Strike’s basic attack damage bonus from 25% to 40%
-
- New Talent (Level 4): Additional Reach
- Increases the range of Sweeping Strike by 20%
-
- New Talent (Level 4): Immolation
- Sweeping Strike causes Illidan to burn nearby enemies for a few seconds.
-
- New Talent (Level 13): Endless Bounds
- Illidan ignores all collision while using Sweeping Strikes.
-
- New Talent (Level 16): Second Sweep
- Illidan can store up to 2 charges of Sweeping Strike.
- Illidan evades all basic attacks against him for 2 seconds.
- New Talent (Level 1): Demonic Life-Force
- Evasion also grants a shield that lasts for 5 seconds
-
- New Talent (Level 7): Lingering Evasion
- Illidan gains 2 charges of Block (50% reduced basic attack damage) which last for 5 seconds after Evasion wears off.
-
- New Talent (Level 13): Spell Evasion
- Illidan takes 50% reduced damage from abilities while Evasion is active.
- New Talent (Level 20): Demonic Form
- Illidan remains in Demonic Form until killed
- Allows Illidan to mount while in Demonic Form
- Attack speed of Demonic Form is increased from 20% to 30%
- Cooldown increased from 45 to 60 seconds
- New Talent (Level 20): Nowhere is Safe
- Cast range becomes global, and the acceleration of The Hunt is greatly increased
Ky
- Now has a flat attack speed of 0.6 and Illidan no longer gains attack speed per level
- Illidan’s ability kit has received a massive overhaul.
- Mark of Azzinoth (Trait), Betrayer’s Strike (Q), Crescent Sweep (W), Lunge (E), and their supporting Talents have been removed.
-
- New Trait: Betrayer’s Thirst
- Basic attacks lower ability cooldowns by 1 second and heal Illidan for 20% of damage dealt.
- New Talent (Level 1): Spar for Blood
- Basic attacks now heal for 30% of damage dealt
-
- New Talent (Level 7): Ultimate Duelist
- Betrayer’s Thirst can be activated to double the cooldown reduction from basic attacks for 5 seconds.
- 25 second cooldown
- Illidan dives toward target enemy, dealing damage on impact, and flipping over the target.
- New Talent (Level 4): Marked for Death
- Illidan’s next basic attack on the Dive target deals 100% additional damage.
-
- New Talent (Level 7): Rapid Chase
- Illidan gains 20% movement speed for 2 seconds after casting Dive.
-
- New Talent (Level 13): Betrayer’s Ally
- Dive can now be cast on allies
-
- New Talent (Level 13): Lunge
- Increases Dive cast range by 30%
-
- New Ability (W): Sweeping Strike
- Illidan dashes to target location, damaging all enemies in his path. If he hits an enemy his basic attacks deal 25% increased damage for 4 seconds.
- New Talent (Level 1): Battered Assault
- Increases the Sweeping Strike’s basic attack damage bonus from 25% to 40%
-
- New Talent (Level 4): Additional Reach
- Increases the range of Sweeping Strike by 20%
-
- New Talent (Level 4): Immolation
- Sweeping Strike causes Illidan to burn nearby enemies for a few seconds.
-
- New Talent (Level 13): Endless Bounds
- Illidan ignores all collision while using Sweeping Strikes.
-
- New Talent (Level 16): Second Sweep
- Illidan can store up to 2 charges of Sweeping Strike.
- Illidan evades all basic attacks against him for 2 seconds.
- New Talent (Level 1): Demonic Life-Force
- Evasion also grants a shield that lasts for 5 seconds
-
- New Talent (Level 7): Lingering Evasion
- Illidan gains 2 charges of Block (50% reduced basic attack damage) which last for 5 seconds after Evasion wears off.
-
- New Talent (Level 13): Spell Evasion
- Illidan takes 50% reduced damage from abilities while Evasion is active.
- New Talent (Level 20): Demonic Form
- Illidan remains in Demonic Form until killed
- Allows Illidan to mount while in Demonic Form
- Attack speed of Demonic Form is increased from 20% to 30%
- Cooldown increased from 45 to 60 seconds
- New Talent (Level 20): Nowhere is Safe
- Cast range becomes global, and the acceleration of The Hunt is greatly increased
Dills
- Stitches has received significant Talent changes
- Bribe and Spell Shield have been removed
- New Talent (Level 4): Vile Cleaver
- Basic attacks create a cloud of Vile Gas on the target. This effect does not stack.
- New Talent (Level 13): Helping Hand
- Stitches can now Hook allied heroes.
- New Talent (Level 16): Shish Kabob
- Hook can pull up to 2 targets
- In addition to the 0.5 second stun, Slam’s damage is also increased by an additional 50%.
- New Talent (Level 4): Putrid Ground
- Slam now infects targets with Vile Gas. This effect does not stack.
- New Talent (Level 7): Savor the Flavor
- Using Devour on an enemy hero permanently increases Stitches’ health regeneration per second by 2. This effect stacks.
- New Talent (Level 7): Last Bite
- Cooldown is reduced by 15 seconds if Devour kills the target
Links
Strategy
Email from Zed
Greetings heroes! First of all, I wanna say thanks for another awesome podcast! I'm a total blizz fanboy, and am really excited for this game. To my delight, I got my invite for the ALPHA this week, and it is awesome! I tend to favor ranged classes, and have always had a thing for the ghosts and spectres in StarCraft, so I broke down and bought Nova. I don't regret it one bit, she is an amazing character, and incredibly badass.
My question is, can you guys give any tips for improving with her? What I have been doing lately is staying cloaked and dropping a holo, then I open up my attack with pinning shot and go from there. Is this a viable strategy? Can you tell me some others that I could try?
Hero Spotlight: Nova
Nova Patch Changes
- The 20% increased damage to Snipe when it is cast while Cloaked now has a 1 second grace period. This allows for better combos with Wounding Shot.
- New Talent (Level 16): Railgun
- Snipe now pierces enemies, dealing 50% damage to all subsequent targets hit
- New Talent (Level 4): Extended Projection
- Increases the cast range of Holo Decoy by 100%
- New Talent (Level 16): Remote Access
- Nova can now control her Holo Decoy and increases the Decoy’s vision range from 6 to 12.
Links
Emails
Andrew
Dear masters of the nexus,
I recently had an epiphany while getting absolutely smashed in hearthstone. I know there has been previous emails asking you guys about your preferences on new heroes that come out, so i figured i would throw out an idea and see what you guys think. The whole idea, playstyle, and name of this hero can be summed up in two simple but elegant words: LEEEEEEROY JENKINS!!!!!!! I think it would be totally awesome if they made this guy a hero, mabye an assassin? Do you think he should be a hero and if so, what kind of hero (assassin or warrior? abilities?) Love the show and keep up the excellent work!
Outro
iTunes Thanks
- Frostmourne_Hungers
- A pirate not from penzance
Into the Nexus is a production of Amove.tv. You can see more about this and all the other A-move shows at Amove.tv. You can also email the show at ITNcast@gmail.com or continue the conversation over at forum.Amove.tv.
Catch the live show Thursday nights at 9pm Eastern on Twitch.tv/Amovetv. Mobile live stream provided by Alpha Geek Radio. Go to mobile.alphageekradio.com.
Follow the show on Twitter @ITNcast
Follow Garrett on @GarrettArt
Follow Dills @WillieDills
Follow Kyle @KyleFergusson
Thanks to Brian Griffith, the musician responsible for our intro music. He can be found at briangriffithmusic.com or @briangriffith on twitter.
NOMOONart.com for Garrett’s stream designs.
Dill’s where else can everyone find you?
The Instance - The World of Warcraft podcast so you don’t have to
The Angry Chicken - Hearthstone podcast
TortureCast - A podcast by and for fans of the San Francisco Giants
MGA MedioCast - A podcast about the Mediocre Golf Association
And Kyle where can you be found?
Biggest Fan
A-move Radio
Don’t forget to check out our sponsors:
Doghouse Systems.com
Our code, ITN, will get you double-memory on your next Doghouse gaming rig.
Tweaked Audio.com
The same code, ITN, will get you 30% off and free shipping on your entire order of noise-reducing earbuds from Tweaked Audio!