During BlizzCon 2014, developers told us about the 3 core principals that go into every hero design. Have the new heroes lived up to these ideas, and what ever happened to the Rogue and Warlock heroes that were teased?
A year ago GosuGamers went to BlizzCon and covered the Heroes of the storm "Deep Dive" developer presentation. During the event, developers talked all about Hero creation, things to come, and how the team uses 3 principles to create heroes.
The three principles are as follows:
1. The Fantasy: What role does the hero play in their respective universe?
2. The Look: What does the hero look and sound like?
3. The Design: How does the hero function in their respective universe?
These 3 design principles were explained as the core ideas that influence how a Hero is made to fit into the Nexus. This is why why you won't ever see Murky having high max HP numbers. In his respective universe, Murky is a mere Murloc, and Murlocs get one-shotted all the time. His "Fantasy", "Look" and "Design" work together to create the hero we know and love (hate) today.
So what about the new heroes included in the game since this presentation?
There have been four in total and so far, they have been fantastic:
Kael'Thas, The Sun King
The Fantasy: Fragile hero from Warcraft 3, insanely powerful Raid boss from World of Warcraft. Ends-Justify-The-Means radical fighting for his people.
The Look: Pompous, Arrogant, sure in his abilities, easily enraged.
The Design: Fire. Lots of Fire. Manipulates magic and disrupts enemies on the battle field.
The result: In Heroes of the Storm, Kael'Thas manages to maintain his scary level of firepower, still threatening to decimate an entire group of heroes like he did during The Burning Crusade. However, his Warcraft 3 origins influence a large part of his talent options, including the ability to amass huge amounts of mana and kill clumped up units quickly. Instead of his core spell "Banish" we have Gravity Lapse (a nod to his WoW raid boss persona). Still green, still magical, and still his only defensive option.
Kael'Thas brings one of the oldest WoW mechanics and spreads it all over the nexus: don't spread the Living Bomb or we will all die. Fitting for the games only fire mage representative.
Johanna, Crusadar of Zakarum
The Fantasy: The most defensive, unkillable class from Diablo 3. A playable character that wants to be attacked by everyone nearby. Driven by unshakeable purpose.
The Look: Steadfast, battle-hardened, immovable, gallant.
The Design: The crusader is defined by the shield. A watchful sentinel protecting allies against waves and waves of enemies. Crusaders don't look for fights, they just punish anyone who stands in their way.
The result: Although Johanna came late in the game's creation, most people would agree that she embodies everything you want in a Warrior class. Tanky beyond belief, playing her strikes true to playing a crusader in Diablo 3: run into the enemy and figure it out once everyone is trying to kill you. Johanna makes playing the "boring tank" feel more like playing the "fearless leader" which is a good thing, as it's exactly how she should be played.
The Butcher, Flesh Carver
The Fantasy: Terrifying Boss from the Diablo series. Never stops chasing you. Kills player surprisingly quick, teaching the most important lesson about Butcher Demons: don't let them touch you. As a boss, has obvious counter play to make up for devastating power levels.
The Look: Insane. Gleeful in his savagery. Simple, deadly, violent. A predator of anything living.
The Design: The Butcher can best be described as a Bull in a world painted red. If he sees something, he will kill it. He won't fight it, or engage in tactics, or maneuver around it, he will just kill it. The Butcher isn't trying to be clever when with his approach, he instead unsettles his opponents with mindless violence.
The Result: The Butcher in Heroes of the Storm needs to do two things: Chop meat and kill unsuspecting enemies. The Butcher changes any game he appears in, causing enemy squishies to play in fear throughout every stage in the game. He is a menace that preys on opponents who repeatedly fall for the same trick.
But true to his nature, the Butcher is not versatile. Like the series he appears in, clever heroes will dodge him and stay within the safe cover of obstacles or tankier allies.
Leoric, The Skeleton King
The Fantasy: Disgraced King who went mad and boss of Diablo series. Leoric won't stay dead and, and although not King of the Skeletons, he is still a Skeleton King. Large swings, large weapons, powerful strikes and phantom like movements test player's mastery over their heroes and abilities.
The Look: Royal oppression and rage that comes from centuries of practice. Haunting and ghost like, slow shambling movement contrasted with unpredictable burst of speed and strength. Brings a sense of impending doom and dread.
The Design: Leoric is insane and fights with a style which showcases his madness. He curses you for bringing the warmth of light into his tomb, when he is the one that brought the tomb to you. His hatred for the living reveals itself through various life draining abilities and his iconic resistance towards staying dead. Leoric wants to kill everyone equally and large swings with an enormous mace is what you need to make that happen.
The Result: Playing against Leoric can sometimes feel depressing. He literally haunts the battlefield and his unstoppable mobility allows him to set the pace of any engagement. He is Royalty after all: he chooses to engage you, not the other way around. We have all had those moments where we think we are about to kill Leoric, only to realize he is the one gaining HP and you are the one losing it. Leoric might possibly be the most villainous feeling character in the entire game.
So it's only fitting that his biggest weakness lies in his tendency to get killed over and over again by an organize group of heroes.
These four heroes are big successes for the Heroes development team, and the feel of their play styles reflect the value of such a system to initiate a heroes design.
What about the Rogue and Warlock teaser during BlizzCon 2014?
During the Q/A part of the deep dive, someone in the audience asked if there would ever be a Rogue type class in the game. Blizzard teased that Edwin VanCleef of the Defias Brotherhood is the most logical choice to include, further mentioning Valeera Sanguinar or Vannessa Vancleef. We also got confirmation straight from the mouth of the developers that a Warlock hero is "in the works" and might possibly be incarnated as Gul'dan.
That was a year about a year ago, and the initial models of Leoric, The Butcher, and Johanna displayed on staged turned out to be almost exactly what the finished heroes looked like. Is it safe to assume that a Rogue and Warlock hero is farther along than we think, or are we due for more Starcraft heroes (and maybe even an Overwatch hero) before we revisit the Warcraft universe again?
Here is to BlizzCon 2015. Keep speculating Heroes!
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