Ace in the Hole Deal 15% more damage to Stunned or Slowed Heroes.
On Raynor, this is what is considered the dominant talent. We can sum it up in a single line, and it does a singular thing well. All in all, it's an easy to grasp, reasonably effective talent made strong by the context in which it is applied and the character which it is applied to
Way of the Blade Critical Strike now happens for Samuro and his Mirror Images every 3rd Basic Attack. Samuro and his Mirror Images' Critical Strikes against enemy Heroes reduces their Physical Armor by 5 for 2.25 seconds, stacking up to 3 times.
Pity the Frail For every Hero hit with Searing Lash, lower the cooldown of Inquisition by 1.5 second. Allies below 30% Health receive 25% more healing from Whitemane.
These are the matching level 1 talents added by both the Samuro and Whitemane reworks. They outright do two different things and do both very well.
Whitemane
Basic Attack. Attacks per second from 1.18 to 1. Damage from 60 to 55.
Desperate Plea. Range from 7.5 to 8. Mana cost from 30 to 45. Compounding Mana cost from 60 to 45.
Inquisition. Damage from 350 to 329.
Searing Lash. Range from 8.5 to 8.
Samuro
Basic Attack. Damage reduced from 110 to 102.
Mirror Image. Cooldown reduced from 18 to 14 seconds. Duration reduced from 18 to 8 seconds. Images now have their duration increased by 1 second each time they or Samuro use a Basic Attack against an enemy Hero. Mirror Image Basic Attack damage increased from 9 to 11.
Wind Walk. Additional functionality: Samuro is healed for 1% of his maximum Health every second that he has Wind Walk active.
Image Transmission. Cooldown reduced from 25 to 14 seconds
Both Whitemane and Samuro took noteworthy hits to their basic kit's benefits. Samuro, a melee DPS who brings no utility to a fight at all, lost base attack damage and duration on his clones. An extreme amount. Instead, he gained a small amount of HP regeneration when using his engage/escape and a bonus to all in aggression with clones that die when so much as looked at. Whitemane, likewise, lost damage just about everywhere, with a reduction in AA speed and strength, and spell damage, as well as a nerfing to her basic mana economy.
Raynor
Health increased from 1,302 to 1,450. Regeneration increased from 2.71 to 3.02.
Basic Attack damage reduced from 122 to 92. Range is now set to 6.5 and is no longer based on Raynor's Trait. Scaling increased from 4% to 5% per level. (This has bounced around a bit since then, and now sits at 101 at 4%)
New Trait: Give ‘Em Some Pepper. Every 4th Basic Attack splashes in a small area and deals 125% more damage to the primary target.
Penetrating Round. Damage reduced from 240 to 220. Mana cost reduced from 60 to 50. Slows enemy Movement Speed by 20% for 2 seconds. Knockback distance is based on the target's proximity to Raynor.
Inspire. Cooldown increased from 10 to 12 seconds. Raynor and all nearby allied Minions and Mercenaries gain 30% Attack Speed and 10% Movement Speed for 4 seconds. Casting Inspire resets Raynor's Basic Attack cooldown.
Adrenaline Rush. Cooldown increased from 30 to 45 seconds. Mana cost increased from 0 to 75. Heal Raynor for 25% of his maximum Health over 1 second. Raynor's Basic Attacks reduce Adrenaline Rush's cooldown by 0.5 seconds, doubled against Heroes.
With the Raynor rework, most of his power was put into enhancing his base kit to be more reliable and effective, with changes designed to make him more effective from the start of the game and base stat adjustments designed to make him an effective character at all stages of the game and with all talents.
With the Whitemane and Samuro changes, it's painfully clear what talents are the new talents and the new focus. With talents such as Saintly Greatstaff literally doubling AA healing (until the change), and Unwavering Faith offering up to a 75% AA damage bonus (for up to 350% healing from AA's), as well as Pity the Frail's massive cooldown reduction and healing booster, it's painfully apparent which talents are the strong talents. Likewise for Samuro, with Way of the Blade and Crushing Blows blatantly outperforming the talents in their tiers and having had tons of extra power lumped onto them, while unchanged talents such as Burning Blade and Way of Illusion simply not being able to be picked.
Whitemane has since swung back somewhat from it, largely due to repeated reversions as well as Pity the Frail being overbuffed to insanity for some reason, but it has been an awkward and slow process because so much of her power was pulled out of her basic kit and into specific talents. Samuro's rework was just released, and it's depressingly apparent that he only really has one build now, and it's the build that best synergizes with the talents that got all the buffs.
Meanwhile, Raynor has a few different setups that you see in any given game, though Ace in the Hole is extremely common. And Ace in the Hole is just a 15% damage bonus conditionally, not a talent that reduces the cooldown of something while increasing the power of something else.
By putting so much power into a character's talents, and by taking it out of the character's base kit, it makes the character awkward to play and enforces a specific talent build. That power wasn't evenly distributed, and the talents that got the power transfer are picked almost without fail. Whitemane has multiple talents that have pick rates in excess of 60%, and Samuro has several approaching 50% and even 60%. Raynor, with very few exceptions (Unstable compound), tends to float more around 30-40% pick rates, because as a character who has more power in his basic attacks, his talents allow him to define playstyle instead of effectiveness.
For both of the recent reworks that have been the cause of people complaining and generally being unhappy, it's caused by power being pulled from their base kit and shoved into talents, and unevenly at that, resulting in must-pick talents that have multiple features and a clearly defined playstyle for the character that offers no room for variance because of talents with 60% pick rates and top of tier winrates that simply dominate their respective tiers. More power should be put into the character's base stats and functionality, so that a character feels good and effective to play when you play the character, not once you finally hit level 13 and gain the ability to actually be as effective as your opponent's picks.
