I am a returning player and I would like to earn enough hold to get some of the heroes i like to play, i was wondering if getting a 1 month boost is worth it.

Hi guys,

Here’s my suggestion for a samuro nerf.

Increase the % damage significantly to clones from pvp sources. Im talking - full health clones dying from two hanzo auto attacks kind of damage.

The problem with samuro is that allies spend time chasing him all around the map. If his clones die easier to pvp damage.. your allies are less likely to spend time chasing the wrong ones and will know which one he is quicker.

Alternatively, reduce his % healing from windwalk by 1% per second.

What do you think?

How are there people dying as Samuro. Most braindead character in the game, and some people still don't know how to play him.

It's too unfair to play against that fucking hero, it's impossible to kill him, he can be all over the fucking map at once, almost nothing punishes him. They nerfed Genji, Tracer, Maievh, when will fucking Samuro?

I'm asking you. I have over 4k matches in the game. 3k pre 2020 and about 1k post. Man its night and day. I understand the meta but I have never seen more hesitancy to capitalize on a gank, plan a bush ambush, roll on an enemy camp with numbers, steal a boss... I feel like people have soak beat so far in their head they ignore the rest of the chess board unless forced to deal with it.

If you're even in levels and in an advantageous position to fight you should fight. Removing a player off the board after 10 is better than catching a wave, maybe not for xp but it is for momentum, especially if you can further capitalize. .

Idk I guess im just whining but it feels like a lot of ppl now would be more content playing a game like starcraft or just rushing the AI as Abathur. In before go play ARAM.

I'll see you out there.

Or is it just me?

First Emperor of the Terran Dominion

Support

The son of the rebellious Senator Angus Mengsk, Arcturus Mengsk formed the "Sons of Korhal" rebel group when his entire family was assassinated and the Terran Confederacy nuked his homeworld of Korhal. Using manipulative tactics on both his allies and enemies, Mengsk ultimately managed to shatter the Confederacy by planting Psi-Emitters on Tarsonis. This drew the Zerg to the planet and killed the Confederate leadership for Mengsk, leaving no one to challenge his rule. Leaving his loyal agent Sarah Kerrigan behind to die on Tarsonis, Mengsk soon after announced the formation of a regime of his own, crowning himself Arcturus I, Emperor of the Terran Dominion.

Now Mengsk and his vast forces seek to conquer and eventually weaponize the Nexus. Will you be the one to conquer the chaos of the Nexus and bring it under the Dominion's rule?

Strengths

• Powerful Map Presence
• Strong Area Denial
• A large selection of ultimate abilities and talents to choose from in the mid and late game
• Has good potential for team play, if the situation demands it

Weaknesses

• Extremely vulnerable in the early game
• Worthless after casting all of his fancy abilities.
• Bad positioning leaves Mengsk ridiculously vulnerable to cloaked Assassins or high burst damage heroes
• Requires careful Mana and Imperial Mandate management

Stats at Level 1:

Health: 750

Mana: 100. Abilities are also casted with the use of the Imperial Mandate Resource.

Imperial Mandate: Maximum of 100. Gain 1 Mandate every 3 seconds. Decreased to 1 every 5 seconds for 10 seconds after casting an ability that costs over 50 Mandate.

King Piece (Passive)

Arcturus Mengsk has no basic attack. Instead, being around the Keep and Forts allows him to gain +10 Armor. Mengsk gains an Aegis Guard who follow him around and Mengsk becomes Invulnerable until his Aegis Guard is killed. Once the Aegis Guard is killed, it takes 45 seconds to respawn one of them, and Mengsk gains Escape for 10 seconds which increases his movement speed by 30%. If Mengsk dies, he takes a bit longer to revive than most other heroes. At level 10, Mengsk gains an additional Aegis Guard to follow him.

Mengsk captures Mercenary Camps and Watchtowers 50% faster when he is on the point. Watchtowers captured by Mengsk's team grant a 15% boost to Mandate Generation so long as they stay captured and captured Creep Camps grant a 25% boost to Mandate generation for 60 seconds. Capturing Bosses camps grants Mengsk a 50% Mandate generation boost for 60 seconds instead.

Aegis Guard Level 1 stats: 500 Health, 250 Shields, 50 damage on Basic (Increased by 150% to Mercenaries and minions)

Focus Fire (1) - No cost

Order Mengsk's Aegis Guards to focus fire on a specific target, whether an objective or an enemy hero. Cannot be a structure like a Keep or a Fort.

Order an Assassination (2) - 25 Mana, 10 Mandate, 40 seconds cooldown

Have an enemy hero ambushed by Emperor's Shadows, who can use Pyrokinetic Immolation and will chase their target across the map for 9 seconds. They can reveal their target if it cloaks via EMP. EDIT: If the Emperor's Shadows kill their target, Mengsk gains 25 Imperial Mandate. Can only be casted when Mengsk is nearby. Unlocks at Level 5.

Post Bounty (Q) - 10 Mana, 30 seconds cooldown.

Inflict Revealed and decrease the Armor on the target enemy hero by 10. Requires Mengsk nearby to cast.

Reinforcements to the Frontline (W) - 15 Mandate, 45 second cooldown.

Deploy a drop pod containing 6 Dominion Troopers to a target area, who fire on nearby targets and prioritize enemy heroes, then mercenaries, then turrets or hero spawns. If the targets go away or are eliminated, they will join the closest minion wave unless they see a Mercenary Camp being attacked by allies or another enemy unit. Global ability. Unlocks at Level 3.

Vicious Propaganda (E) - 20 Mana, 20 second cooldown

Deploy an Imperial Witness at a target location which decreases the movement speed of enemy heroes by 15% and increases allied movement speed by 15%. Requires Mengsk nearby to cast.

Talents:

Level 1

Koprulu's Tyrant

Increase the armor decrease on Post Bounty by 5 for every kill Mengsk scores, up to 4 times. EDIT: An allied hero claiming the bounty provides Mengsk with 25 Imperial Mandate.

Tight Schedule

After helping to capture a Watchtower or mercenary camp, Mengsk gains +20% movement speed for 5 seconds. EDIT: Watchtowers increase the Mandate generation they provide to 25% while controlled, and Mercenary Camps add an additional 5% Mandate Generation in the first 5 seconds they are captured.

Amplified Airwaves

Imperial Witnesses provide a 25% Attack Speed increase to nearby minions. EDIT: Indoctrinated minions provide 0.5% additional Imperial Mandate generation.

Level 4

Mass Propagandism

Imperial Witnesses generate an additional 5% Imperial Mandate for every Hero boosted for 10 seconds after they are deployed.

Siege Mentality

When Mengsk is nearby, Forts gains +10 Armor. Mengsk and his Aegis Guards gain passive health regeneration while near them or captured Mercenary Camps and Watchtowers.

Principal Proletariat

Aegis Guards gain 15% health increase. Emperor's Shadows, Aegis Guards, and Blackhammer Thors deal 15% extra damage.

Level 7

Dominion Flame Troopers

Convert all of the Dominion Troopers summoned from Reinforcement to the Frontline into Dominion Flame Troopers, who have increased health and deal basic attack damage in a cone in front of them.

Toxic Tyrant

Replace Reinforcements to the Frontline with Contaminated Strikes, which deals damage over time in a targeted area, but have a higher Mandate Cost and cooldown. Requires Mengsk nearby to cast.

Stalking Assassins

Emperor's Shadows are now Cloaked for the first 5 seconds after Mengsk casts "Order an Assassination," and decloak after the first five seconds are gone.

Level 10

Pride of Augustgrad (R) - 100 Mandate

Cast in order to have a Pride of Augustgrad hover over a visible, designated area and provide fire support on all targets below, dealing increased damage to heroes. After five seconds, reactivate to have the Pride of Augustgrad warp jump to another visible area and instead provide fire support there. Global ability.

Insurance Policy (R) - 100 Mandate

Activate to have the Xel'naga artifact rise from the ground dramatically at a point near Mengsk over 3 seconds. After the 3 seconds, stun the closest enemy hero nearby for 2 seconds and emit pulses which deal damage to all enemy heroes every second, dealing increased damage to the stunned target. Requires Mengsk nearby to cast.

Nuclear Annihilation (R) - 100 Mandate

Drop 40 warheads and 1 nuclear missile in a designated area to deal high damage over 10 seconds. Requires Mengsk nearby to cast.

Dogs of War (R) - 50 Mandate

Activate in a targeted area near Mengsk to release 6 Enthralled Zerglings, 3 Enthralled Hydralisks, and 1 Enthralled Ultralisks that chase after all heroes. Requires Mengsk nearby to cast.

Level 13

Conscripts Reporting

5 Dominion Troopers now join every 3rd minion wave after this talent is picked. Two of those Dominion Troopers are Dominion Assault Troopers, and if Dominion Flame Troopers talent is picked then 1 of the Troopers also becomes a Dominion Flame Trooper.

Relentless Persecution

Increase the amount of Emperor's Shadows summoned by "Order an Assassination" from 2 to 4.

Positive Heroism

Swap out the "Post Bounty" Ability for a "Hero of the Dominion" ability, which increases a targeted hero's armor by 20 and gives the target ally a shield equal to 10% of their health. EDITED: Mengsk gains an additional 25% to Mandate generation for the duration of the effects on the allied hero. The Tyrannical Emperor talent now provides an additional +5 Armor to the target hero. Allied tanks also gain a one-time Taunt secondary ability, and using it grants Mengsk 50 Imperial Mandate. Requires Mengsk nearby to cast.

Level 16

The Hammer Falls

Activate "The Hammer Falls" (4) for 50 Mandate and 10 Mana on a target Minion Leader (Before they exit the bounds of your walls) to drop off a Blackhammer Thor boss at their position to join their attack wave. Global ability.

Best of the Best of the Best, Emperor

Aegis Guards also gain Mana, and can use it all in order to activate "High Grade Stimpacks" which increases the damage they deal by 25% when they enter combat and to heal them for 15% of health over time. They cannot regenerate the Mana, however, and require either Hearthing or a Healing Fountain to regenerate it.

Entrenched Attitudes

Imperial Witnesses provide increased Health and Shield Regeneration to all allies standing inside of it.

Level 20

Terror from Above

During the first 5 seconds upon being summoned, Mengsk can recast Pride of Augustgrad to launch a powerful Yamato Cannon blast on a target hero that bounces from that hero to another hero nearby, dealing 50% of the original damage, which bounces to another hero that deals 25% of the original damage. Warp Jump is only available 14 seconds after being summoned, as opposed to instantly.

Overcharged Artifact

Insurance Policy now activates instantly but only slows all enemies by 50%. Deals greatly increased damage to stunned targets. Reduce cooldown by 15 seconds.

Nuclear Fallout

Nuclear Annihilation now deals passive damage to all enemies within its radius, which continues to deal damage for 5 seconds after the target gets out of the area.

Ravenous Swarm

Add 4 Enthralled Mutalisks to Dogs of War, and Enthralled Zerg gain 15% additional movement speed.

Elite Guard

Aegis Guards and Emperor's Shadows gain 50% additional Max Health. Aegis Guards have 15% Shields which upon being drained knock back enemies, and Emperor's Shadows now deal 25% increased damage. Blackhammer Thors now also provides an additional 10 Armor to Mengsk and his units ONLY.

Experimental Payload

Contaminated Strike now fears three random heroes that are hit.

Merchant of Death

Upon death, Dominion Assault Troopers and Dominion Flame Troopers throw their weapons that explode at the enemy who has killed them.

Skin Ideas:

Emperor (Default), Crimson Emperor (Default with more red coloring and red-brown hair), Regal Emperor (Default but colored purple and blonde hair), General Mengsk (StarCraft 1 Remastered look, Blue dress uniform), Senator Mengsk (Has a fancy two piece suit), Prospector Mengsk (Wears a hardhat, has a casual jacket)

Someone suggested this in game and I think it is a fantastic idea. I have been stuck in the crab bucket of b4/5 for years after being in silver for a bit. The issue is that you end up with trolls and leavers and get stuck in there. What if blizzard offered a paid service that allows you to block those people from getting matched on your team. Everyone wins here.

The Friday LFG Thread is a weekly post for veteran and new players to post information about their desire to participate and availability for both ranked and unranked play each week.

If you are looking for a group or players to join your group, please share the following information in a comment:

• Username or Team Name
• Game Type & Rank - (Storm League - Rank, Unranked, or AI)
• Requested Role(s) - (Tank, Bruiser, Assassin 'Ranged or Melee', Healer, Support, or Flex)
• Region - (Americas, EU, Asia)
• Availability - (Days of week, Time)
• How best to contact you - (Reddit message, In-Game, Discord, ETC)

The following are additional resources you can use to find HotS groups quickly:

• In-game you can join chat channels - /join reddit
• Reddit Heroes of the Storm Discord - Link

Reminder that Reddit posting & comment rules are in effect; be civil, constructive, and do not shame specific individuals.

Looking For Group Wiki page

Previous LFG threads

I'm not even sure how it keeps happening, but I get players who DC often. And I'm talking around 60% of the time. That would be fine, but the problem is, and this isn't hyperbole either, this always happens on my team, not the other team's. So, I have an honest question here, and I don't know if there's a legit answer or not: Is there actually something wrong with my gamefiles or connection or what? I'm lost. It would be fine if it's near 50/50, but it's always 0/100.

EDIT: Yes, I know the game doesn't announce the other team's AFKs. But bots are easy to spot.

Hey, I’m a newbie ish HOTS player, and I switched over from League to HOTS because I love the creative hero design. I’m a Cho main and my bf is a Gall main.

However when we play as Cho’Gall we really often have the same issue - wherever we go we win fights for our team, but we lose objectives, camps, and lane everywhere else.

This issue is most apparent in large 3 lane maps. In quick play we usually get matched with a healer and 2 of DPS or tank/bruiser. If one of the two non-support players decide to duo lane with either us or the other non-support, we often lose.

This is because of the two others want to duo lane together, the healer must chose between solo laning, or joining another duo and leaving a lane empty. If a non-healer decides to stick with Cho’Gall, the situation is similar but even worse, usually resulting in a 4 man lane.

I understand that can run to another lane to grab xp, but it feels bad to have to take 40% of our team on a trek to run somewhere, pick up some orbs, and run back.

However, in my experience, when the two non-support players solo lane, we usually win.

Another map we usually struggle on is the Dragon Knight one. When we go to cap one point, the enemy team caps the other. When we shift over to the other point, the enemies get the point we previously captured. If we hold our current point, we just never get the other one. I have a similar problem with the Zerg map.

In contrast, we usually win on maps with a centralized objective, like the punisher one.

Anyways, do any HOTS players have any advice for me on how to fix this issue? Do we need to work on our Macro? I don’t think this issue is in my head because my winrate is like 25% higher on some maps vs others, specifically with Cho’Gall. I try my best to communicate with teammates but ultimately I only decide where 2 players go. I’m hoping to sort this out before we go to ranked.

I startet playing the game a couple weeks ago again with my friends. It seems like many people are still playing the game. Google is saying something about 3 million active players. 3 millions?? Shouldn’t that be enough to give new heroes every 3 months? How expensive is it to make a hero and how much money do they? I just don’t get it. Can someone please ask they uncle bill Microsoft?

I was surprised to find out that the last balance changes were in February, so while no major reworks are happening, some lonely employee is apparently allowed to make small number tweaks every now and then.

Hi, ive been playing MOBAS for a while and ive been thinking about playing HOTS. I heard numerous negative comments about the game, and the non-popularity of it. but im willing to give it a fair try. Are poeple still playing HOTS ?

all those mentally stable people whom I periodically have on my teams in HOTS.

You making overall experience much better.

Im playing Imperius and trying to kill valla who is kiting the shit out of me for the entire game. Finally I land a few skill shots and I have her slowed, just need a single auto attack to finish her off.

Then, with literal perfect timing, my team mate, Li fucking Ming, uses her wave of force, not just any wave of force, but upgraded level 20 wave of force, to knock valla so far away finishing her off for anyone on our team would be impossible.

Its not just the Li Ming either, its ETCs who powerslide the enemy and instantly facemelting them into a random direction, making it almost impossible to follow up stun.

These are players who are level 1000-2000 who have probably been playing this game for a decade if not longer.

I just dont get it, its frustrating enough playing against good players, but when you have to fight your own team as well, I dont even know why I log in sometimes.

Please rank 1-5

EDIT 4/26/24: I got a ton of responses yesterday, so thanks for the interest! I don't want to inundate our small community with too many new players so I'm not inviting any more folks for now. I may circle back again in a few months if we try to grow our community more. Thanks for your interest and happy gaming!

I made a similar post to this a few months ago and had some success with this since.

I’ve recently returned to HOTS and brought along a group of around 12 players, all real-life friends/acquaintances to some degree. We came back with the goal of creating a weekly game night, scheduled in advance every week. We have played every Thursday night since the beginning of December 2023. We’re all mid 20s up to early 40s, so we have varying levels of commitment due to work, family, life stage, etc.

The original intention of this group was to play private games, 5v5, without relying on random folks on the internet. We don't always have a full group of 10 (so we might play 4v4, or 3v3 ARAM, or Storm League), but sometimes we're filled up to 10 plus a few spectators. Due to scheduling conflicts, our regulars aren't as consistent as we'd like, so we're looking to recruit a few new friends to join us for weekly games. No trolls, no rage-quitters, just a group of folks trying to have a few good games over a couple hours once a week.

Due to some changing life circumstances for some of our players that will make it hard to commit weekly, we’re looking to invite a few like-minded casual gamers to join us. As I mentioned at the top, I had made a similar post a few months ago. We've recruited a few really cool, consistent players from my previous post and I'm just looking to grab a few more people. I probably even have a couple open slots to fill tonight.

Here’s the pertinent info, kind of how we function and what we’re looking for in a player:

1. Those of us who are ranked in SL are primarily Bronze/Silver/Gold this season. We occasionally have players who are legitimately playing on accounts with a total level under 25, so they're pretty bad.
2. Understand we’re just here to have fun. Some players are not good, and some of us are decent.
3. Bad plays happen. People make bad choices. Just accept it and keep playing to have fun. Don’t rage, or tilt, or be a jerk because someone makes a mistake. Heck, don’t do any of that if the same person makes the same mistake 20 times. We’re all filthy casuals and we're learning.
4. Relax, it’s just a game.
5. We have a private discord server, divided into a general text chat where weekly info and pickup games are posted, as well as any other HOTS-related chatter. We even have some other channels for off-topic discussions, if you are feeling friendly. We have a several voice channels to divide out into teams while we’re playing, as well as general voice chat.
6. We play Thursday nights (including tonight!) from 7:30 PM Central (USA) and we aim to end the last game of the night between 9:30-10:00 PM Central.
7. We keep a stats spreadsheet for our private 5v5 matches. We track pretty much all the end-game stats for every player that joins us in our private matches and update the stats weekly. Most-played heroes, wins, losses, win%, highest win rate heroes, etc). Ultimately we use these stats to try to keep teams as well-balanced as we can...but it's also nice to be able to see how your numbers stack up.
8. If we only have 5 players show up, we tend to play QM or SL together. If we have 6, we usually mess around with 3v3 ARAMs or queue up as a 5-stack and rotate players in and out between matches. If we have 8 players, we play 4v4 on a small selection of the regular maps. If we have 10+ players, we play 5v5 with Draft Mode.
9. As our community has grown, we've started organizing pickup games amongst ourselves. It's been a small but fun community and we're looking for just a few more like-minded players to join us!

If all of that sounds interesting to you, feel free to DM me here and we can chat.