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Heroes of the Storm Technical Alpha Thread: [Artifacts Removed]
- Thread starter fluffydelusions
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KojiKnight
Member
What's the deal with getting access to this alpha? Is it just wait until Blizz sends me a key? Or can I beg somewhere...
Also, I heard it was going into Beta soon. Should I just wait for that?
God I was in the alpha so long, I forgot that it was closed still. I'm not sure if they've said they are going open beta right away, or if it'll remain closed for a time... That said, alpha is over. The servers are down (for another day or so) and will be brought back up in beta. Anyone who spent money in alpha also had the balance returned to their b.net account.
The only thing you had to do for invites was to sign up for the chance and then get lucky, or be an MVP or famous streamer/etc.
What's the deal with getting access to this alpha? Is it just wait until Blizz sends me a key? Or can I beg somewhere...
Also, I heard it was going into Beta soon. Should I just wait for that?
The game is currently offline while they migrate to actual Battle.net.
At that point they're not doing any more wipes so they will presumably invite a lot more people, as that's when they really ramped up invites for Hearthstone as well.
Is that the alpha mount?We all took a vow of silence when we saw this.
Patch Notes are up, looks like the Alpha should be back up soon.
edit: Worklink here- http://justpaste.it/hh5q Lots of mounts only available through bundles, it seems.
edit: Worklink here- http://justpaste.it/hh5q Lots of mounts only available through bundles, it seems.
UnrealEck
Member
Brony fanservice I guess. No doubt a purchase-only mount that'll sell well.
It's the mount everyone gets that spends a single cent in the store during alpha/beta.
Both the new heroes seem really good. I thought after Chen and Rehgar that they were maybe going to just play it safe and release everyone underpowered, but NA and Azmodan are both legitimately powerful heroes.
NA's ults are kind of weak and his passive seems really out of place but they're the only part of that hero I don't like. He's one of the best initiators in the game and rewards really aggressive play.
I haven't played Azmodan, but he seems like the grease king. Amazing split-push and back door potential. I just lost a game after he managed to swindle all of our forts during a team fight at one of the tributes. I really hope Blizzard leaves him as-is and doesn't completely neuter him like they did for most of the rest of the good push heroes.
NA's ults are kind of weak and his passive seems really out of place but they're the only part of that hero I don't like. He's one of the best initiators in the game and rewards really aggressive play.
I haven't played Azmodan, but he seems like the grease king. Amazing split-push and back door potential. I just lost a game after he managed to swindle all of our forts during a team fight at one of the tributes. I really hope Blizzard leaves him as-is and doesn't completely neuter him like they did for most of the rest of the good push heroes.
theMrCravens
Member
Somewhat happy for this since it means mass invites soon.
I want this yesterday.
Now to check which bundles will be worth purchasing.
I want this yesterday.
Now to check which bundles will be worth purchasing.
truthiness
Member
Someone posted a spreadsheet of the value of the bundles currently available, including the Alpha ones that will expire in a week or so. Unfortunately the spreadsheet is publicly editable, so who knows what it will look like when you read it 
.
Essentially, the Heroes Variety bundle is the best value when you break it down on a gold-per-dollar ratio. Since it will be disappearing very shortly, I highly recommend that anyone who wants a bunch of heroes to start with picks this up.
One slight issue with these bundles is the hero overlap, and you do not seem to be credited for purchasing a bundle even when you already own one or more heroes from the bundle. If you're purely looking to get as many champions for as little amount of money (and overlap) as possible, I would probably recommend the Heroes Variety and Alpha Starter bundles. Only 1 overlap, and you end up with 15 heroes for $56.
.Essentially, the Heroes Variety bundle is the best value when you break it down on a gold-per-dollar ratio. Since it will be disappearing very shortly, I highly recommend that anyone who wants a bunch of heroes to start with picks this up.
One slight issue with these bundles is the hero overlap, and you do not seem to be credited for purchasing a bundle even when you already own one or more heroes from the bundle. If you're purely looking to get as many champions for as little amount of money (and overlap) as possible, I would probably recommend the Heroes Variety and Alpha Starter bundles. Only 1 overlap, and you end up with 15 heroes for $56.
Someone posted a spreadsheet of the value of the bundles currently available, including the Alpha ones that will expire in a week or so. Unfortunately the spreadsheet is publicly editable, so who knows what it will look like when you read it
Essentially, the Heroes Variety bundle is the best value when you break it down on a gold-per-dollar ratio. Since it will be disappearing very shortly, I highly recommend that anyone who wants a bunch of heroes to start with picks this up.
One slight issue with these bundles is the hero overlap, and you do not seem to be credited for purchasing a bundle even when you already own one or more heroes from the bundle. If you're purely looking to get as many champions for as little amount of money (and overlap) as possible, I would probably recommend the Heroes Variety and Alpha Starter bundles. Only 1 overlap, and you end up with 15 heroes for $56.
There's a big flaw with that spreadsheet in that it only counts things that you can buy with gold at all. That's why that bundle shows so favorably - it includes NO skins and you can buy all of it with gold.
KojiKnight
Member
Hmm... this seems the best time to get back into the game, especially with the double XP, but I'm having a real hard time trying to work up the energy to do so. I think it's just the MOBA genre in general holds little attraction to me as a long term thing... but I feel like I'll be missing out if I don't play while I have a chance to get an edge... hmmmmmmmm indeed.
All I know is I won't be spending my $30ish refund from alpha back on it... I made more than enough gold to get all of the heroes I wanted and I always planned on using that as a deposit on WoD.
All I know is I won't be spending my $30ish refund from alpha back on it... I made more than enough gold to get all of the heroes I wanted and I always planned on using that as a deposit on WoD.
truthiness
Member
Agreed, but as someone who wants the majority of heroes available to them (which I personally think is a necessity in MOBA games), I would much prefer to buy a bunch of champions in a bundle rather than grind the gold for them. I don't really care about skins, hence why the variety bundle is the best value for me.
You are definitely right though, you can earn all of those heroes with gold so it will be up to you to decide if the value proposition is there for you.
KojiKnight
Member
Game really needs a 'build your own bundle' bundle. Even if it's just a one time thing... "Choose your own starter bundle, choose 3 heroes 50% off" I have only a few characters I will actually play (from alpha) and none of the current bundles have all of them. 70% or something off 10 characters is nice except when I realized I'd only be playing as 1-2 of that 10.
Played a bit last night and bought Azmodan and Anub'Arak because I like them lore-wise.
Even if Azmodan is a total idiot in D3. Anyways.
Azmodan is definitively going to be nerfed. His D being Global and on a 30s cooldown is simply too good for what it does. His Q outranging a Siege Mode Tank is also kind of silly, but it doesn't deal that much damage at level 20 and it's not fast-spammable either. W is good, great pushing tool. His E - oh man. An Illidan rushed me last night. I was like "welp, what can I do!" and E'd him.
Dear lord. I did not fathom how much damage that ends up doing. Rekt Illidan. Though to be honest if he had moved out of range and back in I'd be dead, but since he was dumb....the talent where you can move around at 75 % speed while channeling is to be seriously considered.
Not the fastest jungle clearer, though. Quite slow actually. And counterpushing / killing waves quickly is not his forte. I was against another Azmodan and his team got all the jungles and I was running around trying to push back out but it was meaningless. His powers being directly linked to minions and mercenaries makes it so if your team is horrible in getting those and/or creating a big wave, Azmodan gets that much weaker.
Anub'Arak was great fun as well. Almost made me forgot he got worfed in a 5man. A good mix of a pusher and tank if you want it, or a disabler and tank. Definitively less innately durable than Diablo or Stitches, but he makes up for it in utility. Having 3 disables/stuns if you choose his second ultimate is just amazing. And by all means, choose that second ultimate. Web that pesky Zeratul or tank that everyone seems to focus on and let your teammates proceed to mayhem the rest of the team. Then stun them. Then stun them again.
A most excellent initiator, on a class of its own in that regard.
Even if Azmodan is a total idiot in D3. Anyways.
Azmodan is definitively going to be nerfed. His D being Global and on a 30s cooldown is simply too good for what it does. His Q outranging a Siege Mode Tank is also kind of silly, but it doesn't deal that much damage at level 20 and it's not fast-spammable either. W is good, great pushing tool. His E - oh man. An Illidan rushed me last night. I was like "welp, what can I do!" and E'd him.
Dear lord. I did not fathom how much damage that ends up doing. Rekt Illidan. Though to be honest if he had moved out of range and back in I'd be dead, but since he was dumb....the talent where you can move around at 75 % speed while channeling is to be seriously considered.
Not the fastest jungle clearer, though. Quite slow actually. And counterpushing / killing waves quickly is not his forte. I was against another Azmodan and his team got all the jungles and I was running around trying to push back out but it was meaningless. His powers being directly linked to minions and mercenaries makes it so if your team is horrible in getting those and/or creating a big wave, Azmodan gets that much weaker.
Anub'Arak was great fun as well. Almost made me forgot he got worfed in a 5man. A good mix of a pusher and tank if you want it, or a disabler and tank. Definitively less innately durable than Diablo or Stitches, but he makes up for it in utility. Having 3 disables/stuns if you choose his second ultimate is just amazing. And by all means, choose that second ultimate. Web that pesky Zeratul or tank that everyone seems to focus on and let your teammates proceed to mayhem the rest of the team. Then stun them. Then stun them again.
A most excellent initiator, on a class of its own in that regard.
So, I went back and watched the original gameplay trailer, from last November, and a bunch of characters are in there that were unreleased for a long time, or are still unreleased.
Anub'arak, Azmodan, Chen, Zagara, Cho'gal, Rexxar, Jaina and Zul'jin can all be seen.
Anub'arak, Azmodan, Chen, Zagara, Cho'gal, Rexxar, Jaina and Zul'jin can all be seen.
I believe we actually know most of the upcoming heroes for a while due to datamining: http://www.heroesnexus.com/news/1125-datamined-unreleased-heroes-update-town-hall-16
Thanks for the link.
Need some more females (and not of the monster'ish type). That's one big reason I don't like DOTA2
The Lamonster
Member
What is the best "bang for your buck" bundle available right now? As a newcomer, the prices seem all over the place and I don't really have a particular WoW/D3/SC preference so I have no idea what to buy...
Yeah, I've seen that. Was just interesting to me to see all of the ones I listed in playable state almost a full year ago.
Uh, there are quite a few non-monster females in Dota 2.
The Lamonster
Member
Granted, I have not played DOTA2 since the official real launch (not beta). But back then it was not the case, compared to LoL percentage-wise.
Has it drastically changed now? Basically I would want a breakdown similar to LoL's roster.
Definitely not compared to LoL. Many heroes would require complete visual/audio redesigns to facilitate that.
I didn't think so.
And I do understand it's because their hero roster is tied to the original DOTA (which is unfortunate because I didn't like that either). That's why I didn't think Skab's comment was accurate.
Do yall know if the future roster plans for DOTA2 will be all new characters? That's the only hope I can see for them making a bunch of female ones.
"Quite a few" may have been the wrong choice of words. Sorry. But they're there. I do find it strange that that would keep you from playing the game though.
Well, once they port over the remaining four heroes from the original Dota, they would have to make new ones. The question is if they plan on continuing to update/keep parity with Dota 1.
Not enough waifus like League obviously.
KojiKnight
Member
Been trying Chen out for awhile... he's pretty good but I can't help but feel he needs some sort of way to run away. He's great for chasing down enemies, but running away he's pretty much dead.
Yeah I just looked up Legion Commander in DOTA2 and the new one is way better, she looks cool.
Character aesthetic design is one of the most important criteria for me in gaming, it's just a personal thing. Whether it's RPGs, MMOs, MOBAs or any genre where you see your character all the time. In MMOs for example, I spend an hour or two creating each of my characters. For MOBAs, I'm one of those people who is very particular about costumes and will buy lots of them (if they look good to me).
And yes Haly is right, I like attactive-looking female chars lol
I'm not going to say they shouldn't have more (more is always cool), but I think they've done a good job of getting females in where they can since so many of the old big names aren't that.
Females:
9
Humanoid females:
7
Males:
22
Humanoid males:
17
Is that outstanding? Obviously not, but all things considered I don't think it's TOO bad, and the only females I'd say are 'monster' looking are Brightwing and Zagara. If you start counting stuff like Kerrigan and Lili as 'monsters' then you're knocking out a LOT of the males too, if anything they have a way larger ratio of that stuff. I doubt we'll ever see total parity just because these are all established characters already, a lot of them aren't all that flexible. For instance, 2 of the 3 Diablo 3 heroes are female already, but I doubt Blizz wants to be forced to just make all of them female just to balance the game out. Similarly it's not like they can make Arthas or Azmodan into a female suddenly. They've done a good job of making lots of the (what I would consider) generic heroes into females to fill the gap. Sonya, Valla, Hammer, and to an extent Lili and Brightwing all could've just been any gender (I'd go as far as to say that most people would expect the barb to have been a guy, so I'm glad they went with the much cooler fembarb. and Siege tanks are all guys in the SC campaigns so Hammer is a good touch too).
If you just want heroes and not skins, the variety bundle is the clear winner. 28 bucks 10 dudes isn't bad at all. The starter bundle on top of it gets you a mount and about 40% of the roster for like 33 dollars.
TheYanger, yeah I think HOTS is better than DOTA2 so far percentage-wise. Just wish it was a little more, but they are just starting the game so there's plenty of time as it develops in the future.
I do consider Lili and Kerrigan as females (well, only if they have a human Kerrigan skin in the future lol)
I find your comments on Hammer and Sonya funny though, but that's just a personal preference on my part haha. I actually would have wanted male versions of those =)
Haly - I like Miss Fortune better!
I do consider Lili and Kerrigan as females (well, only if they have a human Kerrigan skin in the future lol)
I find your comments on Hammer and Sonya funny though, but that's just a personal preference on my part haha. I actually would have wanted male versions of those =)
Haly - I like Miss Fortune better!
By monsters I assumed they meant people like Broodmother and Puck in Dota (they're a giant spider and toad-fairy respectively), not Kerrigan and Lili.
Yeah exactly, I don't consider Broodmother or Puck to be female chars lol
The Lamonster
Member
Thanks! I'm really enjoying my free Valla (from RoS CE) so far. What hero levels unlock the 2nd and 3rd color schemes? It says level 10 gets you the master skin but it doesn't say when you get the new colors.
Some more random questions:
Is it just my imagination or am I getting way more exp from practice mode? What's the most efficient way to get exp, anyway?
What's the point of buying Raynor? Will he stop being part of the permanent free rotation someday?
Puck isn't even female to begin with
Edit: On a different subject, I wonder if we'll get any of the Diablo 2 classes? (Other than the barb, obviously)
God I hope we do. Theyre easily different enough from the D3 classes, and things like the Necro and Druid could be pretty cool if done right. (Also Meph and Baal pls)
It should be on there, it's skin variation for that.
1-4: talent options
5: 500 gold
6: Mount skin 1, Portrait.
7: Skin 1
8: Skin 2
9: Mount Skin 2 Master Portrait
10: Master Skin.
Something along those lines (not logged in to check).
The reason I mention those though is because there's only so many ways to make a 'known' character bend genders, so they went with the ones that made sense
I know a lot of people wish Hammer was a guy just because that's the siege tank association. Ultimately, the problem is that the genders are based on what the characters already are and one of the big appeals of HOTS is using all of these famous characters. There are a lot of known females in these games, but it's still not even close to 100% parity for sure. The randoms they throw in can easily be female but it also looks silly if they just make any 'generic' unit a female in order to meet some quota or whatever. I think for now basically 1/3 is a pretty good ratio all things considered though (as much as I'd love more). Jaina and Sylvannas coming should help a bunch, and we know they are at some point. Fair enough
I assumed they were 'monsters' but wasn't sure if you meant Kerrigan or Lili types as well. Either way once you draw those lines it cuts out WAY more males than females, in percentage. More of the females are legitimate humanoids than the men.
ToyMachine228
Member
Really surprised that Blizzard isn't offering an invite to the alpha with the purchase of the BlizzCon Virtual Ticket. You can get some in-game item for HotS, but most of us still can't play it...
Maybe open beta announcement at blizzcon or something?
Balmung421
Member
Willing to bet they announce closed beta, but you can purchase access with a founder's pack.
Hope more people get in, though, since this game is a blast to play.
We're playing and I won't take no for an answer
BroodMOTHER. Not being a hot anime girl doesn't stop her from being female.
I'm actually really impressed with how Blizzard is handling a lot of the female characters in this game. Sgt. Hammer, Zagara, and Sonya are all really cool and refreshing in a genre where female characters are typically just embarrassing cheesecake.
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