After months of alpha, closed beta, and open beta testing, Blizzard’s Heroes of the Storm finally launched today. The free-to-play MOBA (multiplayer online battle arena) features Heroes from the Blizzard universe pitted against each other in 5 vs 5 battles.
We gave our first impressions back in the alpha days, and while some game mechanics have changed, as well as new Heroes and Battlegrounds added, the game has felt ready for release for some time now. The newest Hero to join the 37-stable of playable characters is Johanna, the female Crusader from Diablo fame.
Johanna’s skills lie mostly on stuns, knockbacks, and shields making her pretty formidable on the field. At level 20 she gets the choice of a passive talent called Indestructible which gives her a 5 second shield equal to her total health when she takes fatal damage, preventing death and giving her a short window to heal and continue her righteous battle. You can check out her full talent list on her Hero page. Johanna is available for purchase for 15,000 in game gold/$9.99USD or you can pick up Johanna and the Centurion skin for $13.11USD.
To celebrate the launch, everyone who plays between now and 11:59PM PDT on June 9th receives a 25% XP boost. Log in before June 9th and you’ll also receive an exclusive player portrait for helping Blizzard celebrate the launch of the game. Additionally, if you make a purchase in the store you’ll also receive a Billie the Kid mount and portrait, and with 30 day Stimpacks 50% off (for the first one), it’s the perfect time to get a leg up on levelling. If you reach player Level 12 in Heroes, you’ll get a special Heros of the Storm Cardback in Hearthstone, likewise if you win 100 games in Hearthstone‘s Play Mode, you’ll get a Hearthstone Cardback mount to use in Heroes. For those of you who still play WoW, reaching Level 20 in Heroes will grant you a Grave Golem pet in WoW while reaching Level 100 in WoW will grant you the Ironside Dire Wolf mount in Heroes. All in all, some pretty fun rewards for the Heroes launch, and Blizzard notes that while not all rewards will be rewarded at launch they will be rolling out over the next few weeks.
Have you been playing Heroes of the Storm through Closed/Open Beta? If not are you excited to finally be able to play? Let us know in the comments below or on Google+, Twitter, or Facebook.
Last Updated on November 27, 2018.
