The beta for Heroes of the Storm, Blizzard's Multiplayer Online Battle Arena, is currently underway. The game features over thirty characters from across the Blizzardverse - Starcraft, Warcraft, Diablo and even, as of last week, The Lost Vikings.
But given the sheer volume of characters and lore present in each of those games - the collected histories of Warcraft alone must rival the works of Dostoevsky- 34 characters seems insignificant. We understand that every character must be properly balanced so as to not give any indirect advantage over the battlefield. We just want more of them.
So, let us scour the pages of history and Blizzard's catalogue and see which four heroes really ought to be summoned to the Nexus:
Cyberhawk - Rock N Roll Racing (1993) Rock N Roll Racing, one of Blizzard's first titles, needs to be represented in Heroes of the Storm. Hell, the Lost Vikings made an appearance in Rock N Roll Racing, so it is not like this isn't a trend for them. Heroes already has another rocker, E.T.C, based on the company's own band. What's one more?
Cyberhawk (it could be anyone, Tarquinn, Katrina Lyons, etc; Cyberhawk because that's a cool name) would be a Melee Specialist racing car similar to Sgt. Hammer, but instead of outright demolishing structures with a big gun, the awesome power of his rock and roll weakens enemy towers and buildings. In addition, Cyberhawk gains an attack bonus when he travels more than a certain number of feet. He's about speed and disruption. And metal music, of course.
Heroic Abilities: Bandwagon and Finish Line. Bandwagon is an AOE effect that takes a group of enemy buildings and puts them under your control with a significant buff. They now attack the enemy, and the enemy can attack them, either way, you win. Lasts for 10 seconds, but regains one second for every minion killed by a tower, and three seconds for any Hero killed.
Finish Line would work similar to an Execute, when an enemy Hero is below a certain amount of health, Cyberhawk can activate Finish Line to charge the Hero and attempt to finish him or her off. If he succeeds, he gains a speed bonus and will ram into the nearest enemy building, hitting it for 35% of its total health.
Deckard Cain - Diablo - the venerable sage of the Diablo series; whose 'Stay a while and listen!' became a catchphrase for a generation, Deckard Cain deserved better than what he got. He needs to go out like a champ, so bring him into the Nexus already.
Cain would a trickster, he would befuddle opponents with his words. Definitely a Ranged Support character. He would toss his Journals hither and thither, set them as traps that have a random effect; such as slowing down, sapping a bit of one's Mana or removing a Hero ability for some time.
His Heroic Abilities would be: Stay A While And Listen and Horadric Mastery. Stay A While And Listen is an AOE affect that freezes all Hero units in place for 4 seconds and suffering mana drain because, let's face it, Cain could talk the sanity out of you. Horadric Mastery, on the other hand, summons a Horardic warrior - the great crusaders of Sanctuary - for 8 seconds. Invulnerable, the unit heals friendly units and increases health and mana regen until it blows up, causing damage to each enemy unit in the blast radius.
Medivh - Warcraft - who better to battle in the Nexus than the Last Guardian of Tirisfal himself? Medivh is among the powerful mages to have ever lived in the Warcraft universe, a being made to protect, but born to betray from even before he was born.
In the Warcraft mythos, Medivh was possessed of the Mad Titan Sargeras, the universe's ultimate villain. This would be an excellent way for Blizzard to introduce some concept art of Sargeras without having to commit to any storyline.
In addition to his Ranged Assassin role, which is a blend of dark and light magic, Medivh's Heroic Abilities would be Spirit of Sargeras (his dark magic) and The Last Guardian (light version). Spirit of Sargeras would transform Medivh into a colossal raging spirit of darkness, towering over the other units in the game. He would be nearly indestructible, with such high health that attacking him is futile. His step would burn the very ground and his touch would lay waste to foe, and friend alike. While the player could sort of control Sargeras' direction, he would have almost no control over his actions. A true blunt force instrument. The effect would last for 8 seconds, at which point Medivh returns, sapped of all his mana, but invulnerable for another 2 seconds.
The Last Guardian, on the other hand, gathers up all characters, friend and foe, and transports them back to their respective bases. Enemy units are at 10% life, friendly units are 90% or higher life, depending. Movement speed for friendly units is increased by 50% for 6 seconds.
Fenix - Starcraft - Fenix is one of the great Protoss warriors and one of the main characters in the original Starcraft. Like most of the rest of characters on this list, we was killed; later to be resurrected as a Protoss Dragoon. The problem we run into is: which one do we use, the Zealot skin or the Dragoon skin? Or do we use both?
Fenix would be a Very Hard Melee Warrior/Ranged Assassin and should be used only by the most experienced of players. He begins the battle in his Zealot form, however, upon his death, the player may choose to sit out an additional 45 seconds (at the minimum) to turn into the Dragoon. This resets all of Fenix's abilities and gives him a new set of skills. It effectively turns him back into a lower level character, reducing his total level by 5 (numbers to be determined).
The longer you wait to activate his Dragoon form, the longer you have to wait, but the less amount of re-leveling up you have to do. Ideal for when you are on the offensive and can afford a little respite to gather your forces. During his reconstruction period, the Fenix player can command and chat with his own troops. It's gonna be a while.
Zealot Fenix would be slightly faster than other troops and possess a small magical shield that can protect him for a few blasts until depleted. He is a fierce hand to hand combat, and prefers to mix it up in the thick of battle. He can channel his focus into the utter hatred of the other team, earning bonuses against enemy Heroes or units.
His Zealot version Heroics would be Psi Blade Rush and Platoon. With Blade Rush, Fenix would go into a frenzy, striking at foes with the anger of all Aiur. His damage, speed and health are increased for 6 seconds, but he is drained of mana afterwards. Platoon would summon a group of 4 additional Zealots that will last until defeated, cutting down at any and every opponent in their path.
While his Dragoon heroic would be Immortal and Disruption. Immortal would turn Fenix into the Dragoon's more advanced successor for 20 seconds, adding bonuses to everything. Disruption would be an AOE attack that automatically sapped all Mana from nearby enemies and shocking them for damage.
There are dozens upon dozens of characters to choose from. Don't worry, we haven't forgotten about Blackthorne. He'll be back in round two.
Who else should Blizzard turn into a hero of the Storm? Let us know in the comments!
