Heroes of the Storm will soon become more accessible and rewarding. With the “HotS 2.0” project, the progression system and rewards are to be much more aligned with Overwatch.
Until now, there wasn’t much to gain in Blizzard’s MOBA Heroes of the Storm. You earned gold for victories and certain level-ups, which you could eventually use to buy heroes, a mount, or some skins, for which you had to reach a certain hero level. All other skins and mounts could only be purchased with real money.
Now Blizzard takes a cue from Overwatch and completely revamps the reward system in HotS 2.0.
Heroes of the Storm 2.0 – Loot Boxes for Everyone!
The somewhat grandiosely named new project, Heroes of the Storm 2.0, may not overhaul the entire game, but it does revise the aspects of progression and reward. It drew heavily from Blizzard’s hero shooter Overwatch.
In Overwatch, you receive loot boxes for every level-up. Soon these will also be available for HotS – and the boxes will pack a punch.
You can pull just about anything from a box that you can also buy with real money. Even elite skins and heroes! Certain skins will only be found in the loot boxes – like the new Diablo Prime Evil skin (the look of the Lord of Terror from Diablo 3) –
HotS 2.0 – Loot Box Dumb? Just Reroll!
Loot boxes normally contain at least one item of the “Rare” tier. When reaching certain levels, the box even contains a guaranteed item of the “Epic” or even “Legendary” rarity.
In Heroes of the Storm 2.0, a distinction is made between player level and hero level.
For gold, you can reroll the contents of the box, especially useful for the epic and legendary boxes. Additionally, there will also be boxes for individual heroes at certain levels.
No More Level Cap – Level Up to Infinity!
With the new update, the progression curve in Heroes of the Storm will become much smoother. On one hand, the level cap will be abolished, and on the other, starting from level 12, you will always need the same amount of experience to level up. So, you won’t hit a wall while leveling anymore. You still level up your heroes, and the total number of levels will correspond to your player level.
HotS 2.0 – New Payment Methods: Gold, Shards, and Gems!
Gold as a reward for matches remains in the game. You still buy heroes with it and use it for rerolls of the loot boxes. If you pull items from the boxes that you already have, you will receive “Shards” for that, which can be used to craft cosmetic content.
What will be missing, however: real money! With Heroes of the Storm 2.0, real money transactions will be handled via a new exchange currency called “Gems”.
You will purchase a package of Gems in the shop for real money and then use that to acquire paid content. The costs for the packages have not yet been finalized by Blizzard, but they are said to be overall cheaper than the old real money prices due to discount promotions.
As a reason for the switch, Blizzard mentioned that this method allows them to offer players real money prices without immediately throwing real money around. There will also be free Gems at level 5 and at certain other milestones in progress.
Heroes of the Storm 2.0 – Emojis, Spray Logos, and Announcers
In HotS 2.0, you will receive completely new content from the loot boxes:
- Emoji Packs for Every Hero: If you prefer a grinning Zarya or a crying Diablo instead of the usual smileys in the chat, you will be pleased with these emoji packs.
- Spray Logos: Like in Overwatch, you can spray a previously selected spray logo on the ground at any time. However, the logo will disappear after a few seconds for performance reasons.
- Banners: You choose a banner before the game. Whenever you destroy an enemy’s fort, your banner will be permanently placed there, and everyone will know “You did that!”
- Announcer Voices: Are you tired of the same old Nexus announcer commenting on your kills and losses? Then get another voice for the announcer and let Diablo, Illidan, or Abathur speak the texts for you. Especially cool: Murky as the announcer!
All your skins, announcers, emojis, mounts, banners, and spray paints can be conveniently managed in HotS 2.0 through the new collections menu. You can even save up to three pre-made loadouts and won’t have to set everything up again before each match.
All the changes from HotS 2.0 are set to be released in early April 2017. Additionally, there will be a new heroine from Diablo 2, which we will introduce in more detail in another article.
What do you think about the planned changes in Heroes of the Storm? Are you excited about the new progression system and loot boxes? Or is it all too much and was the old system better? Let us know in the comments!
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