Heroes of the Storm receives a significant dose of Overwatch in April alongside HotS 2.0 and the Amazon Cassia. Following the Overwatch loot mechanic, Cyber-Ninja Genji and the first Overwatch map Hanamura are coming.
We were at Blizzard in Paris at the end of March and got to experience all the cool new features of Heroes of the Storm firsthand. Although the theme was Heroes of the Storm 2.0, it could actually have been called “Overwatch of the Storm,” as Blizzard’s MOBA is getting not only the new, loot system borrowed from Overwatch but also another hero and a map from Blizzard’s hero shooter!
HotS – Genji the Cyber-Ninja as the new hero
That Genji will be the new hero after Cassia is of course no great surprise. Various leaks had already revealed the existence of the new hero quite accurately weeks ago. But now the news embargo has been lifted and we can officially say: Genji is the new HotS hero!
The cool cyber-ninja from Japan is already a popular character in Overwatch, and his fast-paced gameplay has been well transferred to Heroes of the Storm. Just like in the shooter, Genji is extremely agile as a MOBA hero. He can change position multiple times by jumping as a trait, making him hard to catch. Like in Overwatch, he fights at close range with his shurikens.
Heroes of the Storm – These are Genji’s skills
As with all Overwatch heroes, the developers at Blizzard have once again perfectly transferred the hero’s gameplay from the shooter to the MOBA:
- Q – Shuriken: Genji throws three shurikens in a fan shape, hitting either multiple enemies or dealing particularly high damage to a single opponent if he lands all shurikens on the same target.
- W – Deflect: Genji’s essential skill from Overwatch is also a key to success in HotS. While the effect lasts, Genji is immune to damage and reflects it back to the opponent. Especially Tracer hates this!
- E – Swift Strike: Genji dashes straight ahead and strikes with his short sword. Perfect for quickly covering distances.
- R1 – Dragonblade: Genji’s ultimate from Overwatch allows for multiple strong attacks at close range with a wide arc. Deadly hits reset the cooldown on Swift Strike. This way, Genji can relentlessly pursue and slash down an opponent.
- R2 – X-Strike: This skill was specially developed for HotS and allows Genji to execute a cross-shaped attack over a large area. The X remains in place briefly and explodes after a short time for even more damage!
Heroes of the Storm: We have already played Genji
All of these skills make Genji an extremely agile assassin who can strike quickly and then disappear. However, as we noticed on our trip to Paris, he’s not very easy to play and requires good timing. Especially with Deflect, it is essential to activate the skill in time to weaken the opponent strongly before the attack.
HotS – Hanamura, the first map from Overwatch!
To make Genji feel at home in the Nexus, he gets “his” map from Overwatch bundled. Hanamura is the castle of the Shimada family, the clan of Genji and Hanzo. In Heroes of the Storm, you need to destroy the enemy Nexus, but it is not directly attackable.
Instead, you need to escort so-called “payloads.” These spawn repeatedly after some time and then slowly move along tracks across the map to their destination. Once there, they turn into cannons and fire a single shot at the enemy base, causing damage.
Heroes of the Storm – Hanamura – The Anti-MOBA map
The special thing about it: The payload cannot be stopped. It goes faster when escorted and slower when an enemy stands nearby. If there is no resistance, it can also be pushed back, but it never completely disappears. This makes the battles on the new map especially fierce around the payloads. However, those who destroy enemy towers will receive a bonus to the payload’s damage.
This means Hanamura is a map that breaks with many MOBA conventions. It is less important to capture lanes or destroy the enemy fortifications. Instead, the fights focus intensely on team fights and control over the payload.
Other features of the map include:
- Mercenaries are not recruited when defeated. Instead, they grant you a special skill after the victory, which you can then use once. This way you either get dragon spirits that track enemies, a portable healing pulse, or a turret that you can deploy anywhere, even on the payload.
- There are only two lanes, one at the top and one at the bottom.
- A giant robo-samurai is available as a boss. When defeated (and he is really tough!), he immediately fires a shot at the enemy base.
The new map Hanamura is the star of HotS 2.0
Jürgen says: I extensively played Genji and the Hanamura map in Paris. The cyber-ninja fits well with the other heroes, especially with Zarya and her shields, or Lúcio and his speed buff, harmonizing with the fast but fragile hero. The timing of his Deflect skill and clever use of his jumps are key to victory.
The secret star of the event, however, was Hanamura. The map is refreshingly different from the previous HotS maps and was a lot of fun. I love team fights and fast action. There was plenty of that in Hanamura. However, what I and many colleagues noticed was that you almost never reached maximum level in Hanamura and either won or lost much earlier. It is quite possible that Blizzard wants to improve this.
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