Our author Cortyn took a look at the new hero Li-Ming from Heroes of the Storm and reveals why the character is “endlessly” fun.
In love with a witch
Li-Ming has arrived in the Nexus of Heroes of the Storm for about a week, unleashing her spells mercilessly on all those who stand in the way of the bold arcanist. She originally comes from the Diablo universe and is a playable character in the latest installment Diablo 3. If you want to get an overview of her abilities, you can catch up in our introductory post about Li-Ming .
Li Ming’s playstyle in Heroes of the Storm – Fast, wild, and explosive
Unlike with my troublesome Graumähne, I immediately had the “right” feeling with Li-Ming and knew how to proceed. This does not mean that she enables only one way of playing! You can either play her as a safe ranged damage dealer from a distance or dive straight into the fray to bring death and destruction among the enemies – however, the latter didn’t go particularly well for me, I preferred ranged combat significantly more.
However, it must be said that her two heroic abilities are quite “weak” in terms of raw damage. Disintegration and Wave of Force each deal less damage than an Arcane Orb at maximum range. Nevertheless, these abilities complement her “kit” wonderfully, have a very short cooldown (20 seconds!), and often provide the decisive edge to turn a battle around.
She only brings even more fun when the enemy is also “overnumbered”. Especially against foes like the Lost Vikings or Rexxar, she benefits greatly from “critical mass”. The passive ability ensures that the cooldown of all spells (including the heroic ability) resets immediately when an enemy dies. Want to cast Disintegration 7 times in a row? No problem with Li-Ming!
Li-Ming’s talents in HotS – Double-edged swords
Basically, I am not a fan of talents that have a negative effect alongside a positive one. Li-Ming has several such traits. She can enhance her Arcane Orb so that it deals more damage against distant enemies; however, it causes significantly less damage when they are close to her. Also notable is the talent “Glass Cannon”, as it permanently increases the ability damage dealt by 15%, but also costs 15% of maximum health permanently.
Other talents even completely reshape Li-Ming. If desired, you can transform her teleportation into a damage spell that causes quite a bang upon impact. If you love the adrenaline rush, you choose the talent “Dominance”, which ensures that every enemy hero killed heals our spellcaster by a whopping 25% of her health. This makes her a self-healing, continuously firing mana cannon.
The ultimate form – “Archon: Pure Power”
Particularly noteworthy is the level 20 talent “Archon: Pure Power”, which is absolutely unique in Heroes of the Storm. It grants Li-Ming a new spell, allowing her to switch to Archon form – as long as she wants. In this form, she can’t use anything else except “Disintegration”, but without any cooldown! Yes, you read that right. Starting at level 20, Li-Ming can cast her “death ray” without pause. The possibilities are so diverse that it’s hard to believe.
While the team is engaged in a fight, you can comfortably take down fortress after fortress with the mage and melt through the enemy defenses. At the same time, you can also just spin wildly in circles to “scan” the entire screen for enemies and uncover invisible foes like Nova and Zeratul.
“Archon: Pure Power” is for me the best talent in the whole game, without being completely overpowered, because Li-Ming sacrifices all other spells and thus her mobility. If she wants to end the form, she needs a brief moment of calm, which is often enough for them to be killed.
Conclusion – Strike, log in, have fun – Li Ming in Heroes of the Storm
My enthusiasm for the new heroine is hard to express in words. What is possible with her is impressively showcased in the latest “WTF Moments” – just take a look:
Li-Ming is fantastic. Rarely has a hero in Heroes of the Storm been as much fun as she is, and I am rarely so sure that she will soon receive one or two powerful nerfs. Especially a fully leveled “Arcane Orb” thrown from ambush into two or three unsuspecting enemies brings the greatest joy that one can have – at least for one’s own team. If you have 15,000 gold on hand, you should strike. To paraphrase the lyrical words of a song from recent years about Li-Ming, “Full laser, how you go off”.
