Heroes of the Storm is getting a new hero, the gnome Chromie. We have already had a chance to try out this little damage dealer and are exclusively showing you her abilities and talents!

In the week around May 17th, we will be able to play Chromie, one of the next heroes in Blizzard’s MOBA Heroes of the Storm. But we have already been able to play Chromie and have taken a look at her abilities and tactics. Read here what Chromie is all about and what she can do.
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Chromie? Who the hell is Chromie?

Name	Chromie
Origin	World of Warcraft
Race	Gnome (Dragon)
Role	Assassin (Ranged)
Special Traits	Receives her talents one level earlier

Chromie comes from Blizzard’s MMO hit World of Warcraft and is a cute little gnome. But appearances can be deceiving, as her harmless form is just a disguise. In truth, Chromie is a bronze dragon named “Chronormu,” sent by the bronze dragonflight when the space-time continuum in Azeroth is in danger.

Because Chromie can manipulate time and repair damage in the flow of time. And since the time-jumping Tracer from Overwatch has recently been causing havoc in the Nexus, Chromie has been drawn in to observe these anomalies in the space-time continuum. And if she can help her allies and cause some trouble for rebellious opponents at the same time, all the better.

Chromie, what can you actually do?

Chromie is a ranged assassin. And ranged can be taken quite literally here, as her range is truly enormous and can be extended with talents (which are always received one level earlier with Chromie). However, all her skills require a certain amount of lead time, which makes skill shots difficult.

Additionally, Chromie can take no hits and goes down to the dragon gnome Nirvana quickly. And with her little gnome legs, she can’t really escape well, and with only one control skill, she has a hard time if an opponent has her in their sights. So always keep your distance with Chromie. Ideally, you have a big tank with you to shield you.

In the following paragraphs, we will introduce you to all of Chromie’s skills.

Q Ability: Sand Blast

Chromie’s primary attack skill is a targeted sand blast that has an enormous range and goes through buildings, walls, and minions without causing damage. The attack only hits heroes and deals a whopping 390 damage! So you never have to worry about a pesky minion throwing itself in front of an enemy hero, thereby ruining your expensive special attack. And it’s also excellent for sniping damaged opponents who have just fled behind their fortress walls. Keep in mind that you need to factor in a one-second casting duration when shooting with Sand Blast.

• Mana: 20
• Cooldown: 3 seconds
• Damage: 390

W Ability: Dragon’s Breath

Chromie can not only take down individual heroes with Sand Blast, but she can also wonderfully shatter whole groups of enemies — and that with this skill! Dragon’s Breath triggers an explosion dealing 440 damage at a selected location, and the best part is: the opponent cannot see the target mark and therefore cannot dodge it. Chromie can thus efficiently eliminate both heroes and groups of minions. Just keep in mind that this skill also takes 1.5 seconds to activate.

• Mana: 70
• Cooldown: 14 seconds
• Damage: 440 (Area damage)

E Ability: Time Trap

Chromie’s only regular control skill. With this, you lay down a sand timer trap, and when an enemy walks in, they are stunned for two seconds. Enough time to prepare a devastating combo of Sand Blast and Dragon’s Breath. However, the opponent has to actively step into the trap, and the device itself is attackable and only becomes invisible after 2 seconds. Additionally, you can only place one trap at a time.

• Mana: 50
• Cooldown: 18 seconds

R1 Ability: Slowing Sands

Chromie’s first ultimate ability is a massive area of effect that slows all who walk into it by up to 50%. The field can be maintained indefinitely but costs a little mana per second and grows stronger over time. The field is large enough to block narrow passages — such as fortress gates — making siege assaults suicide missions.

• Mana: 4 per second
• Cooldown: 5 seconds

R2 Ability: Temporal Loop

Do you know Tracer’s time jump? This ability is the offensive version of that! Instead of teleporting yourself back to the spot you were just at, Temporal Loop does this with your opponent! The poor thing is instead sent back to the spot they were at three seconds ago. Ideally, right in front of the waiting weapons of you and your teammates or into the firing zone of the defensive towers. A wonderfully sadistic ability that drives every enemy mad!

• Mana: 60
• Cooldown: 70 seconds

Chromie’s Talents

The following table shows all the talents that Chromie can accumulate. Due to her trait “Timewalker,” she receives her talents one level earlier than usual. Especially cool: She has her ultimate ability before anyone else has it!

Level	Talents
1	·         Compounding Aether: Hit a total of 25 opponents with Sand Blast to gain a damage bonus of 100.   ·         Deep Breathing: Dragon’s Breath increases by 2 points every time it hits a hero. After 25 hits, it additionally deals 150 points of damage, and Chromie can see twice as far.   ·         Timewalker’s Pursuit: Each regeneration orb gives a mana regeneration bonus of 0.1, up to a maximum of 1.5. Collecting 15 orbs grants an additional 5% ability power.   ·         Peer into the Future: We can reveal a chosen area for 2 seconds as a new ability and highlight opponents for 4 seconds. The cooldown is 25 seconds.
3	·         Piercing Blasts: Sand Blast hits two opponents in its path.   ·         Bronze Talons: Standard attacks have 35% more range, and if they follow Sand Blast, they deal 250% more damage.   ·         Enveloping Assault: The radius of Dragon’s Breath expands by 25%.
6	·         Mobius Loop: The costs and cooldown of Dragon’s Breath are halved, but its damage is reduced by 25%.   ·         Dragon’s Eye: Opponents in the center of Dragon’s Breath take 25% more damage.   ·         Chrono Sickness: The cooldown of Time Trap decreases by 50%, and after the stun, the opponent is slowed by 40% for 3 seconds.
9	·         Slowing Sands: See above   ·         Temporal Loop: See above
12	·         Bye Bye!: The activation time of the Hearthstone is reduced by 75% and is no longer interrupted by damage.   ·         Reaching through Timer (Passive): The range of Sand Blast and Dragon’s Breath increases by 25%.   ·         Time Out: Chromie herself is stunned for 7 seconds, during which she is immune to damage. Can be deactivated prematurely. The cooldown is 60 seconds.
15	·         Shifting Sands: After hitting a hero with Sand Blast, your ability power increases by 10% for 10 seconds. Can be stacked up to 5 times, and its duration is renewed with each hit.   ·         Fast Forward: If the shot from Sand Blast has covered at least 75% of its maximum flight distance, the cooldown is reduced to just 1 second!   ·         Quantum Overdrive: Active ability with a cooldown of 60 seconds. Increases ability power by 25 for 10 seconds.
19	·         Pocket of Time: Slowing Sands costs no mana and slows enemies by 70%.   ·         Loophole: All enemies in the area of effect of the target of Temporal Loop are affected by the effect.   ·         Past and Future Me: Sand Blast creates an image of Chromie, and the next Sand Blast cast by the image will also cast an untalented version of the skill with 50% damage.   ·         Andorhal Abnormaly: You can lay down a total of 3 Time Traps simultaneously.

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Mein-MMO says:

Chromie is fun! The little gnome is a walking artillery piece and can deal an incredible amount of damage from range with her enormous range. And especially cool is her skill Dragon’s Breath, which comes crashing down on unsuspecting enemies like the hammer of God without any warning. More than once, I was able to brutally take out an opponent who thought they were safe behind the walls of their fortress with Sand Blast.

However, Chromie has no place at the front because the term “glass cannon” was invented just for her. In any case, I have already circled the week of May 17th in red on my calendar, as Chromie could replace Tracer as my favorite hero!