Heroes of the Storm seemed to be on its last leg when Blizzard Entertainment cancelled all future esports events for the multiplayer online battle arena (MOBA) in December. But the PC game isn’t dead yet.
Blizzard announced today that Heroes of the Storm is getting a new character, Qhira. It will also be releasing a change to to the game’s ranked modes with the introduction of Storm League. Both will come out on August 6. Qhira is available to try on the PTR (public testing realm) version of the game now.
Qhira will be this MOBA’s second original hero, following the launch of Orphea last November. Since then, Blizzard has released just two more characters: Imperius from Diablo and Anduin from World of Warcarft. Most characters in Heroes of the Storm come from Blizzard franchises like Warcraft, StarCraft, Diablo, and Overwatch. Qhira is from the Nexus, the fictional setting of the game that has brought all of these characters together. She is also the game’s first black female hero.
As for her playstyle, Qhira is a melee assassin. She excels at fighting enemies up close. She has a grappling hook that she can attach to the terrain or enemies, which then launches her forward.
Storm League begins
Before it was in a “preseason”, but now Storm League enters its first official season along with Qhira. This new ranked system replaced both the old Hero and Team Leagues. Combining things into a single mode makes for faster queue times when trying to find a game.
You’ll now have to play fewer placement matches — three instead of the old standard of 10 — before you get your starting rank. You will also no longer have to play a promotion or demotion game before changing your rank.
This first season of Storm League will also come with a quest line. Completing it will give you seasonal rewards and make you eligible for the Grand Master Leaderboards.
