The Heroes of the Storm Beta has been live for a week now, and players who didn’t experience the Alpha finally have a chance to enjoy Blizzard’s latest. Unfortunately, that also means a lot of players who aren’t familiar with MOBAs or don’t know how to play Heroes of the Storm are now flooding the game. If you’re one of those newcomers, we put together helpful tips to get you up to speed and earn wins as soon as possible. After all, you’ll need the gold from those victories to buy new characters and skins.
No Solo Heroes
Heroes of the Storm is a five-on-five team-based game. It’s designed this way for a reason, which means if you run off by yourself, chances are you won’t last long. Every time you die, you give the opposing team an advantage, so it’s best to survive as long as possible. The further you are into the game, the longer it will be before you respawn, so there are big consequences for the team if you die. Think of it like hockey when one player is in the penalty box. The other team has an advantage that can change the momentum of the game.
For most maps in Heroes of the Storm, there are three lanes. Usually there’s a lane at the top, one in the middle and one at the bottom. Lanes are basically paths that lead from one side of the map to the other. Along these paths are various camps and goals depending on which map you’re playing on. It’s best to pick a lane and always stick with at least one other hero as you move through the map. You never want to be by yourself because you’re asking for a group of opposing players to ambush you. It won’t take much to bring you down if you’re running solo.
Even if you’re running a lane with another player, pick and choose your battles. If you encounter a group of four players from the opposing team, it’s unlikely you’ll be able to defeat them with just you and one other teammate. It’s best to retreat and live to fight another day instead of engaging the group and potentially dying. At the very least, call for assistance from your teammates before you engage the enemy outnumbered.
Know Your Role
There are four types of hero classes in Heroes of the Storm: Warrior, Assassin, Support and Specialist. Warriors are essentially your tanking class. They generally have a lot of health but don’t dish out a ton of damage. Assassins are your damage-dealing (DPS) heroes. Most of them are considered glass cannons, meaning they can inflict a ton of damage, but it won’t take many hits to bring them down. Support classes are your healers, but they can also perform crowd control and offer buffs for your party, while Specialists specialize in a variety of aspects.
It’s important to know what your role is and perform that role for your team. While some heroes can use abilities that allow them to have some freedom in how they’re played, you should only use these abilities if it works for your current team configuration. For example, Malfurion is a Ranged Support class. Most of his abilities heal or buff a teammate, but he can also use a few offensive spells and abilities. If your team has a second Support character or doesn’t need much healing, then you can use the offensive spells. If that’s not the case, you should generally stick to healing and support.
Your hero levels up alongside your teammates as you defeat enemies and complete objectives. At certain levels you can select additional abilities. However, you can only select one of the abilities offered at each level. For example, at level one you may have three different abilities to choose from. You can choose new abilities again at level four, but none of the abilities you saw at level one will be available again. Once you select your level one ability you won’t be able to choose another level one ability until the next game. This means it’s important to know how you plan to play your character and which abilities you want to use as the game progresses.
Objectives are Key
Each map has a certain objective that can offer a significant boost to your team. For example, in Blackheart’s Bay you need to collect doubloons, then give them to Blackheart. Once he has enough doubloons he will fire off a round of cannon blasts at your enemy’s base. If you choose to ignore the objectives it could have a negative impact on your team, especially if the opposing side completes the objective. In many cases, the team that completes the objectives more often wins the match.
Minions Matter
Each team has a group of minions that constantly attack enemy forts, heroes and rival minions. While some players like to ignore the minions, they can be important. Many heroes gain buffs from collecting the healing orbs that specific minions drop when defeated. In many cases this has an impact on Support classes replenishing their mana. The more orbs you collect the faster mana will regenerate (assuming the corresponding ability is selected).
As long as the Support class or whichever character needs the healing orb is close by, it doesn’t matter which team member picks it up. In addition, it heals any teammates in close proximity, which is the primary purpose of the healing orbs. You can tell which minion will drop the healing orb by looking for the minion with the open spell book in their hands.
The healing orbs aren’t the only benefit of minions. If you engage a camp with more powerful minions, they can be beneficial in not only clearing a path for your own minions, but also dealing moderate damage to enemy strongholds and even opposing heroes. In a close game, it’s the little things that can mean the difference between winning and losing.
Stay with Prima Games as we continue to provide coverage of Heroes of the Storm over the coming weeks.
