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Garrosh Hellscream is live in Heroes of the Storm: here are his abilities and talents

Hots_Garrosh
Richard Scott-Jones

Published:

Heroes of the Storm 

Update August 8, 2017: Heroes of the Storm’s latest patch is now live, adding Garrosh Hellscream to the game for everyone to try, following a short stint in the PTR.

As well as introducing Garrosh, the update gives us a semi-rework for The Butcher and pulls the Hanamura map out of rotation for some changes. 

Here’s how loot boxes work in Heroes of the Storm.

All the changes that have been made since the PTR are in the patch notes, highlighted in orange.

Update July 31, 2017:Garrosh is now playable in the Heroes of the Storm PTR, along with a host of other changes.

Players can finally take on the role of the angry orc ahead of his final release. You have from now until August 7 to give him a go.

If you want to see what else is in the PTR, check out the patch notes.

Update July 27, 2017:Garrosh’s trailer, abilities, and talents have been revealed at ChinaJoy.

You can see a rundown of how Garrosh plays in the above spotlight, and all his abilities and talents are below. He’s a heavy tank, capable of slowing and disrupting enemies for days – but like many of his compatriots, he’s weak to percentage-based damage, even as he gets harder to kill closer to death.

He’ll be available on the PTR from Monday, July 31 if you want to get stuck in. Expect an in-development video fairly soon that also shows off the various skins and mounts in the same patch. If you can’t wait for new info, there was also a new patch released this week.

Garrosh Trait

  • Armor Up
    • Garrosh gains 1 Armor for every 2% of maximum Health missing.

Garrosh Basic Abilities

  • Groundbreaker (Q)
    • Deal 81 damage to enemies in an area. Heroes hit on the outer edge are pulled toward Garrosh, landing within striking distance.
    • Mana cost: 30
    • Cooldown: 8 seconds
  • Bloodthirst (W)
    • Deal 156 damage to an enemy and heal for 10% of Garrosh’s missing Health. Healing is increased by 100% against Heroes.
    • Mana cost: 55
    • Cooldown: 12 seconds
  • Wrecking Ball (E)
    • Throw a nearby enemy Hero, Minion, or Mercenary to the target location, dealing 91 damage to enemies near the impact and Slowing them by 30% for 2.5 seconds.
      • The nearest target is shown by a Horde insignia decal.
    • Mana cost: 60
    • Cooldown: 16 seconds

Garrosh Heroic Abilities

  • Warlord’s Challenge (R1)
    • Silence nearby Heroes and force them to attack Garrosh for 1.5 seconds.
    • Mana cost: 40
    • Cooldown: 50 seconds
  • Decimate (R2)
    • Deal 50 damage to nearby enemies and Slow them by 30% for 1.5 seconds. Deals 100% more damage to Heroes, and each Hero hit reduces the cooldown by 1 second. Stores up to 3 charges.
    • Mana cost: 30
    • Charges: 3
    • Cooldown: 8 seconds

His page is up on the official site with visual examples of his abilities and his release skin. As for his Talents, see below:

Garrosh Talents

  • Level 1
    • [Q] Warbreaker
      • Quest – Pull Heroes with Groundbreaker.
      • Reward: After pulling 5 Heroes, Groundbreaker deals an additional 150 damage over 3 seconds to Heroes. After pulling 15 Heroes, reduce Groundbreaker’s cooldown by 3 seconds.
    • [E] Unrivaled Strength
      • Increase Wrecking Ball’s throw range by 20% and its damage by 100%
    • [Active] Body Check
      • Activate to deal 111 damage to a target enemy and Slow them by 30% for 3 seconds. Damage is increased by 200% of Armor Up’s current bonus, and the Slow amount is increased by 30% if Armor Up’s bonus is above 25.
  • Level 4
    • [W] In for the Kill
      • Increase Bloodthirst’s damage against non-Heroes by 60%. Killing enemies with Bloodthirst resets its cooldown and refunds its Mana cost.
    • [Passive] Thirst for Battle
      • Basic Attacks against Heroes reduce the cooldown of Bloodthirst by 2 seconds.
    • [Active] Indomitable
      • Activate to become Unstoppable for 1.5 seconds.
  • Level 7
    • [Q] Intimidation
      • Groundbreaker reduces the Attack Speed of Heroes hit by 40% for 4 seconds.
    • [Active] Brute Force
      • Enemies hit by Body Check receive 50% reduced healing for 4 seconds.
    • [Passive] Oppressor
      • Basic Attacks against Heroes reduce the target’s Spell Power by 40% for 2.5 seconds.
    • [Active] Into the Fray
      • Activate to throw a nearby ally and grant them 25 Armor for 3 seconds. Deals 91 damage to nearby enemies upon impact and Slows them by 30% for 2.5 seconds. While in flight, allied Heroes are Unstoppable.
  • Level 13
    • [Q] Defensive Measures
      • Pulling a Hero with Groundbreaker grants Garrosh a 350 Shield for 6 seconds.
    • [W] Bloodcraze
      • When hitting a Hero, Bloodthirst heals for an additional 10% of Garrosh’s maximum Health over 3 seconds.
    • [Trait] Double Up
      • Armor Up can be activated to increase its Armor bonus by 100% for 3 seconds.
  • Level 16
    • [Q] Rough Landing
      • Heroes pulled by Groundbreaker are Slowed by 50% for 3 seconds.
    • [Q] Mortal Combo
      • If Wrecking Ball is used on a Hero within 2 seconds of pulling them with Groundbreaker, Wrecking Ball’s cooldown is reduced by 10 seconds.
    • [E] Earthshaker
      • Wrecking Ball Stuns enemies near the impact area for 0.75 seconds.
  • Level 20
    • [R1] Death Wish
      • Increase the duration of Warlord’s Challenge by 0.5 seconds. If an enemy Hero is killed while affected by Warlord’s challenge, its cooldown is reduced by 45 seconds.
    • [R2] Deadly Calm
      • Heroes hit by Decimate deal 20% less damage for 3 seconds.
    • [E] Titanic Might
      • Wrecking Ball now throws the 2 closest enemies.
    • [Active] Inner Rage
      • Body Check gains an additional charge, and its cooldown recharges 100% faster while Armor Up’s bonus is at or above 25.

Update July 21, 2017:Warcraft orc Garrosh is coming to the Heroes of the Storm PTR very soon, if all goes as planned.

The new hero will be playable at ChinaJoy on the show floor next week, and Blizzard are planning to unleash him onto the PTR on July 31.

The news was announced in a tweet:

Original Story July 20, 2017: Heroes of the Storm’s next hero will be that famously massive jerk, Garrosh Hellscream.

The news was tweeted out by the HotS account just a couple of hours ago.

Thanks to yesterday’s teaser – a simple image of the Dark Portal which brought orcs to Warcraft’s world of Azeroth – we knew the new addition would be from Warcraft, and probably an orc.

Nonetheless, the announcement of Garrosh seems to have taken some of the community by surprise, with ‘mixed’ being a pretty generous description of the reception.B/R esports branded Garrosh “everyone’s most hated orc,” while one fan said they “can’t even love him as a villain.” Orc fatigue in general was another theme – Heroes of the Storm has had quite a few now, though it has been a while.

Expect a full reveal of Garrosh in the next couple of days, and for him to go live on the PTR on Tuesday next week.

Anyway, speculation time. What class do you reckon? Bruiser or tank, we’re guessing.

Rich hates a cliché, so naturally his favourite game is Dark Souls. He is a strategy games, Total War games, and Warhammer games nerd. Ask him about his Destiny 2 play time.