Following Heroes of the Storm’s first Hero spotlight , which was Tychus from StarCraft II , Blizzard Entertainment has detailed an extensive preview of its upcoming MOBA. Since it recently announced Heroes of the Storms’ upcoming Technical Alpha , Blizzard wanted to dish out information on its current plans the game’s gameplay, cosmetics, mounts and player progression.
In Heroes of the Storm , players will be able to gain bonus experience by completing Daily Quests, which are unlocked at Level 6. Players will be able to get one quest a day, but you will only be able to have a maximum of three quests active at any given time. As well as through Daily Quests, players will be able to gain experience through Hero Quests, which are unlocked at Level 10 and Level 20. The first set of Hero Quests (unlocked at Level 10) will allow players to complete a series of three Basic Hero Quests for individual heroes. The second set (unlocked at Level 20) will allow players access to Epic Hero Quests. Aside from awarding you with additional experience, completing specific Hero Quests will unlock additional cosmetics for your favorite heroes and mounts.
The game features a number of characters from across Blizzard’s line-up of games, and each of these characters can be obtained in a variety of ways. Aside from purchasing heroes with real money, one of those ways is through a weekly rotation system similar to the one in League of Legends .
At the beginning of each week, you’ll have the option to choose from five different heroes that will be made available for free for that week. The weekly rotation will be updated with a new rotation of heroes every Tuesday. Once you reach Level 7, you will unlock an additional rotation slot, giving you a total of six heroes to pick from for each week following.
If you want to use a hero for your permanent use, you’ll be able to purchase heroes using Heroes of the Storm’s in-game gold currency (which you accumulate by completing in-game objectives). Players start earning gold at Level 5, and you will be awarded more gold as you level up. You can also earn gold by completing Daily Quests.
Whether or not the hero you want to play is on the weekly rotation, you can still try that hero out by using the game’s “Try Me” feature. This feature will allow you to test drive individual heroes on a closed custom map, where you will be free to practice with the character at your leisure. With this feature, you will be able to toggle the custom map’s minions and bots, refresh the map’s forts, repick Heroic Abilities and clear cooldowns on the fly, giving you the freedom to try out your chosen hero as you see fit before you take said hero into a proper match.
As for the game’s cosmetics, each skin for each hero will feature at least two additional tints of that skin. A hero’s default skin is immediately available, and each of the default skins’ two additional tints can be unlocked for each respective hero by completing Hero Quests. The first tint is awarded after completing a hero’s second Hero Quest, and the second tint will be awarded after completing a hero’s fourth Hero Quest.
As well as the default skins, there will be a variety of skins available for each hero, which can be obtained in a number of ways. Some can be purchased with real money, and Blizzard intends on eventually awarding an additional skin to players after they complete an individual hero’s sixth Hero Quest.
Lastly, Heroes of the Storm will also feature mounts, which can be used as a quick way to get to where you need to go while in a match. A variety of mounts will be available to players, either to customize their look as they hurl themselves into battle or to chase down a feeling opponent.
Each mount will include at least three tints, the first of which will be available immediately. The last two will be unlocked for individual heroes after their fifth Hero Quest has been completed. All players will start with a free horse mount–additional mounts can be bought with real money. A unique mount will be given as a reward to those who spend real money in Heroes of the Storm during the Alpha and Beta stages of testing.