Sylvanas Gameplay Update

[@Brewnette]

"Sylvanas still remains a formidable force in the lane" *Proceeds to show a clip of sylvanas using all her abilities to clear one wave*

[@Katzithua]

You forgot to mention her new talent at lvl 20: Morally Gray, which lets her burn the enemy team's tree

[@soscobra]

Oh, SNAP!

[@ВладиславШаклеин-ч7м]

Turn a keep into a tree, then burn it, while making the nearest enemy player watch, rather.

[@yraco1232]

Morally Grey Grey *GREY*

[@joshangel3585]

Hahahahahaha

[@JKAZ_M]

@João Pavezi Poor Auriel.

[@sortedevaras]

"We only have 100 assassins, we need more!" - Blizzard

[@abyssalzei552]

sortedevaras so true, I feel like blizzard underestimate supports and tanks. With this rework syl just seems like a watered down and more intensive version of... Literally every other ranged assassin in the game.

[@michaelbowman6684]

Yes, I get it, she's good, great even, the best place she's ever been. But, I miss the old Sylvanas. Whenever I had a stressful day, Sylvanas was a good character to play when I just wanted to clear lanes and split push. Yes, it was braindead, and yes, it wasn't an effective strategy later in the match, but it was _fun._ New Sylvanas is a much better hero, but she's not the same hero anymore. She plays similarly, and is much more impactful in teamfights, but it's just not the same. I miss being able to conserve my Q, I miss the constantly active Black Arrow trait, I miss the old MC that wasn't a Taunt reskin. TL:DR, New Sylvanas is better, but I miss the old Sylvanas.

[@smuffypanda]

Wait she now has increased damage against trees right?

[@Augoeides32]

That's about the only thing she's going to be able to fight anymore now :(

[@ursoanonimo8398]

Can someone explain all this tree thing?

[@TheGregamonster]

@@ursoanonimo8398 In Battle For Azeroth Sylvanas restarts the faction war by burning down Teldrassil and killing thousands of civilian NIght Elves.

[@mort6578]

@@ursoanonimo8398 she burns the home (a giant tree) of the Night elves like Malfurion and Tyrande.

[@JohnPaul_kun]

Burning damage right lol

[@tubby1833]

Finally I can justify taking camps instead of contesting the enemy team pushing to my core.

[@aknopf8173]

Poeple need justification for that? It's obviously the best play. #GoblinLife

[@darkopz]

Tubby if you were taking camps with her before these changes you were doing the wrong thing.

[@tubby1833]

Andrew Finnell Correct. I was stating that as a joke due to it being a poor and somewhat common decision.

[@victuss1413]

@@darkopz what made it the wrong thing to do? i'm kinda new to the game. seems like she was able to take camps effeciently.

[@crazyface2154]

@@victuss1413 You didn't really need the camps as much since your main goal as her was to create an early catapult lane by destroying 2 keeps in a lane.

[@MegaLabano]

She will also randomly set fire to her team's structures.

[@skylex157]

She has a secret passive that sets the garden of terror on fire, eliminating the event on that map

[@nordicfatcheese]

Aw man, you can't make people run around in circles with Mind Control anymore. That was the best part about playing Sylvanas.

[@MrWacck]

and making them walk into boss roots and immortal stuns

[@kronkrian100]

That never was a reason one to play Sylvanas. Wack You can still do It.

[@johncena-kr7lv]

Dang so true hahahahaha

[@JIerark]

You also cant make them go turbo speed towards your team

[@LightsJusticeZ]

@@JIerark It's not confirmed that her level 20 can't do that has it? I imagine her lv 20 talent would be something akin to "increases range, enemies charmed gain 100% movement speed towards Sylvanas".

[@SeniorMrLordJyggalag]

The change to her Q seems like a wrong step. The charges worked fine, I liked timing my charge uses. Now it just seems so boring.

[@internetusercynthia1621]

LOL you literally held Q down in fights. You can't "time" your Q charges, it hits the closest target .And Sylv can't survive diving on the back line pre 13 and even then if someone turns on you you're dead. It seems as if they nerfed Q in the sense of immortal like objectives. inb4 I don't know what I'm talking about. I'm GM every season, except this one I'm at school. Profile is Bitter

[@Lisdop]

@@internetusercynthia1621 You're an idiot. There's plenty of times where you need to time her Q. Getting camps, for example, but there are more. Better stay in school, and stop lying about GM.

[@Marcusianery]

It is all about making the game simpler. It been for the last year and why I took a hiatus from the game. Especially after the first Sylvanas nerf along with some other odd changes.

[@stravask9835]

@@Marcusianery There's an obvious ocean of difference between the "Mwneh! They're making my game too easy! Now NOOOOBS can play it!" you seem to be complaining about, and removing pointless, redundant player inputs like Syvalnas' Q. Pressing the key added no meaningful gameplay. It was stupid to have it.

[@Marcusianery]

@@stravask9835 There is a tactical concept behind the Q if you didn't know. Like taking camps or sparing a few charges for the right moment. There is meaning to her Q, now its just another button press to spam out a few auto hit attacks.

[@Amplifymagic]

I’m still patiently waiting for a Bloodhoof Chieftain to grace the Nexus... ISH’NU ALOH PORAH!

[@RagingCoupStudio]

Cairne baby! It needs to happen

[@Defileros]

Also Archangel Imperius pls

[@johanandersson4351]

SAME!! Let's get loud about it!!

[@drbowser166]

I'm a WoW Noob but met Sunwalker Dezco. Let's get him and Bloodhoof in the Nexus!

[@GuyCN]

@@drbowser166 a Legendary Skin of Uther Dezco would be fabulous

[@RenderSheep]

I played Sylva till lvl 103 and the rework just killed her for me.

[@Restryouis]

So, we are moving her from Specialist to Assassin right?

[@KeiraSTurner]

The specialist category is being removed when they do the new role groupings.

[@Enger1]

pretty much less pushing more fighting meh

[@qpSubZeroqp]

@@KeiraSTurner that's so dumb. So what's abathur gonna be?

[@dantealighieri1265]

@@qpSubZeroqp melee assassin? ^^

[@Sarithius]

Specialist is getting merged to other Roles, but tbqh people need to stop complaining. It's not that they want "more Assassins" its the fact that there are other Heroes in the game that can waveclear, like a Specialist BUT also give other utilities and teamfight. Specialist is an outdated role.

[@Sera-thiel]

She was my first main (been playing her since the closed beta), my first mastered hero, the first master skin I bought... so I'll just wait and try this rework even if I'm not really excited for it.

[@mex321]

Don't worry there's a lot more female heroes for you out there.

[@Sera-thiel]

@@mex321 lol what an original reply

[@mex321]

@@Sera-thiel Original or not doesn't matter right?

[@Sera-thiel]

@@mex321 Not worth the effort to come up with something new? lol

[@mex321]

@@Sera-thiel Indeed you're not.

[@bandalchagi]

not only she got nerfed (looks like it to me) as if she was dominating the ranked/pro scene (LMAO) but they also managed to kill the (already vague) uniqueness of her hero concept, with the stitches changes it looks like they want to slowly standardize the entire roster into a large bunch of similar pseudo-well-rounded heroes with no serious hard strenghts/weaknesses to make the game more beginner-friendly but with obvious costs for the game experience of the more skillful player-base... i'm ok with interesting changes but this...

[@mistaflake]

What a missed opportunity to give her banshee form as a heroic or a trait. The changes are pretty disappointing in general.

[@hisokamorow6709]

M8, its an update, not an overhaul.

[@klavicus2276]

Banshee kit would have been SICK wow

[@bazijoewhl]

@@hisokamorow6709 not overhaul ? with changed Q, W , Passive and R2 ?

[@hisokamorow6709]

@@bazijoewhl AFAIK None of her skill had a change in functionality. Q is still burst damage, W still a dot, D still can shut down buildings and R still a hard CC. She works exactly as she did before. So no, it's not an overhaul.

[@antoniobush4560]

@@hisokamorow6709 i mean laning is destroyed, she had an effective shut down all minions in a lane for 7 seconds, and a I'll just casually assassinate this fort here

[@nonlegend]

Better nerf Chen just to be safe. I'm getting tired of seeing him in every game.

[@shadowpriest2574]

And illidan. Dont forget to nerf him.

[@imnotcryingimjustdroolingf354]

Shadow Priest and the lost Vikings those rascals dominate every game

[@F0ulimm]

did Tassadar get nerfed too? He is just too OP.

[@Gang3rs]

cant tell if you are being serious or not, i rarely ever see chen

[@evangelosgiannoulis6401]

And what about chrome her two abilities are like kaelthas fireball (without following you) but with more damage and smaller cooldown

[@Hurdahurda139]

I really don’t like this rework. In fact I hate it. It’s like you took everything that made Sylvanas who she is and made it worse, or removed it entirely. I’m very disappointed.

[@trigunvash10110]

and who is sylvannas? what makes her sylvannas? a subpar assassin warchief who could only attack weak minions? I don't think you know sylvannas at all-- she is a banshee, a dark ranger, a war chief-- her kit before made her weak like the players who played her.

[@abyssalzei552]

trigunvash10110 but her kit also made her unique where she can completely negate an entire lane. Kerrigan is a queen of a Swarm but she takes on the battle head on. What's your point? Make her a dull version of tracer and literally every other ranged asssasin ?

[@ElevatorEleven]

Welcome to Heroes of the Storm.

[@vaellir6329]

His voice is so calming :D

[@hihigocat]

good thing hes an announcer now

[@lnkragequitfails1121]

but his face THOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO

[@vaellir6329]

@@hihigocat Yeah I had to buy that X)

[@RafaelW8]

KEVIN FOR GAME DIRECTOR

[@kaiseremotion854]

God i love it

[@dance5982]

mind control is no more a mind control its the same ult of cassia but more slow... and now u cant use it for steal a boss or camps like before =(

[@kayuanBM]

Just for curiosity, an honest question... What is your rank?

[@ibis0921]

It's not a cassia ult at all. It's a single target horrify. Kinda....

[@Lovlygod]

And to keep enemy away if you are low hp

[@true4evre]

It just looks like a taunt to me. I see no substantial difference anyway.

[@Gagasng]

looks like ranged taunt to me. AND you can miss it :(

[@AceCapis]

OMG blizzard promoting using haunting wave (E) to clear minions 1:57 . Shame blizz xD

[@imnotcryingimjustdroolingf354]

AceCapis that is how god and blizzard intended us to use it u heathen

[@jasonr8525]

Haunting wave is great for clearing minions. The problem is people use it when they're overextended and get caught out with no escape. Map awareness!

[@Ocean_Man205]

Lol. You know they probably use AI heros

[@Augoeides32]

@@imnotcryingimjustdroolingf354 No. While her E "can" stun minions, it does almost no damage, and it has a like 10 second cooldown. If you get caught by the enemy team during that cooldown, your dead. That's it. She has no sustain, no health, no damage, and you can't even use Mind Control to move enemy Heroes away from you anymore, so that you can buy yourself a few precious seconds to escape or to allow the cooldown on her E to wear off. Plus, they're not showing it in the video, but I'm guessing her E is going to get nerfed next. They didn't even give her anything to compensate, they just kept taking, and taking, and taking... :(

[@Lisdop]

Haha good point! I just lol when Sylvanas attacks me with her haunting wave and then I kill her cause she has no escape.

[@mrspicolli]

Just bought a new computer after years without. Hope this game is still going

[@Apostrophe_D]

Gutting specialists has really made me play this game less and less. Of course I won't know if she will be fun to play until I try this rework out but I'm not optimistic.

[@RickyMuzakki]

She looks like gonna do more in teamfight, but less braindead in pushing. I'm happy they add counter play to her mindless gameplay (as a sylv main) can't wait

[@dirty_d-ie6nx]

I had played with her today, and it's such a drastic change from the old gameplay, and it disheartens me to use her with this new method of play you have to do with her. You can't do much lane push like you used to, plus team fights are still difficult because you're still just as squishy as before.

[@pope6789]

@@RickyMuzakki It's awful.

[@ElevatorEleven]

Cheers, fellow specialist player. We strategic thinkers are a dying and unloved breed among the playerbase. I stopped playing regularly around the Kel'thuzad patch. To the majority of the pvp fuckheads who dominate the waters Blizzard likes to go whaling in, team fights and winning are literally the only things that matter. Every update to the game since Sylvanas was originally released has made things more assassin-based. Infinite ammo towers make fighting enemy heroes near them more challenging, but for us who would base tactics around wasting their ammo to neutralize them, roughly a third of the game was just excised. The latest maps and map revisions are in order to facilitate more team fighting, single objectives instead of spread out ones, and objective completion rewards that either augment heroes like the cavalry charge or do the specialist job for the heroes like the new garden terrors and the payload bombardment. Nearly every building killer and summoner has been mashed into the shape of a fighter, Xul, Azmodan, Murky, Gazlowe, and now poor Sylvie, as if she didn't have it bad enough with the horrible writing they give her.

[@pope6789]

@@ElevatorEleven The good news being they will never be able to give aba the same treatment.

[@Ash-qd2ke]

Before watching the video: OMG OMG OMG OMG pls don't ruin her After: Is this how Mercy mains felt... I do think that this is a necessary change with the removal of the specialist class. Though I dislike the new Black Arrow, I feel that it is a necessary change. But I truly hate the new Shadow Dagger...I mean, really?

[@FireW700]

It was sometimes annoying how you can get a Shadow Dagger a 25 meters away from Sylvanas just through the all minions/towers/fort/minions on the way.

[@pope6789]

@@FireW700 That was the point of the ability...

[@Sliverappl]

Think there is a typo in the title It should be Neft rather than update Rip slyva! welcome to glaz tier

[@volvoxglobator8747]

Another character with a unique playstyle mushed into average pulp.

[@Augoeides32]

This is the most accurate comment I've read in the past 2 hours. She's basically a weaker version of Tracer now. Not really worth playing.

[@AidanEgeWest]

And Sent to oblivion...

[@draphking]

"unique playstyle" You mean afk pushing a lane while the enemy team destroys your base.

[@gotaplanstan]

@@draphking you must be bronze or silver? That's not even close to how she has been played ideally for like literally ever

[@hugedeal8611]

Yep

[@kronkrian100]

Finally the braindead bots that played her can start actually participating in the events of the game.

[@orenbartal8504]

Or... they can continue split pushing mindlessly and die faster (most likely).

[@CreativeUsernameEh]

That's one saving grace to this, I'm so glad those will become a thing of the past. Sylvanas always deserved better.

[@atahrijouti]

Events ? have I been away too long from hots ?

[@Linneu1997]

@@atahrijouti he meant team fights and objectives

[@texchu8331]

To be honest, I sometimes play her in quick match just to see how much I get away with her. Like see how deep I can push and still escape. With an eye on the map of course. No fun to get killed quickly, but just to experience the thrill of getting away with something I shouldn't and then playing the escape game.

[@Trevan2412]

I don't like any of the kit changes except for the ult and for the talents. Having a charge system on her Q is fun, having a spreading debuff is fun, and having a passive trait is fun. The new versions don't look satisfying to use at all...

[@latui7350]

Seems like a more dull version :/

[@chemykl]

Why?

[@pope6789]

@@chemykl Her withering fire feels clunky and weak and it's much easier to waste it entirely now. Her dagger requires more input from you without any added benefit. Her wave clear generally received a huge nerf with this rework and her trait was given a cooldown. All so that she can have slightly more teamfight damage meaning she's now just a low tier valla.

[@Sainze]

Sylvanas: I can lock down minions! Mal'ganis: Hold my beer.

[@TheMetalInsideUsAll]

so basicly her mind control is a very slow not effective stitches hook

[@ВадимКовалёв-ш2н]

Mind Control had a lot of counter play, be it blunt CLEANSE or knockback (Tycus Grenade or Stiches hook)/stun on Sylvanas herself. As Ming player I have no trouble with flanking and hitting new Mind control, but there are following trouble with value of ult: 1. target will walk in a strait line so no possibility to bring your enemy turning around over corners or walls. Like countering Mephisto E with old MC. 2. you can''t stop your target, so aiming some ults for combo will be more difficult. 3. Enemy team can just body block their ally, because he will try walking in a strait line. 4. bad defense vs hyper mobile divers. Projectile is slow and predictable. 5.Positive thing that you are not rooted and silenced yourself during MC. Kiting squishy target may lead to its elimination this way Possible buffs, increase duration of follow, when effect falls or target reaches Sylvanas it is stunned for 0.5sec. Q while great vs solo target has even more weakness that made Sylvanas obsolete in pro play. Her Q auto aim is terrible vs double warrior teams when she can't focus her small hitting shots. Now she can't even stop wasting Q charge once enemy is protected or under barrier of sort (genji, Zarya). W is getting semi nerfed and I don't belive they are getting AoE part of lvl 16 W -25% armor talent back to compensate for her need to spread it manyally now. She is squishy and it is risk for her doing so. If Sylvanas will not get new improved talents for W build, keep Windrunner talent, thouse changes to basic abilities, MC and trait will send her to abyss, because sitting still trying to stack sustained damage it too risky play for such squishy ranged assassin with no point an click focus fire. lvl 86 Jaina, 75 Li-Ming, 47 Nova, and 38 Sylvanas (acc lvl 1506, less than 100 games vs AI)

[@aidankircher8865]

I'm not liking this one. I liked the Stitches change but I don't like the look of this one. I'm willing to give it a shot and try it first, but I'm worried this might ruin playing Sylvanas for me.

[@Lisdop]

I agree. Looks pretty rekt to me. Laning ability ruined, and I had no issues at all doing damage in team fights before. Especially stacking up "W" talents. But I guess we'll see.

[@Voldrim359]

We need to see first, remember, 2019 there will be no specialist, so the reworks should be starting now, still, there is a lot of heros that needs reworks and balance but we will see

[@Pizza7478]

Same. Then again, I loved playing Stitches, no matter how bad he actually was, but I never really liked Sylvanas. So the Stitches Buff makes me happy, but the Sylvanas... Not even sure what this is, is kinda 'Meh' to me

[@johnthorsen5394]

She will flow differently, that is for sure, but I think this is more like a rebalance than a nerf. Her laning was ridicolously strong, i mean, she could shut own entire lanes /towers easily if she was unopposed. Now she is given more anti-hero capabilities to help her when actually dealing with opposition tho! But ofc, for me the most important thing when i play is the feel and flow of a character, so i get it if this doesn't float your boat.

[@GamblerFallacy]

Thank god the people in the KZbin comments don't decide on the balance changes.

[@BGgungame]

It's just a bunch of pretend Sylvanas mains complaining they can't use her as a pushbot forever anymore. I'm a lvl 75 Sylv and many other Sylv mains I've talked to all understood what a pest old Black Arrows was. This here looks good, but the real test comes with actual gameplay and knowing the full talent tree.

[@moonrazor2039]

@@BGgungame Looks like she'll be much better vs single target fights. Specially with the new MC.

[@funpunkerle]

@@BGgungame lvl 75 sylv on bronze? in master league and above her trait was nowere near as strong as against noobs, she was no push bot since u solo lane sylv u mabye win the lane but wont get any dmg on the buildings esp with the decreased duration of black arrow. she was fine, a bit weak but fine. now she is nerfed as an low dmg assasin. gr8

[@gewreid5946]

@356designer The reason why certain heroes arent picked in pro games isnt necessarily that they are weak. The pro play has a very specific meta resulting from their skill, coordination and communication with explosive teamfights that are over quite fast and based on picks and burst. Pro play is a thing for itself and not necessarily representative of the rest of the game and balancing only around pro play would be quite the bad idea. A hero doesnt need to be in pro games to be good, popular and important for the game. (There are some wonky and UP heroes, for sure. Though blizzard also tackled and reworked quite a few of those this years. Can't fix everything at once and i think they sufficiently showed that they are willing to do something about underperforming heroes.)

[@eget4144]

@@moonrazor2039 look at her w bro

[@Maleus666]

Hm no, this rework sucks.

[@Xedlord]

How is that profile picture even allowed?

[@MH-tr4kn]

yes

[@FranciscojavierHDD]

So, they nerfed her...

[@skylex157]

In what? She can't go and destroy forts just because she is sylvanas?

[@Asghaad]

@@skylex157 except with this change there is simply NO POINT in taking Sylvanas over any other more capable assassin ... this simply makes her another damage dealer with simple CC heroic instead of lane presence specialist that wasnt that bad in teamfights anyway

[@skylex157]

@@Asghaad did you even watched the video? she now deals F***ing damage, also, the fact that you must activate D doesn´t mean it is now a useless ability, it means you can´t push 100% of the game without worring about towers, she is now a great damage dealer and a good splitpusher, most of the pushers have kinda meh team fighting unless you combo well (thing that with every champ is useful :/) or used the ult for teafight, zagara´s worm, azmo´s enhanced meteor and a spirit of vengance of naz can kill/disable a lot of people

[@Asghaad]

@@skylex157 a damage that any other ranged assassin will deal more reliably while being just as bland in lane as them too ... the black arrows will have maybe 10% uptime, probably less ... and no she isnt "good splitpusher" anymore, with her old style she was, a hero that HAD to be contested to not to push the lane easily, now she has about the same lane pressure as any other generic assassin ... meaning that if she split pushes you CAN ignore her now, blow up the rest of her team then pay her a visit after you are done mopping up her teammates without sustaining any amount of excess damage that you would take if the splitpush was done by any other hero ... she is POINTLESS like this

[@Th3BlackLotus]

Nerfed her AGAIN

[@TheSpartanOne]

So, they took what made her unique and removed those parts of her kit? So, essentially she isn't worth playing anymore.

[@luisalarconvictoriano9408]

uh, excuse me? Not only she's Queen of the Forsaken, she's also Warchief of the Horde. The audacity has no precedents.

[@CreativeUsernameEh]

Everyone who plays Horde hates her.

[@Lucitaur]

Aaaaand another unique hero concept down the drain!

[@G1itch3Dx]

She was fixed and her "CONCEPT" is still there, it has just been balanced like every other character with a cool concept in the game, I mean wouldn't you love it if Fenix passive was up 24/7 like hers was, so he had infinate sheilds, because I would.

[@VelvetSkyye]

...fenix's ult is up 24/7. After a short few seconds, it regenerates, with no input from the player except to not be hit. A better comparison is Arthas.

[@G1itch3Dx]

@@VelvetSkyye ok I didn't say "ult" I said passive, just in case you didn't know his PASSIVE doesn't give him cdr or anything like that without talents, his PASSIVE is a sheild over his health that regens after 5 seconds out of combat, If his passive was up at all times that would be broken, do you know anything about the game? And also Fenix ult is not up 24/7 it needs a cdr talent at 16 that also REQUIRES him in a fight or in dangerous positions. Artanis also has to specialize in to this sheild build but it would be just as broke, Fenix sheild Regen with no cool down would be broken because it could heal through anything

[@Marcusianery]

@@G1itch3Dx The thing is, she is not what she was released as. She is just another assassin now.

[@FireW700]

@@Marcusianery Her trait was cooldownless because she didn't have any summoning units to reduce tower's ammo. So she just can turn towers off instead. After the removal of tower's ammo she starts to feel broken, cause she can do much more pressure on forts and keeps than most specialists by permanently turn off structures. Now she can do the same with some cooldown, like the other specialists here.

[@JustSomeDamnGinger]

As a Sylvanas main I'm excited about these changes. I love her current ability to clear waves and push/get camps, but it was always frustrating to me that her teamfight presence had to sacrifice so much utility necessary for pve talents.

[@Skelliiie]

these are just straight up nerfs, she's barely the same hero anymore

[@Skaeld]

I really like how her mindcontrol is a skillshot now, increases her skill ceiling and is overall healthier for the game, as the less TARGET abilities, the better.

[@RainbowDashite]

Biggest joke in this comment section.

[@darkdill]

Awww, I wanted to save Ahri's Charm for Eirena... T_T

[@feinne7652]

It's just a Stitches hook. That travels very slowly and does no damage and can't save allies. On a much longer CD.

[@kaelthas9970]

@@feinne7652 Sylvanas can move at least, but yes, this needs to have 18 sec cooldown or less.

[@lovetapp558]

This rework blew. I'm glad HotS isn't ruining anymore heroes

[@antoniomayorga282]

I am glad to have my Syl in level 105, because THIS IS A HUGE NERF!!!!!!!

[@sachalopez3543]

That's a really exciting rework! I can see lot's of new opportunities for skilled players, and I really liked how they solved the issue of her trait being a little too oppressive without completely removing it. I do believe that she'll be overtuned on the first days, but let's wait and see. Also, I'd love to see this kind of rework on more heroes more often. I mean, Tassadar, Chen, Probius, among others, all could use a similar rework, ASAP.

[@slavaogg8911]

Dont change Sylvanas Q!!!

[@Defileros]

“Sylvanas trait now deals 200% more damage to trees”

[@f1machka]

What about when you hit towers? Will they still won't attack you if you keep shooting at them?

[@somerandomdude5844]

Did you watch the video?

[@mch5546]

Gone, you need to activate the trait to do the usual stun The trait have duration and cooldown tho

[@donaldkenne3776]

OMG, the face behind the voice of every update! Not what I honestly expected.

[@macduc88]

I'm not a big fan of the "hit the same target 3 times" things blizzard has been going for recently, otherwise I think this might be a good remake

[@tincano-beans2114]

gotta appreciate the amount of work you guys put into the game despite it not being wildly popular across general audiences

[@Phleg]

Sylvanas Windrunner, queen of the nerf

[@apocalypse_march1499]

Found the solo laner lmao

[@Ocean_Man205]

This is not a nerf, but a rework. Also I highly believe they would buff her basic stats

[@superpotato2387]

Yeah there's more to do now to get the same effects but as Alon said reckon the damage will be higher on a few things

[@lordalmansoori6888]

you're kidding right!?

[@darkopz]

Owlman yeah her win rate and pro play was just too high.. oh wait.

[@SeaSpartan118]

I absolutely love the fact that all these changes are for heroes that haven’t been covered by Pallytime yet :D

[@mr_mcnuggets_6219]

My least favorite rework in the game. This was when blizzard ruined my favorite hero. Pretty stupid how the devs have decided to focus all of their energy into ruining previously existing heroes rather than creating new, interesting ones

[@Mephiles200108420]

I appreciate you making her into a more interactive and skill-based character.

[@QGMODS]

RIP Sylvanas, they finally have in to the bronze players complaining about sylv cause they didn't know how to counter her. This is not the way to get people back in your game bliz

[@skylex157]

Oh how fun, having to lane against a sylv ALL GAME LONG just for the enemy team not to insta win, what a good time just being there stoping her :////// It is not about countering her, is about having to counter her all game long without nothing to stop it if you are not ranged, i hate murky, but at least he has extremely low health, one that even a supp can deal

[@TheLegendsmith]

@@skylex157 Wow it's like Specialists were supposed to be threats without being killers. You know who else you need to counter all game? Assassins. The difference is they tend to come to you in order to rip your face off.

[@skylex157]

@@TheLegendsmith yeah, but you counter them with CC from tanks, heavy damage, avoiding them, heal/shields from the supp, kiting them, etc, for sylv you must go, deal enough damage so she retreats and repeat the process all game long, you see where's the problem there

[@TheLegendsmith]

@@skylex157 Or you can just kill her with any sticky assassin.

[@spambaconeggspamspam]

countering sylvanas is easy. make sure you have some good ganks like valeera, butcher etc. and kill her whenever she's further than 50% of a lane. if she doesn't die atleast you push her back. then go off and gank somewhere else.

[@tiraraymond6629]

Really excited to see how this plays out. I used to play her a lot until I realized there was almost always a better choice for what I wanted to do.

[@beniaminszwed1700]

Tomorrow: Chen update

[@djS0nics]

These look like some cool changes. And as always: Kevin has a great voice and it's always a pleasure listening to him! Cheers :)

[@Zero_Shift]

"Better reward expert play". Removed any kind of skill from the Q. Gave her a passive where she gets reward for attacking the same target like a brainless bronze. Straight up nerf to the dagger and pushing power. Made the mind control a million times more useless.

[@GearyDigit]

QQ

[@sumelar]

Because spreading your damage out where it can be easily healed is such a good idea. Focusing fire is a good thing, not a bad thing.

[@kevincorkum2147]

You're clearly experienced in bronze tactics aren't you. Focus fire is good. Positioning still matters for Q. Mind control allows her to keep attacking and bring out a pick from a bush, corner, etc. Can completely eliminate one target before a fight even starts and now she can attack that target herself. Seriously, watch the video again.

[@kronkrian100]

Someone is angry because he can't push the lane like a bot and take camps without taking damage.

[@fiorilli1]

Now you can mind control someone and still doing damage, even killing him! how can this be a bad thing? is like a mini guldan heroic, thats good as is more reliable. Sylvanas was weak as she didnt have good single target, now has good damage and is bad?

[@dododimitrov9657]

If he cuts the corner of his eyebrows higher this would open his beautiful eyes more. The hair, the beauty mark, everything else is perfect

[@6Metalheart6]

What about the banshee? Untouched?

[@Skylair95]

Looks like slightly nerfed (not talking about cd or dammage, we didnt see that). Just like all her ability, it won't apply her trait anymore except if you pick a talent at lv7 (1:00). But to be fair, i actually don't use it really often for waveclear since it is her main escape, so no big deal.

[@F0ulimm]

escape or finish off enemy heroes. (close gap skill).

[@drakula839]

@@Skylair95 it will apply "banshees curse" not "black arrows"

[@Broockle]

Skylair Nice catch

[@Augoeides32]

@@drakula839 I didn't catch this, probably because I was torn somewhere between crying and blind rage. Now I'm even less excited to play HOTS. I really regret buying the Boost last night.

[@Ocean_Man205]

Finally! Until now you had two ways to play styles. Pushing one lane for the whole game or dying in team fights. Thanks guys, I really want to play her more now

[@laramieclement141]

Updating another hero once again that didn't need changes compared to many of the heroes that's become obsolete today. #SaveTheSpecialists

[@imnotcryingimjustdroolingf354]

Nah fam #makeabathurameleeassassin sounds better

[@laramieclement141]

@@reign8754 Key word "Wanted" not needs. And if you read what I said, I said compared to many other heroes who's becoming obsolete. Meaning Popularity, Games played, Win percentage, Ect... All of those are contributing factors that indicates a hero needs to be improved upon.

[@skylex157]

@@laramieclement141 like who?

[@KaleidosXXI]

@@laramieclement141 How is play rate and win rate indicative of who needs reworks or updates? The former is almost intrinsically tied to the latter, and they're both signs of hero balance rather than kit health or obsolescence. An unhealthy or obsolete kit can win more often if the balance is off (and actually usually does), and as a result they'll be played more. Balancing a Hero is completely different from reworking or updating a Hero, and Sylvanas both needed a rework in the eyes of the dev team for a long while and was highly requested to receive one by the community.

[@trigunvash10110]

@@laramieclement141 and where is this data you are getting? Do you have spreadsheets of every sylvannas game played on every server over the course of the past year? I didn't think so

[@gangstawiggles6159]

Mashing q was one of the best parts ofsylvanas and withering fire. Congratulations, you played yourself.

[@Dsingis]

Hahaha, sorry but take a moment to look at 2:02 They moved possesion to level 4 x'DDDDDD This shows how incredibly useless this "heroic" actually was. I mean, first this was a level 10 talent, so weak that they had to move it to level 7, and still nobody picked it. Now they moved it to level 4, and I'm going to predict, still nobody will pick it. 1st. It gives enemies bonus XP and second, the first talent seems like it provides better waveclear regardless.

[@drakula839]

Possesed minions do not give xp. But i agree it was bad the whole time.

[@murlocaggrob2192]

Actually, the possessed minions don't give XP anymore. I don't think they have for over a year. It's honestly not a bad talent, but it was massively outclassed before. Hopefully it finds a home.

[@guibou336]

It's good late game for the catapults and when exp doesn't really matter anymore, but I agree that as a talent, pretty much any teamfight ability is better. They should just inlcude it in the lvl 20 upgrade to mind control.... target move faster and you can use possesion.

[@kevincorkum2147]

You're joking, right? Possession for all intents and purposes "destroys" the minion and it becomes a summon. You don't double dip the XP from almost anythin in the game except for neutral-team A or B.

[@ocean037]

Lol yeah, possesion should have an aditional functuonality, something like: evertime is used, it increases the dmg of an ability (or maybe the AA dmg) by 1

[@scc5920]

I really enjoy these changes to Syl. Her trait became an active, which is awesome, and her possible versitle kit is something amazing. Cant wait to pla her.

[@AlexanderForsman]

Disappointing. Looks she's gonna become another generic hero.

[@kronkrian100]

Ye, because you can't braindead push the lane till core and then switch to another one anymore.

[@AlexanderForsman]

@@kronkrian100 then you win till you reach a level where the opposing team wouldn't let you roam freely.

[@raccoonking3877]

@@AlexanderForsman Either everyone needs to have and identity or no one. Sylvanas' identity was black arrow and it was way to strong if you knew how to use it (speaking as someone whose second most played hero is Sylvanas). Once Blizzard gets a lot of heroes into the game then they can start creating niche identities for everyone but it's way too unbalanced at the moment.

[@Haughington]

@@raccoonking3877 She still has the shutdown, yall. Did you not watch the video?

[@RommelMk]

She was a generic hero to start with.. Tbh what's your definition of generic hero? Or it's something you are just saying because reasons

[@HaydenKeep]

Pretty good way of maintaining her uniqueness while giving her a bit more team impact. Very nice! Looks strong.

[@markedforstrike]

So... Q no more clear giant waves, black arrows are temporal... Sylvanas died for me. Now my choice is Zagara.

[@Lisdop]

I'm sure they'll ruin Zagara soon. I'm with you. Zag is my go to hero.

[@343TheVoid]

@@Lisdop Personally dreading what they will do to Abathur ... I mean it is the purge of the specialists ... (not to mention the most recent patch notes said very clearly that they are looking at him for changes... I think the only reason they have yet to do so is because he is so unlike all other heroes)

[@toadofsteel]

Sgt. Hammer... she was reworked early enough that Blizzard wasn't yet on their "THIS GAME IS NOW ARAM" kick.

[@Lisdop]

@@343TheVoid Yeah, I hear you there. I had a chance to try Sylvanas on the PTR, and I'm actually quite surprised, and tentatively would say that beyond all hope, she's been improved! Yes, improved!

[@ShiningInTheName]

Pretty curious and exciting changes. She become alot more interesting then before. Can't wait to try her.

[@MazeFrame]

So... instead of adding another warcraft assassin, they make one from the existing specialsts?

[@illilll8915]

Blizz is dead you know .they will turn hots into a mobile moba .we will see cringe ads of hots mobile soon

[@alecaboss1073]

I left hots because of this nerf... its been a while and I came here again to ask, are you happy now?

[@BorderLanderr]

"We noticed that Sylvanas was a unique hero that wasn't from Overwatch, and we really couldn't let that stand, so we've changed her fundamentally. She is now correctly a low tier assassin. You're welcome!" -Blizzard.

[@flibbernodgets7018]

looks good. I like the fact that you can still choose to do more pve-centered stuff if you want, but on top of that the assassin-y bits of her new kit look fun too.

[@adrianoluccas9012]

I miss the first Sylvannas. This game died after the Beta

[@1Hol1Tiger]

Thank God, Sylvanas is a main of mine and I was worried (especially with the rumors that Black Arrow was going to be removed completely) that the rework was going to kill everything I love about just how deadly in PVE scenarios she can be. I was afraid she was going to be a non-healing version of Elune, these changes just seem like a straight upgrade and make her feel more involved in the action. Can't wait for the next patch.

[@cryptkeeper08]

This rework messes with the feel of the character I don't really like the direction they took with some of the changes. Having to activate the spread of her dagger with a attack is a unnecessary nerf to said dagger. The activation of the trait to disable minions and structures is more tacked on hassle. This messes with the whole flow of the character, and will only make her not fun to play IMO. I would prefer if her disabling of minions etc activated at interval say the end of the debuff expiring stunning for set a time( while stunned they can not be affected by the ability). The dagger is not OP as is and really shouldn't have a unnecessary added component to make it work like it did before.

[@ocean037]

The feel of the character = a bot pushing a lane until she get ganked lol so yeah, thank fully this rework messes with that. Every change shown here adds complexity which requires skills. Now she will be an interesting hero to play with and a fun hero to play against.

[@cryptkeeper08]

@@ocean037 if you took the time to read my post it isn't that I hate all the changes just I don't like some of their implementation. Specifically the black arrow change is another button to press, the ability feels tacked on just to try appease players like me who liked her trait before, does not seem like a well thought out change to the trait. The dagger change is a major head Scratcher tell me how this makes her more interesting or fun to play with. Play against should not be the only factor in changing a character. Do I like that people play her like a bot pushing lanes, no but there are far more interesting ways of fixing that then making it a cooldown button press ability for some abilities that's fine but this one is just plain boring and just another button. There are multitude of ways they could have gone with this, they choose the easiest and most boring tacked on way.

[@HazenColones]

@cryptkeeper08 No point argueing, anyone that has a complaint get hit with the brain dead reply of "herp derp now you cant push so you complain!" this is hots community in a nutshell...

[@lususnaturae881]

@@HazenColones but every response to that is "I don't wana team fight or play with other people" You guys deserve the stereotype of being loner lane pushing bots with your attitudes. It appears like Sylvanas mains want to play a MOBA like a singleplayer game.

[@FireW700]

Can someone clarify what "non-elite mercenaries" means at 2:01? Is Elite mercs are bosses or mage unit from brawler camp or what?

[@Vert_GreenHeart]

Nice nerf.

[@gasparguruoftime5475]

KEVIN thanks so much for announcing my games now!

[@miavelvet]

I hate new Q. Im okay with other changes but not this one

[@Augoeides32]

The only change I'm alright with is the Black Arrows, since I knew it was coming weeks ahead of time, and I'm used to Blizzard abusing me with this ability, so I have Stockholm's with it. But yeah, the Q is basically worthless now, since you can't burst with it, and that fifth arrow Talent adding 350% damage is worthless, because in the time it takes to fire that fifth arrow, I could have fired another 5 arrows with the charge system.

[@adrianolima7837]

it was actually one of the only changes i didn't mind at first. But now i see that all of them are pretty bad nerfs

[@FireW700]

Same here. All the other changes is realy logical and fix existing problems, but I still don't get why they change Q. Also minions dies now will ethier do nothing or speeds up cooldown as there is no more individual charges.

[@Soulboundx1]

Soooo when can we expect to see a new world of warcraft hero introduced to hots? Maybe Zul´jin or Bwonsamdi?

[@GoldmonX]

And people are still gonna solo lane AFK push with her...

[@travismontgomery1897]

Let's hope they increased her sustainably greatly. Healing whenever her dagger bounces & building up that trait is a pain.

[@macderobo]

Not sure how I feel about this one.

[@juiceboxbzrk]

I dont think anyone could've guessed kev would be so swoll

[@fallenphoenixiv]

Sylvanas rework < stitches rework

[@draphking]

Her ultimate has been called "Mind Control" since she was added to the game. Blizzard is about as subtle as a hammer yet people still don't get it

[@TheRealFrostysaur]

Level 1000+ sylvanas cries incoming

[@pope6789]

Not crying but I'm not playing this game anymore. Last straw. I could handle the pay to win OP hero du jour until they balance it two, three weeks after release bullshit but they keep ruining heroes on top of it.

[@caraunio2542]

In awe at the voice of this size's lad

[@MrSchottlander]

all these changes seem soley contrived to stunt sylvanas lane pushing capabilitys and turn her into more of an assassin. with the change to mind controll you cant move heroes away from yourself or an ally anymore making it useless for escapes and only viable for engages. wtf blizzard.

[@JoseGutierrez-jd8ss]

This was an opportunity to get her a stun talent for her banshee scream (BFA). Imo it would be nice, like how they did with Kerrigan chrysalis

[@keithperry1641]

Is this an out of season April fool's joke?? First you ruined Diablo And now you ruined my main.

[@Magic2729]

Notice the things they say about these changes when you pause the video on 2:14, only the middle one is true.

[@phillross371]

Kevin is such a daddy.

[@azflyer117]

SO THAT'S WHAT HE LOOKS LIKE! Mysterious but soothing HOTS voice now has a face!

[@Rupertthered1]

These are some interesting changes. Glad she's moving more towards team fighting instead of solo push. Too many games have I gotten a solo pushing sylvanas refusing to join a team fight. When both ultimates greatly benefit team fights. Shame that mind control is a skill shot now, making it less reliable but it does help that you can at least counter it. Instead of a simple click that's almost unavoidable. Will be looking forward to these changes instead of the stitches changes.

[@bobedwards8896]

thats blaming bad players... the hero how she is is very good, a good sylv will join teamfights AND help push out the lanes/grab camps before that fight.

[@averagesong360]

THANK YOU, BLIZZARD!!!! :D

[@greenelf444]

Lol sounds like they nerfed her

[@thanaen]

That's the end of an era, the I-can-stay-alone-winning-with-my-mercenaries-and-stolen-creeps era