Blizzard is really beefing up its Heroes of the Storm title as another Overwatch character, Lucio, is heading to the multiplayer online battle arena platform. He becomes the third hero to cross over from the massively popular first-person multiplayer game after Tracer and Zarya.
The announcement hit fans Feb. 3 and according to Blizzard, Lucio would be proving his mettle first in the game's test servers on Feb. 6.
What Is Heroes of the Storm?
For the uninitiated, Heroes of the Storm is a MOBA that includes characters from all of Blizzard's games such as Diablo, Starcraft, Warcraft, and, of course, Overwatch.
You can call it Blizzard's take on the eSports genre. The game publisher has funneled millions of cash as prize money for its HotS events since 2015. Last year alone, the pot reached $4 million.
The game has not exactly taken off to the point that it can rival League of Legends. For 2016, the game is a distant third to LoL and DOTA 2, respectively, in terms of market share.
Some observers note that Heroes of the Storm's lackluster performance is not exactly because it is not a great game, it's just its MOBA rivals are more popular but not necessarily better.
In comparison with League of Legends, for example, the game offers more maps and better bots. You can also include the fact that heroes are more familiar especially for gamers who have played other Blizzard titles.
So, with Tracer, Zarya, and now Lucio, Blizzard wants to shake things up a bit, turning to the super-popular Overwatch to draw more players into HotS. New heroes are revenue streams since players have to spend in-game currency or real cash to unlock them.
Lucio's Expertise
It is important to note that characters ported into Heroes of the Storm retain the same skills. This means that Lucio can still play two songs in his role as team support. The first song can heal while the other can increase movement speed. Those who have played him certainly know that he is also capable of amping up his music to briefly increase their effectiveness.
Lucio can count on his Soundwave to deal damage and knock enemies back. Aside from his Crossfade boosts, Lucio's team utility is further enhanced by his Sound Barrier ability, which provides shield to nearby allies.
There is no word yet about Lucio's debut on the public realm and Blizzard only said that he should be making waves soon. In the meantime, be sure to check out Heroes of the Storm's Lunar Festival event happening until Feb. 14.
