Heroes of the Storm sounds like something fans came up with, not an officially licensed title: all of Blizzard's characters from across all of its different franchises meet up and fight it out in a League of Legends-style grudge match. It's the sort of project that would usually be shot down by any other publisher...but for Blizzard, it's a chance to try out an entirely new genre with an established roster of characters.
And what's the best way to make a new game even better? By making it free, of course!
From the start, Heroes of the Storm has been free-to-play, much like Blizzard's World of Warcraft-inspired card game, Hearthstone. Of course, there are some paid aspects of the game (permanent access to a character must be purchased, while free characters are cycled in and out on a weekly basis), but the vast majority of Heroes of the Storm can be played without paying a dime. On top of that, all of the game's updates are free - meaning that everyone will be able to access the upcoming wave of new Diablo-themed content.
As with all other Heroes of the Storm content, the Diablo III update will hit the Public Test Realm (or PTR) before its official release. You'll need a specialized Battle.net account to gain access to the PTR, but once you do, you'll be able to test out all of the game's new content early...otherwise, you'll just have to wait an extra week. Either way, you won't have to wait long: the new content hits the PTR on June 23, with a public release scheduled for June 30.
The Diablo III update will feature both a new hero and a new map. The Butcher is exactly what he sounds like: a vicious melee-based assassin with a heavy emphasis on buffing himself and de-buffing foes. His passive trait is Fresh Meat, which causes minions and other heroes to drop meat upon death - picking up a piece of meat adds a 1% damage bonus to all of the Butcher's attacks, with a cap of 25 total...but you'll lose all of them if the Butcher gets taken out.
The new map, called the Battlefield of Eternity, is a two-lane stage with a large, open arena dominating the center. Two gigantic Immortals duke it out in this centralized arena, and heroes are tasked with keeping their Immortal alive while destroying the other. Once one of the Immortals has been defeated, the survivor will begin its attack on the other team's core.
What could possibly be better than new maps and characters? New maps and characters on a regular basis: Blizzard confirmed that the team behind the game is hoping to release a new hero every few weeks. On top of that, there's also second Diablo-themed map in the works - at this point, it's looking like players won't be running out of new content any time soon.
If you're interested in trying out the game for yourself, all you'll need to do is create a free Battle.net account and download the game - just head on over to Blizzard's official site to get started.
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