Blizzard Entertainment just announced a new Heroes Brawl mode is coming to Heroes of the Storm on Oct. 17. The new mode shakes up the current rulesets of the MOBA to allow players to experience the game in all-new ways. Check out the trailer below to learn more about this new mode.
What Is Heroes Brawler Mode?
If you’re thinking that the new Heroes Brawler mode for Heroes of the Storm looks familiar, that’s because it is. Fans of Blizzard Entertainment have seen this format before, first in Hearthstone: Heroes of Warcraft and then in Overwatch. The basic idea is the same across their properties: Take the current iteration of the game and turn it on its head in a special mode that applies a different set of rules and conditions each week. One of Hearthstone‘s simpler variations allows players to max out their mana four turns early. In one Overwatch variation players are restricted to a single hero while their stats are also tweaked.
Given the crossover of various ideas from different Blizzard teams, it really comes as no surprise that something this popular would finally make its way into Heroes of the Storm. The PTR (public test realm) won’t be available until Oct. 10, with the official launch scheduled for a week later. Specific rewards aren’t fully fleshed out yet, but it seems they’ll encompass portraits and gold should a player meet the minimum number of brawls played per week (currently three). Below you’ll find a general overview of what you can expect.
Brawl Basics
As already mentioned, the rules governing the brawl will change every week. Like in other games, some of these will likely be repeated in the future, depending on their popularity. Length of play time will vary depending on the brawl, ranging anywhere from a quick four-minute match to almost 20 minutes.
Types of Brawls
Though the sheer number of brawls could end up being a fairly large number given the number of variables Blizzard could tweak, the brawls will fall into one of three categories.
- One-lane maps
- Altered maps: These fall under “mutators,” which Blizzard hasn’t provided much information about. They’re described as “standard battlegrounds with substantial modifiers,” so this goes above and beyond the single-lane maps. We’ll have to wait and see what this means exactly.
- Arena maps: These sound like the standard maps we’re used to, but with the objectives altered. In fact, this was introduced to the masses last year at BlizzCon 2015. The Sky Temple Arena requires players to capture temples in order to unleash a beam to destroy the enemy core, while the Garden Arena rewards teams with a win if they gather the most seeds. Heroes are also selected via a three-hero shuffle system, and they aren’t necessarily part of the player’s earned heroes.
Here are some of the specific brawl ideas coming down the line:
- Ghost Protocol – All heroes are Nova; Snipe functions as an insta-kill shot. This takes place on the Towers of Doom map. Additionally, if a player lands a killing hit on an enemy Nova, a beam strikes the enemy core.
- Hammer Time – All heroes must play as Sgt. Hammer, with her thrusters permanently engaged; in this version, the cores are invulnerable, so the objective is to capture as many towers as possible.
- Punisher Arena – A simple game where the highest number of hero and Punisher kills determines the winner. Teams will have Punishers working for them rather than having to earn them. These Punisher kills reward roughly twice the number of points as killing an opposing hero. 100 points nabs the match, but it’s a best-of-three scenario.
- Familiar maps might only have a single lane.
- Only spell-using heroes will be allowed.
For more information about the game, be sure to visit our Heroes of the Storm wiki!