Dragons of the Nexus

Theme

**Dragons of the Nexus** is an event in *Heroes of the Storm* that took place between November 11, 2017 and December 12, 2017.

## Background

On BlizzCon 2017, Blizzard released *The Dragons of the Nexus* Trailer showcasing the 2 newest characters being added to Heroes of the Storm. This update includes Hanzo from Overwatch and Alexstrasza from Warcraft.

## Content

### New Heroes

* Alexstrasza - A durable Ranged Support who transforms into a mighty dragon.
* Hanzo - A skillful Assassin who deals tremendous damage from long range.

### Quests

Can be completed in Versus AI, Quick Match, Ranked and Unranked modes. Quest parts must be completed sequentially, and only one can be active at any given time. All Quests become available on 11/14.

 Step 2: Play 5 games
 Step 3: Play 5 more games
 Step 4: Achieve 90 takedowns in winning games
* **Reward**: Stained Glass Dragon Knight Portrait

## Gameplay Update

* **A new (camera) perspective:**
	+ We are slightly increasing the in-game field of view to help improve team fight clarity and overall visibility.
* **Stealth Rework:**
	+ In order to properly balance Stealth for both casual and high-end play, we're making it easier to spot stealthed Heroes. This is accompanied by buffs to the Stealth Heroes.
	+ Changes:
		- Stealthed Heroes are much easier to spot
		- Keeps and Forts will reveal stealthed Heroes
		- To offset these changes to Stealth, we will be buffing Samuro, Nova, Valeera and Zeratul:
			* Samuro: Improving Samuro's ability to fake out opponents; Image Transmission available at baseline on a 25s cooldown
			* Nova: Increasing mobility during Stealth and overall damage with Snipe Master added at baseline
			* Valeera: Openers will teleport Valeera a medium distance after being stealthed for 3 seconds; longer silence and blind duration
			* Zeratul: Adding a new Heroic that rewards high mechanical skill; increasing mobility with Vorpal Blade at baseline
* **Refining the Early Game**:
	+ To better showcase individual skill in lane matchups, we're exploring ways to make the laning phase more meaningful without increasing overall game length.
	+ Changes
		- Removing Ammunition to encourage aggressive play and require more player agency for winning a lane
		- Removing standalone towers and adding True Sight to Forts
		- Regen Globes can be collected by either side for a brief period before expiring, allowing players to win lanes harder
		- Standardizing first objective timers to 1:30 or 3:00, both with a 30-second warning, depending on Battleground
* **Mercenary Updates:**
	+ To create more impactful choices about how, when, and which Mercenary Camps to capture, we are making changes to various Mercenaries.
	+ Changes
		- Siege Giant Camps - Heroes can now dodge Neutral Siege Giant attacks at all times
		- Knight Camps - The Caster Mercenary in a Knight Camp will now generate an aura that offers increased Armor for units inside its area of effect
		- Hellbats - Hellbats will debuff armor when they attack a Hero
		- All Other Mercenaries - Will receive balance tuning to ensure they are always meaningful.
* **Voice Chat**
	+ It's about to get easier than ever to coordinate plays with your allies, because we're integrating Blizzard Voice directly into the Heroes of the Storm client! Voice chat in Heroes will be available in the months to come.
* Performance-Based Matchmaking
	+ We're further increasing the accuracy of our matchmaking system by taking your individual performance and contributions into account after each match, rather than relying solely on victory or defeat.

## Gallery

* Alexstrasza Background
* Hanzo Background

## External Links

* Dragons of the Nexus - Heroes of the Storm