Heroes of the Storm Reveals Huge March 2025 Balance Update

Posted by By our-little-miss-is-home March 13, 2025 55 Views 15 Min Read
Heroes of the Storm Reveals Huge March 2025 Balance Update

Summary

  • Heroes of the Storm’s recent patch includes reworked hero talents, reduced draft timers, and balance adjustments.
  • This update is the second in 2025 for the game, which has been in maintenance mode since 2022 but receives regular patches.

Heroes of the Storm has officially rolled out another big patch that features some reworked hero talents, reduced timers in Draft mode, and a slew of other balance adjustments and bug fixes. This update, which is the second for Heroes of the Storm in 2025, is currently live in the game.

Technically, Heroes of the Storm has been in maintenance mode since July 2022, meaning no new content will be released for it. Even so, Blizzard’s MOBA received a balance update in September 2023, and has regularly received additional patches every few months since then, with the latest Heroes of the Storm update having dropped in late January 2025.

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Now, Heroes of the Storm has released its second update of the year. Like many of those before it, this recent patch included tons of balance updates and bug fixes for various playable heroes. However, some of the changes in this update were more significant than usual, including several talents that have been completely reworked. Examples include the Gambit from Dehaka’s Paralyzing Enzymes talent moving to Feeding Frenzy, the Wolfheart talent for Greymane now increasing his armor in Worgen form instead of improving Inner Beast, and Lucio’s Off the Wall and Up to Eleven, which adds a mana refund to Sound Wave and extends the duration of the next Amp it Up respectively.

Draft also received some noteworthy changes in this update. Several of the Heroes of the Storm game mode’s timers have been reduced by about 40%, with 25 seconds to pick heroes in the first round, rather than 40, and Hero Bans and subsequent picks now having 15 seconds, down from 24. This will reduce the time fans have to wait to get into matches in Draft, while also making them decide which heroes to select or ban much faster.

This Heroes of the Storm update has followed the precedent set by its January 2025 counterpart. Though other patches that have arrived since Heroes of the Storm’s soft revival in September 2023 came every two or three months, both of these past two updates dropped much more rapidly, with seven weeks for the first, and six for the second one. Players will have to see if Blizzard keeps this pace with future updates throughout the year.

June 2 marks the 10-year anniversary of Heroes of the Storm’s release, which happens to be approximately 12 weeks from this most recent HotS update. If Blizzard continues this patch cadence, fans can expect one more update before the milestone, and another around the anniversary – and if they are especially lucky, perhaps even a big announcement to celebrate a decade of Heroes of the Storm.

Heroes of the Storm Patch Notes – March 12, 2025

Our next Heroes of the Storm patch is live! Read on for more information.

NOTE: Italicized text indicates a change between PTR and Live notes.

General

  • Updated Homescreen and Startup Music.
  • Updated Shop Bundles and Items.
  • Draft
    • First Round pick timer has been reduced from 40 seconds to 25 seconds.
    • Hero Ban timer has been reduced from 24 seconds to 15 seconds.
    • Hero Pick timer has been reduced from 24 seconds to 15 seconds.

Balance Update

Heroes

  • Auriel
    • Base
      • Bestow Hope [Trait]
        • Decreased the amount of energy stored from 50% to 40% of damage to non-Heroes.
  • Dehaka
    • Base
      • Dark Swarm [W]
        • Damage reduced from 52 to 48.
    • Talents
      • Level 4
        • Hero Stalker
          • Essence gain is not increased when hitting more than 2 Heroes.
          • Essence gain now requires Dark Swarm to hit 2 Heroes.
          • Hitting more than 3 Heroes at once no longer grants additional Essence.
        • Lurker Strain
          • Cooldown reduction bonus reduced from 3 seconds to 2 seconds.
      • Level 7
        • Feeding Frenzy
          • REWORK: Cooldown reduction is now a Gambit bonus, starting from 1.5 second cooldown reduction. Each death lowers this by 0.25, up to 3 times.
        • Paralyzing Enzymes
          • REWORK: Gambit removed. Now reduces Drag’s target’s healing received by 40% while Drag is active and for 2 seconds after.
      • Level 13
        • Ferocious Stalker
          • Damage bonus reduced from 60% to 50%.
      • Level 16
        • Tunnelling Claws
          • Movement speed reduced from 125% to 120%.
      • Level 20
        • Contagion
          • Now also reduces the damage of Isolation by 60%.
  • Greymane
    • Talents
      • Level 1
        • Wolfheart
          • Rework: Now also increases Armor granted by Worgen Form from 10 to 15.
  • Kharazim
    • Base
      • Health increased from 2027 to 2080.
      • Breath of Heaven [W]
        • Healing increased from 285 to 295.
    • Talents
      • Level 4
        • Air Ally
          • Health increased from 200 to 300.
          • Spell Power increased from 15% to 20%.
      • Level 10
        • Divine Palm
          • Duration increased from 3 to 4 seconds.
      • Level 13
        • Sixth Sense
          • Sixth Sense now starts expiring after the Stun expires, instead of as soon as the Stun is applied.
      • Level 20
        • Epiphany
          • Cooldown increased from 60 to 70.
          • Mana restored increased from 33% to 70%.
  • Lúcio
    • Base
      • Soundwave [Q]
        • Cooldown increased from 7 seconds to 8 seconds.
        • Mana cost increased from 30 to 45.
    • Talents
      • Level 1
        • Accelerando
          • Time to maximum increased from 4 seconds to 6 seconds.
      • Level 4
        • Off the Wall
          • REWORK: Now also refunds 15 Mana when hitting an enemy with Soundwave while Wall Ride is active.
      • Level 7
        • Good Vibrations
          • Duration of Shield increased from 7 seconds to 8.5 seconds.
      • Level 10
        • High Five
          • Cooldown increased from 20 to 25 seconds.
      • Level 13
        • Heavy Casters
          • Now also prevents Push Off from hitting multiple targets.
          • Push Off no longer Slows the first Hero hit and instead Stuns them for 0.5 seconds.
      • Level 16
        • Up the Frequency
          • Cooldown reduction reduced from 0.4 seconds to 0.3 seconds.
        • Up To Eleven
          • Duration bonus from Push Off increased from 0.3 seconds to 0.5 seconds.
          • Duration bonus from Soundwave reduced from 0.3 seconds to 0.25 seconds.
          • REWORK: Hitting Heroes while Amp It Up is not active increases the duration of the next Amp It Up by up to 1.5 seconds. This does not limit the amount able to be gained while Amp It Up is active.
  • Whitemane
    • Talents
      • Level 1
        • Inquisitor’s Prayer
          • After Basic Attacking an enemy Hero 3 times, Whitemane also gains a stack of Inquisitor’s Prayer.
      • Level 13
        • Scarlet Wrath
          • REWORK: Now also restores .5% Mana to all Zeal targets.

Bug Fixes

General

  • Fixed an issue that caused some effects to not display correctly on the Target Dummy in the Sandbox and Try Mode.
  • Fixed an issue that caused some Movement Speed bonuses to display the incorrect value in the target info panel.

Brawl

  • Deathwing’s Cataclysm no longer starts on Cooldown in Arena Mode.
  • Deadman’s Stand
    • Fixed an issue that caused AI to not act.
    • Fixed an issue that caused the Map Mechanic button to not be visible.
  • Garden Arena
    • Fixed an issued that caused the AI to not move.
  • Punisher Arena
    • Fixed an issued that caused the AI to not move.
  • Trial Grounds
    • Fixed an issued that caused the AI to not move.

Map

  • Braxis Holdout
    • Fixed an issue that caused Archangel’s visual effects to register as a pingable object.
  • Volskaya
    • Fixed an issue that caused the Triglav Protector’s Shield Emitter Shields granted to allies to increase the Pilot’s Self Healing score when absorbing damage.

Heroes

  • Abathur
    • Level 10
      • Ultimate Evolution
        • Clones of Kharazim that have selected Insight now treat the quest as completed.
  • Alarak
    • Level 10
      • Counter-Strike
        • Now increases Alarak’s Self Healing score for damage it absorbs.
  • Ana
    • Base
      • Aim Down Sights [Trait]
        • Fixed an issue that caused Aim Down Sight’s Healing Dart bonus to last after Aim Down Sights has ended.
        • Activating Aim Down Sights will now also Dismount Ana from the Toy Train.
  • Azmodan
    • Base
      • Summon Demon Warrior [W]
        • Fixed an issue that caused Azmodan’s Demon Warrior’s aura damage to not behave similar to other aura damage effects.
  • Brightwing
    • Base
      • Soothing Mist [Trait]
        • Fixed an issue that caused Smoothing Mist to activate around Brightwing when in Stasis.
  • Dehaka
    • Fixed an issue where Basic Attack’s would potentially not consume evade stacks if attacking within .25 seconds of Drag ending.
  • Jaina
    • Level 16
      • Snowstorm
        • Fixed an issue that caused Snowstorm’s bonus to not apply correctly.
  • Kael’thas
    • Level 7
      • Sunfire Enchantment
        • Fixed an issue that caused an active Sunfire Enchantment Spell Power buff to be removed when Kael’thas is killed.
  • Kharazim
    • Level 10
      • Divine Palm
        • Fixed an issue that caused Divine Palm’s Stasis to remove Damage Over Time effects from Kharazim.
        • Fixed an issue that caused Divine Palm to not remove negative effects that were applied alongside the triggering effect.
  • Greymane
    • Level 4
      • Insatiable
        • Fixed an issue that caused Human Form Basic Attacks to trigger Insatiable twice.
  • Leoric
    • Base
      • Drain Hope [W]
        • Fixed an issue that caused Stasis on Leoric or Drain Hope’s target to not break Drain Hope.
  • Li Li
    • Fixed an issue that caused Water Serpent to move at a reduced speed.
    • Level 4
      • Surging Winds
        • Fixed an issue that caused an active Surging Winds buff to be removed when Li Li is killed.
  • Li-Ming
    • Level 1
      • Power Hungry
        • Fixed an issue that caused an active Power Hungry buff to be removed when Li-Ming is killed.
  • Lúcio
    • Level 7
      • Good Vibrations
        • Fixed an issue that caused Good Vibrations to not gain Shields from Soundwave hitting Neutral Mercenaries.
  • Lunara
    • Level 10
      • Leaping Strike
        • Fixed an issue that caused Leaping Strike to stall game logic.
  • Malthael
    • Level 1
      • Fear The Reaper
        • Fixed an issue that caused Fear the Reaper’s duration indicator to not be tied to the ability button.
  • Stitches
    • Base
      • Hook [Q]
        • Fixed an issue that caused Hook to not reveal their caster if the Hook is visible.
  • Tassadar
    • Base
      • Shock Ray [Q]
        • Fixed an issue that caused Shock Ray to not reveal their caster if Shock Ray is visible.
  • The Butcher
    • Fixed an issue that allowed The Butcher to disjoint while collecting Fresh Meat.
  • The Lost Vikings
    • Fixed an issue that caused Longboat to move at a reduced speed.
  • Tychus
    • Level 20
      • Focusing Diodes
        • Now grants an additive damage bonus.
  • Tyrael
    • Level 13
      • Law and Order
        • Fixed an issue where maximum bonus was capped at 4 allied Heroes. The cap has been increased to 15.
  • Whitemane
    • Level 10
      • Divine Reckoning
        • Updated Divine Reckoning’s mana restoration based off of damage dealt to display only one instance of floating text.
  • Zul’jin
    • Level 20
      • Forest Medicine
        • Selecting Forest Medicine will no longer interrupt an ongoing Regeneration channel.

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