Rican's Free 2 Play Friday: Hero of the Storm - The Butcher (And the State of the Metagame)

Welcome to Rican's Free 2 Play Friday, a weekly look into free-to-play gaming such as MOBAs, MMOs, Team Shooters, and more! This week we look at one of the playable heroes from Blizzard Entertainment's Heroes of the Storm: The Butcher, from the Diablo Universe, and the State of the Metagame.


Whew~!

So how are you guys?

  I know, I know - I wasn't around last week, and for that I apologize, but here we are, with another Heroes of the Storm column! Here's what's happened in the past week and change: the Eternal Conflict has arrived, The Butcher is the first "Hero" to come from the event, and we got us a HUGE talent overhaul for most heroes (but specifically Support types). So without further ado, let's get into the meat of it all and look at: The Butcher!

  Not exactly the most famous of Blizzard's hero characters (or villains for that matter), but a character that has a long history in the Diablo franchise. Having been a boss in both D2 and D3, The Butcher was Blizzard's attempt at a "scary monster" character for Heroes of the Storm. Easily the most imposing monster this side of Azmodan and Diablo, The Butcher is a melee assassin type that has tools to chase targets (E), slow them down (Q) and even different ways to regen his health fast enough to stay in the game longer (his passive with a talent and his W). The Butcher, since he is an assassin, is a bit squishy and can be eliminated from a team fight with very little focus. He works best in team fights as a clean up/chaser guy more than anything. Even with his massive regen and "tanky" talents, he can't take a hit well and is a free kill for certain heroes (Nova/Zeraatul/Kael'Thas).

                                         

  So, that's The Butcher, but what about this "Eternal Conflict?" So, for the next two-three months, Heroes of the Storm is "Diablo" themed. What this means is, we're getting a Diablo map, a Diablo "Special Event Quest," and three Diablo Universe Heroes (Johanna doesn't count but she's technically part of this). The Butcher is the first, King Leoric (warrior) is the second, and last, but certainly not least, it's the Monk, who will be the sole support in the entire roster to hail from the Diablo Universe. Needless to say, many people are very excited about his event and the prospect of a new support hero (and a fan favorite), myself included. The new map "Battlefield of Eternity" is a Heaven vs. Hell battleground that is all about teamfights. The video below goes through the mechanics in the map, but know this - it is not the type of battleground where you can split from the team and win. It's hectic and dependent on your ability to work as a team and perform in teamfights. Failure to do so, will probably end up with an embarrassing loss and a lot of pissed off teammates. I've found The Butcher to do fairly well here but nothing to write home about. In fact, Blizzard recently commented on th state of the game and The Butcher barely has a 50% win rate in ranked play. Which means he's OK - but not overpowered or worthy of any knee jerk reaction nerfs anytime soon. Support classes on the other hand...

  We had a LOT of changes to the metagame this last patch, and it certainly concerns support Heroes. A lot of the changes were character revamps or talent shifts (on Support Heroes: Li Li, Malfurion, Brightwing, Tyrande, Rehgar) but mostly mana regen (Conjurer's Pursuit) got increased, and on the warrior side we saw Regeneration Master also get a slight buff. So far the change has made farming less intense and with better results, meaning players (support and tanks) aren't trying to kill creeps in a lane (a la League of Legends and DOTA 2) and concentrating on objectives and team fights. Which, for me, is a better trade off any day of the week. I've tried my hand at some Hero League (Rank) play and I may share some videos soon of my shenanigans during said matches. For now though, that's it for me, my BattleTag is MajinRican#1224 - see you on the Nexus!

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Look into Free 2 Play Columns: League of Legends, Marvel Heroes 2015, Heroes of the Storm. 

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