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Heroes of the Storm: New hero Murky and other changes coming soon
The Heroes of the Storm team held their fifth Developer Q&A on Twitch.tv today. The developers discussed sweeping future changes coming to the game's alpha including a complete overhaul of the game's UI. Other major additions and changes include: New hero Murky. This week is Murky Week, so a great deal of information about him is on the horizon. Many heroes will be receiving a talent overhaul based on data collected on talent usage. Not only talents chosen most often across the board, but talents chosen most often in winning and losing games. Arthas, Illidan, and Tyrael are receiving complete redesigns and are unlikely to be the only ones. Their current iteration doesn't fit the vision of the hero and were early designs, too bland/generic to be such iconic characters. Players tend to consider these three underwhelming at best. Personal achievements are being added so you can better gauge your personal performance in-game. Currently, in-game achievements only display team efforts. In addition, themed maps from all of Blizzard's IPs will be coming eventually. The current Haunted Mines is being reworked. So, too, is the Cursed Hollow, which has a tendency to snowball in favor of who gets the first round of idols.
Blizzard highlights Crimson's cosplay
The Heroes of the Storm official site has posted an extensive interview with Singapore-based cosplayer Crimson about his incredible costumes for two iconic heroes from the Diablo series: the demon hunter and Tyrael, master of justice. Crimson and his girlfriend, Angelus, are the organizers behind International Cosplay Day, Singapore, and it's easy to see why. Their costumes are gorgeous, expertly crafted homages to the characters and franchises they love. The interview covers many of the aspects of cosplay you'd expect--how the costumes are designed, the kind of materials used in production, what are the major challenges of bringing a costume to life, as well as advice for aspiring cosplayers. There are some wonderful photos of Crimson's costumes, including a 6-step visual tutorial on the making of El'druin, Tyrael's sword. If you're interested in cosplay and costume construction, check out Crimson's interview.
Heroes of the Storm hero rotation for April 8 - April 14
As occurs every week, the rotation of free-to-play characters in Heroes of the Storm has been updated. This week's heroes include: Raynor Gazlowe Tyrael Falstad Uther Abathur This rotation mirrors that of the week beginning March 14, which means we've made a full rotation through all currently available heroes. Unless the options are randomized, next week will likely include Arthas, E.T.C., Muradin, Tassadar, the Witch Doctor, and Zeratul. Four new heroes will be announced at PAX East according to Heroes community manager Katie Simpson. Depending on when those heroes will appear in-game, a wrench may be thrown into the rotation fairly soon.
Heroes of the Storm: Senior Designer talks Tyrael
Tyrael, Archangel of Justice, is under the spotlight for Heroes of the Storm this week. Senior Game Designer Richard Khoo sat down with Community Manager Trikslyr to discuss this Hero's not-so-angelic leanings. It's a great interview, touching on the importance of using the Heroes game world and mechanics to create a hero that fits with the traits and feel of well-known lore figures. Tyrael, as the Archangel, is a hybrid between a warrior and a support class, meaning he can charge in and flatten his foes, but also assist his allies with powerful shields, even sacrificing his own health to help them. The designers felt this was fitting with his righteous, angelic qualities in the Diablo universe. He also caters to the angelic "speed of light" idea with his teleportation abilities that base themselves off his sword. They also comment on the post-mortem gameplay that Tyrael, along with a couple of other heroes, features. Hit the break for the full interview!
Heroes of the Storm shows off Tyrael
You remember Tyrael, right? Tall guy? He was in your class in high school? Glowing wings coming out of his back, divine embodiment of justice, enjoyed smiting evil? He was in Diablo III, remember? Anyway, he's got a new gig; he's showing up in Heroes of the Storm now. Yeah, still doing what he loves, slicing up demons. You do what you're good at, right? The trailer showing off Tyrael doesn't offer a picture of how he'll play but does serve as a nifty little glimpse into how the game will both look and feel. You can check the trailer out just past the cut if you haven't gotten enough Diablo III action already with the expansion release.
BlizzCon 2013 in photographs
BlizzCon might be over, but pictures last forever, or at least until something happens to our data center. Don't get any ideas. Hey, where are you going with that tornado?! Enjoy our view of the con! Massively's on the ground in Anaheim during the weekend of November 8th, bringing you all the best news from BlizzCon 2013. Whether you're anticipating World of Warcraft's and Diablo III's next expansions or reveals from Hearthstone and Heroes of the Storm, we aim to have it covered!
Book of Tyrael to release this October
Blizzard has at long last announced the official release date for the anticipated Book of Tyrael: October 1, 2013. The Book of Tyrael will cover many important events in Sanctuary's history through the eyes of the Archangel Tyrael, someone you should recognize if you're familiar with the Diablo franchise. In it, Tyrael will reveal many secrets of the world, the dangers it faces, and the reasons behind his own actions. Not much in the way of previews is yet available - the cover is up at the link for you to appreciate - but I am certain that The Book of Tyrael will be choc full of beautiful artwork. With supplementary materials like this, Blizzard always delivers. It's the main reason I keep buying the expansion collector's editions: I want those books! The Book of Tyrael will certainly be a fine collector's item for fans of the Diablo franchise. Are any of you readers Diablo lore junkies? If so, this should certainly answer many of your questions (and probably raise a few more, as well)! Editor's Note: Corrected the original date.
12 Days of Winter Veil Giveaway: Mini Tyrael statuette
12 Days of Winter Veil is under way here at WoW Insider. That means 12 days of giveaways, 12 chances for you to win some of the awesome swag we've accumulated over the year. Whether you've been a good goblin or a naughty night elf, there's a chance that WoW Insider has a holiday gift for you this season. Reaching deep into WoW Insider's swag vault, we came across something we've had squirreled away since BlizzCon 2011: a BlizzCon exclusive Mini Tyrael statuette. How he managed to avoid being snatched up for so long, we'll never know. To enter for a chance to win, leave a comment on this post before 11:59 p.m. ET, Friday, January 4, 2013. You must be 18 years of age or older and a legal resident of the United States or Canada (excluding Quebec). You can only enter once. One winner will be chosen at random and we will contact you via whatever method you've used to comment. Official rules here.
Breakfast Topic: What is your favorite Blizzard cinematic or cutscene?
In a recent installment of The Queue, reader Victor commented about a thread in the Brazilian forums that debated best WoW cinematic. I think it is difficult to decide the absolute best, so I started to consider which one was my favorite. But the first Warcraft cinematic that came to mind -- the one that moved me more than any I've seen -- is not actually from World of Warcraft. Arthas killing his father in Warcraft III blew me away. The betrayal. The graphics. The story that instantly fascinated me. I can still remember the feeling I had when I first watched it over the shoulder of someone who had the collector's edition. I wanted to run out and buy the game, but I am terrible at real-time strategy titles. My second favorite is from Diablo III, but I won't spoil it. The cinematic that occurs between Acts I and II is wonderful. And the scene I love most from WoW is actually a cutscene: Wrathgate. So. Awesome. What is your favorite cutscene or cinematic from Blizzard?
Know Your Lore: A look at the lore of Diablo
This special edition of Know Your Lore presents an overview of the lore of the Diablo games and their setting, the world of Sanctuary. Each week, Matthew Rossi and Anne Stickney make sure you Know Your Lore by covering the history of the story behind World of Warcraft. Enjoy this week's diversion into the world of Diablo III. The Diablo games are very different from anything in the Warcraft setting, a far more black-and-white morality played out in endless cosmic war between absolute forces of order and righteousness opposing evil and chaos. This war, the Great or Eternal Conflict, is so massive in scale and scope that it can almost be said to be endless. The war predates the world of Sanctuary, the realm where mortal men and women are born and live out their lives. Indeed, Sanctuary itself was created by a rogue angel and his demonic lover and ally as a place to find an end to the war. But before the conflict, before the universe itself existed, there was only Anu. Anu existed as a pearl, a central point which contained all evil and all good, all possibilities and all dualities contained within its mirrored surface. Yet Anu felt imperfect in its duality and sought purity in the rejection of its negative aspects, casting them aside to become a being of glittering diamond -- a perfected warrior. Yet what Anu rejected, his cast-off impurities themselves became perfection of a dark bent, forming the monstrous Tathamet. This seven-headed dragon declared war on the glittering Anu, who in turn sought to destroy that which he had cast out of himself.
A WoW player's introduction to Diablo 3, or why you should play Diablo 3
Editor's Note: This post was written in October 2011 for the beta version of Diablo 3. Some things may have changed since then, keep that in mind while reading! At BlizzCon 2011, Mike Morhaime waved quite the carrot in front of WoW players: Subscribe for a year, and you'll get Diablo 3 for free. For those of us who have grown up loving both the Warcraft and Diablo franchises, this is awesome news and probably a no-brainer as far as things to sign up for go. However, maybe you never really got into the Diablo franchise. Maybe you've just been a WoW player and haven't really considered any of Blizzard's other franchises. This article is for you. We'll take a quick look at some of the major features of Diablo and what it has to offer the average WoW player.
BlizzCon 2011 goodie bag pictures have surfaced
Though vague on how he came by his goodie bag early, one BlizzCon fan has already posted pics of the bags contents. As expected, the bag contains a mini-Tyrael figure, an authenticator, lots of promotional fliers and a loot card with a redemption code for the Murkablo non-combat pet. That's it. More pictures can be found on the fan's Squidoo site. [via MMO-Champion] Turn to WoW Insider for all your BlizzCon 2011 news and information. Get ready to kick off the weekend with the WoW Insider Reader Meetup, cohosted by Wowhead and Gamebreaker.tv, and look for our liveblogs of the convention panels, interviews with WoW celebrities -- and of course, lots of pictures of people in costumes. It's all here at WoW Insider!
Is Tyrael this year's BlizzCon swag statue?
Looks like we know what's going to be in our goodie bags this year. We've gotten pictures of what appears to be BlizzCon swag for this year's attendee goodie bag. Last year, BlizzCon-goers were given a Dethling statue in commemoration of Deathwing's return to Azeroth and Cataclysm's launch. This year's Diablo-themed statue would definitely make sense. Hit the jump for the full picture.
Tyrael gets more emotes, can now sleep
Everyone loves Mini Tyrael, the angelic little pet given away to attendees of last year's Worldwide Invitational in Paris. While the little guy looks awesome (indeed he's my favorite pet), he's always let folks down by doing, well, very little. He didn't make a noise when you clicked on him but he would /dance with you. Well, Blizzard has finally bothered to address the situation and make Tyrael into the pet he should be. After all, he is an angel, they're supposed to be cool.I was in Stormwind the other day meeting a friend for an impromptu party to celebrate the fact he had just gotten El Pollo Grande. So while we compared chickens and abused the /chicken command, I got out the Foam Sword Rack and my Ogre Pinata and then summoned the little guy. Even now it amazes me how many people come up to me and whisper to inquire how I got/crafted him and could they get/buy one. As we were dancing, I noticed big green zzzz's coming from my beloved pet. At first I thought someone had cast a spell on him as he'd never done this before but it turns out he was just bored. Yes, Blizzard may not have added any sound effects but Tyrael now passes out when he gets bored (perhaps he's waiting for the release of Diablo III?). He will toss and turn for a bit, as if having a nightmare about Sanctuary and Diablo, and will wake up after ten seconds or so with a cool ripple effect to remind us just how divine he is. I've yet to find someone with the Mini Diablo pet and see if they will fight it out, a la Grunty and the Zergling though.Hit the jump to see a video of Tyrael's emoting awesomeness,
Wowhead offers another chance to win Tyrael
Do you still need a Wrath of the Lich King beta key? Or perhaps you covet your very own mini-Tyrael (which you can now bestow on all your characters)? If so, you may want to check out Wowhead's latest contest, which is once again giving away cards from the Worldwide Invitational with codes for the LK beta and for Tyraels. Happily, this one is open to both EU and US. It's happening today, starting at 4:00 EST (1:00 PST), which is just under two hours from now. It's a similar format to their previous contest (which unfortunately had to be cancelled), but with a twist: The goal is to identify five screenshots, figuring out which exact Wowhead pages those screenshots are displayed on. When you get all five answers, put the URLs of the Wowhead pages corresponding to the screenshots in an email to contest@wowhead.com. Make sure your answers are in order. At 4:00, a heavily altered version of the screenshots are posted (seems to be run through a random Photoshop filter). This is phase one, and if anyone could recognize a phase one screenshot, I'd be amazed (see above for an example). At 4:20 (phase two), the images are posted in a slightly less altered form, though they're still pretty hard to recognize. At 4:40, for phase three, the images are brought even closer to their original form. In yesterday's round, the winning entries were sent within two minutes after phase three started. At 5:00, the original images are posted. The first five people to email in a correct set of answers will receive a WWI card. To see yesterday's pictures, including the answer to what the heck the screenshot above is (no, I'm not going to give it away here), check out the contest thread on the Wowhead forums. That's also where today's screenshots are going to be posted, starting at 4:00 EST (1:00 PST). Get ready!
Win beta keys and a Tyrael pet in a level 1 race
This Friday and Saturday, Worldofwar.net will be holding two "level 1 character" race events on as-yet undisclosed U.S. servers. 5 Worldwide Invitational cards, entitling the bearer to a Wrath of the Lich King beta key and a Tyrael pet, will be awarded to the winners. The character you enter in the race must be level 1, cannot have any weapons or armor equipped, and will be disqualified if you die, disconnect, or try to sneak any stat-enhancing item on the toon. Apart from saying that they'll be holding the races at 6:00 PM server time on both days, they're staying mum on which server or starting area they'll be using in an effort to minimize potential cheating or a mob of ganking spectators. Two things: I'm not sure how they're planning on splitting 5 WWI cards among the winner/s of two races, so you'll probably have a slightly higher chance of winning a card in one out of the two events. Secondly, although they haven't given out server names, they do say that both races will take place at "18:00 PST (server time)," so it's possible that both will happen on Pacific servers. They'll post the server names and starting areas on their site before each race starts, so check back, and good luck!
Make your pet shine!
Tipster Wietkop informed us that the pet supplies NPC in Dalaran, Breanni, was selling something new in the Wrath Beta. So I headed on over to the pet store in Dalaran and found a lot of players fiddling around with the new toy, a Pet Grooming Kit that you can use on your pet to -- make it shine, just like it says on the tooltip. The Pet Grooming Kit is a single use BoP item that allows players to buff their non-combat pets with sparkles and a nice, clean glow. Using it has a splashing sound and makes an animation similar to water elementals getting squished. It's pretty cool, and it's simple little touches like these that make the game fun. Breanni also sells Fetch Balls and a Rope Pet Leash, although that one didn't exactly go over well with my Mini-Tyrael. Hopefully before the Beta is over, we'll see Breanni sell a few more items that spice up our favorite little companions. Papa Hummel's Old-Fashioned Pet Biscuits, anyone?
WoWlympics closing ceremonies today
Well, sort of. Our favorite wiki celebrates the recently concluded Olympics in Beijing by hosting a Worldwide Invitational card giveaway (which has a Beta key and Tyrael pet) called the WoWlympics which ends today at 11:00pm UTC. The contest is fairly simple -- visit their site and look for clues that jump from one page to the other. It's a fun, informative scavenger hunt that won't take ten minutes (alright, I'm lying, it took me about an hour or two because I got completely stumped with No. 2). Have fun with it and try not to cheat and look for the answers all over the web, although lore nerds might find it a real breeze. This is one of your last chances to get into the Wrath of the Lich King Beta, as well as one of the very few chances you'll get to own a dancing miniature angel, so shoot the guys over at WoWWiki an e-mail before 11:00pm UTC. Tell 'em we sent ya.
Win beta keys and Tyraels from Wowhead
It's just one contest after another for the good people at Wowhead. They just wrapped up their Olympics contest for some Wrath beta keys. Not to be outdone by themselves, their newest contest is giving away WWI goodie bag cards, which means a Wrath beta invite and a Tyrael pet for each of 20 winners. And the grand prize is a FigurePrint for one lucky competitor. So what do you have to do for these fabulous prizes? For today and the next three days after (that's August 21, 22, 23, and 24), at 10 AM pacific time (1 PM Eastern), Wowhead is going to post five screenshots in the contest thread, without telling you what they are screenshots of. Your task is to identify them all; the first five people to correctly identify all the pictures each day will get a WWI card. Send your responses to contest@wowhead.com, with the Wowhead URLs, in order, of the things in the screenshots. You must list all five URLs, and no extras. On the fifth day of the contest (August 25), the FigurePrint competition will be revealed. And European readers will be pleased to note that these prizes work for both US and EU accounts. The first round of screenshots should be up in about fifteen minutes; keep an eye on the forum thread.
WoWWiki Olympics is underway
With about a week left to go in the 2008 Beijing Olympics, our favorite wiki WoWwiki gets with the Olympic spirit and holds the WoWlympics, a scavenger hunt-type contest over at their site. With the help of Blizzard, WoWWiki is giving away five Wrath of the Lich King US Beta keys and twenty Worldwide Invitational cards which contain the codes for EU Beta keys and the Tyrael vanity pet. Both US and EU Beta keys can be converted for use between regions as necessary.The WoWlympics kick off with Clopper Wizbang asking players to search the site for five missing items, each located on a WoWwiki page, providing clues along the way. Each item or wiki page is worth one entry to the WoWlympics sweepstakes, with a bonus three entries for finding all five -- a total of eight entries eligible for the grand draw. You've got until the 25th of August to find all five rings -- and if you're stumped, you might just need the help of a lore nerd. If you're a sucker for scavenger hunts, eager to get into Beta, or want a mini-avenging angel, head on over to WoWwiki's WoWlympics page and get started!
