Heroes of the Storm has a new hero for the first time since 2020
Xal'atath went live in Heroes of the Storm on September 28, a void-themed assassin pulled from World of Warcraft. Blizzard's patch also reworks Garden of Terror's Shamblers and retunes seven heroes.
Blizzard has added a new hero to Heroes of the Storm. Xal'atath arrived in the September 28 patch, bringing a kit built entirely around Void magic: Shadow Mark, Dark Heart Ritual, Void Step and Void Volley. She comes with the Dark Twilight Xal'atath Bundle, which packages a skin and a mount.
Why this is a big deal
Heroes of the Storm has not had a new playable character in roughly six years. Blizzard's MOBA lost its esports league in 2018 and moved to a maintenance footing in the years after, with patches limited to balance passes and seasonal resets. A brand new hero is a different kind of update entirely.
What else is in the patch
Garden of Terror gets a noticeable change: Shambler health and damage now start 25 percent below their old values and climb back to them gradually over the course of a match, which should blunt early snowballing on the map. Abathur, Alexstrasza, Garrosh, Mal'Ganis, Qhira, Whitemane and Yrel all received tuning to base stats, talents or ability behaviour.
There is also a small quality-of-life addition players have asked about for years: you can now ping a Healing Fountain's cooldown.
Xal'atath will be familiar to World of Warcraft players as a long-running antagonist, and she slots into the Nexus as a ranged assassin.
Why it matters
A new hero in a game Blizzard had effectively parked is the clearest signal in years that Heroes of the Storm is getting real development attention again, which matters to a player base that has spent half a decade being told the lights were only just on.