In the middle of last week, Blizzard unleashed the Machines of War update for Heroes of the Storm. The event is themed on Blizzard’s famous RTS title StarCraft. The event comes with new characters, map, events and new cosmetics. Furthermore, on release, all existing players will either receive a new hero they do not currently own or 4,000 gold.
Upon logging into Heroes of the Storm, players will have the option to choose either Anub’arak, Thrall or Tyrande. If the player has all of these heroes, a new set will be available to choose from including Nazeebo, Sonya or Uther. If the player has all of these heroes, the player will receive 4,000 gold to buy anything else they want.
One of the first new heroes to be released is Alarak. Highlord of the Taldarim, his assistance against the hybrids of Amon alongside Highlord Artanis has garnered much respect for the Protoss warrior. Even despite his rough exterior, he fights for his people and their freedom. Although not available yet, Zarya will be making her debut as the second Overwatch character to become a hero in Heroes of the Storm.
The new map is called Braxis Holdout, a StarCraft themed map. The gimmick in this map is the appearance of two beacons which teams must try and secure. By taking control of these beacons for as long as possible, a number of Zerglings will spawn in the holding cell, until they are unleashed, to attack the lanes.
There are new skins, including a legendary Kerrigan skin ‘Queen of Ghosts’ which drapes her in a modified version of her Ghost uniform, alongside a Ghost Speeder as her mount. Besides the Queen of Ghosts skin, there is the Raider Rexxar skin that dons the Beastmaster with power armor, and the Butcherlisk, which transforms the Bucher into a fearsome, cleaver-wielding Ultralisk.
Finally, there is a special event called the Xel’naga Artifact Hunt, for all players. During the event, SCVs are hiding around the map for players to pick off in order to drop the artifact they hold. The event will have daily quests where players will be tasked to collect 12 of these artifacts in order to obtain one Daily Stimpack. Collecting 150 before the 18th of October will give players an exclusive Xel’naga Artifact portrait.
If you want some of the new additional skins, you can purchase a bundle which includes Kerrigan, Rexxar and the Butcher plus all of their new skins, as well as the two new event-exclusive mounts, the Obsidian Cyber Wolf and the Ghost Rider. This bundle will only be available until the 18th of October.