• News

Heroes of the Storm PTR Patch 40.0 debuts Orphea

The first original character to hit Heroes of the Storm hits the game's PTR today.

Ozzie Mejia

November 5, 2018 2:45 PM

1

During Friday's BlizzCon Opening Ceremonies, Heroes of the Storm took a step back from introducing one of the various members of the Blizzard pantheon to focus on an entirely original creation. As part of the game's continued focus on the lore aspect of the Nexus, Blizzard announced new character Orphea. And as she continues marching towards the Nexus, Blizzard has brought her to the Heroes PTR.

Orphea comes to Heroes of the Storm as the rebellious daughter of the sinister Raven Lord, who has been seeking to take control of the Nexus for most of 2018. She brings along her Overflowing Chaos trait, which grants her 1 Chaos for any enemy Hero hit. If Orphea has Chaos (which can stack up to three times), her Basic Attacks on enemy Heroes will consume that Chaos and up her damage by 50 percent for every stack, while also healing her for 100 percent of the damage dealt.

Here are Orphea's abilities:

• (Q) Shadow Waltz: Orphea sets up for 0.5 seconds before delivering 133 damage to all enemies in a straight line in front of her. If she connects with an enemy Hero, this move's cooldown reduces to 2 seconds and returns 25 mana, while also granting Orphea a dash move.
• (W) Chomp: It doesn't get as much range as Shadow Waltz, but after a 0.6 second setup, this move will take a bite out of an enemy in front of Orphea for 285 damage.
• (E) Dread: Orphea unleashes a wave of Dread in front of her, which hits for 85 damage. The Dread will erupt after reaching the end of its path and deal 175 damage, while also inflicting Slow on any enemies for 2 seconds.
• (R1) Eternal Feast: For Orphea's first Heroic ability, multiple Chomps will engulf an area, hitting for 210 damage each. If this hits an enemy Hero, the ability will repeat.
• (R2) Crushing Jaws: This Heroic takes effect in an area in front of Orphea. If any enemies are in that area, a pair of jaws will bite them into its center and deal 275 damage, while also inflicting Stun for 0.75 seconds.

In addition to Orphea, look for the PTR update to adjust channeled healing abilities, certain spell powers, and also give a slight boost to Gul'dan. For more information, check out the full patch notes.

Those who were in attendance at BlizzCon or purchased the BlizzCon Virtual Ticket are set to receive Orphea for free. However, that's set to kick in a little later, once she's off the PTR and in the full game proper.

BlizzCon Attendees/ VT Holders: Orphea will be available to you next week when she is live.

— Heroes of the Storm (@BlizzHeroes) November 5, 2018

For more on Orphea, as well as what else is set to hit Heroes of the Storm, be sure to check out our full interview with designer Jade Martin artist and Oscar Vega from BlizzCon 2018.

Ozzie Mejia

Senior Editor

Ozzie has been playing video games since picking up his first NES controller at age 5. He has been into games ever since, only briefly stepping away during his college years. But he was pulled back in after spending years in QA circles for both THQ and Activision, mostly spending time helping to push forward the Guitar Hero series at its peak. Ozzie has become a big fan of platformers, puzzle games, shooters, and RPGs, just to name a few genres, but he’s also a huge sucker for anything with a good, compelling narrative behind it. Because what are video games if you can't enjoy a good story with a fresh Cherry Coke?