Diablofans have more to look forward to as Heroes of the Storm welcomes yet another Diablo character to its roster: the Butcher. He’ll be arriving along with the new Battlefield of Eternity battleground in the Eternal Conflict update.
Many fans might remember the Butcher as an extremely powerful demon who carves his way into his victims. Being caught by him meant certain death, as he hacks away happily, crying “Fresh meat!” That same demon, still covered in his victims’ blood, is coming to HotS.
The folks over at ShackNews got some hands-on time with the Butcher and can confirm that he is a formidable assassin in Heroes of the Storm. His main trait, Fresh Meat, allows him to pick up the blood of any characters he slaughters and increase his attack power. This also enhances many of his abilities, which include:
· (Q) Hamstring – Deal damage and slow enemies in his area.
· (W) Butcher’s Brand – The Butcher’s signature attack. The Butcher’s Brand will damage an enemy and leave on them a demonic mark. When the Butcher attacks any marked target, he will leave damage, as well as heal for 75% of the damage inflicted. If the target is a Hero, the Butcher will heal 150% of the damage inflicted.
· (E) Ruthless Onslaught – The Butcher will slowly charge towards any enemy Hero, causing stun damage when he catches his target.
· (R1) Lamb to the Slaughter – The Butcher will raise a pole in a targeted area, which will latch itself onto the nearest enemy Hero. The enemy will be tethered to the pole, making it impossible to escape.
· (R2) Furnace Blast – The Butcher will take three seconds to prepare a massive blast of fire. Any opposing team member caught over the newly-created furnace grate will get caught in a giant blast and suffer major damage.
The Butcher seems like he’d be plenty of fun to play as. He’s undeniably powerful, with some limitations. The right strategy could make him completely unstoppable. It would probably be in the team’s best interest to keep the Butcher alive, since his greatest weakness is that he cannot really take on more than one opponent at a time.
As for Battlefield of Eternity, it’s a two-lane map where high heavens and deep hell come together, and in the center, a battle between immortals is at a stalemate. The Heroes have the choice of assisting their immortal by attacking the opposing immortal, or they could try to kill off the opposing immortal’s team so that harm does not come to their immortal. This battle is meant to be fast-paced, a race to who can clear the path to victory for their immortal.
These are just a few of the Diablo imports in the plans for Heroes of the Storm, with more lined up for the future. The Eternal Conflict update will hit PTR servers on June 23rd, and you can expect the Butcher and Battlefield of Eternity to be available to all players by June 30th.
