World of Warcraft Invades Heroes of the Storm, Here's Everything You Need to Know About Alterac

New Map and What That Means

The new map is called Alterac Pass and brings with it not only an entirely new battleground, but a new map mechanic as well! In a recent interview, the Heroes of the Storm team described the new map as "a snow-covered, three-lane Battleground that is the first to bring a piece of the World of Warcraft's Alterac Valley to the Nexus. Raze keeps, gather forces, and defeat your opponent's legendary General: Drek'Thar for the Horde, and Vanndar Stormpike for the Alliance.

With other popular Blizzard franchises leaving their mark on the game, it's finally World of Warcraft's time! As far as the new map mechanic goes, Blizzard provided details on exactly how the Calvary works:

"Your Calvary units have been captured by the enemy! Your goal is to break them out of Cages on the map while preventing the enemy team from doing so. Channel the enemy Cage to gain control of it, then maintain control until your prisoner is freed."

This is trickier than it sounds, however. It's timed, meaning that even if you have freed that prisoner, there's nothing stopping the enemy team from a recapture save your own team's defenses. It's classic offense/defense and strategy can make or break chances at victory.

What Else Is New, Including Generals

For those that are familiar with how Heroes of the Storm works, the Standard cores with the World of Warcraft expansion have been replaced by Generals. These won't be easily taken down, they will fight back when attacked! In order to get this particular fight on, players must first destroy a keep. For each keep that remains untouched, Generals gain +20 armor, which means it would behoove teams to take out as many keeps as possible.

Once a keep is destroyed, the enemy will spawn what are called Reavers, melee minions that will defend at all cost. The Reavers are replacing what are usually referred to as catapults while also buffing up the General's attack.

New Hero, Meet Yrel

Yrel is a Draenei paladin that packs a mean punch. This warrior is incredibly powerful with a Righteous Hammer that is meant to absolutely obliterate. She has a unique skill set that makes her an incredible asset to the game.

Trait

• Divine Purpose (D)
  • Activate to instantly charge Yrel's next Basic Ability at no mana cost.
  • Passive: Yrel's Abilities charge up over 1.5 seconds, increasing in effectiveness, but reducing her movement speed by 25%
    • Cooldown 10

Basic Abilities

• Vindication (Q)
  • Unleash holy energy around Yreal, dealing 38 damage to nearby enemies and healing her for 96
    • Charging up this Ability increases its damage up to 125, and healing up to 320
      • Cost: 50
      • Cooldown: 6
• Righteous Hammer (W)
  • Her hammer deals 38 damage to enemies in front, or knocking them away
    • Charging this Ability increases knockback distance, damage increased to 125
    • Enemies hit at max charge for a stun of .75 seconds
      • Cost: 50
      • Cooldown: 16
• Avenging Wrath (E)
  • Leap to a location, deals 150 damage to surrounding enemies, slowing them by 50% for 1 secon
    • Chargin this Ability increases its range
      • Cost: 50
      • Cooldown: 6

Heroic Abilities

• Ardent Defender (R1)
  • Surround Yrel in a barrier for 3 seconds, absorbs all incoming damage, provides 50% of damage heals
    • Cost: 40
    • Cooldown: 100
• Sacred Ground (R2)
  • Yrel sacrifices the ground around her, gains 40 armor while in the area
    • Cost: 40
    • Cooldown: 100

New Event - Echoes of the Alterac

Horde or Alliance, once more players are forced to choose a side (there are no Death Knights here) in order to complete new quest lines for exclusive gear. World of Warcraft rewards will then unlock including a portrait, banner, and an sweet new mount.

Here's the breakdown, as per Blizzard:

• Play four games as a Warcraft hero
  • Reward: Warcraft Reinforcements Chests
    • Four item drops, one is guaranteed to be a Warcraft here (28 in total)
• Achieve 50 takedowns in winning games
  • Reward: Faction Portrait
• Play six games with friends
  • Reward: Faction Banner
    • Alliance - Lordaeron
    • Horde - Orgimmar
• Win 8 games as a Warcraft hero
  • Reward: Faction Mount
    • Alliance - Ram
    • Horde - Wolf

There will also be new skins, mounts, sprays, and tons more for those that choose to partake in what Echoes of Alterac has to offer!