Heroes of the Storm update reworks Starcraft’s Lt. Morales

Heroes of the Storm received an update on Tuesday, alongside a Lt. Morales rework. Originating from the StarCraft universe, Lt. Morales has a healer role in the Nexus. 

Base hero updates

In addition to a health reduction from 1545 to 1515, Morales’ energy regeneration interval dropped from 1 to 0.5 seconds. The amount of energy regenerated per interval was also reduced from 6 to 2.5. Healing Beam [Q] received an additional functionality where the UI now shows the name and portrait of her hero targets. 

As for Safeguard [W], the armor given to heroes by hit was reduced from 35 to 30. Additionally, the cooldown for Lt. Morales’ Stim Drone [R1] ultimate got reduced from 90 to 70 seconds. 

Talent updates

A couple of Lt. Morales’ level 1 talents received updates. Both Life Support [Q] and Clear! [E] received an additional functionality that helps with restoring her energy.

Level 1

• Life Support [Q]
  • New functionality: For the first 2 seconds of Energy Regeneration, regenerate 100% more Energy.
  • Passive: Increase your Maximum Energy by 10.
• Clear! [E]
  • Additional functionality: Heroes hit by Displacement Grenade restore 3 Energy.

Level 4

As for her level 4 talents, the healing duration of Cellular Reactor [Active] was decreased, alongside the amount of self-healing. However, the cooldown for this talent got significantly reduced. The cooldown for Trauma Trigger [Passive] also got reduced.

Meanwhile, Blast Shield [E] received a new functionality that stacks to reward Heroes of the Storm players for successfully hitting enemy players with Displacement Grenade [E].

• Cellular Reactor [Active]
  • Healing duration reduced from 4 to 3 seconds.
  • Healing amount reduced from 40 to 30% maximum Health.
  • Cooldown reduced from 45 to 20 seconds.
  • Additional functionality:
    • Passive: Regenerate 2 Energy each time Safeguard reduces damage, up to 10 per cast.
• Trauma Trigger [Passive]
  • Cooldown increased from 20 to 40 seconds.
  • Additional functionality:
    • Passive: Increase Caduceus Reactor’s healing from 2 to 4% maximum Health.
• Blast Shield [E]
  • New functionality: Heroes hit by Displacement Grenade are slowed by 50% for 1 second after being knocked back and grant Lt. Morales a Shield equal to 6% of her maximum Health, stacking up to 5 times.

Level 10

At level 10, the Medivac Dropship [R2] ultimate received a reduced cooldown alongside the Reinforcements ability. 

• Medivac Dropship [R2]
  • Additional functionality: Grants the Reinforcements ability, allowing Lt. Morales to call down a Medivac Dropship at the Hall of Storms that allies can enter for 10 seconds to travel to your original cast location.
  • Cooldowns reduced from 60 to 45 seconds.

Level 13

The duration of System Shock [E] at level 13 got reduced by a second, while Second Opinion [E] was moved to level 20. A new talent, Bedside Manner [E], lets Lt. Morales deal more damage to enemy heroes who are hit by Displacement Grenade [E].

• System Shock [E]
  • Duration reduced from 4 to 3 seconds.
• Second Opinion [E]
  • Moved to level 20.
• (New) Bedside Manner [E]
  • Basic Attacks against Heroes deal 1% of maximum Health as damage. Heroes hit by Displacement Grenade take 6% of maximum Health as damage from Lt. Morales’ next Basic Attack.

Level 16

Next, Extended Care [Q] received additional functionality when it comes to healing team members. Teammates get more heals if Lt. Morales channels the beam longer. The additional functionalities of First Responder [Q] and Shield Sequencer [W] include granting Lt. Morales and her teammate more movement speed and the rage of Safeguard [W] respectively. 

• Extended Care [Q]
  • Additional functionality: Channeling Healing Beam on a Hero for at least 3 seconds will heal them for 50% of Healing Beam’s base value for 3 seconds once channeling ends.
• First Responder [Q]
  • Additional functionality: Also grants Lt. Morales and her Healing Beam target 15% increased movement Speed while active.
• Shield Sequencer [W]
  • Additional functionality: Increases the range of Safeguard by 60%

Level 20

As for Lt. Morales’ level 20 talents, Hyperactivity [R1] received a cooldown reduction. Meanwhile, the protection duration of Safe Zone [R2] increased by a second. The removal of Reinforcements [Active] made way for Hospice Care [W], which is a new talent that lets Safeguard [W] grant heroes Unkillable and healing if the target has less than half their health after the effect ends. 

• Hyperactivity [R1]
  • Cooldown reduction reduced from 45 to 35 seconds.
• Safe Zone [R2]
  • Protected duration increased from 2 to 3 seconds.
  • Additional functionality: Reduces the cooldown of Medivac Dropship abilities by 15 seconds.
• Reinforcements [Active]
  • Removed.
• (New) Hospice Care [W]
  • Safeguard grants its target Unkillable for 1 second. If the target is under 50% maximum Health when this effect ends, they are healed for 8% of their maximum Health.

The Heroes of the Storm developers noted that Lt. Morales’ talents needed a bit of spicing up. 

“We also thought it was appropriate to bake in the old ‘Reinforcements’ talent from level 20 into the Medivac Dropship Heroic,” the developers added. “This should give Morales a little more flexibility in shuttling her allies around earlier in the game.”

In addition to the Lt. Morales rework, various Heroes of the Storm characters received balance changes.