Updates

Talents

• Level 7
  • Elemental Assault
    • NEW: After using a Basic or Heroic Ability, Thrall's next Basic Attack within 4 seconds deals 45% more damage.
  • Follow Through
    • Talent Removed.

Bug Fixes

• Level 16
  • Tempest Fury
    • The initial third Windfury attack now features impact visuals.

Updates

Talents

• Level 10
  • Sundering
    • Secondary knockback duration and speed reduced.

Bug Fixes

• Level 10
  • Sundering
    • Targets hit by Sundering will now be moved to the side relative to the angle of Sundering.

Bug Fixes

• Level 13
  • Spirit Shield
    • Fixed an issue with Spirit Shield's cooldown reduction from Frostwolf Resilience.

Updates

Base

• Health increased from 1896 to 1946.
• Health Regeneration increased from 3.9492 to 4.0546.
• Frostwolf Resilience [Trait]
  • Healing increased from 223 to 240.
• Chain Lightning [Q]
  • Bounce damage increased from 81 to 85.
  • Damage increased from 162 to 170.
• Feral Spirit [W]
  • Cooldown reduced from 12 seconds to 10 seconds.

Talents

• Level 13
  • Spirit Shield
    • Increased Spell Armor from 50 to 70.

Bug Fixes

• Feral Spirit [E]
  • Fixed an issue that caused Feral Spirit to hit Invulnerable non-Heroes.
• Level 13
  • Frostwolf's Grace [D]
    • No longer dismounts Thrall.

Bug Fixes

• Fixed an issue that caused Echo of the Elements activating off of Possessed Minions and Hallucinations.
• Fixed an issue that caused Rolling Thunder to not activate from Tempest Fury's attacks.
• Fixed an issue that caused Wolf Pack to reset Feral Spirit on talent reset incorrectly.

Bug Fixes

• Difficulty updated from Easy to Medium.
• Fixed an issue that caused Basic Attacks while Windfury is active to grant stacks of Frostwolf Resilience while Blinded or if the target is Evading.
• Feral Resilience will now display Block visuals.

Updates

Base

• Health increased from 1876 to 1896.
• Health regeneration increased from 3.91 to 3.95.

Talents

• Level 20
  • Elemental Momentum [Passive]
    • Cooldown reduction against Heroes increased from doubled to tripled.

Developer Comment: Thrall is very close to being a competitive choice, but all his builds are just barely lagging behind.

Updates

Base

• Feral Spirit [W]
  • Mana cost reduced from 60 to 40.

Talents

• Level 1
  • Echo of the Elements [Q]
    • Mana cost reduction increased from 15 to 20.
• Level 4
  • Feral Resilience [W]
    • Frostwolf Resilience stacks increased from 3 to 4.
• Level 13
  • Frostwolf's Grace [D]
    • Changed functionality: Frostwolf Resilience can be activated to instantly heal. This healing is increased by up to 100% based on Thrall's missing health.
  • Spirit Shield [Active]
    • Spell Armor duration increased from 2.5 to 4 seconds.
• Level 20
  • (New) Elemental Momentum [Passive]
    • Basic Attacks reduce Basic and Heroic Ability cooldowns by 0.25 seconds, doubled against Heroes.

Developer Comment: Thrall has begun to struggle in solo lane matchups, often unable to sustain himself after trading blows. We feel his Mana costs are too high due his reliance on frequently casting abilities to charge Frostwolf Resilience, even if choosing to learn Mana Tide. There seems to be a demand for a strong auto attack talent at 20, with many Thralls choosing Nexus Blades, so we're adding Elemental Momentum to keep the tier exciting.

Updates

Talents

• Level 4
  • Feral Resilience [W]
    • Physical Armor increased from 50 to 75.
• Level 13
  • Spirit Shield [Active]
    • Spell Armor duration increased from 1.5 to 2.5 seconds.
• Level 20
  • Worldbreaker [R1]
    • Cooldown reduction increased from 20 to 40 seconds.

Developer Comment: It's been quite some time since we've had any updates to Thrall. Truth be told, his talents have been in a fairly healthy place, so we didn't see the need to make adjustments. Even so, we believe these changes will make his talent tiers more healthy, and should incentivize some alternative ways to play him.

Updates

Talents

• Level 1
  • Rolling Thunder [Q]
    • Bonus damage and healing on Heroic targets increased from 2% to 3%.

Developer Comment: Rolling Thunder's tuning was a bit low initially. This should make it much more appropriately attractive compared to the other powerful options Thrall has on the tier.

Updates

Talents

• Level 1
  • Rolling Thunder [Q]
    • New functionality: [Passive] Increase the number of Chain Lightning bounces by 1. For 8 seconds after hitting an enemy with Chain Lightning, Thrall's next Basic Attack against them grants him a stack of Frostwolf Resilience. If the target is an enemy Hero, then he also deals damage to them equal to 2% of their maximum Health and healing for the same amount.

Developer Comment: Echo of the Elements and Crash Lightning are both fairly solid talents that have different use cases for when to pick them. Rolling Thunder has been less successful, so we're trying something new with the talent. We're still keeping its theme of marking targets with Chain Lightning and then hitting them for a bonus, but now this bonus will allow Thrall to deal bonus damage to enemy Heroes while also interacting with Frostwolf Resilience.

Bug Fixes

• The Feral Resilience Talent's buff bar tooltip now correctly states that stacks grant 50 Physical Armor.

Bug Fixes

• Invulnerable Heroes who are within bounce range after casting Chain Lightning on a nearby target will no longer grant Crash Lightning quest progress.

Updates

Abilities

• Chain Lightning (Q)
  • Damage reduced from 178 to 162.
  • Bounce damage reduced from 89 to 81.

Talents

• Level 1
  • Rolling Thunder (Q)
    • No longer increases Chain Lightning's range.
    • New functionality:
      • Hitting a marked enemy restores 2.5% of Thrall's maximum Health.
• Level 4
  • Frostwolf Pack (W)
    • Quest requirement reduced from 7 to 6 Hero hits.

Bug Fixes

• Killing Minions who were hit by Chain Lightning now correctly causes Echo of the Elements quest progress visual effects to appear near Thrall, rather than allies.

Updates

Talents

• Level 1
  • Crash Lightning (Q)
    • Maximum damage bonus reduced from 480 to 360
    • Quest completion reward requirement increased from 20 to 30 stacks

Developer Comment: With the increased bounce range of Chain lightning, the Crash Lightning talent has become overly dominant. While we enjoy the build, as it allows Thrall to play outside of the solo-lane, in its current state it is simply too powerful. By lowering the maximum stacks, we're reducing the upper damage limit to lessen the impact of the extreme situations where Thrall is completely stacked. Additionally, with the Quest Completion moving back to 30 stacks, it's going to be harder for Thrall to finish the talent, pushing this power-spike to later in the match.

Updates

Abilities

• Chain Lightning (Q)
  • Bounce range increased by 20%

Updates

Stats

• Basic Attack damage increased from 165 to 173

Talents

• Level 13
  • Spirit Shield (Active)
    • Cooldown reduction granted by Frostwolf Resilience increased from 8 to 10 seconds

Updates

• Stats

  • Base Maximum Health increased from 1787 to 1876
  • Base Health Regeneration increased from 3.7 to 3.9

  Developer Comment: FOR THE HORDE!

Updates

Abilities

• Chain Lightning (Q)
  • Mana cost reduced from 45 to 40

Talents

• Level 1
  • Crash Lightning (Q)
    • Damage per stack increased from 10 to 12
  • Rolling Thunder (Q)
    • Mana return per attack increased from 12 to 15
• Level 4
  • Mana Tide (Trait)
    • Mana return reduced from 20 to 15
• Level 16
  • Thunderstorm (Q)
    • Added functionality:
      • Damage from final quest reward now also applies to Chain Lightning bounces

Bug Fixes

• Fixed an issue allowing Sundering to be seen and heard through fog of war.

Updates

Abilities

• Frostwolf Resilience (Trait)
  • Heal amount increased from 210 to 223

Talents

• Level 1
  • Rolling Thunder (Q)
    • Mana return increased from 10 to 12
• Level 4
  • Feral Resilience (W)
    • Added functionality:
      • Heroes hit by Feral Spirit grant Thrall 3 charges of Frostwolf Resilience
• Level 13
  • Spirit Shield (Passive)
    • Cooldown reduction per Frostwolf Resilience stack increased from 5 to 8 seconds
• Level 20
  • Wind Rush (Active)
    • Cooldown increased from 70 to 80 seconds

Bug Fixes

• Percent Health damage dealt by Basic Attacks after casting Feral Spirit with the Alpha Wolf Talent now correctly count as Ability Damage.
• The bonus Heal amount granted by Frostwolf's Grace will no longer apply to all Frostwolf Resilience procs.

Updates

Abilities

• Chain Lightning (Q)
  • Cooldown increased from 6 to 7 seconds
  • Number of bounces increased from 2 to 3
  • Range of bounces decreased from 7 to 5
  • Mana cost increased from 40 to 45
• Feral Spirit (W)
  • No longer stops upon the first enemy hero hit
  • Feral Spirit travels 25% further with each enemy hero hit
• Frostwolf Resilience (Trait)
  • Heal amount decreased from 314 to 210

Talents

• Level 1
  • Block (Passive)
    • Removed
  • Rabid Wolves (W)
    • Removed
  • Seasoned Marksman (Active)
    • Removed
  • New Talent: Echo of the Elements (Q)
    • !Quest: Kill 10 minions or heroes within 1.5 seconds of them being hit by Chain Lightning
      • Reward: Decreases the mana cost of Chain Lightning by 20
    • !Quest: Kill 20 minions or heroes within 1.5 seconds of them being hit by Chain Lightning
      • Reward: Gain an additional charge of Chain Lightning
  • New Talent: Crash Lightning (Q)
    • !Quest: Hit at least 2 enemy heroes with a single cast of Chain Lightning
      • Reward: Increases bounce damage by 10 up to a maximum of 400
    • !Quest: Hit at least 2 enemy heroes, 20 times, with a single cast of Chain Lightning
      • Reward: Bounces of Chain Lightning now prioritize enemy heroes
  • Rolling Thunder (Q)
    • Added functionality:
      • Increases Chain Lightning's maximum bounces by 1
• Level 4
  • Ride the Lightning (Q)
    • Removed
  • Spirit Journey (W)
    • Removed
  • Envenom (Active)
    • Removed
  • New Talent: Feral Resilience (W)
    • Each enemy hero hit by Feral Spirit grants 2 charges of Block, granting 50 physical armor. Lasts until consumed or Feral Spirit is cast again.
  • New Talent: Frostwolf Pack (W)
    • !Quest: Hit 7 heroes with Feral Spirit. Progress is reset upon dying or if Feral Spirit doesn't hit at least one enemy hero.
      • Reward: Decreases the cooldown from 12 to 6 seconds, and decreases the mana cost from 60 to 30
  • Mana Tide (Trait)
    • Mana gained increased from 15 to 20
    • Added functionality:
      • When Mana Tide procs, now also reduces basic ability cooldowns by 0.5 seconds.
• Level 7
  • Wind Shear (E)
    • Removed
  • Stone Wolves (W)
    • Removed
  • New Talent: Maelstrom Weapon (E)
    • !Quest: Attack enemy heroes while Windfury's movement speed bonus is active.
      • Reward: Increases attack damage by 1
    • !Quest: Attack 20 enemy heroes while Windfury's movement speed bonus is active.
      • Reward: Increases the movement speed bonus of Windfury from 30% to 40%
    • !Quest: Attack 40 enemy heroes while Windfury's movement speed bonus is active.
      • Reward: Permanently gain 15% increased movement speed.
  • New Talent: Ancestral Wrath (Active)
    • Each time Frostwolf Resilience activates, Thrall gains a stack of Ancestral Wrath, up to a maximum of 8.
    • Activate to consume 8 stacks of Ancestral Wrath, stealing 15% of target hero's maximum health over 3 seconds. Thrall heals for 150% of this amount over 3 seconds.
• Level 13
  • Restless Wolves (W)
    • Removed
  • Giant Killer (Passive)
    • Removed
  • Spell Shield (Passive)
    • Removed
  • Frostwolf's Grace (Trait)
    • Moved from Level 7
    • Healing amount increased from 100 to 150% of Feral Resilience
    • Cooldown decreased from 30 to 15 seconds
  • New Talent: Spirit Shield (Passive)
    • Every 45 seconds, gain 50 Spell Armor against the next enemy ability and subsequent abilities for 1.5 seconds. Triggering Frostwolf Resilience reduces this Cooldown by 5 seconds.
• Level 16
  • Forked Lightning (Q)
    • Removed
  • Ride the Wind (E)
    • Removed
  • Blood for Blood (Active)
    • Removed
  • New Talent: Thunderstorm (Q)
    • !Quest: Cast Chain Lightning on a hero. Dying or casting it on the same hero twice in a row resets progress.
      • Reward: Chain Lightning slows targets by 8%, stacking up to 40%.
    • !Quest: Reach a 40% bonus slow.
      • Reward: Chain Lightning deals 25% more damage to the primary target.
    • This quest never completes and will reset even at maximum stacks.
  • New Talent: Alpha Wolf (W)
    • Increases root duration from 1 to 1.5 seconds.
    • For 3 seconds after being hit by a Feral spirit, Thrall's basic attacks deal 3% of the targets maximum health.
• Level 20
  • Bolt of the Storm (Active)
    • Removed
  • Worldbreaker (R)
    • Decreases Cooldown from 70 to 50 seconds
    • New Functionality:
      • No Longer travels indefinitely
      • Creates a pathing blocker for 3 seconds
  • New Talent: Wind Rush (Active)
    • Activate to teleport to a target location and gain Windfury
    • 70 second CD

Developer Comment: We started looking at Thrall for a talent update as many of his talents were older generic talents, and Thrall ended up having a clear build path. Our pillar for this update was creating more talent diversity and unique ways to play. The changes to Feral Spirit add new opportunities for Thrall to make big plays, while allowing him to continue his role as a lane bully, or play with the team, depending on your playstyle. Overall, Thrall is now flush with Quest talents, and this is something we wanted to explore and are excited for your feedback.

Updates

Abilities

• Earthquake (R)
  • Earthquake will go off even if Thrall is interrupted during his cast animation
• Sunder (R)
  • Sunder will go off even if Thrall is interrupted during his cast animation

Developer Comment: Thrall's two Heroics are overly sensitive to being interrupted, something that has been on our radar to fix for quite some time.

Bug Fixes

• Fixed an issue in which Feral Spirit could fail to trigger Follow Through after earning Seasoned Marksman stacks.

Updates

• Earthquake (R)
  • Slow amount reduced from 70 to 50%
• Sundering (R)
  • Cooldown reduced from 80 to 70 seconds

Developer Comment: These changes are a continued effort to bring Thrall's two Heroics closer in line with each other. We realize that these are not the only pick-rate issues he has and are excited to look at him in more depth soon.

Updates

• Earthquake (R)
  • Cooldown increased from 60 to 100 seconds
• Sundering (R)
  • Damage increased from 274 to 290

Bug Fixes

• The Earthquake tooltip has been updated to reflect that it pulses once every 4 seconds.

Bug Fixes

• Earthquake now correctly slows enemy Minions and Mercenaries in addition to Heroes.

Updates

Abilities

• Earthquake (R)
  • Added functionality:
    • Now deals 50 damage to Heroes with each pulse (will now trigger Frostwolf Resilience)
• Sundering (R)
  • Stun duration reduced from 1.25 to 1 seconds

Developer Comment: We have mentioned before that sometimes we will stubbornly hold on making balance changes to some Heroic abilities because we believe they are actually very powerful in their current form, even if they are not currently seeing much play. This has been the case with Earthquake, but Sunder has consistently been the go-to pick since Thrall's inception. We hope this change will help shake up the pick rates of Thrall's Heroic abilities.

Updates

• Sundering (R)
  • Stun duration reduced from 1.5 to 1.25 seconds.

Developer Comment: We want to make some basic improvements to a lot of the lesser-picked/lower win-rate Heroic Abilities. Most of these are pretty simple changes to make them more enticing, like adding more damage, reducing cooldowns, or lowering Mana costs. We realize that the primary use case for Abilities like Li Li's Water Dragon or E.T.C.'s Stage Dive is not damage, but having more of it might help them feel more effective. We're trying to do something a little bit different with Brightwing's Emerald Wind and Malfurion's Twilight Dream by compensating for some of the Support capability you miss out on by picking these Heroics. We're excited to see how these go! In Thrall's case, Sundering was a little too strong, so we're reducing its stun duration.

Updates

• Basic Attack damage reduced from 173 (+4% per level) to 165 (+4% per level)
• Sundering (R)
  • Cooldown increased from 70 to 80 seconds

Developer Comment: Thrall sits near the top of our win charts, so we feel that small nerfs to his damage and most-picked Heroic Ability are necessary. We expect this to only slightly nudge Thrall down, as we're otherwise happy with how he is currently being played.

Updates

• Thrall's Basic Attacks have received improvements in responsiveness, especially when stutter-stepping
• Thrall's first Basic Attack after Windfury ends will no longer have an abnormally long weapon period