Just about every Blizzard game has new content over the past few months, or has it coming, so get up to date on it all here!
Hi everybody! Sorry we haven’t talked in a while, between Season 5 in D3 and playing Heroes on a stimpack (it helps with the XP gain) I haven’t had a lot of extra time on the weekends lately to give you an update, and I’ll try to make time so this is feature comes out at least every two or three weeks instead of every two months!!
April Fools! – We have to start here, because Blizzard is pretty well known for their pranks and this year was pretty good! Did you miss your opportunity to get Diablo 3 gear from the store? Are you ready for HearthStone the MMO?! Make sure that you experience the 16-bit glory of Maximum Novadrive! Have you ever wanted to nerf StarCraft 2 and make players cry? Then check out the Balance Manager 2016!! Also make sure you play Co-Op as the Carbot Zergling Commander!! There Alpha Patch Notes for World of Warcraft which are hilarious, a new clan of the Frostdoge, the new transportation service flyt, and Azeroth TV! Also check out the new Heroes of the Storm Nexus lane view of the website!
Diablo 3 – Season 5 is ending in less than 2 weeks!! Account linking for Xbox and Playstation to Battle.net will be ending on April 26th which appears to be preventing item and save transfers cross platforms, while transfers on the same platform can happen. At least that post soft confirms that Patch 2.4.1 will be coming out that day and we have Patch Notes on it from the PTR! Did you get to experience Chief Elder Kanai’s realm last month? I thought it was pretty fun, and exciting that we will get to experience it every March! Speaking of development, make sure you check out the BlizzCon Lightening Talks and insights about Legendary Gem changes that are coming in Patch 2.4.1! Celebrate two years of Reaper of Souls with a giveaway and some behind the scenes on art!
HearthStone – Whispers of the Old Gods has been announced as the new expansion and we already know about C’Thun, N’Zoth, Y’Shaarj, and other forbidden powers! That’s a great time for an article on how old cards come to light in different ways with each expansion right? It is also the perfect time for the April Ranked Play Season to give us a Clutches of Evil cardback!! Of course there are new features coming like deck recipes and advances to searching your cards too! Check out the player spotlights on Fr0zen, Ishaan, and the decks behind the Winter Championships to get some more insight in the game. Also, not only did Reaper of Souls celebrate a birthday but so did HearthStone! Did you know that if you level a new World of Warcraft character to 20, you can get a new hero in HearthStone?
Heroes of the Storm – Tracer from Overwatch is coming this month, Xul the Necromancer has been released and so has the Primal Zerg Dehaka while there have been many Balance Patches which affect different heroes on February 10th, February 17th, March 9th, and March 16th, with MAJOR Patches on March 1st and March 29th!! Did you get the new Love Doctor skin for Lt. Morales? Are you excited for other new skins that are on the way like Azmodunk?! Are you looking forward to new features coming or changes to hotkeys and quick casts? There are some really big changes that have hit the Draft Lobbies like Hero Bans!! What is the current state of matchmaking and how is Blizzard improving it? Have you tried out the new Custom map Lost Cavern?
Overwatch – Overwatch is launching May 24th!!! If you pre-order you can get an exclusive Widowmaker in-game skin! Also, the Open Beta is coming and you are automatically invited if you pre-order prior to April 29th! Want to know more about the game? Explore the expanded universe, see the animated shorts Recall and Alive, and find out how player progression is expected to work!
StarCraft 2 – Nova Covert Ops has launched, and there is a small preview available too!! There was even an alternate reality game behind the release as well, which granted players who participated a special portrait! Speaking of, did you get your portrait from watching the Winter Championships? There were some minor changes to Co-Op, minor changes in Patch 3.1.3, MANY changes in Patch 3.2.0 including a new Co-Op mission and Trophy Tops for tournament wins! Or course 2016 Ladder Season 1 has locked so that means that Season 2 has started!
World of Warcraft – Legion is coming and the Alpha has more features being tested! While we wait for Legion, Patch 6.2.3 has minor fixes, and small client-side fixes were in Patch 6.2.4 has been released, Noblegarden returns, and don’t miss out on the events going on in April! There is also a great spotlight on Michele Morrow which is can’t miss, a statue of Grommash Hellscream comes out soon that looks amazing, and we will be getting the WoW: Chronicle Volume 1 from Dark Horse and WoW: Traveler from Scholastic for kids 8-12 soon too!
Twitter Question of the Week – April Fools!! I am thinking about removing this, unless I get some responses from Blizzard, so watch this space going forward!
Enjoying the Blitz? Want to ask some questions or give me ideas for future articles? Reach out to me on Twitter @rusty_schmidt!
Welcome back, Rusty!