The massive 2.0 update for Blizzard’s Heroes of the Storm has arrived and it comes with news of the next hero arriving in the game: Overwatch‘s D.Va, a popular character who drives a flying pink mech equipped with shields and dual cannons. D.Va makes her Heroes debut in the above trailer, where she fights Diablo alongside fellow Overwatch character Genji. Although it’s unclear exactly when D.Va will arrive in Heroes of the Storm, it is likely to be soon. Genji is available now, along with the Hanamura map in the trailer.
The Heroes of the Storm 2.0 update adds far more than just news of a new character, though. One of the biggest changes is that the game’s cosmetics items like emojis and banners, which could previously be purchased for real money, will now be found in Overwatch-style loot chests, removing them from behind the free-to-play game’s paywall. The goal is to improve Heroes‘ item economy and player progression, which has also been overhauled “to make progression more straightforward,” according to Blizzard. With Heroes 2.0 you now get a loot chest every time you level up a character, and the amount of play required to do so has been decreased.
To kick off the update Blizzard has launched a new “Nexus Challenge” in Heroes of the Storm that rewards “mountains of loot” in both Heroes and Overwatch when you play Heroes with a friend. There are four different sets of prizes that will be available over the coming four weeks, from Overwatch skins to loot boxes, and receiving them won’t be dependent on winning matches.
Finally, players who log in during the next month (from now until May 22) will receive 100 gems, enough to buy a new “mega bundle” that contains 20 heroes focused on specific roles like “assassin” or “tanks and bruisers.”
