Blizzard may have some awesome reveals prepared for us at Gamescom 2018, which starts tomorrow, but that hasn’t stopped them from jumping the gun on one of those surprises. Earlier this morning, Blizzard let the cat out of the bag and officially announced that Mephisto, The Lord of Hatred, as the newest hero in their popular MOBA game, Heroes of the Storm. Mephisto has long been rumored to be the newest inclusion to the series, as the official Heroes of the Storm twitter page began teasing us with some hieroglyphic images the past week indicating that his arrival was imminent.
For the uninitiated, Mephisto comes from the world of the Diablo franchise, being one of the Prime Evils that threatens Sanctuary in their never ending battle with the Angels from Heaven. He is one of the main antagonists in Diablo II, and plays a major role in foiling the players from stopping Baal and Diablo from taking over the living world. Mephisto will be the latest Ranged Assassin to join Heroes of the Storm, and he’s bringing some of the coolest abilities we’ve seen yet. Starting off as an Assassin means he’ll be dealing high damage right off the bat, but with his Trait, The Lord of Hatred, he’ll be able to use his abilities much faster thanks to its reduction of cool downs.
His first two abilities, Skull Missile and Lightning Nova, seem to be fairly standard for Assassin heroes. However his third main ability, Shade of Mephisto, is where he will truly shine on the battlefield. With this power, Mephisto can teleport to any location and deal a small percentage of damage for approximately 2.5 seconds before returning to his last known location. That may appear to be weak at first, but in addition to being able to teleport, he can then utilize all of his abilities in that short amount of time, creating a massive burst damage attack. For example, if an enemy is trying to escape a losing fight, Mephisto can use this ability and lay waste to them if they are low on health, or delay the escape so his teammates can come in for the kill.
Then we come to his Heroic Abilities. His first one, Consume Souls, is a global hero reveal technique. With it, Mephisto reveals all heroes that are not seen on the map, and in addition damages all heroes with 357 points, and slows them for 2.5 seconds. This sets up a huge group attack to take out either a team trying to complete an objective or a hero that is left all alone ready to be eliminated. The second Heroic Ability, Endurance of Hate, is a great Root ability, holding an enemy for 2 seconds while dealing 160 damage for the same duration. It also spreads out to other targets if they are in the same area, making a great set up for a team squash.
Mephisto is looking great in his Hero Spotlight, and theirs no doubt that he will be a excellent addition to Heroes of the Storm. There was no release date given for Mephisto, but it’s likely that he’ll be added in the next few weeks. You can check out his Hero Spotlight Trailer here: