Be aware that this information may not be up to date. Updated version coming soon.

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Last updated: 2017

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How to Play Heroes of the Storm
Heroes of the Storm is a MOBA (Multiplayer Online Battle Arena) type game created by Blizzard
Entertainment in 2015. In this game, cooperation of you and your team and the ability to make
quick decisions as a group is key; However, having some basic knowledge and skills
surrounding the gameplay, maps, and heroes can be just as valuable.
Installing the Game (PC)
Of course, the first step to play the game is to install it. In order to install it, you need a bit more
than just the game files, so be sure to check the requirements of the game plus some to ensure
your computer’s capabilities to run the game smoothly; However, for the most part, even a
standard gaming laptop should be able to run the game. Go to Blizzard’s official page
(https://www.blizzard.com/), click “my account” on the top right, select “Create a Free Account”,
and set up a Battle.net account (provide an email and create a username/password). Make sure
you record your account information somewhere safe. Next, return to Blizzard’s site and scroll
down until blue text appears saying “All Games, One App” and a link with the words “Blizzard
Battle.net Desktop App”. Click the link and download the app for your respective platform
(Windows, Mac, etc.). Once the download is complete, find it in your downloads file and install it.
Once the app is installed, open it and click the tab on the left hand side that reads “Heroes of
the Storm”. The game is free to play, so no fees are required beforehand to play it, but you will
need internet connection to play it. Once the app displays the full page of the tab, click the blue
“Install” button on the bottom left of the app window (it should be about adjacent to the tabs).
After it finishes installing, click play (should replace the “Install” button) and, if your firewall is up,
be sure to allow the game through it.

The Selection Screen

Selecting a Playmode
When the game finishes loading (you may or may not have to relog into your account or select
your region before you can reach this step), a screen will open and greet you with either an
animation or static picture of the latest hero, map, or other new feature. The animation does not
have to play all the way through for you to continue, so do not wait for it. At the top, starting at
the left hand side, are the following tabs: Home (shown as the HotS logo), Play, Collection,
Loot, and Watch. Each tab has a different job, with the most important tab most likely being the
Play tab, as it is what takes you to the selection screen. The Collection, Loot, and Watch tabs are all for personalization of your account, heroes, etc. and reviewing past games from any
mode that you have been a part of. As you play the game more, these tabs will be used more
often, but for now, click on the Play tab. When clicked, a new screen will “roll” in and display a
void, purple landscape with five blue circles being predominant in the foreground. These circles
will be where the heroes of you and your team will be displayed. On the top, underneath the
original five tabs, are six new tabs and each will take you to a new screen for a different
playmode. The tabs are as follows: Versus A.I., Quick Match, Unranked, Ranked, Brawl, and
Custom Games. The tab you choose largely depends on how comfortable you are with the
MOBA style game. If you have played MOBA games or you have general knowledge on video
games, you may want to try out the other tabs, however, if you are new to MOBAs or video
games in general, your best choice for now will most likely be Versus A.I. The Versus A.I. tab
allows you to play against computer-controlled heroes (A.I.s) with either other players or A.I.s.
The Quick Match tab allows you to play with other players against other players, the Unranked
tab allows you to play in a controlled, team-drafted setting against other players without any
consequences on your rank, and the Ranked tab is similar to the Unranked tab, although it does
have consequences on your rank. Finally, the Brawl tab and Custom Games tabs are some tabs
that may also be helpful for new players. The Brawl creates a new map or adds on to a pre-
existing one weekly and plays similar to the Quickmatches, although generally much faster, and
the Custom Games allows the player to create their own match. These tabs, however, toss new
players into the fray much faster than A.I. games.

Selecting a Hero
In Heroes of the Storm, as the name implies, you choose a hero to play and fight other players
with. In larger, more crucial games, team composition and the heroes you choose to play have a
much more significant role; However, for now, the hero you select will not be based on the more
stricter, serious side of the game. As previously mentioned, five blue circles will be outlined on
the ground of the void landscape. The frontmost circle displays your hero. Most likely when you
first enter the game, your hero’s circle will be empty or will have a purple, masculine figure. To
choose a hero, click anywhere on the empty space or figure. When clicked, rows and rows of
portraits will appear, most of which will be grayed out unless you have been gifted a hero or
package of heroes. These grayed-out heroes will be unplayable until they are either on rotation
or you buy them with in-game currencies. The heroes on rotation will be highlighted with the
logo of the game on the corner of the portrait. When heroes are “on rotation”, it simply means
that Blizzard has made them available for a week (starting and ending on Tuesday) for anyone
to play, however, unless you have purchased them, you will be unable to play them once they
are removed from rotation and different heroes replace them. There is no need to worry about
never having a hero or different hero to play, however, as about seven heroes are always on the
weekly rotation no matter what. When you hover your cursor over a hero’s portrait, it will reveal
different information on them, including their name, class, difficulty, and a short description of
their play-style. Perhaps the most important aspects to take note of for now is the class and
difficulty of the hero. The class simply refers to the basics of a hero, such as their primary role in
a team, and are as follows: specialist, support, warrior, and assassin (as well as multi-class,
although that hero’s playstyle is more difficult than it may seem). Generally, specialists’ jobs are to gain experience/levels for the team, push advantages of certain objective rewards, and go
“behind enemy lines” to aid their team. Warriors (with two subclasses, bruisers and tanks) are
the front-line, damage soakers for the team and usually help teammates escape sticky
situations by either slowing enemies or helping teammates with their abilities, or, if necessary,
sacrificing themselves for their teammates’ escape. To help prevent teammates’ deaths, there
are the support heroes, who can choose to provide either extra damage or healing for their
team. These heroes can arguably be one of the more important members to keep alive, as all
support heroes have a heal or slow of some sort that can stabilize the team’s well-being. That
being said, support heroes can also be some of the harder heroes to play, as it requires an
overall good awareness of your surroundings, team, and yourself. Lastly are the assassins,
whose main task is to secure kills without dying themselves. For now, the best way to choose a
hero to play is to go over the ones available to you (read their description, difficulty, class, etc.)
and decide which one to play based on that information and what interests you the most. As a
new player, it might be best to choose a medium or lower-difficulty hero and review their abilities
via the tabs on the bottom left corner (once you have selected a hero). While it does not
necessarily rely on the class for difficulty level, it may be a good option to choose an assassin
until you have grasped the basics of the game. Although playing any class well requires some
skill, most likely with an assassin, your team will be able to support your weight as you learn the
basics; However, as stated, what role or difficulty you choose is entirely up to you. Once you
have decided on a hero, click the dark purple “Ready” button. If you want to play with a friend or
group of friends, be sure to click the plus portraits on the top right corner of the screen and invite
them before selecting the ready button, as doing so will put you in the “waiting” mode (which is
the game searching for a match). Your friend or friends must be added on your Battle.net app
friends list for you to be able to invite them via the plus portraits. Otherwise, you must manually
add them to your group by doing /invite their-username. They must also be on the game for you
to add them to the group.

Playing the Game

Preparation Time
Once the game is ready, it will display you and your team (the heroes chosen by everyone),
count down, and take you to a load screen. This load screen will have a lot of useful information,
especially for first-time players. The first important thing to note for new players is the
information given at the bottom center of the screen. This information will tell you what the map
is called and what the map’s objective is. Underneath those information boxes should also be
minor tips for the players to read as well, which can be useful to take note of. On each side, the
teams are displayed. As you increase in skill-level, the enemy team will be more important to
take note of, as it can help to plan ahead how you and your team can counter their team. Once
everyone has loaded into the map, you will hear an announcer, whose sole purpose is to notify
you when certain events occur on the map, such as objectives, team buildings destroyed or
under attack, or if a teammate has secured a kill or has been killed. The announcer also counts
down the time until the game begins. The first thirty or so seconds in the game are not actually

counted towards game time. These thirty seconds are solely for you and your team to
communicate plans, offer kind phrases (such as “good luck, have fun” or “glhf”), survey the map,
or inspect your hero’s abilities and talents. It is generally a good idea to use this time to prepare
yourself by becoming familiar with your abilities and predetermining talents for future tiers
(levels). This can help in the future when you must choose a talent quickly, especially for time-
reaction dependent events. Another good thing to do in these first couple of seconds is to
observe the map and take note of any places that seem important. Important areas on the map
should be obvious by either small text with a timer or a sort of banner that is replaced by player
banners as the game progresses. Any of these areas without a constant timer or text are most
likely the objective areas. Fear not, though, if this seems imposing, as Blizzard has included a
few ways for players to recognize the objective, the primary way being the announcer and the
UI (user interface) surrounding the minimap. Finally, although seemingly insignificant, it is useful
to press enter and write out a greeting or common phrase such as “good luck have fun”, as it
can show your willingness to cooperate and be friendly with your team.

General Tips
In general, some basic gameplay tips regard making decisions at opportune times,
understanding how most or all heroes work, and understanding the advantages and
disadvantages of the map regarding your heroes. As for the opportune times, this is more or
less the ability to recognize when it would be good to engage the enemy team, grab mercenary
camps, and do other things. For example, an opportune time to grab a mercenary would be right
before the objective, as it offers two options for the enemy team (to defend against the camp or
the objective). These moments in turn depend on understanding how most or all heroes work.
Of course, at first this will seem a bit outrageous, however, this understanding does not mean to
know every hero extremely well, but rather enough so you can counter or avoid certain aspects
of the enemy heroes. In continuation of the previous example, perhaps the enemy team could
send a hero who can move swiftly around the map or a specialist to clear the camp while the
rest of the team goes to the objective. Finally, this information can be used to estimate how well
or what measures you and your team need to take when completing the objective of the map.
For example, on some objectives there are multiple items to retrieve or defend, so it may be
useful to have long-ranged heroes occupy one item’s area while the rest of the team retrieves
other parts of the objective, so the team can eventually return to help win the objective of the
defended area. Of course, there are many more small, just as important gameplay mechanics
that can help you do well in the game, but the best advice for any game, including this one, for
new players is to continue to practice and pick up on small details and eventually the skills of
the player will increase.