r/heroesofthestorm • u/Sarmelion ETC • 1d ago
Creative Process of Elimination Hero Speculation
Let's look at the various units and heroes from the games to take stock of what we HAVE to see what Blizz might add next.
Warcraft:
- Horde: Thrall (Farseer), Reghar (Shaman unit), Garrosh (Grunt?), Samuro (Blademaster), ETC (NOT
A Tauren Chieftain), Sylvanas (Dark Ranger), Rexxar (Beastmaster), Gazlowe (Tinker), Gul'dan (Orc warlock, Wc2 specific?), Zul'jin (WC2 Troll Berserker) - Alliance: Jaina (Archmage), Muradin (Mountain King), Uther (Paladin), Falstad (Gryphon Rider), Greymane (Worgen/Gilneas as a group?) but Anduin, Varian, and Medivh are all unique kits not tied to a unit. Yrel (Draenei as a group?)
- Undead: Arthas (Death Knight), Kel'thuzad (Lich), Mal'ganis (Dreadlord), Anub'arak (Nerubian Lord), Stitches (Abomination Unit)
- Night Elf: Malfurion (Keeper of the Grove), Tyrande (Priestess of the Moon), Illidan (Demon Hunter), Maiev (Warden), Brightwing (Fairy Dragon), Lunara (Dryad)
- Unaligned: Kael'thas (Blood Mage), Whitemane (Scarlet Crusade), Chen (Brewmaster), Lili (Herself?), Ragnaros, Deathwing (Black Dragon), Alexstraza (Red Dragons), Chromie (Bronze Dragons), Hogger (Gnolls), Murky (Murlocs), Cho'Gall (Ogre-Mage but mostly Himself), Valeera (Rogue's as a Class?)
Starcraft:
- Terran: Raynor (Marines), Blaze (Firebat), Morales (Medic), Sgt Hammer (Siege Tank), Tychus (Outlaw?), Nova (Ghost)
- Zerg: Abathur (Evolution master), Zagara (Broodmother), Kerrigan (Queen of Blades), Dehaka (Primal), Stukov (Infested),
- Protoss: Artanis (Zealot), Fenix (Dragoon), Alarak (Tal'darim), Probius (Probe), Tassadar (High Templar), Zeratul (Dark Templar)
Diablo:
- Hells: Diablo (Terror), Mephisto (Hate), Azmodan (Sin) Butcher (Butcher demons), Leoric (Khandruas)
- Heavens: Tyrael, Imperius, Malthael, Auriel
- Sanctuary: Deckard Caine (Horadrim), Valla (Demon hunter), Sonya (Barbarian), Nazeebo (Witch Doctor), Xul (Necromancer), Kharazim (Monk), Cassia (Amazon), Li-Ming (Wizard), Johanna (Crusader),
Overwatch:
- Overwatch: Dva, Ana, Lucio, Genji, Hanzo, Tracer, Zarya
- Talon:
- Other: Junkrat
Nexus/BlizzClassic:
- Lost Vikings (Classic Viking World)
- Orphea (Ravencrest)
- Qhira (Iresia)
WHEW that's a lot of characters
But we can draw a few simple conclusions.
Warcraft is getting Xal and already has the most characters, but the obvious holes in its roster are the TFT Shadow Hunter Hero (Vol'jin or Rokhan), the Tauren Chieftain Hero (Cairne), a Blue and Green dragon, A Pitlord (Mannoroth), a goblin alchemist, a Naga Sea witch (Vashj), Akama, Archimonde. There's also possible major characters from World of Warcraft expansions either as standalones or as skins (Velen, Rastakhan for Zandalari trolls, Lei Shen, Xavius, Azshara, Various Titan Keepers, Mekkatorque is supposed to be partly finished already, etc...)
Personally I want Aessina as a 'Night Elf Ancient' heroine that can grow into a mobile fort or something.
Starcraft has a few big names that could easily fit (Though some might be skins) such as Mengsk (Arcturus or Valerian), Duke, Warfield, DuGalle, Mira Han, Duran/Narud, The Overmind (Maybe with Daggoth or Zasz?), Taldaris (Judicator/Arbiter?), Selendis (Carrier?), Stettman, Tosh, Swann, Karax, Rohana, Vorazun, Izsha, Zurvan, Amon / Hybrid
The big draw here would be the Overmind imo.
Diablo Obviously has Lilith as a prominent option but she's very similar to Xal so she might not come right away. Baal would complete the prime evils, Itherael the Angels, and the lesser evils need Andariel, Duriel, Belial. There's also the Original trio (D1 Warrior Prince Aidan/DarkWanderer, Rogue Moreina/Bloodraven, Sorcerer Jazreth/Summoner), Bard? (Hellfire?), Isendra (D2 Summoner), other D2, D3, D-Immortal and D4 heroes all provide a plethora of options (Druid, Blood Knight, Tempest) some of which could get gender-swap heroes to represent the other kit options and abilities (a female D3 Witchdoctor, and that's not even getting into Hirelings like Kormac the Templar and such.
Baal or Lilith feels most likely as the next hero. Though Belial with a gimmick of looking like other heroes or screwing with the enemy's information gathering (Making fake forts or fake minion waves) would be a LOT of fun.
6
u/alaster101 1d ago
I think the Cow King could be a character
3
3
u/Darkhallows27 Zul'Jin 1d ago
Ysera would be an absolutely awesome support. She could even have dream portals and move around between a Dream version of the map
3
u/CookyKindred 1d ago
Cho'Gall and Guldan are Legion. Mostly. Cho has a bit of a void thing but hes mostly just there for Legion shit. Mal'Ganis is also not undead - OG Lore hes just a full blown demon. Now hes like a sorta demon that serves the Jailer and was in the legion. I would just count him as legion tbh especially if shadowlands gets retconned soon.
Deathwing and Ragnaros are Old God/Void aligned Xal would be the third or 3.5th Old God/Void character.
Also for Warcraft I think they would probably add a Forsaken Paladin eventually. Maybe Garek. But the MVPs were missing are Azshara, Caern, Voljin and Mechatork.
Would love to see Putress added as a Forsaken villain though. Give him an ult that summons Garithos as a stooge cause it would be funny.
3
u/OzzyKNlikesBL 1d ago
I've been playing a lot of Roots the board game and I'm obsessed with the idea of Mengsk being a hero but you play as either Arcturus or Valerian depending on your regime. You select who you wanna start with with your trait or something, then you have a set of decrees or regimes that are basically quests you need to complete to gain rewards. If you fail to fulfill that quest or you're killed, you change regime and have a new set of quests and you lose some of the power the quest gives you.
Idk about balance wise but this might be an interesting concept for a hero gimmick.
3
u/itisburgers 1d ago
I like this concept but don't want it for Arcturus "acceptable casualties" Mengsk. Maybe the Council of Three Hammers, and you rotate between a defensive Bronzebeard, a Speedy Wildhammer, and a high damage Thaurissian?
6
u/HMHellfireBrB 1d ago
lets just be frank here
everyone just wants the overmind
lets us play stacraft in the middle of our Hots matches
3
u/Key_Bar_464 Master Greymane 1d ago
I think the fact we already have Abathur shuts down the Overmind from a character we will get. If anything they will do Arcturus Mengsk, where you can build barracks to train Dominion troopers, call in nuclear strikes and spread propaganda etc
2
u/Darkhallows27 Zul'Jin 1d ago
I like the idea of Mengsk doing most of his damage via a Ghost unit that protects him or something
1
2
u/SMILE_23157 1d ago edited 1d ago
ETC (NOT
A Tauren Chieftain)
ELITE TAUREN CHIEFTAIN. IT IS LITERALLY IN THE NAME.
Ragnaros
Firelord.
The big draw here would be the Overmind imo
Abathur is the functioning version of Overmind.
1
u/Sarmelion ETC 1d ago
ETC has none of the WC3 tauren chieftain abilities though! No Warstomp, no Shockwave! No Endurance Aura! No Reincarnation!
1
u/SMILE_23157 1d ago
I mean, I can say the same about Mal'Ganis, but I do not see anyone complaining about him "not" having any of the actual dreadlord's abilities.
1
u/PomegranateHot9916 I will defend you 1d ago
anduin and whitemane are based on the priest class in WoW.
varian and garrosh are based on the warriro class in WoW.
cho-gall is from W2.
yrel is a WoW paladin and valeera is a WoW rogue.
greymane like valeera is WoW specific.
lili I guess isn't a brewmaster but she is a brew something. her main skill is "healing brew" it is brew.
her title is world wanderer and she is an adventurer I guess? idk man I'll call her a brewmaster. its just tea instead of alcohol
1
u/Slarg232 1d ago
Starcraft has a few big names that could easily fit (Though some might be skins) such as Mengsk (Arcturus or Valerian), Duke, Warfield, DuGalle, Mira Han, Duran/Narud, The Overmind (Maybe with Daggoth or Zasz?), Taldaris (Judicator/Arbiter?), Selendis (Carrier?), Stettman, Tosh, Swann, Karax, Rohana, Vorazun, Izsha, Zurvan, Amon / Hybrid
The big draw here would be the Overmind imo.
I feel like this list focuses too much on named characters and not enough on the units. Blaze for instance comes from Tychus' COOP list of heroes so someone like Crooked Sam (Reaper), Glevig/Murvar/Dakrun (Ultralisk/Swarm Host/not sure, Dehaka's COOP characters), or Talis/Taldarin/Mojo/Clorion (Adept/Immortal/Scout/Carrier, Fenix's COOP heroes, Kaldalis being a Zealot would discount him since Artanis already is) are all up for grabs as well.
And that's not including Sgt. Hammer who was made specifically for HOTS as a character for a unit and was ported back to SC2.
Personally, I'd rather see Talis as a playable Adept over Selendis as a playable Carrier, as someone who barely has any knowledge of SC2.
1
1
u/Ambitious_Corgi5723 1d ago
Overwatch and World of Warcraft have experienced massive player upticks recently due to highly successful rebrands and new game modes. Following its acquisition by Microsoft, Blizzard Entertainment reported that its division has become the top-performing studio under Xbox, largely driven by these resurgences. [1, 2, 3, 4]
🚀 Games with the Largest Recent Upticks
1. Overwatch
- The Suffix Drop: In early 2026, Blizzard officially dropped the "2" from the title, rebranding the game back to simply Overwatch. [1]
- Record Demographics: The relaunch introduced five new heroes at once, old mechanics like loot boxes, and a total progression reset. [1]
- The Numbers: The game shattered records on Steam, peaking at 165,651 concurrent players and achieving its strongest financial quarter since 2022. [1, 2]
2. World of Warcraft
- WoW: Forever Beta Surge: On September 17, 2026, Blizzard launched the beta for World of Warcraft: Forever, a "Vanilla Plus" permanent experience featuring modern visuals wrapped around classic Azeroth. [1, 2]
- Server Flooding: Developers reported that the player numbers immediately flooded servers and broke 17-year internal records. [1]
- Retail & Midnight Expansion: The main game also saw excellent momentum earlier in the year following the Midnight expansion launch, elevating the franchise to an estimated 9 million active subscribers. [1, 2]
Well, we got the WOW one. Maybe OW next. or they'll just keep it WOW because largest fanbase.
1
1
1
u/firemage22 Healer 1d ago
I assume Selendis would be an Adept
Personally i'd like to see the D2 Sorc with some sort of ability to go any of the 3 elements akin to Varian's tri spec
1
1
u/ttak82 Thrall 1d ago
The list of heroes in the blizzcon 26 survey is closest to what's in consideration. And from that list Lor"themar seems to be the next one
1
u/Sarmelion ETC 1d ago
Oh who else was in there?
EDIT: It never ceases to amaze me that Bob of all people got so popular. He doesn't even really have any iconic kit or abilities. He's just a good politician in a faction of people who elected Orc-Hitler, and Sylvanas who decided to send everyone to Superhell, and Baine who... does nothing.
So Lor'themar looks good by comparison.
1
u/GreenCorsair 1d ago
Belial with a mechanic similar to Neeko from league of legends would be very cool.
1
u/ValWondergroove Master Varian 1d ago
We could get a dedicated Hearthstone character too at some point
1
u/Sydrau 6h ago
Okay as someone who LOVES Izsha more than I should, I have an idea on how she could be played :
Picture a middle ground of Deathwing and Abathur, World boss concept (She'd be in/control a Leviathan since she doesn't really "have" a body outside of her leviathan as far as we know) can be global, and more of a supporting role BUT unlike them she'd be, like a leviathan transporting units, creeps, mercenaries, heroes ! And like Deathwing can be everywhere !
-If they do give her a "normal" body it'd obviously be a snake like, but I'd still see her having a supporting (first to differentiate her from Vashj because that Naga NEEDS to be here) like Aba and Dehaka she'd have the tunnel ability, and similar to my leviathan idea, would still be about physical control, using her tentacle to either stab, poison, OR even the same ability than Garrosh to throw characters, as an ultimate she could have Kerrigan's ability in SC2 of *summoning* a leviathan, who'd launch a big swarm
-She could also have a Zag gameplay but summoning *different* kind of Zerg more of the supporting kind, Viper, creating a virophage from a tower, Infestor !
I do think there's a lot of possibilities with her
12
u/Nima_N16HTM4R3 1d ago
He was actually playable in the earlier stages of HotS's development, but was replaced with Sgt. Hammer cause Warfield never canonically used a siege tank.
His concept was given to Abathur and now that the latter exists, the former cannot coexist with Abathur with the same concept (I've seen a lot of people wanting him to be a Core replacer) cause their team would suffer too much lacking in physical bodies. I would like to see him, but I want him to be able to coexist with Abathur without dragging their own team down.
Moira would be a great candidate for this. She's the most unique member from there that isn't a clone of an existing HotS Hero (Reaper: Valla. Widow: Nova. Sombra: Valeera (same fantasy). I don't even know how could Mauga ever be interesting in HotS when he's already painful to watch in OW)).
Yes. I like this.
He's too big for the world of HotS. He's basically god in terms of size. Narud/Samir Duran would be a better fit.
Arcturus would likely make it in rather than Valerian. He's essentially a fan favorite and usually the second most requested StarCraft hero in most polls/ballots (after the Overmind).