'Heroes of the Storm' Revamps Early Game With Updates To Respawn Time, Level Scaling

There's something funny about a company named Blizzard trying to stop snowballs.

Blizzard MOBA 'Heroes of the Storm' is trying out some gameplay tweaks that hopefully will make the early game a more balanced yet rewarding experience.

The update comprises two main changes. The first involves "death timers," or the game's respawn time. In an effort to further incentivize staying alive in the early game, respawn times for characters levels 10 and below have been increased by as much as six seconds. This better rewards players who take the initiative to secure a kill early on in a match, giving them extra time to push down a lane.

The second change is all about preventing snowballs, when early leads turn into nearly guaranteed victories. Blizzard is reducing the power scaling between levels in the early game. This way, players who find themselves at a level disadvantage in the early game will have a more realistic chance of turning that game back around in their favor.

These changes are already live in the game's Public Test Realm for balance testing purposes, and everybody else will be able to test out the changes on October 6. Just look for a special map called "Cursed Hollow - Scaling Test" if you want to try out the game with the new balance features.

'Heroes of the Storm' is free to play on PC.

Source: Blizzard (via Gamespot)