Victory in a lot of instances can boil down to knowing when to press an advantage. Then again, not doing so can cede your enemies a crucial advantage. In all of these instances, teams are faced with a choice: do they head for the map objective or sustain their attacks on their enemies’ forts? In some instances, breaking off an attack – particularly if you’ve managed to break in behind your enemies’ flanks and expose their Nexus – can see the tide of battle turn against you. In The Dragon Shire Battleground a pair of shrines become active and once a team controls both of them – by driving their opponents away – they activate a shrine at the centre of the map, where one team member can take control of a Dragon, which makes bashing through fortifications a lot easier. Once all of the skulls available have been collected, giant golems on both sides of the map (fighting for both teams) become active and their strength and stamina depend on how many skulls your team has collected. In The Haunted Mines Battleground, for example, occasionally a sub-map of mines becomes active and players are encouraged to venture underground and kill golems to gather glowing skulls. It’s this last aspect that pretty much defines Heroes of the Storm as every map – or Battlegrounds in this case – has a timed objective that can turn the tide of battle in the favour the first team that accomplishes it. Players level up their Heroes over the course of a match by blasting fortifications, AI bots and other Heroes and accomplishing side-quests and map objectives. While both teams battle it out, each of the forts spawn three streams of AI bots that trundle down each lane attacking enemy fortifications and Heroes. The team that manages to destroy their opposing team’s Nexus wins the match. The battlefield itself is split over three lanes and each team has a main fort – or Nexus in this case.

You control a character that has a specific role on the battlefield – Warrior, Medic, Ranged Assassin or Specialist – and you’re placed in a team with four other players. If you’ve never played a MOBA before, here’s what you can expect. See also: Heroes of the Storm Tips and Tricks Think of it as ‘baby’s first MOBA’ and you’re starting to get the idea.

Players who are already MOBA aficionados may turn up their nose at Heroes of the Storm as it sacrifices some of the depth they’re used to, but players who have always shied away from this genre of game may find it’s their best entry point. Heroes of the Storm, Blizzard’s first foray into this genre of gaming, removes a lot of the factors most players find intimidating, but at something of a cost. Oh, and then there’s the small matter of having to get to know which role in a team suits you best and which characters in the game best compliment your playing style and their raft of abilities to boot – not to mention the in-game items it’s worth researching in order to properly augment them. They also rely very heavily on teamwork and, in a lot of instances, rage quitting isn’t an option – you’ll usually get reported by your teammates if you do. The heavy hitters in this genre – League Of Legends, Dota 2 and the like – are PC-bound, meaning that the console faithful hardly ever play them. While their audiences – both those who play and/or watch them being played in tournaments – number in the millions, they rarely show up on the mainstream’s radar, and not just because they take a ton of time to master. Multiplayer Online Battle Arena (MOBA) games can be pretty intimidating prospects.

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