This weekend, I got to try out Kel’Thuzad, Lich Lord of the Plaguelands, as he enters the nexus in Heroes of the Storm. He is classified as a Ranged Assassin character, meaning high-damage, decent range and many interesting skills to expend to get him those sweet, sweet kills. Thanks again to Blizzard for the code, allowing me a chance to write this first impressions
Kel’Thuzad confirms all my biggest fears, namely that there’s an ice skeleton waiting in the bushes to chain me to a nearby turret. With a squishy amount of health, long range and utilitarian skills, the Lord of Naxxramas is a great ambush character. His second skill, Frost Nova, roots enemies while dealing damage to them. This is important for his passive quest, which requires skilled use of both Frost Nova and his E, Chains of Kel’Thuzad, to get a nice little discount on his cast time. Good use of his skills will benefit his main damage dealer, Death and Decay and get you some sweet damage off an enemy. His choice of Ults are between a utilitarian Frost Blast, which doggedly pursues its target and roots anyone caught in the radius, and Shadow Fissure, which has a delay but does decent damage in a small area and has global casting.
Kel’Thuzad is pretty much the Doomfist of Heroes of the Storm- before his release, many a comments section for new heroes would demand his inclusion. Thankfully, the good lord Blizzard has graciously agreed, adding him as part of the Call of Kel’Thuzad update, along with his very own animated short.
Design-wise, Kel’Thuzad looks and feels great. Heroes continues to do a great job of honoring the character’s background by making all his skills have that sweet warcraft aesthetic. He’s more than just an ice mage, he’s a Lich, and that means ice with spiked chains around them. Because of this both his ults look amazing, with both Frost Blast and Shadow Fissure looking like a gothic take on Let it Go. To top it all off, he has a cat. If Kel’Thuzad has a cat, the Lich King can’t be all that bad, right?
Kel’Thuzad is available in Heroes of the Storm on both PC and Mac. Are you excited now that this prolific Lich is finally in the game? What’s your new character to eagerly ask Blizzard to include? (Hint: the answer is Imperius). Leave your answer in the comments below!