D.Va : Heroes of The Storm Review

By Danial Hasri On May 21, 2017

[section label=”Introduction“]

‘Hana Song, also known as “D.Va”, is both a world champion professional gamer and a burgeoning global icon. As a member of South Korea’s elite MEKA unit, she fights to protect her homeland from the colossal Omnic threat lurking within the East China Sea.’

Introduction

The mighty mobile tank that is D.Va has grace the Nexus with her presence, along with the Nexus 2.0 Challenge, (which is ending at the time of writing). Now, how does this cutesy pilot with her pink mech play in Heroes? Quite like Lucio beforehand, she is similar to her Overwatch counterpart.

[section label=”Character Design”]

Character Design

D.Va and her mech are nicely rendered in Heroes with a lot of nice color variation of her suit and mech color available to purchase in the store. There’s also a nice size difference when you call D.va’s MEKA unit, showing the attention to detail Blizzard has when creating a version in Heroes.

[section label=”Character Traits and Abilities”]

Character Traits and Abilities

Traits

Mech Mode
- When D.Va’s Mech is destroyed, she is ejected after 0.75 seconds and can continue to fight in Pilot Mode. Destroying D.Va’s Mech only awards 50% of a normal Hero’s XP.
Pilot Mode
- Each Basic Attack reduces the cooldown of Call Mech by 0.5 seconds. As a Pilot, D.Va only awards 50% of a normal Hero’s XP upon death.

D.va, like her Overwatch counterpart, has two modes, Her Mech mode and Pilot Mode. Eliminate either one of them only grants half of normal Hero’s XP so do try to take down both of them.

Mount

While in Mech Mode, D.Va can shoot while moving, but her Movement Speed is reduced by 15%. While in Pilot Mode, D.Va can use Mounts.

The only time D.va can use custom mounts is when she’s in Pilot Mode. Quite reasonable since the MEKA is basically a mount anyway.

Basic Abilities

Boosters (Q)
- Increases D.Va’s movements speed by 125% for 2 seconds. Enemies that are hit take damage and are knocked away.
- Va cannot be Slowed while Boosters are active.

Although D.Va can’t fly to strategic places, she still can push away enemies. Quite useful in situations like gathering tribute or even during offensive push.

Defense Matrix (W)
- Channel a defensive field in the target direction for 3 seconds, reducing damage dealt by enemy Heroes inside it by 75%. The Mech can move while channeling, but cannot turn.
- Damage dealt to the Mech by enemies within Defense Matrix still grants the same amount of Self-Destruct Charge.

Her defense Matrix functions the same as in Overwatch, blocking damage to the player, useful in close combat situations.

Self-Destruct (E)
- Requires Mech Mode.
- Eject from the Mech, setting it to self-destruct after 4 seconds. Deals medium to massive damage in a large area, depending on distance from the center of the blast. Deals 50% damage against Structures.
- Gain 1% Charge for every 2 seconds spent using Basic Attacks, and 30% Charge per 100% of Mech Health lost.

Also known as the “Nerf This!” attack, D.va can eject herself from her mech and set it to self-destruct Dealing 50% Damage and Halfing a lot of health. Small Heroes like Tracer can be insta-killed if not careful.

Call Mech (E)
- Requires Pilot Mode.
- Call a new Mech and enter Mech Mode. 45 second cooldown. While in Pilot Mode, each Basic Attack lowers this cooldown by 0.5 seconds.

Use this to call a Mech down while in the very venerable Pilot Mode.

Heroic Abilities

Bunny Hop (R)
- Requires Mech Mode.
- Va’s Mech becomes Unstoppable and stomps every 0.5 seconds, dealing damage and Slowing enemies by 40%. Lasts 4 seconds.

While in Mech Mode, she can activate Bunny Hop, where nearby enemies can be damage slowly with this ability. Could mean the differences between winning or losing.

Big Shot (R)
- Requires Pilot Mode.
- Deal damage to all enemies in a line. Call Mech’s cooldown is reduced by 8 seconds for each enemy Hero hit.

While Big Shot, D.va in her Pilot Mode can make her Mech launch itself to enemies in a line, making them receive damage, prefect to inflict more damage after entering Mech Mode.

[section label=”Playstyle”]
Playstyle

For an offensive ranged warrior, D.va is a great choice. Though her attacks aren’t as powerful as some in her class, but with the right play and good teamwork, D.va can be a character that could lead heroes to victory.

[section label=”Conclusion”]
Conclusion

To summarize, the fourth Overwatch character joining the Nexus is also a pretty good inclusion for those wanting a ranged that can take a beating. It might be not for everyone but she can be a good rotating character if you want to level up quick in the new Nexus 2.0 .

D.Va : Heroes of The Storm Review

Introduction