There is a particular reason why Ranked games start with the presentation of what kind of map are you going to be on. Different from League of Legends and Dota 2. Which only have a few maps where everybody plays, Heroes of the Storm has 15 active maps to test your playing skills on. That means that while some heroes will excel in one map, they can become extremely hard to play on another one. Without further ado, let’s proceed to the maps.
Tomb of the Spider Queen
A three-lane map where you have to kill minion spiders and gather gems. After gathering enough gems and turning them into the Spider Queen’s altars, your team will summon three Webweavers that will help push the lanes further.
Top 5 heroes with the biggest win rate for this map, according to HOTS Logs are Probius, The Lost Vikings, Ragnaros, Azmodan, Tassadar.
Our tip for the teams: the most important factor here is lane clearing, so take at least 2 heroes for that.
Garden of Terror
The newly updated three-lane map tasks you to collect Seeds from the Queen Nightshade. The Seeds will spawn over a period of time and the first team to collect 3 seeds will summon three Garden Terrors that will help push the lanes. These Terrors also have the ability to disable towers and forts which helps immensely when taking down the enemy team.
Top 5 heroes with the biggest win rate for this map, according to
HOTS Logs are Anub’arak, Tyrael, Arthas, Azmodan, Lt. Morales.
Our tip for the teams: destroy the Garden Terror’s flower if you want to stop it from disabling your towers and forts.
Hanamura Temple
On this two-lane map, which was borrowed from Overwatch, teams have to wait for a payload to spawn in the middle of the map and then escort it to its destination. When in position, the payload fires at enemy forts. The kicker – if there’s an enemy hero present next to the payload, the direction for the payload is contested and it will only start moving if the enemy team isn’t around. This allows stalling on the enemy team’s behalf, especially when trying to retake and direct the payloads to their destination.
Top 5 heroes with the biggest win rate for this map, according to
HOTS Logs are Rexxar, Lunara, Li Li, Varian, Anub’arak.
Our tip for the teams: don’t leave a single hero escorting the payload, unless the enemy team is dead.
Alterac Pass
This newest addition to Heroes of the Storm was presented by Blizzard to celebrate the release of World of Warcraft: Battle for Azeroth. In this three-lane map, the teams have to capture Prison Camps (channel and hold the line, not letting the enemy team or minions retake the camp) in order to summon Cavalry that will help push the lanes. The map is quite different from others as the Cores are presented as Generals – one for Alliance, one for the Horde. These Generals are not stationary and can move in to fight off attacking minions and heroes. That’s why it’s advised to move in after decreasing its defense – destroying Keeps.
Top 5 heroes with the biggest win rate for this map, according to
HOTS Logs are Malthael, The Lost Vikings, Falstad, Zeratul, and Zagara.
Our tip for the teams: don’t forget to take a hero like Jaina or Azmodan, which can disrupt the channeling of Prison Camps and damage the clumped up heroes around it from far away.
Volskaya Foundry
Another map that has been borrowed from Overwatch: here heroes have to control the Capture Points, which, similarly to the payload in Hanamura temple, will only count if there is only one team present on them. After the Capture Point is overtaken, the Triglav Protector spawns, it has to be controlled by two players. Together, the pilot and the gunner can help their team to advance by destroying the enemy towers, forts, keeps, and even enemy heroes.
Top 5 heroes with the biggest win rate for this map, according to
HOTS Logs are Probius, Kharazim, Zul’jin, Thrall, Sgt. Hammer.
Our tip for the teams: don’t leave your teammate alone on the Capture Point and always check the lurking spots around as the enemy team members can be hiding there and waiting for backup.
Haunted Mines
A two-lane and, you could also say, two-map Heroes of the Storm map, in which the teams have to go to the mines and collect skulls in order to summon a grave golem, which would help their team to advance. Sadly, the golem can’t be controlled and goes where it pleases, also each team gets their own Golem – the more skulls collected, the stronger the golem becomes.
Top 5 heroes with the biggest win rate for this map are not yet decided, according to HOTS Logs this map is still being edited, and thus, there is no information on the win rate.
Our tip for the teams: stick together when going to the mines, don’t leave your friendly team members behind.
Towers of Doom
A three-lane map, in which the Cores are under protected domes and the only way to destroy them is by capturing altars which make the Bell Towers fire and damage the Core.
Top 5 heroes with the biggest win rate for this map, according to
HOTS Logs are Chen, Alarak, Rexxar, Zul’jin, Kerrigan.
Our tip for the teams: focus on the Boss only when all of the altars are captured and the enemy team can’t gank you. Also, be careful around the teleports – heroes tend to ambush these exit routes.
Infernal Shrines
In order to get to the core and win this three-lane Heroes of the Storm map, your team will have to activate the Infernal Shrines, defeat 40 of its guardians and summon the Punisher. The difference from Golums and Garden Terrors is that these Punishers target the closest heroes around, they attack by jumping on them with a stunning and damaging effect.
Top 5 heroes with the biggest win rate for this map, according to
HOTS Logs are Chen, Probius, Gall, Murky, Gazlowe.
Our tip for the teams: take a hero which can deal a lot of damage to Guardians in a short amount of time, like Sylvannas.
Battlefield of Eternity
In this two-lane map, the teams have to help their immortals (angel lieutenant Ilarian or demon lord Beleth) to win and aid them to the eventual destruction of the enemy team forts.
Top 5 heroes with the biggest win rate for this map, according to
HOTS Logs are Rexxar, Kel’Thuzad, Lt. Morales, Falstad, Gazlowe.
Our tip for the teams: pick up a hero that can do extremely high damage to the Immortal in order to defeat it. Our picks are Valla, Greymane or Li-Ming.
Sky Temple
A three-lane map comes with 3 temples that will activate after a certain amount of time. Teams will have to hold their ground and defeat their guardians if they want to use the Temple’s power in order to destroy the enemy’s defenses. Similar to Volskaya Foundry, the Temples are contested if there’s at least one enemy team member present on sight..
Top 5 heroes with the biggest win rate for this map, according to
HOTS Logs are Rexxar, Probius, Yrel, Murky.
Our tip for the teams: if the enemy team is winning, it is best for the whole team to go for only one Sky Temple and not to split.
Blackheart’s Bay
Another three-lane map in which the teams have to collect doubloons (by attacking treasure chests or Mercenaries) and then turn them over to Blackheart. If your team is the first to turn in the doubloons – Blackheart will fire his cannons to the enemy team’s towers and forts. In this map, it’s quite common for part of the team to lurk by Blackheart in order to capture the enemy team by surprise and kill them before turning in their doubloons.
Top 5 heroes with the biggest win rate for this map, according to
HOTS Logs are Mal’Ganis, Lucio, Raynor, Rehgar, Arthas.
Our tip for the teams: don’t go alone to Blackheart’s bay unless you know that the enemy team is in another location.
Dragon Shire
One of the first maps in Heroes of the Storm presents the teams with the challenge of controlling the two Shrines, this activates and frees the Dragon Knight. The struggle begins when one of the team members starts channelling the Dragon Knight statue in order to free it and the enemy team capture one of the Shrines, or the enemy team gangs on the channelling hero thus interrupting the channel.
Top 5 heroes with the biggest win rate for this map, according to
HOTS Logs are Xul, Murky, Ragnaros, Gazlowe, The Lost Vikings.
Our tip for the teams: use the Dragon Knight in order to take down the forts, not to fight the enemy heroes. If enemy heroes are attacking you, use Savage Charge, this kicks them away (towards your team preferably and not back to the enemy team) and allows your team to continue.
Cursed Hollow
The three-lane map has Raven Lord’s Tributes periodically spawned in one of the 6 predestined areas. The team first to collect 3 tributes curses the enemy team. The curse stops forts from attacking and the enemy team’s minion health is reduced down to 1.
Top 5 heroes with the biggest win rate for this map, according to Hotslogs.com are Probius, Xul, Tyrael, Gazlowe, The Lost Vikings.
Our tip for the teams: if the enemy team is hit with a curse, focus on taking down their defenses, you can kill heroes later.
Braxis Holdout
This two-lane map, inspired by StarCraft, has two Beacons that activate periodically. Depending on how long the team keeps the two Beacons under control, the duration will impact the strength of their Zergs which spawn after one of the team fills the Beacon’s Holding Cell to the max. Similarly to Infernal Shrines’ Punishers, Zergs can attack heroes.
Top 5 heroes with the biggest win rate for this map, according to
HOTS Logs are Probius, Xul, Murky, Maiev, Azmodan.
Our tip for the teams: Mercenaries are not that strong in this map, so it’s more important to focus on Beacon Control.
Warhead Junction
There are a total of 9 places in which the Warheads can spawn. Once acquired, you can use these Warheads on enemy forts, towers, or Keeps in order to decrease their health. A big no-no – using these Warheads on Mercenaries or Boss Camps.
Top 5 heroes with the biggest win rate for this map, according to
HOTS Logs are Rexxar, Gazlowe, Varian, Raynor, The Butcher.
Our tip for the teams: the Warheads do equal damage no matter if the fort is in the middle of the blast or in the corner. Try to hit as many defenseive targets as you can with a single Warhead.
Remember, all maps require at least one Melee Warrior, one Ranged and a Support hero. And most importantly, don’t die.
