Heroes of the Storm adding 'Underdog Bonus' for balance

Adventurers that have been playing through Blizzard's Heroes of the Storm have made their voices heard, regarding the game's current bonus trickle XP system. The mechanic that would help slightly boost XP for teams that have fallen behind is being sent back to the drawing board in favor of a new idea called the 'Underdog Bonus.'

Ozzie Mejia

June 23, 2014 1:54 PM

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Adventurers that have been playing through Blizzard's Heroes of the Storm have made their voices heard, regarding the game's current bonus trickle XP system. The mechanic that would help slightly boost XP for teams that have fallen behind is being sent back to the drawing board in favor of a new idea called the 'Underdog Bonus.'

Rather than trickle additional XP to teams three or more levels behind at a higher rate, those teams will now have to earn that bonus XP. Teams behind by at least one level will earn additional XP for taking down an enemy hero, with additional XP allocated until team levels even up. Likewise, teams that are ahead will see an XP reduction for every takedown.

"You can also expect larger level gaps to occur in part because the Underdog Bonus places more control into the hands of your team, and offers additional opportunities to eke out a comeback over the course of a game," explains the Battle.net post. "If you're ahead in levels, you'll need to remain focused, and give up as few takedowns as possible to maintain the lead while you work toward the enemy Core. If your team finds itself behind, you'll have to decide how best to close up that level gap. Do you take an enemy Fort, split up to soak XP in-lane, or dig in your heels and make life as difficult as possible for your opponents in hopes of scoring a few takedowns?"

Like the previous bonus trickle XP system, this is subject to change as Heroes of the Storm's technical alpha continues. Blizzard adds that they're just as likely to revert back to the previous system, depending on player feedback.

Ozzie Mejia

Senior Editor

Ozzie has been playing video games since picking up his first NES controller at age 5. He has been into games ever since, only briefly stepping away during his college years. But he was pulled back in after spending years in QA circles for both THQ and Activision, mostly spending time helping to push forward the Guitar Hero series at its peak. Ozzie has become a big fan of platformers, puzzle games, shooters, and RPGs, just to name a few genres, but he’s also a huge sucker for anything with a good, compelling narrative behind it. Because what are video games if you can't enjoy a good story with a fresh Cherry Coke?