Blizzard has officially announced that Malthael, the Aspect of Death will be the next playable hero in Heroes of the Storm.
Malthael is a melee assassin that behaves differently to many of the other assassins in the Heroes of the Storm roster. Instead of bursting down priority targets, the Aspect of Death looks to wither down his opponents over time. Malthael’s kit is based on his trait “Reaper’s Mark,” a debuff triggered by each of the hero’s basic attacks. Reaper’s Mark depletes a percentage of the enemy’s maximum health every second for four seconds, and it looks like it will be an excellent way for getting through tank characters with ease.
The bulk of Malthael’s survivability comes from his ability “Soul Rip,” dealing damage to all enemies afflicted by Malthael’s trait and healing the hero based on the number of targets hit. To close the gap with fleeing foes, Malthael can use his “Wraith Strike” to teleport through a marked enemy and reapply the debuff again. Finally, Malthael can mark large groups with his “Death Shroud,” a wave of deadly mist that affects everything in its path.
Malthael’s choices for Heroic Abilities “Tormented Souls” and “Last Rites” provide the hero with additional survivability or immense finishing power, respectively. “Tormented Souls” surrounds Malthael with a wave of souls that applies Reaper’s Mark to everyone hit while granting him additional armor. “Last Rites,” conversely, deals 50% of the target’s missing health in damage after a 2-second delay. What makes this ability particularly potent is that the cooldown is reduced each time a hero is killed by the ability, down to a possible 15-second cooldown.
With this information alone, it looks like refreshing Reaper’s Mark on your enemies will be an essential part of Malthael’s kit, ensuring that his sustained damage is distributed to all members of the enemy team. With the assassin’s combination of survivability and mobility, Malthael looks to be a formidable asset to any team composition.
To learn more about the Aspect of Death, you can look at the full hero announcement on the official Heroes of the Storm site.
