Starting the game | How to start Heroes of the Storm Guide
Last update: 11 May 2016
The game's main screen gives you a lot of interesting information. You can read about new content - maps, skins or even a new hero. You can also check if someone needs a team. Moreover, you can visit a player's profile, shop or start the game. The features of main screen have been described below.
"Play"
After you select this option, you will get to choose game mode. There are the following ones to choose from:
Practice
Here you can test a character out and learn the basics. You'll fight against easy bots.
Cooperative
This mode is basically fighting against bots on a random map. You can practice team strategies and test the heroes out. To win the battle, you'll have to try hard because the enemies might surprise you. The game is over when you destroy the enemy base.
Hero League
This is the name for the ranking mode, in the Heroes of The Storm. Here, you can play against opponents at a similar skill level so, it is subject to a selection. In order not to waste the fun, for the players who participate in ranking games, you cannot sign up for this mode before you have learned about the game a little and gained quite an experience. To start playing in this mode, you need to reach, at least, the 30th player level and unlock, at least, 10 own heroes. The heroes from the free rotation do not count. For playing in this mode, you receive points, for which you can reach the higher tier. You start on tier 50 and the highest one that you can get is tier 1. You need to know that, for the battles that you lose, you lose points and gain more for the ones that you win so, it is not going to be that easy to get promoted. If you are doing really badly and you lose the majority of your fights, expect to be demoted to a lower tier but, you never fall under 50.
Free games
Here, you can create your own game, with an unlimited number of players, or AI controlled enemies. Here, you get to pick the map and the level of the AI opponents. It is a perfect way to invite several friends to play together, to learn any of the available maps or to learn about new heroes.
Quick Match
In this mode, you'll face a real enemy in a 5v5 battle on a random map. Here you can earn experience points and learn more about the game.
Character selection
When you choose the game mode, select a hero. You can choose only one. Before you do that, you can check what abilities they have by clicking an icon in the bottom left corner. When you choose the character, press "READY" button at the bottom.
Now wait until the game selects the remaining teammates. Estimated time is shown above the character when you point it.
When the wait is over, the game will start in 5 seconds. In this time you can see the rest of the team and you should start thinking about strategy.