What if Reinhardt Wilhelm was in Heroes of the Storm
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5 Jan 19

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What if Reinhardt Wilhelm was in Heroes of the Storm

Let's review what would happen if Reinhardt Wilhelm joined Heroes of the Storm.

Reinhardt Wilhelm is an amazing hero from the Overwatch Universe. Let's review what would happen if he joined the Nexus. In Heroes of the Storm, our dear friend would obviously be a main tank who excels at taking damage for his teammates and punish aggressive enemies.

Reinhardt's trait is Barrier Field. While activated, Reinhardt projects a broad, forward-facing energy shield, which can absorb substantial damage before it is destroyed. During this time, Reinhardt moves at 10% decreased speed and cannot attack, and any ability or attack order will deactivate Barrier Field. After being deactivated for 2 seconds, the health of the shield will regenerate. The activation/deactivation has a 1 second cooldown to allow dynamic play while making the disadvantages of the activation still significant. Note that this shield will be able to tank for both Reinhardt and his team, however it holds the same properties as any shield, meaning it is not counted towards health and can be affected by talents like Varian's Shattering Throw.

His first basic ability is Charge: After 0.5 second, Reinhardt charges forth in a straight line, colliding with an enemy will pin them to Reinhardt (they will be stunned during this time) while he continues to charge forward. If he collides with a wall, foes he’s carrying suffer extreme damage. Compare it to Diablo's Shadow Charge, but it's a skillshot with a wider area of effect and longer activation time.

His second basic ability is Fire Strike: By whipping his Rocket Hammer forward, Reinhardt slings a flaming projectile which pierces and damages any enemies it touches. To prevent it from being the same as Varian's Lion's Fang, Fire Strike wouldn't slow enemies, but would have longer range.

His last basic ability is Rocket Hammer: Activate to reduce attack speed by 50% for the next 2 basic attacks, but they deal 100% increased damage, splash, and slow enemies by 20% for 2 seconds. Splashing basic attacks could have been Reinhardt's trait, however the choice to make it an active with CC makes him more of a main tank, while AOE damage would have oriented him towards being a bruiser a bit too much in my opinion.

Obviously, Reinhardt's first Heroic Ability is coming from Overwatch, welcome Earthshatter: After 0.5 seconds, Reinhardt forcefully slams his rocket hammer into the ground, damaging all enemies in front of him and stunning them for 2 seconds. This serves as a great initiation tool, can also be used as a disengage if needed; it is pretty similar to Thrall's Sundering, while not knocking them away and stunning them for a longer period of time. The Storm Talent improving Earthshatter could increase the stun duration to 3 seconds and lower its cooldown for every hero hit.

For Reinhardt's second Heroic, several options come to mind. My idea would be Lionheart: After 0.5 seconds, Reinhardt and nearby allies gain 50% increased movement speed for 2 seconds, a small shield for 5 seconds, and are unstoppable for 1.5 seconds. This ultimate ability would allow coordinated engages to shine, while still being strong to cleanse allies to save them or allow for counter-engages too. More rough fight, less combo potential.

For all Abilities, Reinhardt will use a significant amount of Mana, so he can fight for a good duration but not endlessly.


How Would Reinhardt Affect the Game in General?

Overall, bringing this character in Heroes of the Storm would make games where he is picked an honest battle. Reinhardt Wilhelm is always facing his foes, and they know when he's going to charge in. However, the set-up and playmaking potential of his Heroic Abilities would make him a gamechanger, able to win teamfights for his team if used correctly. Reinhardt is strong against burst damage, but his shield can be poked down efficiently. He also can do pretty well against aggressive heroes, while having a decent engage tool.

To increase some of those aspects, some talents would be very useful depending on what the enemy is trying to do. As a main tank, the ability to self-cleanse can prove quite important, but would be pretty powerful, that's why I would see a level 13 talent called "I'm Unstoppable!", giving Reinhardt 20 Armor for 3 seconds while making him unstoppable, with a 45 seconds cooldown. Reinhardt also lacks a bit in peeling abilities and would welcome the level 7 talent "Stronger Arms" granting him knockback on his Rocket Hammer! While giving much more peel to him, Reinhardt will lose his basic lockdown ability from the simple slow provided by Rocket Hammer. To compensate, Fire Strike could slow by picking a level 4 talent, "Slowing Fire", allowing for a wide diversity in playstyle.

We also need to consider powerspikes, and while we already know about his level 10 powerspike, here are some ideas on what we could get for level 16 and 20. "Strength of a Crusader" would increase the number of basic attacks affected by Rocket Hammer from 2 to 4, consider taking this with "Stronger Arms"! "Boosted Charge" will increase the travelling speed of Charge, and grant Reinhardt unstoppable during it. And for the last level 16 talent, greet another activatable tool, "Stunning Arms", which, on a 20 second cooldown, would make Rocket Hammer attacks stun for 1 second instead of slowing enemies.

As for Storm Talents, we already have the improvement of Earthshatter which increase the stun duration and lowers the cooldown for heroes hit. For Lionheart's improvement, I would see an increased shield and a lower cooldown, nothing else. "Precision German Engineering" would boost Reinhardt's survivability in case he was focused too much during the game. At the cost of 10% of his maximum health, Reinhardt gains twice as much shield, which regenerates after not taking damage for 3 seconds. "I Will Fight to My Last Breath" is another option to cause chaos in case Reinhardt is focused a lot and dies early. For a 10s longer respawn time, upon taking Fatal Damage Reinhardt becomes unstoppable, has 150% increased damage, and his cooldowns regenerate 200% faster for 4 seconds. At the end of this duration, Reinhardt will die.


Reinhardt is all about taking damage for your teammates at the right moment and getting a good engage so your allies can follow up in teamfights. He does well against burst and poke, unless the damage is too sustained for his Barrier Field to have time to recover. His versatility lies in his talents, making him a good option for any kind of team.

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