Kel'Thuzad is coming to Heroes of the Storm

After more than two years, Kel'Thuzad—one of the most-requested and highly anticipated characters in Warcraft lore—is finally coming to Heroes of the Storm.

Kel'Thuzad's HotS reveal coincides with the new Death Knight-themed Hearthstone expansion, Knights of the Frozen Throne. Ahead of Blizzard's Gamescom event this week, Kel'Thuzad's role and abilities have been revealed on the Heroes of the Storm website.

The HLIC (that's Head Lich In Charge) is an Assassin hero with high damage and utility but medium-to-low survivability. His Q ability, Death and Decay, launches an orb that deals 150 damage in an area upon impact and leaves behind a pool of decay for two seconds that deals 70 damage every half-second. Next, his W is Frost Nova, a ranged ability which explodes after 1 second dealing 212 damage and slowing enemies inside by 35 percent for 2.5 seconds. Enemies caught in the center of the ring are rooted for 1 second.

Finally, his E is Chains of Kel'Thuzad, which launches a chain, dealing 97 damage to the first enemy or structure hit. For 4 seconds after hitting an enemy, Chains can be reactivated to launch to an additional enemy, pulling both enemies together and stunning them for 0.5 seconds.

Like most heroes, Kel'Thuzad has two Heroic abilities to choose from. The first is called Frost Blast, which launches a meteor of ice at an enemy hero. Upon impact, the meteor deals 100 damage to its target and 275 to enemies in the area. All enemies hit are rooted for 1.5 seconds. His second Heroic choice is Shadow Fissure, which lets Kel'Thuzad create a fissure anywhere on the battleground that explodes after 1.5 seconds, dealing 440 damage to enemy Heroes in the area.

Kel'Thuzad also has a Hero Trait: Master of the Cold Dark. The trait is actually a Quest: KT gains 1 Blight every time a Hero is rooted by Frost Nova or hit by Chains of Kel'Thuzad. After gaining 15 stacks of Blight, the cooldown of all basic abilities is reduced by 2 seconds, and at 30 Blight, Kel'Thuzad gains 75 percent Spell Power.

A hero spotlight video will be revealed later this week, going more in-depth on KT's abilities and talents. In the meantime, get a preview of some of the other upcoming content—albeit in animated form—in the video above: Death Knight Sonya, Crypt Queen Zagara, and Dreadlord Jaina.

As the former head of PC Gamer's hardware coverage, Bo was in charge of helping readers better understand and use PC hardware. He also headed up the buying guides, picking the best peripherals and components to spend your hard-earned money on. He can usually be found playing Overwatch, Apex Legends, or more likely, with his cats. He is now IGN's resident tech editor and PC hardware expert.