Blizzard’s games have no dearth of memorable characters, but I had completely forgotten who the next Heroes of the Storm brawler was until I hunted down his background. It’s Imperius! You know, that archangel that crops up a couple of times in Diablo 3. He’s more important than I’m giving him credit for, but angels don’t need bigger heads. He’s live now, and you can watch his spotlight above.
Like Tyrael, his angelic pal, Imperius is a melee warrior, though he fights with a spear rather than a sword. With Celestial Charge, he can rush in a direction, stunning and damaging heroes. Solarion’s Fire is a flaming ranged attack that also slows enemies caught in the centre. With Molten Armor he can coat himself in fire, healing him while damaging enemies.
Imperius’ first heroic ability, Angelic Armaments, makes him tankier. It summons a ring of swords that shield him for three seconds, but if the shield lasts for the whole three seconds without being destroyed by enemies, it can be reactivated five seconds later, sending the swords hurtling towards a targeted area.
His second heroic, Wrath of the Angiris, makes him charge, lifting the first enemy hero he hits up into the air. While up there, the enemy hero can be aimed at the ground and, after a couple of seconds, will come crashing back to the arena.
Valorous Brand, Imperius’ hero trait, marks enemies he’s hit with abilities, and then basic attacks consume the marks to do bonus damage. It’s not a very exciting trait, but at level 20, he gets Valorous Pursuit, which lets him teleport to any branded heroes. This makes him even more effective at hunting down heroes and taking them down in solo fights.
Blizzard recommends using him as a solo laner, but warns that heroes like Tracer make good counters thanks to their ability to disengage when he gets in melee range. They can kite him, too, pestering him while staying out of reach. Check out his hero page for more details.
You can take Imperius for a spin now.
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