Diablo's Deckard Cain Is Coming To Heroes Of The Storm (Yes, Really)

Being a MOBA featuring characters from Blizzard's various franchises, Heroes of the Storm has its share of not-necessarily-heroic characters. For example, there's Murky the Murloc, representing everyone's favorite low-level enemy from World of Warcraft, and also Probius, a Protoss probe from StarCraft given a full range of abilities that make it just as capable as any of the other legendary heroes from the Blizzard universe. The next of these unlikely heroes was revealed today, and it's Deckard Cain from the Diablo series.

Anyone who has played through a Diablo game knows that Deckard Cain doesn't really fit the standard heroic archetype. Rather than a brave warrior, Deckard Cain is a weak old man, one more likely to concern himself with tomes and lore than with weaponry and warfare. That doesn't necessarily mean that he won't be capable on the battlefield, as he'll be a support character who will keep his team alive and set up kills through various crowd control methods.

Cain's trait, Fortitude of the Faithful, grants him armor and shorter cooldowns when he's standing within range of his teammates. His first basic ability is called Healing Potion, which allows him to place health potions on the ground for his teammates to pick up. Up to five potions can be placed at a time, and he can throw them directly to other players on his team so there's no confusion over who a placed potion was meant for.

Another basic ability, Horadric Cube, is an area of effect spell that damages and slow enemies that are caught in its range. Horadric Cube is meant to synergize with his third basic ability, Scroll of Sealing, which creates a large triangle on the ground that damages and roots enemies caught within it. If you're playing as Cain, look for opportunities to root enemies slowed by Horadric Cube with your Scroll of Sealing, thereby setting up your team to secure kills.

Things get particularly interesting when we look at Deckard Cain's heroic abilities. His first is called – what else? – Stay a While and Listen. With this ability, you'll tell a "riveting tale" to your enemies, putting any who are caught in a large area in front of your to sleep. His second heroic ability is called Lorenado and summons a tornado of books and papers that travels across the battlefield, damaging and pushing back enemies it comes into contact with.

While Deckard Cain might usually seem like a poor choice for the field of battle, it sounds like his abilities can have a big effect on how matches play out. We'll likely see Deckard Cain go live on Heroes of the Storm's test servers next week, with a release on live servers following later on in April.