Heroes Of The Storm Gets Overwatch-Style Loot Boxes

Heroes of the Storm's 2.0 update is a big one. Not only is Blizzard's MOBA getting a brand new system for doling out cosmetic rewards (one that should look very familiar to Overwatch fans) but, with the incoming update, the way that levels are calculated will drastically change as well.

But first, the loot. In Heroes of the Storm's current system, players receive cosmetic upgrades every time a character hits a certain level threshold. Now, you'll get an unlockable loot chest every time that you level up. Every chest will contain a random assortment of cosmetic items, which include new hero skins, sprays, banners, emojis, voice lines, and (if you're lucky) other heroes.

If a loot chest gives you an item you already own, Heroes of the Storm will convert it into shards, which you can use to forge specific items from Blizzard's online store. In addition, every 10 levels you'll receive a character-specific loot chest, ensuring that you'll actually be able to use at least one of the free items that you earn.

You'll be levelling up pretty frequently now, too. Going forward, Heroes of the Storm won't have a level cap (previously, characters couldn't progress past level 20), and the experience point curve has been drastically reduced, making it easier to reach higher levels and score more loot. Your overall player level will now just be the sum of all your characters' levels.

Finally, a new premium currency, Gems, will be available for users who want to skip all of the leveling nonsense and buy their favorite cosmetic items directly from Blizzard's online store.

Like fellow MOBAs League of Legends and Dota 2, Heroes of the Storm is a free-to-play game starring some of the company's most iconic characters—including a few from games that you never got to play. Also like League and Dota, Heroes of the Storm makes most of its money selling characters and optional cosmetic items, so while it might look like Blizzard is shooting itself in the foot by offering those bonuses for free, the sheer amount of fresh content (sprays, banners, emojis, and voices are all new) should keep the game afloat for a good while longer.