Match rules at a glance
| Preparation (gates closed) | 40 s |
|---|---|
| Gates open after everyone is ready | 5 s |
| Global cooldown | 1.5 s |
| Dampening starts | 5 min |
| Dampening (healing reduction) | 0.1% / s = 6% / min |
| Time limit (then a draw) | 20 min |
| Critical strike damage | 150% |
| Dodged strike refunds | 80% |
| Cast pushback per hit | 0.5 s × first 2 hits |
| Channel pushback per hit | 25% of the channel × first 2 hits |
| Diminishing returns reset | 20 s |
| Out of combat after | 6 s |
Read from the match rules file in game client v0.21.
Utilities (the two slots beside your bar)
| Spell | Cooldown | What it does |
|---|---|---|
| Gladiator's Medallion | 120 s | Breaks you out of a stun, incapacitate or fear. Leave it out and you have no way out of a stun. |
| Bandage | — | Stand still and heal yourself or an ally for 2,200 over 8 sec. Moving, casting or any damage to either of you stops it; a bandaged hero can’t be bandaged again for 1 min. |
| Infuse | once per match | Out of combat only, once per match: stand still and restore 3,000 mana over 8 sec. Any damage stops it. Mana users only. |
| Hustle | 90 s | Run 45% faster for 4 sec. |
| Healing Tonic | once per match | Heal yourself for 900 at once, even in combat. Once per match. |
Brackets, ratings and maps
- Brackets: 1v1, 2v2 and 3v3, each rated or unrated (same rules, no rating change). Duels in town are unrated 1v1s.
- Ratings are kept per class and per bracket and start at 1500. Since patch 0.21 a win gains at least 16 up to 1500 (tapering to 6 at 2500 and 2 at 3000), and a loss costs at most 18. Guests appear on the leaderboard once they save their progress.
- Arenas: Nagrand Ring (four pillars), Ruins of Lordaeron (a tomb in the middle) and Blade’s Edge (a log bridge over a gravel pit; height matters, the bridge blocks sight).
Diminishing returns
Crowd control of the same category within 20 sec of the last one ending lasts full, then half, then a quarter as long; a fourth is resisted. Polymorph, Fear, Cyclone, Sap, Hex, Repentance, Blind and Seduction hold one target at a time: casting one on a new target frees the last.