The abomination hero, Stitches, has been a frontline pest since the earliest Heroes of the Storm days back in 2014. Hooking opponents, spreading putrid bile and consuming opponents has been his signature tricks and when the development team felt his kit needed to be reworked, they opted not to remove what made him...him. When the dust settled after being tweaked, the new Stitches will be more than a "hook bot" who, in-between his Hook's cooldown, will have more to do on the battlefield.

Below is his 2018 updated kit and talent tree.

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Ability Changes

Hook (Q)

- Range reduced from 12.5 to 11       

Slam (W)
- Cooldown reduced from 8 to 6 seconds
- Range increased from 8 to 9.5
- Mana cost reduced from 40 to 30

Adjusted functionality: There are two ranges for the ability: Inner area = Deals 140% Damage and applies a 40% Slow for 1.5 seconds. Outer Area = Normal Damage.

Devour (E)

- No longer has a .2 second cast time.
- Now has a .2 second "finish" time

Trait

Vile Cleaver (Trait)

Basic Attacks apply Vile Gas which poison enemies for 45 damage over 3 seconds. Re-
applying Vile Gas increases its duration rather than resetting it, up to a 10-second
duration.

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Talents

Level 1

- Savor the Flavor (E): When Devour hits a Hero, Stitches heals for an additional 10% of his
maximum Health and Mana over 5 seconds. Quest: Hitting enemy Heroes with Devour increases Stitches’ Health Regeneration by 1.

-Patchwork Creation (Passive): Increase all regeneration and healing received by 15%. Nearby kills heal Stitches (Minions = 30 Health, Heroes = 300 Health)

- Hungry for More (Passive): Quest: Gathering Regen Globes grant 30 max Health. Each 15 globes collected grants Stitches 5% permanent movement speed, up to 20%

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Level 4

- Serrated Edge (Q): Hook deals bonus damage to Heroes equal to 5% of the target’s Maximum Health and reduces the cooldown of Hook by 4 seconds.

- Playtime! (W): Each Hero hit with the inner area of Slam reduces the cooldown of all other basic abilities by 2 seconds. 0.5 seconds if hit by the larger area.

- Chop Chop (Active): Hitting a Hero with the inner area of Slam increases your Attack Speed by 50% for 4 seconds.

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Level 7

- Blight (Active): Vile Gas heals for 33% of all damage dealt. Activate to spread Vile Gas to all nearby enemies and reduce their healing taken by 20% for 5 seconds.

- Cannibalize (Passive): Heroes hit by Basic Attacks and Slam’s inner area heal Stitches for 2% of his
Maximum Health.

- Tenderizer (Passive): Basic Attacks slow enemies by 25% for 2.5 seconds and refresh the duration of Slam’s slow effect.

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Level 10

- Putrid Bile (R1): Emite bile that deals 37 damage per second to enemies within, slowing them by 35%. Stitches gains 20% Movement Speed while emitting bile. Lasts 8 seconds.

- Gorge (R2): Consume an enemy Hero, trapping them for 4 seconds. When Gorge ends, the enemy Hero takes 274 damage. The trapped Hero cannot move or act and doesn't take damage from other sources.

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Level 13 

- Lacerate (W): Slam applies Vile Gas and reduces the armor of enemy Heroes by 10 for 5 seconds.

- Digestive Juices (E): Devour reduces Hero damage dealt by 40% for 4 seconds.

- Gas Flare (Passive): Stitches deals 16 damage per second to nearby enemies. This damage is
increased by 150% for 4 seconds after successfully Hooking an enemy Hero

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Level 16

- Fishing Hook (Q): Hook gains 50% range.

- Meat Hook (Q): Hooking an enemy Hero restores 16% of maximum health over 4 seconds. For 4 seconds, Basic Attacks against the Hooked Hero will refresh the duration of this healing effect.

- Pulverize (W): Slam slows all enemies hit by 75% for 1 second.

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Level 20

- Potent Bile (R): Putrid Bile lasts 6 seconds longer and its slow is increased from 35 to 45%.

- Hungry Hungry Stitches (R): For 4 seconds after using Gorge, Stitches can teleport a short distance to additional targets and Gorge them.

- Second Helping (E): Gain an additional charge of Devour. Devouring an enemy Hero lowers the cooldown of your Heroic ability by 5 seconds.

- Shambling Horror (Active): Stitches’ movement speed can no longer be reduced below 100%. Activate to gain 50 Armor for 4 seconds. 60-second cooldown