If you've ever played Diablo, you know the name Deckard Cain. The weathered old man generally serves as an adviser, rather than any sort of combatant, yet he's set to become just that in Blizzard's Heroes of the Storm.

Yes, Deckard is set to become a playable hero in HotS, and Blizzard seems to have had a lot of fun with his design. He's capable of healing and generally supporting his team, though he's susceptible to being Silenced and doesn't offer much in the way of mobility. His abilities include one that throws a healing potion on the ground for a teammate to collect, another that uses the Horadric Cube to deal damage and slow enemies, and a scroll that roots and damages.

As is often the case, it's the Heroic abilities that are best. Lorenado summons a tornado made of his books that moves in a target direction and pushes back enemies that it touches. Best of all is Stay A While And Listen, which casts a large cone in front of him. Those inside are subjected to a story he tells, which makes them fall asleep.

Deckard launches "soon" on the public test realm and will be released to the full game sometime after that. Blizzard has also announced it plans to release a comic, Rise of the Raven Lord, that will explore Heroes of the Storm lore sometime later in April.