Blizzard has released new details on their upcoming MOBA, Heroes of the Storm.

Characters such as Warcraft’s Arthas, or Kerrigan and Jim Raynor from the Starcraft series will be playable. Blizzard promises that Heroes of the Storm will be a unique take on the genre, with multiple maps and more character individuality.

Each map will contain a gimmick that can affect the outcome of a match. In one map, a ghostly pirate ship can aid players of one team if they fulfill the correct conditions. These new dynamic battlegrounds should provide an interesting take on map design, especially considering the genre’s adherence to the “three lanes” design seen in Valve’s Dota 2 or Riot Games’ League of Legends.

Blizzard also promises more character variety and player choice – each hero has a talent system that, in some cases will let them have totally different skills available to them. 18 heroes will be playable at launch, but Blizzard says it will expand this number upon launch. Users can sign up for a closed beta, which Blizzard is saying will occur in the “first half of 2014”.

As with today’s other Blizzcon announcement, Blizzard released a new trailer featuring gameplay from the title:

Blizzard has yet to confirm a release window, but says it will be available on PC and Mac at launch. What do you think? Excited to see Kerrigan and Jim Raynor battle it out with Diablo alongside them? Let us know in the comments below.