E-54 "Bastion" by MediaMix1

One thing many players say about Bastion is that he's little different than Sgt. Hammer. I disagree. While Sgt. Hammer can also turn into an immobile death machine, their weaponry and abilities are very unalike. Hammer can deploy Spider Mines to cover her flanks and set up traps, knock foes back if they get too close, and can fire an oversized rocket that can either travel across the map or leave a damage-dealing AoE. Bastion on the other hand transforms into a turret that can deal large amounts of single-target damage and can repair any damage taken so long as he survives a fight.

Including Bastion into Heroes of the Storm will, hopefully, be a lot more than just a Sgt. Hammer skin. He can't fire rockets or turn into a Siege Tank - and I bet Overwatch fans would be very pissy about that if Bastion was released as a Hammer skin for that very reason. Of course, Bastion will have to be tweaked so that he can fit into the game without being seen as a Hammer wannabe. I'm very certain Bastion can be in Heroes of the Storm one day because many can agree that if Blizzard can find a way to bring Zarya into the game, they can do the same for Bastion.

If there's anything I've learned about all our favorite Heroes of the Storm, it's that their kits (their abilities, traits, etc.) are based on their character. Bastion is a combat machine that has remained dormant for many years, to the point of his body literally being covered with moss. Nature's Course revolves around this part of his lore. Because Bastion's systems are cluttered up with dirt and moss, I felt that it'd make sense that Bastion shouldn't be able to naturally regenerate HP like other heroes. Keep in mind that Specialists are heroes with traits and abilities that stand out among other heroes, and Nature's Course would be a very great example of this.

Bastion's Turret Configuration is much like Sgt. Hammer's Siege Mode, in the sense that it makes them immovable objects of death. So, to make sure Bastion's "meta" didn't become a replication to that of Sgt. Hammer, his Basic Attack range is not increased as a Turret, but his damage increases over time the longer he is attacking a target. In other words, where Hammer is a Siege Tank, Bastion is a Void Ray. Both heroes are frail, but I think it'd be a good idea to make Bastion a "high risk, high reward" hero, unlike Hammer's strategy of shooting everything that moves a million miles away.

Bastion's passive ability and Self-Repair make him a hero that can reward its player very greatly for surviving intense encounters. In a sense, this may also encourage players to play more boldly and agressively, as they can pick a fight, retreat, repair, and repeat. Of course, Bastion should still have some means of making sure the enemy team can't gank him to hell and back. I had a very hard time coming up with an idea for this, until I considered his best friend - a yellow bird named Ganymede. Using Ganymede to reveal areas of the map would be an incredibly useful spell hands down. For obvious reasons though, it's range isn't far enough to be considered "global" or "half as large as the whole map".

Bastion's Deploy Shield was an ability that came to mind from a scrapped concept. Back then during the early stages of Overwatch, Bastion's turret had a shield, but couldn't rotate 360 degrees like it does now. The Shield was a bit of a broken concept for Overwatch, but I'm certain it can fit in to Heroes of the Storm very well. With Deploy Shield, Bastion can give himself just a little bit of extra time to finish off an enemy he's fighting, help him survive an ult, and so on and so forth. Deploy Shield's effects do not carry on to his Recon Configuration so that players can't activate the Shields on the run (it also wouldn't look right, really).

Bastion's Tank Configuration definitely needs to be able to fire on the move in order to make it as impactful as an ult should be. A Siege Tank is a dangerous threat, but a Tank that can deal even more damage while mobile? Hell yes! Bastion's Tank Configuration is meant to tell enemies, "Get away from that objective, or I will shoot you", and I hope my idea for how it'd be in HotS sends that message very well. As for Crisis Protocol, it is meant to send the same message as his Tank Config while also allowing Bastion to unleash his, in my words, "inner Rambo". Bastion's ult was originally supposed to be a rc bot that'd do a Reaper ult when activated, but I didn't use that as his other HotS ult because it felt a bit... out of place.

If I somehow haven't made my point to you of how Bastion is different than the Dominion's trigger-happy Sergeant, allow me to make myself a bit more clear.

Sgt. Hammer relies on ranged superiority, besieging enemies from a safe distance and punishing enemies that try to close the distance and her First Aid talent allows her to prolong fights long enough for her to overpower her enemies. She cannot use a mount, so she activates special Boosters to gain a burst of speed just in case she gets in a pinch or if she needs to rush back to battle. Her weapon is very pathetic when not in Siege Mode, but her weapon deals brilliant splash damage otherwise.

Bastion relies on area denial, focusing his power on dangerous enemies to make it easier for he and his team to maintain control of the map. He can recover from any fight he survives very quickly thanks to Self-Repair. Bastion is a robot, but it's highly unlikely he will be unable to use mounts. Bastion's weapon for his Recon mode isn't pathetic in Overwatch, but it will likely not be used for anything outside of fighting lane creeps. As for the weapon for his Turret Configuration, it will deal damage faster and greater the longer he attacks a target, much like a Void Ray would from StarCraft II.

The most important differences between Sgt. Hammer and Bastion are themselves. Sgt. Hammer is the pilot of a Dominion Siege Tank, and Bastion is the last of his kind - a robot that will fight to his last spark if he needs to. As much as many say he could come to HotS as a Hammer skin, it just wouldn't sound right to turn Hammer into a robot that turns into a turret with a gatling gun when she's supposed to be piloting a Siege Tank.

Bottom line - Bastion is similar to Sgt. Hammer, but they're not the same side of one coin. Whether you believe so or not, Bastion can be a very potent Specialist if Blizzard is willing to bring him into Heroes of the Storm.

Level 1
*Reinforced Armor - Every time Bastion is attacked by a hero or structure, he gains a stack that will mitigate the damage he takes. He can have up to 10 stacks and each stack mitigates 3% damage dealt to Bastion. These stacks rapidly decay out of combat.
*Seasoned Marksman - For every creep killed near Bastion, he gains a charge of 0.2 that allows his Basic Attacks to deal more damage. After obtaining 40 charges, he can activate this talent to boost his Attack Speed.
*Threat Eliminated - If Bastion kills/assists the target of Lock-On, its cooldown is immediately reset. If Bastion Locks-On to another foe quickly afterwards, he will deal more damage to the target. The damage bonus cannot stack with itself.
*Block - Every 5 seconds, Bastion gains a charge that negates a large portion of damage from the next Basic Attack. This stacks up to 2 charges.
*Critical Target - If Basion kills/assists the target of Lock-On, its cooldown is immediately reset and regains a portion of his HP. The healing granted by this talent is not affected by Nature's Course.

Level 4
*Vigorous Assault - Bastion's Basic Attacks are given Lifesteal. This partially stacks with Nature's Course.
*Mold Breaker - Lock-On now also leaves the target Vulnerable.
*Uranium Rounds - Permanently improves the range and damage of Bastion's Basic Attacks, but only against non-heroic targets.
*Crippling Rounds - Lock-On now also slows the target's movement speed and attack speed.
(FUN FACT): "Uranium Rounds" is a nod to "U-238 Rounds", an upgrade for the Reaper unit in StarCraft II: Wings of Liberty.

Level 7
*Emergency Repairs - If Bastion's HP reaches below 10%, his HP will be fully restored immediately. This can only activate once every minute.
*Self-Upgrade - Self-Repair can now overheal Bastion for 25% of his max HP.
*Self-Recovery - If Bastion has gotten an assist or kill, Self-Repair's healing is partially increased. This buff lasts for 2 seconds.

Level 13
*Overshield - If Bastion's Shield expires, 15% of the shields will still be active. This buff does not stack.
*Spell Shield - Bastion's Shield also grants him extra Magic Resistance.
*Giant Killer - Bastion's Basic Attacks deal extra damage to heroes based on their max HP.
*Assured Destruction - Bastion's Basic Attacks deal extra damage to heroes based on their missing HP.

Level 16
*Fire at Will - Lock-On deals bonus damage to enemies who are Stunned or Hexed.
*Immovable Object - While Deploy Shield is active, Bastion is Unstoppable.
*Relentless Assault - Bastion's Basic Attacks deal more damage the longer he shoots at a target. This effect is reset if Bastion stops attacking the target for 2 seconds.
*Bird's Eye View - Bastion's vision is increased and the vision granted by Deploy Ganymede is greatly increased.

Level 20
*CHARGE! - While Configuration: Tank is active, Bastion gains a speed boost and becomes Resistant. Damage remains the same.
*Evil Within - While Crisis Protocol is active, Bastion's Basic Attacks deal 40% more damage. This does not stack with talents.
*Nexus Frenzy - Bastion's Basic attacks deal more damage and Slows enemies.
*Bolt of the Storm - If you don't know what this talent does, go google it. :P