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The Ghost Nerf is Being Done Wrong - Page 10

Blogs > qxc
Post a Reply
Prev 1 8 9 10 11 12 36 Next All
Zax19
Profile Blog Joined August 2010
Czech Republic1136 Posts
February 14 2012 20:59 GMT
#181
In general the snipe needs to be nerfed but this way is much better, with almost no "collateral damage" . I hope this gets noticed.
Church!
Really Blizz, really? - Darnell
linduxed
Profile Joined October 2010
Sweden111 Posts
February 14 2012 21:00 GMT
#182
I'm in full agreement with this blog. Something tells me however that this will not be addressed in this patch, I think Blizzard will ship the patch, and in the best case scenario it will be retracted later on.

What's extra problematic is that SC2 doesn't use subtractive damage, but additive damage. This in itself is not a problem, but qxc's change would need subtractive damage, and that would (if I'm not mistaken) the Ghost the only unit with that kind of damage. I don't think Blizzard would like that.

So as said, I agree with the blog, but I sadly don't think it will be fixed right now.
bkrow
Profile Blog Joined October 2010
Australia8532 Posts
February 14 2012 21:02 GMT
#183
This was great to hear during State of the Game and now that you've fleshed it out and added some great examples, it makes even more sense.

Blizzard constantly cites "pro player feedback" as a source of their balance decisions - i want to meet the pro players who sat down, thought it through and said .. "yep nerfing ghosts into the ground is good for the game overall." I don't understand why a unit has to go from overpowered to completely useless in one swoop.

Great write up
In The Rear With The Gear .. *giggle* /////////// cobra-LA-LA-LA-LA-LA!!!!
whoopadeedoo
Profile Joined June 2010
United States427 Posts
Last Edited: 2012-02-14 21:03:18
February 14 2012 21:02 GMT
#184
Thumbs up. Ghosts should be nerfed, but not their damage. Reduce snipe range by 1. Reduce hp. Increase their cost (namely gas). Increase their supply. Pick one (or a combination) of these so ghosts aren't so "universal" as they are now. But the damage nerf completely kills ghost innovation and just creates another overly specialized unit in SC2, which SC2 already has way too many of ... thanks to a convoluted damage system.
DemigodcelpH
Profile Joined August 2011
1138 Posts
February 14 2012 21:04 GMT
#185
Get this man a medal.
Mithriel
Profile Joined November 2010
Netherlands2969 Posts
February 14 2012 21:04 GMT
#186
You have my axe.... uhh i mean vote!


Great read as always!
There is no shame in defeat so long as the spirit is unconquered. | Cheering for Maru, Innovation and MMA!
whoopadeedoo
Profile Joined June 2010
United States427 Posts
February 14 2012 21:08 GMT
#187
Come to think of it, Blizzard should stop addressing balance issues with more bonus damage modifiers. No more specialized/hard counters PLEASE!
CCow
Profile Joined August 2010
Germany335 Posts
February 14 2012 21:08 GMT
#188
That change would make ghost kill zealots in two snipes, after EMP instead of 3, right?
That would be kind of achieve a not-wanted change, as I see it, since I don't see ghosts needing a buff for TvP.
Apart from that I do think that a change like that would make a lot more sense. Banning ghosts from early-mid TvT would be so sad! :S
RoboBob
Profile Blog Joined September 2010
United States798 Posts
February 14 2012 21:09 GMT
#189
On February 15 2012 05:24 Demonhunter04 wrote:
Show nested quote +
On February 15 2012 05:21 RoboBob wrote:
Ghosts do 45 base damage to non-massive units
Ghosts do 30 base damage to massive units
Increase the Battlecruiser Air to Air attack damage from 6 to 8 (to match its ground attack). Leave it's Air to Ground attack the same.

Viola. Zerg T3 will be better against Ghosts, while staying the same vs Infestors. But Terran will gain a new high tech way to efficiently kill Zerg T3 without disrupting early/midgame TvZ.

Lategame TvT and TvP will also be slightly improved, but not so drastically that it will unbalance either matchup. (especially considering that Protoss is getting a Phoenix buff...although I will admit that both the Fleet Beacon and Interceptors could use some cost reduction on top of current changes)


The problem with your proposed BC changes is that corruptors hard counter battlecruisers and BCs are not that greatly effective against ultralisks, so zerg can fall back on their tech switching to easily destroy BCs anyway. BCs also only have 6 range and are vulnerable to neural parasite.

The entire point of my proposed change is to nerf Ghosts vs Zerg T3 while giving Terran more options to kill Zerg T3. The reason why I specifically suggested buffing the BC Air-to-Air attack was to make BCs better vs Corruptors without damaging other matchups.

The problem with Infestor/Broodlord/Ultra is that if you overmake Vikings, you have no way to punish the Zerg for losing air control. And because you can't rely on just Vikings or just MM, you must make a shit ton of Ghosts to be at least somewhat good against everything. However, if BCs were better, then Terran suddenly would have a way to really punish the Zerg for tech switching out of Spire. It would force the Zerg to cycle in more Hydra/Infestor/Queen to deal with the BCs, which can, in turn, be countered by other Terran units. And so on and so forth.

Also, BCs need to be vulnerable to NP. Otherwise Zerg will have no counters to BCs at all. It's tough to find a Terran unit that is strong against Hive units like BL/Ultra, but is weak to Lair units like Infestor/Hydra. (Other than the Marine) But BCs can fit into that role, as long as they are improved vs Corruptors.
gillon
Profile Blog Joined April 2010
Sweden1578 Posts
February 14 2012 21:11 GMT
#190
On February 15 2012 03:26 Al Bundy wrote:
Yeah yeah, we know, when things stop being completely OVERPOWERED, suddenly they become useless. If I remember correcltly, when BFH were nerfed, people were crying about their uselessness.

Can't you find a way to make use of the 1.4.3 ghost? What's wrong with specialized units? BW is full of them and it doesn't seem to stop players from using them.


Way to completely miss the point.
www.teamproperty.net | "You should hate losing, but you should never fear defeat." - 이윤열
RoboBob
Profile Blog Joined September 2010
United States798 Posts
February 14 2012 21:13 GMT
#191
On February 15 2012 06:02 bkrow wrote:
This was great to hear during State of the Game and now that you've fleshed it out and added some great examples, it makes even more sense.

Blizzard constantly cites "pro player feedback" as a source of their balance decisions - i want to meet the pro players who sat down, thought it through and said .. "yep nerfing ghosts into the ground is good for the game overall." I don't understand why a unit has to go from overpowered to completely useless in one swoop.

Great write up

Well, be careful what you wish for. Both Idra and Nestea have made a case for nerfing Ghosts into the ground in numerous interviews. Pro feedback is not always the best way to balance a game. Pros may have the best experience and knowledge, but they also have the worst bias.
Gentso
Profile Joined July 2010
United States2218 Posts
February 14 2012 21:14 GMT
#192
So what's the problem?
Snipe is currently good at killing things besides tier 3 zerg but if this change goes through they wouldn't be any longer. This would take a generally versatile unit vs. bio and make it an extremely specialized anti caster unit. So let's talk about what is even snipable.


That's exactly the intent of the unit, so I'm not sure what the problem is. Terran is already incredibly versatile, and the ghost has fit this niche all along anyway. There's a lot of nice hypothetical situations of pre-nerf snipe in this thread but none I've seen in the top tier of competition. I'd say just about every snipe I've seen has been used against massive zerg units or casters. Personally, I see this thread as an over exaggeration accompanied by a flock of sheep.
Demonhunter04
Profile Joined July 2011
1530 Posts
Last Edited: 2012-02-14 21:17:28
February 14 2012 21:14 GMT
#193
On February 15 2012 06:09 RoboBob wrote:
Show nested quote +
On February 15 2012 05:24 Demonhunter04 wrote:
On February 15 2012 05:21 RoboBob wrote:
Ghosts do 45 base damage to non-massive units
Ghosts do 30 base damage to massive units
Increase the Battlecruiser Air to Air attack damage from 6 to 8 (to match its ground attack). Leave it's Air to Ground attack the same.

Viola. Zerg T3 will be better against Ghosts, while staying the same vs Infestors. But Terran will gain a new high tech way to efficiently kill Zerg T3 without disrupting early/midgame TvZ.

Lategame TvT and TvP will also be slightly improved, but not so drastically that it will unbalance either matchup. (especially considering that Protoss is getting a Phoenix buff...although I will admit that both the Fleet Beacon and Interceptors could use some cost reduction on top of current changes)


The problem with your proposed BC changes is that corruptors hard counter battlecruisers and BCs are not that greatly effective against ultralisks, so zerg can fall back on their tech switching to easily destroy BCs anyway. BCs also only have 6 range and are vulnerable to neural parasite.

The entire point of my proposed change is to nerf Ghosts vs Zerg T3 while giving Terran more options to kill Zerg T3. The reason why I specifically suggested buffing the BC Air-to-Air attack was to make BCs better vs Corruptors without damaging other matchups.

The problem with Infestor/Broodlord/Ultra is that if you overmake Vikings, you have no way to punish the Zerg for losing air control. And because you can't rely on just Vikings or just MM, you must make a shit ton of Ghosts to be at least somewhat good against everything. However, if BCs were better, then Terran suddenly would have a way to really punish the Zerg for tech switching out of Spire. It would force the Zerg to cycle in more Hydra/Infestor/Queen to deal with the BCs, which can, in turn, be countered by other Terran units. And so on and so forth.

Also, BCs need to be vulnerable to NP. Otherwise Zerg will have no counters to BCs at all. It's tough to find a Terran unit that is strong against Hive units like BL/Ultra, but is weak to Lair units like Infestor/Hydra. (Other than the Marine) But BCs can fit into that role, as long as they are improved vs Corruptors.


I wasn't saying they shouldn't be vulnerable to NP. What I'm saying is that the infestor/corruptor combination crushes viking/battlecruiser and it needs to be that way to avoid breaking the game.

On February 15 2012 06:14 Gentso wrote:
Show nested quote +
So what's the problem?
Snipe is currently good at killing things besides tier 3 zerg but if this change goes through they wouldn't be any longer. This would take a generally versatile unit vs. bio and make it an extremely specialized anti caster unit. So let's talk about what is even snipable.


That's exactly the intent of the unit, so I'm not sure what the problem is. Terran is already incredibly versatile, and the ghost has fit this niche all along anyway. There's a lot of nice hypothetical situations of pre-nerf snipe in this thread but none I've seen in the top tier of competition. I'd say just about every snipe I've seen has been used against massive zerg units or casters. Personally, I see this thread as an over exaggeration accompanied by a flock of sheep.


Snipe has been used frequently on other units, you just haven't seen the games in question. This thread is not an over-exaggeration and the issue lies in that Zerg can tech switch rapidly while Terran can't, which means that Terran has to have a unit that is well rounded, such as the ghost.
"If you don't drop sweat today, you will drop tears tomorrow" - SlayerSMMA
CatsnHats
Profile Joined October 2011
United States199 Posts
February 14 2012 21:19 GMT
#194
50% damage reduction is just way too much. This, however, is a logical solution to fixing an overpowered unit without breaking it completely. Good read. Hope Blizzard makes some changes to the patch before its shipped.
meow
fighter2_40
Profile Blog Joined December 2010
United States420 Posts
February 14 2012 21:25 GMT
#195
Complete agree with this post.

Ghost should still 1 shot marines. The only way to keep this is to give - to massive, not - base damage.
Gentso
Profile Joined July 2010
United States2218 Posts
February 14 2012 21:26 GMT
#196
Snipe has been used frequently on other units, you just haven't seen the games in question. This thread is not an over-exaggeration and the issue lies in that Zerg can tech switch rapidly while Terran can't, which means that Terran has to have a unit that is well rounded, such as the ghost.


I'm sorry I said top tier of competition. That's basically all I watch. If someone from the lower brackets of some tournament uses snipe against something other than massive zerg units or casters then honestly it's just not on the same level. I don't know when tech switching was brought into the argument, but that's completely irrelevant. Terran has to have a well rounded unit, and you think it should be the ghost? No, the well rounded Terran unit you're looking for is the marine. In the top tier of competition (where it matters, basically), the nerf will only affect ghosts versus massive zerg units. That's really what it boils down to. Sure, you can do the change mentioned in the OP but it's unnecessary.
Saltydizzle
Profile Joined July 2011
United States123 Posts
February 14 2012 21:28 GMT
#197
The patch is completely necessary.
GeorgeForeman
Profile Joined April 2005
United States1746 Posts
February 14 2012 21:33 GMT
#198
Excellent point. I thought so when you made it on SOTG, and here its laid out even more clearly and concisely.

The best part is, a snipe ability that does less damage to massive even makes sense for the "lore" (which Blizzard does occasionally seem to care about for whatever reason). So do it, Blizzard. Make the right decision.
like a school bus through a bunch of kids
Xyik
Profile Blog Joined November 2009
Canada728 Posts
February 14 2012 21:35 GMT
#199
The patch is only necessary to nerf ghost effectiveness vs Tier 3 zerg. We've seen little to no evidence of ghosts being overpowered in other scenarios (such as sniping marines, zealots, etc.) so why should they be nerfed against those units? It actually makes sense for a tier 2 unit like the ghost to be a soft counter against tier 1 units like zealots, marines and zerglings. In general, snipe is just a bad ability. blizzard designed it as an APM dump (you can't do anything else while you're sniping), and that was a terrible design choice. But to try and rectify it at this stage of release is silly. In fact, it just becomes more of an APM dump now since you need more snipes to kill things. No good player will use it anymore when they could instead by using their apm to scout or drop instead of sniping for barely any additional damage.
GeorgeForeman
Profile Joined April 2005
United States1746 Posts
February 14 2012 21:36 GMT
#200
On February 15 2012 06:14 Gentso wrote:
Show nested quote +
So what's the problem?
Snipe is currently good at killing things besides tier 3 zerg but if this change goes through they wouldn't be any longer. This would take a generally versatile unit vs. bio and make it an extremely specialized anti caster unit. So let's talk about what is even snipable.


That's exactly the intent of the unit, so I'm not sure what the problem is. Terran is already incredibly versatile, and the ghost has fit this niche all along anyway. There's a lot of nice hypothetical situations of pre-nerf snipe in this thread but none I've seen in the top tier of competition. I'd say just about every snipe I've seen has been used against massive zerg units or casters. Personally, I see this thread as an over exaggeration accompanied by a flock of sheep.

So your position is that because people haven't done it, we should make sure that they can't do it?

That makes no sense. Snipe is an ability that has a lot of potential uses that, for whatever reason, people haven't adopted it to. Since it's stupid to assume we know what the meta will look like in a year's time (and for HOTS particularly), why take away something that enocurages invoation with a unit that requires micro?
like a school bus through a bunch of kids
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