|
So I just got back from MLG Anaheim, and let me tell you it lived up to the hype.
My throat is coarse, my body is shaking, and every event was amazing, but to the point of the topic... HoTS was there and it was amazing. Now I'm just a diamond terran, but let me tell you, HoTS is amazing, and it WILL reinvent SC2 when it releases.
First off terran, simply having the widow mine means we can finally see map control without commitment for terran, as well as being able to buy the terran some time to reposition it's mech army. Widow mines, simply are amazing, good micro can stop it though before people start calling out OP OP, as I pulled targetted marines out of my own TvT demo to save from splash. I already love this unit. The Warhound combined with the battle hellion completes the mech package, and truly brings a full mech commitment style even in tvp, as something completely viable. The reaper regen will probably see some random usage by micro/strat heroes like qxc (love you btw, thanks for being awesome this weekend hanging out) but I don't see it changing the meta game the way the mech units are. Bio is still strong, and so is bio/mech so, I think terran will be in a good place.
On to Zerg, let me tell you btw, is probably the best race (dur it's heart of the swarm) that comes out of this expansion. The swarm host, originally felt clunky at Blizzcon when I demo'd it then, but with the slight range attack now, and seemingly damage boost, and upgrade to last longer, there is no DOUBT that the swarm host is amazing. It puts out tons of damage, unburrows and runs and survives, it is everything every lurker fan ever wanted but it can hit air now too! Combined with the Viper and it's darkswarm like spell and Abduct..... man zerg will be breaking siege lines, pulling colossus out of position, and busting defensive positions like no ones business, all while having a good defensive unit in the swarm host. And don't let anyone tell you that the Hydra speed upgrade is inconsequential, because it's not, holy hell the hydra is so good now in hive tech. Having played scbw a decent bit in my teens, HoTS makes zerg play like BW again, and this is a good thing... even though I'm a terran player! Grats to the zergs, and enjoy HoTS, it will be interesting to see how the entire meta-game shifts with this expansions. Ultra charge is icing on the cake btw.
As for the Aiur brethren, well, the oracle is ridiculously strong, the mothercore makes for defensive advantage finally, and holy fuck 22 range tempest upgrade is seriously stupid. 22 range... Let me explain to you a sec... That is ONE FULL SCREEN LENGTH. that means in fog of war, you get shot and never see it coming. SPLASH damage too! I expect every zerg/terran to all in before you can reach 4-5 tempest because once you get them... you win every positional fight because you can force armies into wherever you want to engage using the tempest.... That plus the oracle's freeze... man, you guys will be next in line to all the fun behind the zerg in HoTS.
All I can say is that MLG Anaheim was amazing... the WCS USA National Tournament, the MLG Tournament (that I participated in this time!) and the KeSPA invitational... man I am still in shock that I experienced this. Thank you MLG, and thank you everyone involved, for giving me one of the greatest weekends of my life!
HoTS can't wait!
 
|
Of course it will. And then when LoTV hits it will be reinvented again. And with each mini patch, balance change, and major patch every few months the game gets reinvented subtly over and over and over. As a fan it doesn't really matter. As a spectator it makes things entertaining, in some ways (new bright flashy lights, new hype). I don't envy the players though.
|
I haven't played hots and I have a two questions if you wouldn't mind answering:
1) I don't see how the widow mine offers any amount of map control. For one mine you get one unit unless your opponent is incompetent, I mean you have ten whole seconds to pull it. So runbys and counters are basically unaffected by them, at best it stops harassment and scales well in endgame fights but I don't see any space control. Whats the build time like on these? Insanely fast I hope since you're building them from the factory stalling production
2) Why is the battle hellion good? It looks like its only good against units the hellion was already great against except now you can't micro it. What purpose does it serve?
|
On June 11 2012 17:11 n.DieJokes wrote:
I haven't played hots and I have a two questions if you wouldn't mind answering:
1) I don't see how the widow mine offers any amount of map control. For one mine you get one unit unless your opponent is incompetent, I mean you have ten whole seconds to pull it. So runbys and counters are basically unaffected by them, at best it stops harassment and scales well in endgame fights but I don't see any space control. Whats the build time like on these? Insanely fast I hope since you're building them from the factory stalling production
2) Why is the battle hellion good? It looks like its only good against units the hellion was already great against except now you can't micro it. What purpose does it serve?
Ill take 1, for the hell of it.
If you're a protoss, and you have an observer with your army, assuming they can't get one shot and are fast little shits (which they are fast) that you can't just 1a as long as you have vision of, a clump of widow mines is going to slow you down on an attack path. Enough that you either have to turn around, or wade through them killing them, or have to stop and micro their affected units away from the army, while warping in reinforcements to replace their dead units, giving the terran enough time to reposition knowing where you are. You could also use them as spine crawlers at your third or fourth, bumping into the army enough that they have to group, micro, yay fun time, and maybe take some damage, that your main army can then whack into the back of the protoss while they're out of position.
At worst, one mine is enough to guarentee vision. For bio builds, you aren't using your factory anyway. For non-bio builds, you can use your hellion factory, or a tank/whatever factory with an extra reactor you make with your barracks to make a bunch of widow mines. Or both and pump out four-eight of them really fast in two production cycles because they're cheap.
|
swarm host clearly shouldn't it air. Widow mine shouldn't be able to burrow AND hit air, it just doesn't work. Not for balance reasons at all, but because it makes very little sense.
|
On June 11 2012 17:22 Angel_ wrote:Show nested quote +On June 11 2012 17:11 n.DieJokes wrote:
I haven't played hots and I have a two questions if you wouldn't mind answering:
1) I don't see how the widow mine offers any amount of map control. For one mine you get one unit unless your opponent is incompetent, I mean you have ten whole seconds to pull it. So runbys and counters are basically unaffected by them, at best it stops harassment and scales well in endgame fights but I don't see any space control. Whats the build time like on these? Insanely fast I hope since you're building them from the factory stalling production
2) Why is the battle hellion good? It looks like its only good against units the hellion was already great against except now you can't micro it. What purpose does it serve? Ill take 1, for the hell of it. If you're a protoss, and you have an observer with your army, assuming they can't get one shot and are fast little shits (which they are fast) that you can't just 1a as long as you have vision of, a clump of widow mines is going to slow you down on an attack path. Enough that you either have to turn around, or wade through them killing them, or have to stop and micro their affected units away from the army, while warping in reinforcements to replace their dead units, giving the terran enough time to reposition knowing where you are. You could also use them as spine crawlers at your third or fourth, bumping into the army enough that they have to group, micro, yay fun time, and maybe take some damage, that your main army can then whack into the back of the protoss while they're out of position. At worst, one mine is enough to guarentee vision. For bio builds, you aren't using your factory anyway. For non-bio builds, you can use your hellion factory, or a tank/whatever factory with an extra reactor you make with your barracks to make a bunch of widow mines. Or both and pump out four-eight of them really fast in two production cycles because they're cheap.
So here are the problems I have with that:
-They're not spider mines, to set a field of them seems pretty expensive to me (aren't they 75/25?) and just as easy to clear out as in bw. For another 25mins you could have another marauder; by setting a field you're playing a very expensive game you have no reason to win at it.
- If I were going bio, I should be able to maneuver around the toss anyway so the mines are unnecessary.
- If I were playing mech, every round of them is a blow to my army.
- It doesn't make sense to use them as base defense when the alternatives are better. For the price of 4 mines you could have a bunker full of marines and if you needed to hold the base a planetary is better in every conceivable way.
I'm not trying to be difficult, I just don't see how they're useful in situations outside of holding a banshee or something of its ilk. Did you play with them and find them strong?
|
Don't you think 10 seconds is way too long for the mine?
|
basically nerfed spider mines. takes no skill to dodge it at all.
to me it seems like a disgrace to the real spider mines.
the other tooo mech units are just attacking moving units, nothing sophisticated at all.
about the reapers, lol nice one browder, I actually prefer the bombs.
|
havent been keeping up with the news , can someone tell me how many units for each race will be added.Multiplayer i am talking about of course.Also will any units be removed from multiplayer that were in WoL?
|
United Kingdom14464 Posts
For people wonder about the Widow Mines utility I would point towards Avilo's blog on HotS, he's a high level Terran player who loves mech, but has been very critical of Blizzard's handling of mech style in the game and believes:On June 11 2012 13:48 avilo wrote:
THE WIDOW MINE. This unit will be the heart of Terran, it alone makes mech viable in TvP.
Avilo's blog.
While its not gospel fact, its a player probably better than any of us who played a decent amount with the HotS demo and he seems very excited about it.
Think about it like this: In its current form the Widow mine costs 75 min, 25 gas, and so as long as it makes contact it trades effectively with everything bar workers, Marines, Lings, Zealots and Hellions.
So even if you micro your roaches to take no splash from the Widow Mine, it has still at least traded evenly. If it detonates on 2, you have earned your unit back twice over. If, even after a won battle vs mech, the Mine gets a good explosion, you get incredible efficiency.
|
|
|
|
|
|
EPT
