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Hello.
I would like to talk about the design changes currently planned for LOTV, specifically the Zealot and the Reaper.
But first, let me "introduce" myself.
I have little knownledge about the duel aspect of Starcraft 2 : i used to play heart of the swarm with a friend, playing 2v2. We managed to reach master, so i'm not a total noob  , but again, i have little to no knowledge about 1v1 buld order etc..
I"m talking mostly from a "spectator" point of view, and from a "designer" point of view.
So, now, about the redesign of the game.
From my understanding, the dev team is trying to achieve 2 things :
1. They want to make mech play viable, and by doing so, they need to rebalance many units. Hence the redesign of the Cyclone and all the "more subtle" changes to other units (armored ravager, Tempest changes, Broodlord slight nerf range...).
2. They also want to "buff" the less used units (Raven, Infestors, Battlecruisers...) by giving them light buff here and there. Hopefully, it should be enough to make them usefull again. (Even if Carrier still seems "mehh" to me ^^)
However, i don't understand why nothing is done about the Zealot and the Reaper. Right now those 2 units seem lost in the design space of the game : Zealot has been replaced by the Adept in 95% scenario, and reapers have little use after the early game (use mainly to scout and harass, until your opponent have enough defense to counter it.)
The change to zealot don't seem usefull to me : it provides no boost for the early game, and i feel, in the beginning of the game, players will still choose between Adept (harass potential, ok tank unit, good dps vs light unit) , Stalker (light armored bonus, range, can be micro, blink potential for the mid game) or a mix of the two.
I'm not talking about the Reaper, because honestly, i have no idea how to turn this unit into something usefull for mid/late game. Buffing a fast unit who ignore terrain height can be a recipe for disaster.
Unless i'm completely wrong about Zealots and Reapers, don't you think a little redesign for those 2 units could be helpful ? It would create more choices for Terran and Protoss players early, thus adding (hopefully) new strategy to the game.
I'm throwing ideas here and there, but what about looking into the singleplayer aspect of the game. Like adding 1 or 2 new upgrades to these 2 units based on their respective add-on ? Crazy suggestion, but you will get my point : give base Zealots the charge ability (nerf the ability lightly if needed) and replace the Charge upgrade by a Whirlwind upgrade similar to this one
Well, that's it
This post is more about design than anything else.
I would like to hear your opinions about this.
Honestly, as a SC2 spectator and a gamer who enjoy game design, i would like to ask the Dev Team about this "concern" of me. Unfortunatly, i can't :x
And sorry for my poor english, i'm a french guy
Thank you for reading this.
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I like that they are willing to do changes on this scale but I'd rather have them do it more alongside nerfs, not buffs, except tank damage of course. Things do too much damage as it is.
Anyway, if they'd nerf Adept hp a bit people have to be more careful with them and don't just shade them on the opponents army and they'd get cleaned up faster used as harass. But also, would make Zealots beefier than them and the better choice as meatshields for your expensive army.
I don't mind the Reaper not having a bigger role in the game, they get used enough imo, more than the Swarm Host at least.
But shouldn't this not just be in the design changes thread?
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Well, the Zealot can do a lot more dmg to Tank lines compared to Adepts, and the increase in speed should help a lot with flanking.
I know i'm a biased Terran player, but i feel that the Adept is a bit to versatile in both harassment potential and as a core fighting unit.
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I have been playing a lot of the balance test map as protoss (gm level) and Zealots feel really good against mech and zerg. The slight speed buff is really nice. Maybe more has to be done, but I really like the pretty big buff.
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Reaper
I believe that it's found it's place. Harass, Scouting and potential Cheese.
Let's think about what scouting was like for Terran prior the Reaper finding it's place.
SCV scout and then guess until you land a good scan...That was it.
Now, we have a skill defining unit, that can gain value with intense micro, gain value by continued scouting, some people manage to keep them alive for 5 minutes and see that Stargate, or the Roach Warren.
You can deny early creep with it, too.
I don't think every unit needs to be used in every stage of the game. Units should have a drop off point, a time when they lose effectiveness. I think it's awesome that we get a unit with a purpose, and it excels at it if you're a good player.
Zealot
I completely understand where you're coming from here, I think one of the underlying problems is that almost every unit moves waaaay faster than the Zealot UNTIL it gets Charge, and (especially with the upcoming buff) once it does get Charge it's WAAAY faster than most units. I'm almost tempted to say Make Zealots start with Charge, but cost 200 Minerals each, or something like that. Charge costs so much money and it takes so long to tech to. You can get out Glaives on half the money, which buffs a ranged unit with more health. Bizarre.
Or maybe instead of starting with charge, reduce the cost of Charge and place it on the Cybernetics core.
A big, underlying problem with the Zealot is that they don't gain use until you've developed the Twilight Council, in which case you are given these three options, Zealots, Stalkers, or Adepts.
In which case, who in their right mind would go into the mid game with something that not only is Melee, but slower moving than the other two? (Shade makes Adepts way better)
Maybe, we need to look at moving Charge to the Cybernetics Core. This would create an interesting overlap between Charge and Warp Gate. Do I rush Warp Gate, or do I build out of Gateways a little longer and get Charge. I think this would be the smartest change for the Zealot.
Blizzard keeps talk about Zealots in Warp Prisms as if you'd ever choose a somewhat fast Melee unit over a ranged unit that can 'teleport' the entire base into another mineral line.
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Seeker
Where dat snitch at?37023 Posts
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EPT
