EPT
On February 17 2013 14:48 Orek wrote:
First game I watched in HotS. Very interesting. Is there anywhere I can find changes in HotS? I couldn't care less how things have transitioned during beta. So, it would be nice if there is a list of changes "directly" from current WoL patch. I heard there have been something like 15 patches so far, but earlier patches must be irrelevant at this point.
First game I watched in HotS. Very interesting. Is there anywhere I can find changes in HotS? I couldn't care less how things have transitioned during beta. So, it would be nice if there is a list of changes "directly" from current WoL patch. I heard there have been something like 15 patches so far, but earlier patches must be irrelevant at this point.
Complete WoL to HotS Changes (So Far)
+ Show Spoiler [HotS Balance Changes] +
PROTOSS
TERRAN
ZERG
- Carrier
- Interceptors can now change targets when they are in leash range.
- Dark Shrine
- The cost is now 150/150, down from 100/250.
- Mothership
- Recall teleports the Mothership and all nearby units owned by the player to the targeted Nexus.
- The Vortex ability has been removed from the game.
- New Ability: Time Warp.
- Creates a temporal field that slows all enemy ground units’ movement speed within a 3.5 radius by 50%.
- This ability costs 75 energy to cast
- This ability can be cast from 9 range.
- Creates a temporal field that slows all enemy ground units’ movement speed within a 3.5 radius by 50%.
- Recall teleports the Mothership and all nearby units owned by the player to the targeted Nexus.
- http://wiki.teamliquid.net/starcraft2/Mothership_Core
- http://wiki.teamliquid.net/starcraft2/Oracle
- Phoenix
- Range increased from 4 to 5. Upgrade still grants +2 range.
- Pylon
- Warp-in on ramps downhill is now allowed. Warp-in to the high ground is not possible anymore.
- Sentry
- Hallucination no longer requires research.
- Stalker
- Blink research time increased from 140 to 170 seconds.
- http://wiki.teamliquid.net/starcraft2/Tempest_(unit)
- Void Ray
- Prismatic Beam
- No longer charges up.
- Weapon period decreased from 0.6 to 0.5.
- No longer does passive +massive damage.
- No longer charges up.
- New Ability: Prismatic Alignment
- Increases damage to armored units by 6 for 20 seconds, with a 1 minute cooldown. This does not scale with upgrades.
- Activating the ability now causes a timer to display over the Void Ray for the duration of the effect.
- Increases damage to armored units by 6 for 20 seconds, with a 1 minute cooldown. This does not scale with upgrades.
- Supply cost increased from 3 to 4.
- Prismatic Beam
TERRAN
- Armory
- The Armory now only has one armor upgrade for both air and ground upgrades for both Factory and Starport units.
- Battlecruiser
- Yamato Cannon energy cost decreased from 125 to 100.
- http://wiki.teamliquid.net/starcraft2/Hellbat
- Medivac
- New ability: Ignite Afterburners
- Speed boost that increases movement speed and acceleration to 4.25 for 8 seconds. 20 second cooldown.
- New ability: Ignite Afterburners
- Raven
- Seeker Missile has been redesigned:
- Energy cost decreased from 125 to 75.
- Can now fire from 10 range.
- Missile comes out and stays immobile in front of the Raven for 5 seconds while charging up, then rapidly moves and explodes at the target for 100 damage plus splash damage.
- Targeted unit lights up red when targeted. If the unit moves 13 range out of where the Seeker Missile is, the Missile fizzles.
- Energy cost decreased from 125 to 75.
- Seeker Missile has been redesigned:
- Reaper
- New passive ability: Combat Drugs
- Health regenerates 2hp/s if not attacked during the last 10 seconds (same as Protoss shields)
- Health increased from 50 to 60.
- Movement speed increased from 2.95 to 3.75.
- No longer requires a Tech Lab Addon.
- No longer have their anti-building grenades.
- P-45 Gauss Pistol weapon damage decreased from 4 +5 vs. Light to 4.
- New passive ability: Combat Drugs
- Siege Tank
- Siege Tanks no longer require an upgrade in order to enter Siege Mode.
- Thor
- 250mm Strike Cannons has been removed, along with its associated energy bar.
- The Thor can now switch between two modes: High-Impact Payload and Explosive Payload. The mode shift takes 4 seconds.
- When in High-Impact Payload mode, the Thor switches to a different anti-air gun (250mm Punisher Cannons) that has 10 range and deals 24 flat damage.
- Thor radius, inner radius, and separation radius increased from 0.8215 to 1.
- 250mm Strike Cannons has been removed, along with its associated energy bar.
Widow Mine
ZERG
- Creep Tumor
- No longer spawn instantly, but instead have a three second spawning animation.
- May now be placed on ramps.
- No longer spawn instantly, but instead have a three second spawning animation.
- Hatchery
- The Evolve Burrow upgrade requirement has been moved to the Hatchery.
- The Pneumatized Carapace upgrade now only requires a Hatchery.
- The Evolve Burrow upgrade requirement has been moved to the Hatchery.
- Hydralisk
- New Upgrade: Muscular Augments
- Increases hydralisk off-creep speed from 2.25 to 2.81. Speed on creep unchanged (3.37)
- New Upgrade: Muscular Augments
- Infestor
- Fungal Growth:
- Is now a projectile.
- Speed of the projectile is 12.
- Range up to 10.
- Damage decreased from 30 +10 vs. Armored to 30.
- Is now a projectile.
- Fungal Growth:
- Mutalisk
- Speed increased from 3.75 to 4. Acceleration stays at 3.5.
- New passive ability: Tissue Regeneration
- Mutalisk health regeneration rate increased from .2734 to 1
- Speed increased from 3.75 to 4. Acceleration stays at 3.5.
- Spine Crawler
- This unit now completely blocks pathing when placed next to other structures, including other Spine Crawlers.
- Zerglings and other small units can no longer squeeze in between Spine Crawlers.
- The scale of this unit has been increased from 0.85 to 0.95.
- This unit now completely blocks pathing when placed next to other structures, including other Spine Crawlers.
- Spore Crawler
- This unit no longer requires an Evolution Chamber.
- The weapon damage for Acid Spew has been increased from 15 to 15 + 15 vs. Biological.
- This unit no longer requires an Evolution Chamber.
- http://wiki.teamliquid.net/starcraft2/Swarm_Host
- Ultralisk
- Damage changed from 15+20 armored to 35 flat damage.
- Viper
+ Show Spoiler [HotS Features] +
GENERAL
USER INTERFACE
OBSERVER MODE
EDITOR
- New Menu Screens
- Revamped overall UI layout, art, and graphic style.
- More detailed information on these changes can be found here.
- Revamped overall UI layout, art, and graphic style.
- Clans Support Added
- Clan tags are now pre-pended to character names of all players who join a clan.
- More detailed information on Clan Support can be found here.
- Clan tags are now pre-pended to character names of all players who join a clan.
- Leveling System
- Players now earn XP when playing Ranked and Unranked matchmaking games or when playing Custom Games on Blizzard melee maps.
- As players earn XP they will progress in level, with a maximum level of 20 for each race.
- Decals and portraits are rewarded through the leveling system.
- More detailed information on the leveling system can be found here.
- Players now earn XP when playing Ranked and Unranked matchmaking games or when playing Custom Games on Blizzard melee maps.
- Physics effects on the battlefield have been greatly enhanced.
- Death animations have been updated for many units.
- Ragdoll physics now cause units to get blasted away from explosions more naturally.
- After being killed, units can now fall off cliff edges, into caverns, etc.
- Physics effects have been polished on many existing units.
- Performance has been improved.
- Physics-triggered sounds have been added.
- Death animations have been updated for many units.
- Improved Score Screen and Added Stats
- Experience Tab: Added a Score Screen tab that tracks XP gains and leveling progress.
- Performance Tab: Now tracks gameplay performance stats such as Average Float and Combat Efficiency, and displays lifetime averages and values for the current match.
- Added a “Play Again” button to the post-game Score Screen.
- Race Report: Added a profile section that tracks performance by race for each matchup.
- Map Report: Added a profile section that tracks performance on each ladder map.
- Experience Tab: Added a Score Screen tab that tracks XP gains and leveling progress.
- Groups
- Players who wish to associate casually and in larger numbers than Clans can now create and join Groups, with a designated chat channel, a News tab where stories can be posted, an Info tab where officers can post a brief description of the Group, and a Members roster. For more information on Groups, check out our first look at the feature.
- Unranked Play
- On the Multiplayer screen, players can now select Unranked Play to engage in matchmaking with the ranking system suspended.
- Players Near Me
- Recognizes other StarCraft II games running on the player’s network, making it easier to chat, play, and make friends with nearby players.
- On the Multiplayer screen, players can now select Unranked Play to engage in matchmaking with the ranking system suspended.
- AI Communication
- Players can now issue orders to AI partners.
- This is a preliminary implementation of this feature, and we will be adding to it over the coming weeks. Please keep an eye on our Heart of the Swarm Beta Discussion forum for further updates.
- Players can now issue orders to AI partners.
- The StarCraft II Arcade is now available in the Heart of the Swarm Beta.
- Leveling
- The number of levels for each race has been increased from 20 to 30, for a total of 90 attainable levels per character.
- The overall XP required to reach max-level has been increased.
- All XP previously earned has been reset to zero. Thanks for your continuing feedback, and please keep it coming!
- The number of levels for each race has been increased from 20 to 30, for a total of 90 attainable levels per character.
- Exciting new replay features have been added to Heart of the Swarm.
- Watch With Others - This feature allows you to watch replays in sync with other players on Battle.net
- Take Command - This feature allows you or your group to take control of selected player armies while watching a replay.
- Recover Game - This feature allows you to recover a prematurely ended game from a replay.
- For more details about these new features, please see our overview on the StarCraft II Community Site.
- Watch With Others - This feature allows you to watch replays in sync with other players on Battle.net
- Vs. AI Mode has been enabled. Players can now challenge an AI opponent that scales in difficulty.
- Training Mode has been enabled. In Training Mode, you’ll work your way up from basic StarCraft gameplay skills to greater challenges designed to hone your skills.
USER INTERFACE
- Custom Games
- Many drop-down filters are now consolidated into side navigation.
- Merged Join Game and Create Game screens into a single page.
- Many drop-down filters are now consolidated into side navigation.
- Moved all party displays and controls into the Party Chat window.
- Updated the Profile Summary screen to include progress UI for the new leveling system.
- Updated loading screens with new background images, more clearly displayed player names, and the overhead map.
- New Copy Link buttons have been added, which automatically copy certain pages in-game to the clipboard, allowing players to share them with others via clickable links in chat or on the web. When clicked, these links will navigate to the in-game page.
- In-Game UI Polish
- Moved the Main Menu and Help buttons above the command card.
- Achievements and Message Log menus are now accessible via the Main Menu.
- Added a Select Army Units button next to the Idle Worker button.
- Moved the Main Menu and Help buttons above the command card.
- Unit Status bar settings have been added to the Gameplay Options screen.
- Decal art has been updated to appear brighter and more visible.
- New Victory/Loss sequences now play at the end of a game.
- Show Unit Status Bars – Damaged: Show only status bars for units that are below max health or energy.
- Team Colored Status Bars: Status bar border frames match each player’s team color.
- Show Unit Status Bars – Damaged: Show only status bars for units that are below max health or energy.
- Maps that appear in the Custom Games section now include all of the same Game Info pages as the maps available in the Arcade (Overview, How to Play, Patch Notes, Reviews).
- New options added to aid newer players in the Options > Controls menu
- Team Colored Life Bar
- Always Show Worker Status
- Simple Command Card
- Show Current Order Indicator
- Select All Larvae
- Display Experience Points
- Enable Enemy Unit Selection
- Team Colored Life Bar
- The Help section has been revised and updated.
OBSERVER MODE
- Leader Panel
- Added Structure tab and Upgrades tab.
- Observers can now click Leader Panel icons to center the game camera on a unit or structure.
- Clicking multiple times cycles through units of the same type.
- Added Structure tab and Upgrades tab.
- Minimap
- Attacked units now flash white for the observer.
- Nuclear Launch and Nydus Canals now create pings on the minimap for observers.
- Attacked units now flash white for the observer.
- Versus Mode Side Toggle
- Added a hotkey (Control-X) that flips the side on which players appear in various parts of the UI when watching a 1v1 Versus Mode game.
- By default, the player with the leftmost start location will appear on the left in the user interface.
- Added a hotkey (Control-X) that flips the side on which players appear in various parts of the UI when watching a 1v1 Versus Mode game.
EDITOR
- Many new features, updates, and improvements to the StarCraft II Editor have been made throughout the beta test. Please see our Comprehensive Editor Updates List in the Beta Discussion forum.
All of the above are changes have already been implemented. Global Play, new Dances, new Skins, and a customizable observer UI are expected, but haven't been properly implemented yet.
and Alive is like the only player that I dislike because his lack of give a fuck really pissed me off at IPL 4.
