HotS balance update #8 - Page 40

On December 06 2012 08:30 Monochromatic wrote:
DT rush will be really good now.

Seeker missile change is interesting.

New medivac seems really good.

On December 06 2012 13:43 TheSwamp wrote:


How will it be really good? The build time hasn't changed.

On December 06 2012 13:38 Rabiator wrote:

They havent said anything about the splash damage and this is a MASSIVE boost to the Ultralisk against light units which isnt good. Zerg already have the lowest number of units which are "limited" by "bonus damage" and removing one of them wont make the game better ...


Not really ... since they will probably lighten up the target neon red so no one can miss it and getting to 13 range in 3 seconds wont be that much of a problem for many units. The missile still costs 125 energy - which is a shitton - and is still vulnerable to Feedback. Due to the "you can get out of range" factor the Raven has to get close enough so it doesnt happen and we are back down to an effective range of 6 where it will be Fungaled or shot down ...

I wonder what they make of the duration upgrade for the missile ...

On December 06 2012 12:51 Blargh wrote:
Ok, it's time to anal yze this shit.

Medivac changes...
Mostly good changes, it seems though that #'s are increasing, but HP isn't in HotS. The increase in heal rate should be good versus spells like fungal and storm. The speed boost is at least a little interesting, giving terrans the ability to maneuver out of 'sticky situations' every 20 seconds. Obviously, the CD really only has relevance with drops, but it should definitely help with escaping once your ground army gets cleaned up. With buffs come the increased costs/build times, which is okay.
Reaper changes...
Sort of bad, reapers are mobile as is, they do NOT need to be nascars. That won't really add any more depth to them than what they currently have. There really isn't anything anyone trying to defend against them can do differently other than just build a spine crawler and look away (no micro/skill involved there).
Widow Mine changes...
Seems okay. It is a bit too good to hit cloaked units, but cloaked units are a bad design in the first place, basically relying on the "DETECTION OR NO DETECTION" system. Terrans obviously have scans, but you can't always rely on those. I see this change mostly having to do with banshees, but DTs too I suppose. It seems weird though, getting a turret for detection (which counters banshee) but then also getting a widow mine. The upgrade seems alright, but still I feel widow mines don't really have that much depth to them. Widow mines should be much more of a positional thing, sort of like how vulture's mines were in BW.
Thor changes...
Definitely the right move to remove the stupid cannon... The different modes feel a little weird, but are probably there to make mech a bit more viable vs various things. I don't really have complaints with the two modes, unless the new one turns out to be way too strong.
Raven changes.........
These made little sense to me. Now, I'm -okay- with the 10 range thing, it's cool and all. So is the 3 second charge up time, hi-lighting the target. But then, wtf, AoE is removed, so really the ONLY function of seeker missile now is to auto-kill T3 units. When I was first reading, I was thinking now people would be able to select the target being tracked and remove them from the group of units (to minimize splash dmg), requiring skill, but then nope, it's just that you move the single unit OUT of range (13 range) then it cancels. So, this is basically like a battle cruiser's laser beam???? Stupid change!
Hellbat
I think it's okay to have more splash radius, but the hellbat is a sort of stupid concept in the first place. It's pretty herpderp vs light melee units, which is always bad.
Armory
ffs yes. Best change in the whole thing, since switching from one tech to another is way harder for terran than any other race, really. Protoss can manage it easily enough since forge ups are pretty universal except air. Hopefully terran will have a more diverse army vs toss and even zerg now.
Mothership
Recall change is okay since the current one seems a bit weird. But why, why the fuck, is there an autokill spell for ONE target, which cannot even target massive?? What is the function of this? What will this add to the game? Is it the same placement as it is now or is it a target-style spell? Do not want!
Oracle
The new beam might have some place in the game, but honestly, what would this really be used on? Seems like they are just adding random spells/effects to their units and hoping they strike rich. The build time makes sense because the thing came out way too fast for how strong it was.
Penix change...
I don't think the unit needed more range. Since it attacks WHILE moving, you basically don't/can't micro it (you stop when you focus fire, if I recall) which just adds to the herpderpness of the game. Also, I don't want penix killing my shit from even further away, since OL's still die despite the whole main being covered with spore crawlers... Seems like another random change which shouldn't add any depth to the game. The researchable passive sure seemed like it.
Dark Shrine
Why the fuck are they making the thing even LESS expensive? Watching DTs =/= fun. The most skill-requiring part about DTs is just coming up with DT expand builds that force their opponent in their base or they take too much damage. Also, this affects early game so much more than it does late game because of obvious reasons (it costs less, you have more econ. late game). This change is horrible, DTs are a bad unit in the first place. "Free wins are even cheaper now! LOLX!"
Void Ray
Removal of the charge is okay since it pretty much didn't take any skill anyway. The unit itself is sort of too big, slow, expensive to be viable though. The CD spell seems like it's purpose is to give toss a way to kill T3? Seems a bit weird honestly. The toss will use it when there's armored units that need killing, but won't use it otherwise. It's available 1/3 of the time and finds don't usually last more than 20 seconds, so it seems sort of stupid. VR needs to have a more interesting function than what it's got.
Hydralisk
Yeah speed hydras seemed more of a lair thing since they are useless without it. Having it be hive tech seemed off because hydras were only truly viable for shitty timing attacks and ZvZ lategame (sometimes...) which means you wouldn't be able to get the upgrade in time for the timing attack or it wouldn't have any real use because hydras lategame zvz just tag along with BL's (slow units).
Mutalisk
Increased speed is about the worst thing you could do to the mutalisk. Now, it's even MORE of a hit and run unit. The thing will zip right across the map. What will this add to the game? Drop ships now get cleaned up a little bit faster? Spire rushes will now catch people even more offguard? I don't get it.
Swarm Host
The problem with the SH was sort of that it would just get sniped by blink stalkers and shit. But honestly, the thing is basically just a broodlord. It spawns some painful free units, but need support or just get sniped off. Unit should be like Lurker or something instead. I suppose increased HP helps some, but it doesn't really make the unit any more interesting. I'd like to see it with even less HP actually. Then zerg have to be really careful with them.
Infestor
I think we all knew that fungal should be a projectile.... But I'd like to see a decreased radius or something. Maybe decrease energy required and decrease damage and duration by a bit or something. Projectiles definitely take more skill than insta-derp casts, at least. IT eggs should have never been more than the unit itself... and since the things can snipe buildings relatively well even at 0/0, I'd say that change is okay.
Ultralisk
Not really sure what was wrong with the charge, but now it's just a super duper herp derp unit where you let it a-move into marine marauder. It's basically a stronger, tankier zealot. Zealot is a really shitty unit. In fact, zealots might be one of the stupidest units in the game, just because it literally doesn't take micro and it is tanky.
Viper
Increased health is an alright change, but I sort of feel that zergs should just take care of their spellcasters better. They have been spoiled with infestor being impossible to kill (fungal roots?). Which is still in the game too, so keeping a viper alive shouldn't be that hard.

Ok done, I give the overall changes a 4/10. Too many stupid, negative changes, but a few of the positive ones I definitely do agree with (Infestor.......)

On December 06 2012 13:34 Savko wrote:
What are we supposed to use vortex on? It doesn't effect massive units. Am I gonna use it to one shot a single infestor?