Blizzard to focus on Mech this week.

After playing several games on all matchups post patch 10 (and 100+ pre patch), here are my thoughts on the terran side of things.


On Units:

Reapers: Get shutdown pretty easily in TvZ/TvP matchups while becoming much more deadlier in TvT. The player with the reaper who gets hit first loses which seems very frustrating.

I think their damage against light units need to be toned down alittle here to give marines or even hellions some chance. Would be great if there were ways to overcome armoured foes e.g marauders/roaches/stalkers instead of 1~2 of them shutting down all of them unless massed.

Widow Mines: I think they are a nice addition to someone who mechs in the TvZ/TvT matchups (more on this later) and give some useful defense utility. The 1 second burrow time makes them very good offensive units. Seems abit too supply heavy for lots of board control. Itd be nice if hi-sec auto tracking could increase their range or something that makes them alittle more usable late game when detectors are plenty.

Given their build time (from factories that are expensive in early/mid game) and supply cost they can countered far too easily though or microed around. Also why do they trigger on free hallucinations e.g. pheonixes which effectively make all that resources/supply spent on WMs redundant. reason why they are literally useless in TvP.

Medivacs: Love the speed boost as it creates really interesting scenarios (frustration for the enemy) but the ability should have a longer cool down or an energy cost or takes extra damage in return for speed so that it is really for emergency only.

Healing upgrade is far too good. Taking out small drops or small contingent of the MMM bio force is far too difficult e.g. mech vs bio as more damage is required or a presence of a large large force.

Thors: I do like the HEP option and I think the thor in terms of the 3d model/design is "cool" yet reality is that its still too costly/clunky. It still feels too cumbersome. I think the original idea of the warhound being half the thor would fix this with the HEP option. So a warhound with lower cost/size/supply with similiar GtA range attack as the thor (fires 2 rockets instead of 4 in ExpP? and a weaker HEP?).

Hellions/Hellbats/BattleHellions: Ive always liked battle hellions and their ability to transform. Ive never tried Hellbat + MMM but in terms of "mech" and the hellions role, they do well e.g. providing a beefy layer for your mech composition or hold position hellbat drops with medivacs.

However instead of being even moreso effective against light units, I think that they need either an upgrade to either make alittle bit more durable (take less FF? in battle mode?) or be a little more effective against anti light foes (a little higher flat base damage?).

Ravens: I really do think that the seeker missiles need to have some sort of splash back. The current ability seems useful in say sniping tanks or pre-engagement harass but during actual engagements they're becoming quite awkward and less effective to use compared to the old.

Either the old seeker makes its return or a new ability that involves splash (duration or direct etc) is a must. Also some attention to auto turrets would be nice.

General thoughts on other units/upgrades/misc stuff: I think battle cruisers are fine as they are contrary to what others thinks atm even in TvP that doesn't involve tempests. Tanks on the otherhand should be given a buff given all these new threats posed by the other races + maps (no more steppes) + the redundancy of 1/1/1 in TvP. Whether its a damage buff or cost/supply buff Im not sure but it definitely needs one. Tech reactors would be a nice macro buff for T which lacks severely in that department in the late game.

Lastly I feel as if vikings should have a late game upgrade to make them deal or atleast be more durable against all these new air threats that has cropped up in HOTS + durable ground mode.

On Matchups:

TvT: Outside of reaper wars, I think the matchup is generally similiar to WoL with few minor differences like bio drops becoming abit too nasty.

TvZ: In terms of mech, I think they are in a pretty good spot. A combination of WMs/hellbats/thors/tanks with later air support has a very interesting relationship with whats happening over at the zerg camp e.g. roach/hydra, vipers, new ultralisks etc. The widow mines help out against the remaxes and air threats e.g. mutas overpowering thors.

However because of the new raven ability, the air war seems harder than it was to begin with. Need the splash back. Lastly, swarmhost's locusts do far too much damage hence why when they reach a number like 10+, it becomes very difficult to deal with them. I think more locust/less damage would be better option.

TvP: This one in terms of mech has far too many problems. The tempests seem to really kill off the viability all together. MsC/hallucinations makes WM redundant and archons eat through hellbats.

I think hallucinations either aren't free or are similiar to the BW counterparts (so no flying scanner ala phoenix) or ob build time goes back to what it was originally since scouting is essentially all so easy now. Im thinking hallucinations need another look.

The dreaded 1/1/1 seems not so effective anymore due to the MsC and the MsC poses some early game threat (fly straight into T mineral line along with a stalker/zealot poke) that puts T into defensive mode most of the time. The threat of oracles (I didn't know but 2~3 of them can ignore a turret or two and clear out mineral lines or take out key buildings in matter of seconds).

I think instead of looking at Terran balance, the immortal and tempests need to be looked at because if they are toned down in a way that they dont hard counter things, I think mech could be viable. Immortals which also pose problems in PvZ ala immortal sentry all in should be toned down so that tanks can exploit some weakeness instead of relying SO much on ghosts. EMPs should "support" the units not decide their viability. Whether hardened shield is an ability or damage is nerfed or some other rework Im not sure. What im thinking is a nice balance so that immortals aren't so susceptible to burst damage dealers like marines while not being too specialised as an anti-armoured sniper.

With regards to tempests, I think they are a fine unit except that they need some sort of a weakness to compensate for the massive range/hitpoints and dareisay movement speed (same as thor/BCs etC). Dealing with tempests means you really have to commit say your vikings hence why this weakness is required. An interesting concept of a flying space controlling unit that reduces its speed and AOE damage in return for a focused long range attack would be interesting..

Just my thoughts for now.