Graviton Beam Bug

On September 28 2010 16:57 sob3k wrote:
Just tested, not frozen for me...

On September 28 2010 17:04 T0fuuu wrote:

I believe he is talking about the new patch. Americans dont have it yet.

On September 28 2010 22:46 Sin360 wrote:
Actually, its true, it stays frozen even if the unit is killed. BUT you didn't see you can actually press escape to cancel the graviton beam, in every circumstances. If you are lifting a unit, you can press escape and run away anytime, which is really kick-ass.

On September 28 2010 20:38 Elefanto wrote:
What's wrong with you Blizzard?
You used to be so solid, but fucking nearly _EVERYTHING_ up with sc2.
Chatchannels, Lan, Crossrealm Play, Custom Games, Bnet2.0 overall,
time by time bug patches and others fails.

START WORKING PROPERLY, IF I WOULD DO THIS IN MY JOB, HELL I WOULDN'T HAVE ONE BY NOW IF I WOULD WORK LIKE THIS.

Getting really mad about Blizzard after last couple of months.

On September 28 2010 20:42 Elwar wrote:
When Blizzard fix this hopefully at the same time they can look at the air upgrades and make it do a proper +1/+1 instead of +1/+0. Been +1/+0 only helps Terran (marines, hellions and SCVs), which is pretty lame if you ask me.

I can dream, right?

On September 29 2010 00:38 Eluadyl wrote:
give it a week, they'll fix it hopefully.

On September 28 2010 20:42 Elwar wrote:
When Blizzard fix this hopefully at the same time they can look at the air upgrades and make it do a proper +1/+1 instead of +1/+0. Been +1/+0 only helps Terran (marines, hellions and SCVs), which is pretty lame if you ask me.

I can dream, right?

On September 29 2010 00:45 blagoonga123 wrote:


Am i the only one who didn't understand this post at all?

On September 29 2010 00:49 Ndugu wrote:


Unlike every other unit that attacks x2, Phoenixes only get +1 per upgrade, when they should logically get +2.

Oh wait, do they already get +2 per upgrade because its X2, and thats why they don't get 1 (+1 light) per upgrade?

On September 29 2010 01:13 SilverPotato wrote:
SC2 is still a new game, I challenge any one of you to make a game as large scale as SC2 and not have any bugs or imba the first patch let alone after a 2 month beta. Also, if they did patches every time one little thing went wrong, we'd never be playing SC2 because everyone would be patching to the latest version.

Calm down and takes this opportunity to try out some new units.

On September 29 2010 01:13 SilverPotato wrote:
SC2 is still a new game, I challenge any one of you to make a game as large scale as SC2 and not have any bugs or imba the first patch let alone after a 2 month beta. Also, if they did patches every time one little thing went wrong, we'd never be playing SC2 because everyone would be patching to the latest version.

Calm down and takes this opportunity to try out some new units.

On September 29 2010 02:27 BlasiuS wrote:
small bugs aren't that big a deal. For example, your achievement points not displaying properly, or highlighting the incorrect character when you view someone on the ladder.

But when your patch introduces a very serious gameplay bug that drastically affects game balance, then it becomes a serious problem.

I am severely disappointed in blizzard for this

On September 28 2010 20:15 kudlaty_true wrote:
Lol, blizzard releasing a bugfix patch, which is generating next bugs. And this is after everybody yell at them for not testing their patches (ultras splash).
Seems they not listened. Seriously, how much worktime it requires to test a change on number of scenarios?

On September 29 2010 02:59 anilusion wrote:



Overreact much? Considering that you still can cancel the channeling manually, I don't see how this is a "very serious gameplay bug that drastically affects game balance".

On September 29 2010 02:59 Seide wrote:

It requires a lot of work time.

So let me get this straight:
Blizzard waits and tests everything b4 patching = blizzard get yelled at for talking too long to patch.
Blizzard releases a quick patch and creates a few bugs while fixing old ones = blizzard gets yelled at for trying to act quick.

Lose lose situation for Blizzard. Part of the reason the community is often not listened to. You cant keep everybody happy.

On September 29 2010 02:59 Seide wrote:

Blizzard waits and tests everything b4 patching = blizzard get yelled at for talking too long to patch.
Blizzard releases a quick patch and creates a few bugs while fixing old ones = blizzard gets yelled at for trying to act quick.

Lose lose situation for Blizzard. Part of the reason the community is often not listened to. You cant keep everybody happy.

On September 29 2010 02:59 Seide wrote:

From someone who works as a software test engineer: It requires a lot of work time.

So let me get this straight:
Blizzard waits and tests everything b4 patching = blizzard get yelled at for talking too long to patch.
Blizzard releases a quick patch and creates a few bugs while fixing old ones = blizzard gets yelled at for trying to act quick.

Lose lose situation for Blizzard. Part of the reason the community is often not listened to. You cant keep everybody happy.

On September 29 2010 02:59 anilusion wrote:



Overreact much? Considering that you still can cancel the channeling manually, I don't see how this is a "very serious gameplay bug that drastically affects game balance".

On September 28 2010 20:38 Elefanto wrote:
What's wrong with you Blizzard?
You used to be so solid, but fucking nearly _EVERYTHING_ up with sc2.
Chatchannels, Lan, Crossrealm Play, Custom Games, Bnet2.0 overall,
time by time bug patches and others fails.

START WORKING PROPERLY, IF I WOULD DO THIS IN MY JOB, HELL I WOULDN'T HAVE ONE BY NOW IF I WOULD WORK LIKE THIS.

Getting really mad about Blizzard after last couple of months.

User was warned for this post

On September 29 2010 03:05 HunterX11 wrote:How much time does it take to test the various conditions under which one might use a graviton beam? This isn't about thorough testing, this is about at least doing a quick once-over. How about Blizzard tests each change in a patch AT LEAST ONCE before releasing it. How many employees do they have? Three? Four? Sure, they might have to hire a fifth, but I think a company like Blizzard can afford the manpower.

On September 29 2010 04:06 TequilaBR wrote:


Or maybe they just tested with 1 ground unit and 1 phoenix, so the gorund unit was lifted after 50 energy without any trouble and they assumed the bug was fixed.

With no unit kill you cant notice the new bug.

On September 29 2010 04:18 Chronopolis wrote:
There's also a bug with the ability...if you use it when you have exactly 50 energy, the pheonix picks up and drops the target immediately, as if it had been emp'd. A minor annoyance when you are counting the seconds to your next graviton beam.

On September 29 2010 04:25 andynewin wrote:
I hell no I play Protoss and I use phoenix this could cause terrible terrible damage to my rating.

On September 29 2010 04:23 Liquid`Tyler wrote:

Actually this is one of the bugs that this patch addresses. There were only three gameplay changes:

* Fixed an issue where Ultralisk cleave range was being unintentionally extended by larger targets.
* Fixed an issue where the Phoenix's Graviton Beam was automatically canceled if you used it just after the Phoenix reached 50 energy.
* Fixed an issue where queuing Return Cargo on a worker would cause it to ignore the built-in delay after it finished gathering.

That's why everyone in this thread is complaining about the lack of testing of Graviton Beam. It wouldn't be so bad if this bug was completely unrelated to the changes they made but it's directly related. If any Blizzard employee played a few typical games involving Phoenixes, it's virtually impossible for them to miss this bug.

On September 29 2010 04:25 L3g3nd_ wrote:
phoenix are pretty useless atm, which is major as they are used a fair bit. shouldnt affect anything as other valid strats, but slims down the options a bit...

hopefully it is patched.

also dissapointing to see 2/3 gameplay changes going wrong.

On September 29 2010 04:26 L3g3nd_ wrote:

1. dont play till fixed (should be about a week)
2. gather bonus pool
3. ?????
4. PROFIT

On September 29 2010 04:23 Liquid`Tyler wrote:

Actually this is one of the bugs that this patch addresses. There were only three gameplay changes:

* Fixed an issue where Ultralisk cleave range was being unintentionally extended by larger targets.
* Fixed an issue where the Phoenix's Graviton Beam was automatically canceled if you used it just after the Phoenix reached 50 energy.
* Fixed an issue where queuing Return Cargo on a worker would cause it to ignore the built-in delay after it finished gathering.

That's why everyone in this thread is complaining about the lack of testing of Graviton Beam. It wouldn't be so bad if this bug was completely unrelated to the changes they made but it's directly related. If any Blizzard employee played a few typical games involving Phoenixes, it's virtually impossible for them to miss this bug.

On September 29 2010 06:47 Dog22 wrote:
Ok, so if the phoenix change messed up the phoenix because of lack of testing, and the ultra fix messed up the cleave because of lack of testing...maybe the mineral boosting has gone crazy too. Someone's gotta test it, because blizzard obviously hasn't.

On September 29 2010 00:45 blagoonga123 wrote:


Am i the only one who didn't understand this post at all?

On September 29 2010 06:55 FatkiddsLag wrote:


yes because that is what blizzard has been doing a lot with starcraft 2. making it more difficult and harder for new players.

On September 29 2010 07:43 KhAlleB wrote:


this is sarcasm...

he mean blizz never make thing harder only easier and they won't start today

On September 29 2010 07:38 Wiwiweb wrote:


Are you saying you would like this advanced technique to stay like I do?

On September 29 2010 08:18 SuperYo1000 wrote:




lol so you want to press "r" to reload the marines rifle after they fire or maybe to guide the stalker fire to its intended target?? oh wait wait. you want to have to click return cargo for each scv because its more advanced play?

On September 29 2010 10:00 KhAlleB wrote:

what game did you had to build interceptor separately be back in BW you didnt had to, you was able to spam the build key while you have selected every carrier

On September 29 2010 11:54 KhAlleB wrote:


this is a bug and they know
source: http://us.battle.net/sc2/en/forum/topic/791269342

On September 29 2010 00:49 Ndugu wrote:
Unlike every other unit that attacks x2, Phoenixes only get +1 per upgrade, when they should logically get +2.

Oh wait, do they already get +2 per upgrade because its X2, and thats why they don't get 1 (+1 light) per upgrade?

On September 29 2010 14:08 zyzski wrote:
just use a little more micro and press escape when you're done lifting, it'll drop the beams

On September 29 2010 11:54 KhAlleB wrote:


this is a bug and they know
source: http://us.battle.net/sc2/en/forum/topic/791269342

On September 29 2010 08:18 SuperYo1000 wrote:



lol so you want to press "r" to reload the marines rifle after they fire or maybe to guide the stalker fire to its intended target?? oh wait wait. you want to have to click return cargo for each scv because its more advanced play?

On September 29 2010 12:28 Elwar wrote:

Thats not a very good reason. Phoenixes and Reapers are the only units in the game with broken upgrades.

Thor attack is 6(+6 light)x4 and it gets 1(+1 light)x4 per upgrade.

If the phoenix had proper upgrades it would be much more useful against Terran early-game was the point of my post.

And the fact not getting bonus to light from upgrades ONLY helps Terran by nullifying an early +1 harass (against marines, SCVs and hellions) seems wrong. It has no real effect on PvZ or PvP.

On September 30 2010 03:09 Tsadiq wrote:
The "pro" to this is, that the best players will not be affected by it. It's a sarcastic comparison to other bugs, that are praised as advanced techniques.

The reasoning behind it is irrelevant and he doesn't ask for more features, that help worse players, to be removed. It's just a playful comparison.

On September 30 2010 01:51 FatkiddsLag wrote:


wtf are you talking about? mineral boosting was a benefit. there are absolutely no pros to this bug. and if blizzard wanted to go a route that made sc2 more technical then go ahead, take out automine, take out muti-building hotkeys. but just nerfing one unit to make it useless is not a benefit to anyone.

On September 30 2010 03:26 PJA wrote:


How does requiring more actions to control the phoenix not benefit anyone, yet requiring more actions to macro benefits someone?

On September 30 2010 06:20 arterian wrote:
Any news on this being fixed any time soon?

On September 29 2010 11:54 KhAlleB wrote:


this is a bug and they know
source: http://us.battle.net/sc2/en/forum/topic/791269342

On September 28 2010 20:15 kudlaty_true wrote:
Lol, blizzard releasing a bugfix patch, which is generating next bugs. And this is after everybody yell at them for not testing their patches (ultras splash).
Seems they not listened. Seriously, how much worktime it requires to test a change on number of scenarios?

On September 30 2010 06:15 Grond wrote:

So they patched 3 things and fubared at least 2 of them. Has anybody tested the mineral boost?

On September 30 2010 12:32 Danglars wrote:
A replay showing it for any interested:

http://rapidshare.com/files/422242633/Monsoon_-_Phoenix_Bug_Delay.SC2Replay
9:03 Zerg Base 7 o'clock position: Phoenix stays in graviton mode and refuses command to move away after drone is dead.
10:48 Teran Base 5 o'clock position: Phoenix stays in graviton mode after killing SCV and dies to marines because of immobility =(

This will seriously dampen my fun phoenix play until it is fixed. You won't hear me whining though, I kind of expect minor bugs to rear their heads after every patch.

On September 30 2010 12:41 Hypatio wrote:
I think that spider mines and mutalisk micro would have been removed in Brood War if the current people were in charge. They've already junked ultralisks with 1.1.1. It's really getting ridiculous.

- Fixed bug that allowed players to receive extra resources when
canceling building construction multiple times by exploiting lag in a
multi-player game.

- Cooldown times of units being dropped out of transports corrected.

- If you are really clever, you can crush tanks by landing buildings on them.
This is the unexpected consequence to fixing a cheeze that allowed players
to have siege tanks underneath barracks.

On September 30 2010 08:21 Techno wrote:


Way more than you could possibly imagine. Testing and debugging is the largest time sink when it comes to Computer Science.

On September 30 2010 13:24 thenexusp wrote:


You do realize you can press esc to cancel the graviton beam and allow the pheonix to move right

On October 02 2010 02:16 cromat wrote:


oh right you can just press esc. nevermind, phoenix is fine, no need for bug fix.

anyway, this will make protoss harder to play and more micro intensive which is good for e-sports because more micro means lesser players are less able to win, and games will be less boring for the players.

On October 03 2010 05:03 DeckOneBell wrote:
The fact this is still here is absurd. I assume they won't fix it until their Tuesday downtime, which is stupid, to say the least.

On October 03 2010 07:59 TheYango wrote:

Oh no! It's so absurd that a software company would need more than 2 days to fix a bug and test said bugfix!

On October 03 2010 07:59 TheYango wrote:

Oh no! It's so absurd that a software company would need more than 2 days to fix a bug and test said bugfix! It's absurd that they wouldn't give up their weekend because you HAVE to have this bug fixed!

On October 03 2010 08:45 leveller wrote:
How could this bug even make it into the game its just ridiculous it wasnt found out in internal testing...
Lucky there were no protoss in the final GSL rounds at least

On October 03 2010 12:16 Kyur wrote:
The magic escape key works wonders, it's not that big of a deal imo; just one extra key press. It kind of slows down the phoenix which balances the harass out a little bit but i don't think it's a major flaw that ruins the unit.

On October 03 2010 12:16 Kyur wrote:
The magic escape key works wonders, it's not that big of a deal imo; just one extra key press. It kind of slows down the phoenix which balances the harass out a little bit but i don't think it's a major flaw that ruins the unit.

On October 03 2010 13:20 DeckOneBell wrote:


It IS a major flaw that ruins the unit, I've addressed why the esc key doesn't work for any amount of phoenixes over 5, especially in a battle where your micro is needed for your ground forces as well.

You cancel ALL graviton beams with one escape press, and when you're lifting up four stalkers while five phoenixes shoot them, and your zealots are attacking the 10 stalkers underneath and you want to lay forcefields while picking up a new stalker every time one dies, yeah, no, that doesn't work.

On October 03 2010 12:11 DeckOneBell wrote:


It's been here since Tuesday. It's kind of a big deal to make one unit function absolutely not as intended. Something like this is definitely supposed to be during a beta phase of the game. Imagine queen transfuse was broken, or raven's couldn't place autoturrets.

The whole e-sport argument applies here too. There were several tournaments this weekend, and the results were no doubt skewed at least the smallest bit by this. Blizzard wants us to take SC2 seriously, and I really was, and actually still am, taking SC2 seriously, but this is hugely disappointing.

Besides, they supposedly fixed the phoenix in the first place, if they had done a better job testing then, this wouldn't be an issue now.

It might not be a big deal for me, I play probably only around five or so games a day, but I'm pretty sure Tyler/Nony couldn't do any of the phoenix builds he popularized for this TL Open.

Yeah. It's kinda stupid. Breaking the game with a patch is pretty unprofessional.



Definitely man. Imagine a protoss player who was practicing the entire week with his phoenix build learning that his build is useless.

On October 03 2010 07:59 TheYango wrote:

Oh no! It's so absurd that a software company would need more than 2 days to fix a bug and test said bugfix! It's absurd that they wouldn't give up their weekend because you HAVE to have this bug fixed!

On October 06 2010 06:29 Darksoldierr wrote:



Its more absurd, that a software company on level like Blizzard is patching a game without testing it at all.

On October 06 2010 06:54 Uhh Negative wrote:

They are testing it but you can't find every single bug. Sure, maybe they could be a bit more thorough but what you are saying is pretty much like saying, "Oh I can't believe this game they just released has bugs in it, why would they not test at all?".

On October 06 2010 06:54 Uhh Negative wrote:

They are testing it but you can't find every single bug. Sure, maybe they could be a bit more thorough but what you are saying is pretty much like saying, "Oh I can't believe this game they just released has bugs in it, why would they not test at all?".

On October 06 2010 18:15 Tossup wrote:
Ive recently used phoenix and found that the micro required isn't THAT horrid.. It just takes 1 more action after the thing has died.

On October 06 2010 18:27 Darksoldierr wrote:
Im not saying the game should became easier, but then make the reaper stop moving each time it shot for 5sec by default, or zerglings each time, they killed a unit, start eating its corpse for fun, however you can overwrite it, if you control it personally. You can see my point there

On October 06 2010 07:09 Barook wrote:
They're angry because the new bug is blatantly obvious and happens every time you activate the ability they wanted to fix. You can only overlook such a bug if you didn't test the fix at all, maybe because it was rushed into the patch.

That's the problem.

On October 06 2010 21:17 Parsimony wrote:
I chatted with Blizzard's David Kim (Dayvie) about the Phoenix gravitational beam bug, he told me that Blizz is aware of the current state of the Phoenix and told me for the time being, you will have to cancel (esc) out of it if it bugs out.

He also confirmed that a new patch is in progress to fix the GB bug and other various issues with StarCraft 2, when I asked for an approximate release date of the patch, he told me that there are too many variable to consider at the moment, in other words, no idea.

On October 08 2010 03:23 rastaban wrote:


If this is true then that is good news. I was afraid it might be a hidden change. I have had to stop using them because my APM isn't fast enough to support this change.

On October 08 2010 02:30 iCCup.Diamond wrote:
I got to admit I'm blown away this bug still is in the game.

On October 08 2010 03:48 Jerax wrote:
http://us.battle.net/sc2/en/forum/topic/791269342#1

Looks like they know about it and it will get fixed soon.

On October 06 2010 18:15 Tossup wrote:
Ive recently used phoenix and found that the micro required isn't THAT horrid.. It just takes 1 more action after the thing has died.

On October 08 2010 07:49 dekwaz wrote:
Obviously not a game programer but how the hell does a bug gets introduced on a unit that is not touched in a previous patch? Unless of course it's intentional and they're just messing around with it and waiting for feedback.

On October 08 2010 07:49 dekwaz wrote:
Obviously not a game programer but how the hell does a bug gets introduced on a unit that is not touched in a previous patch? Unless of course it's intentional and they're just messing around with it and waiting for feedback.

On October 08 2010 08:00 zyzski wrote:
just micro them and press escape to end the beam

On October 08 2010 07:52 brutality wrote:


there was a previous bug with the phoenix that was dealt with in 1.1 their attempt to fix the problem, which they did, created this new problem.

On October 06 2010 21:17 Parsimony wrote:
I chatted with Blizzard's David Kim (Dayvie) about the Phoenix gravitational beam bug, he told me that Blizz is aware of the current state of the Phoenix and told me for the time being, you will have to cancel (esc) out of it if it bugs out.

On October 10 2010 08:16 stroggos wrote:
still waiting for protoss to be viable again. Perhaps they should delete marauders the next patch for 2 weeks.

On October 10 2010 10:09 stroggos wrote:
Or perhaps make it so marauders are frozen in place after they shoot a concussive, and you have to press escape to free each one.

would blizzard take 2 weeks to fix that? no because marauders are way more important to them than phoenix.

On October 10 2010 13:50 xiyuema wrote:
ppl seem to think blizzard has an unlimited source of developers and testers and they all work for free and all have all this free time. i dont think thats the case.

On October 10 2010 13:50 xiyuema wrote:
ppl seem to think blizzard has an unlimited source of developers and testers and they all work for free and all have all this free time. i dont think thats the case.

On October 10 2010 13:50 xiyuema wrote:
ppl seem to think blizzard has an unlimited source of developers and testers and they all work for free and all have all this free time. i dont think thats the case.

On October 10 2010 14:36 stroggos wrote:


they could have reverted the fix to the pheonix bug instantly, could they not?

On October 10 2010 13:50 xiyuema wrote:
ppl seem to think blizzard has an unlimited source of developers and testers and they all work for free and all have all this free time. i dont think thats the case.

On October 10 2010 13:50 xiyuema wrote:
ppl seem to think blizzard has an unlimited source of developers and testers and they all work for free and all have all this free time. i dont think thats the case.

On October 10 2010 18:16 abrasion wrote:


Ultralisk bug was fixed fast.

On October 10 2010 13:50 xiyuema wrote:
ppl seem to think blizzard has an unlimited source of developers and testers and they all work for free and all have all this free time. i dont think thats the case.

On October 11 2010 01:00 sjschmidt93 wrote:
I'm not a progammer, but this doesn't seem like it should take this long to fix... amirite?

On October 11 2010 04:26 Lil Sassy wrote:
ITT people who don't understand video game programming continued to complain for 11 pages

On September 28 2010 23:00 0neder wrote:
Blizzard's programmers are so incompetent. Do they double check any of their work?

I mean, they had splash radii inverted for months for pete's sake, this is getting ridiculous.

On October 11 2010 04:41 rockslave wrote:
Did they confirm it is a bug? Maybe it was intended.

On October 11 2010 04:26 Lil Sassy wrote:
ITT people who don't understand video game programming continued to complain for 11 pages