EPT1) Is removing of Khaydarin amulet going to balance casters/specialists?
2) Is removing of Khaydarin amulet going to balance game?
As I have stated this, I will now move on to talk about this 2 different questions separately.
1) BALANCING CASTERS:
Before I will start I want to note that there is huge misunderstanding of some specific core mechanics in this game, so I will talk about that first.
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There are a lot of players saying that HT takes so long to build - usually people say, that it is something like 45 seconds (Warpgate cooldown) and 5 seconds to warp-in.
What is a reson behind this? Cooldown is not active before warp-in, but after it. It is part of (reversed) production cycle of previous unit... And OFC Protoss have to wait for previous production cycle to finish...
Just like Terrans have too!
And in similar fashion (with just special mechanics) Zergs have too!
Saying that cooldown of previous unit is part of production time of current unit is about as ridiculous as saying that it:
Takes 90 seconds to build Ghost, because you first have to wait 45 seconds for first Ghost to finish...
OR
It takes 90 seconds to build Infestor because you first have to wait 40 seconds before you larva inject finishes...
Sounds ridiculous right?
The only difference here is, that while Barrack is training Ghost, its occupied for 45 seconds and then you get Ghost - while when Warpgate is used to get HT, you get him in 5 seconds and then Warpgate is occupied for 45 seconds.
Its reversed production cycle, with switched stages of production, nothing more.
Instead of getting HT at the end of production cycle, you get him at the start of production cycle. And cooldown is then finishing part of production cycle of just warped-in unit.
Cooldown of warpgates is not something unfair for Protoss race, Protoss just have it in different (and actually better) order.
So here are facts:
If - and only IF - Terran has non-occupied Barrack, he can produce Ghost - and it will take 45 seconds.
If - and only IF - Zerg has free larva, he can produce Infestor - and it will take 50 seconds.
If - and only IF - Protoss has non-occupied Warpgate, he can produce HT - and it will take 5 seconds. (After build time of 5 seconds, Warpgate will remain occupied for 45 seconds)
Note:
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While Terran can cancel production of previous unit, Warpgate cooldown can not be canceled.
This is probably the only disadvantage of this mechanics, balancing reduction of build times to 5 seconds and also teleporting to pylon field.
So it is possible to cancel Marauder, and start Ghost, but its not possible to cancel Zealot and start HT - unless its still warping, then you can undeploy Warp Prism (or destroy pylon) to do it.
This is probably the only disadvantage of this mechanics, balancing reduction of build times to 5 seconds and also teleporting to pylon field.
So it is possible to cancel Marauder, and start Ghost, but its not possible to cancel Zealot and start HT - unless its still warping, then you can undeploy Warp Prism (or destroy pylon) to do it.
What does this mean?
When production is triggered by something, lets say when you notice enemy coming towards you and start producing Ghost, Infestor or HT, it will look like this.
If Zerg has free larva, and energy upgrade for Infestors researched, it will take 50 seconds to get Infestor with 75 energy, and then Infestor has to move where is needed.
If Terran has non-occupied Barrack, and energy upgrade for Ghosts researched, it will take 45 seconds to get Ghost with 75 energy, and then Ghost has to move where is needed.
If Protoss has non-occupied Warpgate, and Khaydarin Amulet is not researched, it will take 49,5 seconds to get HT with 75 energy, and HT will be ready where is needed.
Summarization:
It takes 45 sec to produce Ghost ready for EMP with energy upgrade.
It takes 50 sec to produce Infestor ready for FG with energy upgrade.
It takes 49,5 sec to produce HT ready for Storm without energy upgrade.
Also note that HT have opportunity to be ready on defined place, while Infestor can theoretically cast FG after 50 sec, but only near his Hatchery. This saves additional time too. Also HT can still use secondary spell (Feedback, Snipe, Infesteds) much earlier.
1) BALANCING CASTERS:
So now, lets answer the first question:
1) Is removing of Khaydarin amulet going to balance casters/specialists?
Definitelly yes. Without amulet, it will take similar amount of time to get caster/specialist with 75 energy (Ghost = 45, HT = 49,5, Infestor = 50). HT will still have huge advantage of being teleported to where is needed, and also being able to cast secondary spell much earlier, but it is going to be much fairer.
2) BALANCING GAME:
And now second question:
2) Is removing of Khaydarin amulet going to balance game?
I have no idea. And Im not going to theorycraft here.
But there is one thing Im 100% sure about - if we will have similar caster, using similar mechanics and taking similar time to produce, it will be definitely easier to balance game around that...
Rather than balancing game around one caster taking 5 sec to cast spell and other taking minute to do same.
EDITS:
#1 to answer pages 1-3
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First, thanks to changing topic name
(>Analysis)
Second, to everyone saying that HT nerf should be followed by low-tech unit (Im not going to say "tiers") buff - I agree.
Third, to everyone who said that diversity is important - I agree, I just dont think that this kind of diversity (Protoss needs 5 sec to do something that Zerg needs 50+ seconds to do) is good thing.
And final, to everyone saying that cooldown of previous unit affect current unit - you are wrong. It affect "production rate", and in SC2 production rate =/= prodution time.
For example reactored Factory can build 4 Helions in minute, but it doesnt mean that production time of Helion is reduced to 15 seconds. It only doubles "production rate".
Another example: Zerg can get 10 Ultralisk from one Hatchery per minute (with no stockpiled larvae)- thats "production rate". Production time is always 70 seconds.
Warpgate timeline:
0:05 HT created (1)
0:45 cooldown expires
0:50 HT created (2)
1:30 cooldown expires
1:35 HT created (3)
2:15 cooldown expires
Barrack with Tech Lab timeline:
0:45 Ghost created (1)
1:30 Ghost created (2)
2:15 Ghost created (3)
So as you can see, you are getting every unit, not just first, with 40 seconds reduced build time.
All that cooldown does is keeping same "production rate".
But it does not affect production time.
(>Analysis)Second, to everyone saying that HT nerf should be followed by low-tech unit (Im not going to say "tiers") buff - I agree.
Third, to everyone who said that diversity is important - I agree, I just dont think that this kind of diversity (Protoss needs 5 sec to do something that Zerg needs 50+ seconds to do) is good thing.
And final, to everyone saying that cooldown of previous unit affect current unit - you are wrong. It affect "production rate", and in SC2 production rate =/= prodution time.
For example reactored Factory can build 4 Helions in minute, but it doesnt mean that production time of Helion is reduced to 15 seconds. It only doubles "production rate".
Another example: Zerg can get 10 Ultralisk from one Hatchery per minute (with no stockpiled larvae)- thats "production rate". Production time is always 70 seconds.
Warpgate timeline:
0:05 HT created (1)
0:45 cooldown expires
0:50 HT created (2)
1:30 cooldown expires
1:35 HT created (3)
2:15 cooldown expires
Barrack with Tech Lab timeline:
0:45 Ghost created (1)
1:30 Ghost created (2)
2:15 Ghost created (3)
So as you can see, you are getting every unit, not just first, with 40 seconds reduced build time.
All that cooldown does is keeping same "production rate".
But it does not affect production time.
