March 18th 2013: David Kim's HotS Thoughts - Page 9

On March 19 2013 05:01 Zorgaz wrote:


Same.

I agree with other people here that Nydus Worm should get some small buff, perhaps a shorter time to build or a lower cost.

On March 19 2013 05:08 OrchidThief wrote:


WoL became boring because zergs couldn't really be aggressive early on besides from all in busts, thus it all degraded into a turtle fest and broodlords. Had nothing to do with nerfs or buffs.

On March 19 2013 05:08 OrchidThief wrote:


WoL became boring because zergs couldn't really be aggressive early on besides from all in busts, thus it all degraded into a turtle fest and broodlords. Had nothing to do with nerfs or buffs.

On March 19 2013 05:29 Antpile wrote:
I think an interesting change could be to make nydus worms invulnerable while building/still underground. Hear me out before you call it completely insane, because if I had suggested a year ago that medivacs should get a really low cooldown ability that made them book around the map at light speed it would have sounded crazy as well.

If the nydus worm was invulnerable while building, it would basically simulate the same effect you have now of when you spot a drop incoming except that zerg doesn't have the ability to just abort when he realizes he's been spotted and the defending player would know exactly when and where the 'drop' was going to occur.

So let's paint a picture. We're watching MLG, and Life decides to do some nydus worm magic to his Terran opponent. He spends the resources to start the nydus worm building in his opponents base, but because his opponent has put supply depots near the cliffs he sees it building. Now, remember boys and girls that one of the big downsides to nydus worms is how slowly stuff piles out of it. This isn't like dropships where you have your entire army on the ground in just a couple of seconds due to each dropship unloading simultaneously. This means the defender doesn't need to send his entire army to that point, he just needs enough that it would be foolish for the zerg to try to pile out of the nydus single file into a perfectly concaved enemy force. Plus, the life expectancy of the nydus worm itself with units nearby is quite low.

So in this example, Life's terran opponent sends a middling force of 12 marines, 4 marauders, and 2 medivacs to the incoming worm location. Problem solved. Short of it being late game and ultralisks piling out of that thing, it is unlikely anything coming out of the worm single file will pose any threat here. Also, he could stim and end the nydus worms life in roughly 1.2 seconds, meaning a couple of zerg units manage to get out at most. In essence, the worm is just a zergy form of dropping that is different enough to make it interesting. If you plop it down somewhere he hasn't placed structure within his main, it is his own fault just as much as if the zerg didn't have overlords out to spot a medivac drop incoming. If the zerg lures the terrans main army away from his base and then drops it somewhere the Terran can't possibly get to in time with combat units, then it is once again the same thing we see happening now, except that zerg units are no where near as cost effective and there would have to be more of them piled into the base.

This change would accomplish many things in a single stroke. First, we might actually see some nydus play happening. Secondly, Nydus worms could be used as a feint to draw some forces away from the main deathball in much the same way dropships do now because the opponent will no longer be able to shut the worm down with a just few workers. Finally, while it does give the zerg the ability to see if the drop is safe before ever putting units through it, it also a resource cost that the zerg can never get back that serves no other purpose (unlike medivacs.)

I know it sounds a little crazy, and perhaps it is; but once again, everyone would have said the same thing about medivacs with afterburners a year ago.

On March 19 2013 05:27 Zephirdd wrote:


On the other hand, we got SH's and buffed mutas post 10min. Life also showed us how strong a 3base baneling attack is versus mine-dependant terrans. Speed hydras also allows some neat timings vs toss.

I'm glad Blizz is listening to the calm, intelligent side of the community instead of the whiners for once.

On March 19 2013 05:39 Gentso wrote:


......why is this such a common belief here? Blizzard has been very calm and patient with their balance changes since release.

On March 19 2013 05:44 TimENT wrote:


They nerfed snipe(in TvZ) and thors(in TvP) after 1 tournament where it was first introduced.

On March 19 2013 04:02 striderxxx wrote:
I have no idea why nydus play isn't used more? This would seem to be an OP thing in the hands of a pro who can multitask like a boss.

On March 19 2013 05:49 Gentso wrote:


If you can only name two incidents after three years then I think Blizz is doing a good job.

On March 19 2013 05:08 OrchidThief wrote:


WoL became boring because zergs couldn't really be aggressive early on besides from all in busts, thus it all degraded into a turtle fest and broodlords. Had nothing to do with nerfs or buffs.

On March 19 2013 05:50 TigerKarl wrote:
I hope that they're not afraid to massively change boring units like void rays, corrupters. I had hoped that they'd remove and replace them completely, due to them not having a BroodWar background, but sadly that didn't happen, which will turn out to be a mistake.

On March 19 2013 05:49 Gentso wrote:


If you can only name two incidents after three years then I think Blizz is doing a good job.

On March 19 2013 02:19 avilo wrote:


Faster mutalisks with regeneration enabling muta ling baneling play to be more viable. (it already was anyways, just better now).
Buffed ultralisks that can two shot marines and are an aggressive unit.
12 range infestor to support ultras.
A viper that shuts down defensive units allowing you to be aggressive where previously not possible with speed hydras.
Tier 1 burrow.

You did get some new aggressive things, if you choose not to use them that's on you and other Zergs. Life and the top tier Zergs already have started to use them.

As for the metagame, look forward in the next two weeks for oracle dice roll PvT to "evolve" if you can call it that into a match-up where every game is, "did he go oracle? did he build more than 1? or is he doing a different all-in? do i build turrets or no?"

TvZ will be more refined bio+mine play and mech + speed burrow will start cropping up very soon.

As for PvZ, Zergs probably will start using mass drop a lot more considering hydras are better in general.

And a sigh of relief to every Terran play on earth who thought that blizzard would make the mistake of nerfing Terran blindly again. Speed medivacs are already being dealt with quite well by SPEED MUTALISKS and stargate openings from Protoss.

And yes, i'm advocating everyone call them "speed mutalisks" because for some reason everyone is acting as if medivacs were the only unit that received a speed buff which is untrue.