• Log InLog In
  • Register
Liquid`
Team Liquid Liquipedia
EDT 20:04
CEST 02:04
KST 09:04
  • Home
  • Forum
  • Calendar
  • Streams
  • Liquipedia
  • Features
  • Store
  • EPT
  • TL+
  • StarCraft 2
  • Brood War
  • Smash
  • Heroes
  • Counter-Strike
  • Overwatch
  • Liquibet
  • Fantasy StarCraft
  • TLPD
  • StarCraft 2
  • Brood War
  • Blogs
Forum Sidebar
Events/Features
News
Featured News
[ASL21] Ro24 Preview Pt2: News Flash7[ASL21] Ro24 Preview Pt1: New Chaos0Team Liquid Map Contest #22 - Presented by Monster Energy11ByuL: The Forgotten Master of ZvT30Behind the Blue - Team Liquid History Book20
Community News
Weekly Cups (March 16-22): herO doubles, Cure surprises3Blizzard Classic Cup @ BlizzCon 2026 - $100k prize pool49Weekly Cups (March 9-15): herO, Clem, ByuN win42026 KungFu Cup Announcement6BGE Stara Zagora 2026 cancelled12
StarCraft 2
General
What mix of new & old maps do you want in the next ladder pool? (SC2) Team Liquid Map Contest #22 - Presented by Monster Energy herO wins SC2 All-Star Invitational Blizzard Classic Cup @ BlizzCon 2026 - $100k prize pool Potential Updates Coming to the SC2 CN Server
Tourneys
RSL Season 4 announced for March-April Sparkling Tuna Cup - Weekly Open Tournament StarCraft Evolution League (SC Evo Biweekly) WardiTV Mondays World University TeamLeague (500$+) | Signups Open
Strategy
Custom Maps
[M] (2) Frigid Storage Publishing has been re-enabled! [Feb 24th 2026]
External Content
Mutation # 519 Inner Power The PondCast: SC2 News & Results Mutation # 518 Radiation Zone Mutation # 517 Distant Threat
Brood War
General
[ASL21] Ro24 Preview Pt2: News Flash BGH Auto Balance -> http://bghmmr.eu/ Pros React To: SoulKey vs Ample ASL21 General Discussion RepMastered™: replay sharing and analyzer site
Tourneys
[ASL21] Ro24 Group D [ASL21] Ro24 Group C [Megathread] Daily Proleagues [ASL21] Ro24 Group B
Strategy
What's the deal with APM & what's its true value Fighting Spirit mining rates Simple Questions, Simple Answers
Other Games
General Games
Starcraft Tabletop Miniature Game Nintendo Switch Thread General RTS Discussion Thread Stormgate/Frost Giant Megathread Darkest Dungeon
Dota 2
The Story of Wings Gaming Official 'what is Dota anymore' discussion
League of Legends
G2 just beat GenG in First stand
Heroes of the Storm
Simple Questions, Simple Answers Heroes of the Storm 2.0
Hearthstone
Deck construction bug Heroes of StarCraft mini-set
TL Mafia
TL Mafia Community Thread Five o'clock TL Mafia Mafia Game Mode Feedback/Ideas Vanilla Mini Mafia
Community
General
US Politics Mega-thread Things Aren’t Peaceful in Palestine The Games Industry And ATVI European Politico-economics QA Mega-thread Canadian Politics Mega-thread
Fan Clubs
The IdrA Fan Club
Media & Entertainment
[Manga] One Piece [Req][Books] Good Fantasy/SciFi books Movie Discussion!
Sports
2024 - 2026 Football Thread Formula 1 Discussion Cricket [SPORT] Tokyo Olympics 2021 Thread General nutrition recommendations
World Cup 2022
Tech Support
[G] How to Block Livestream Ads
TL Community
The Automated Ban List
Blogs
Funny Nicknames
LUCKY_NOOB
Money Laundering In Video Ga…
TrAiDoS
Iranian anarchists: organize…
XenOsky
FS++
Kraekkling
Shocked by a laser…
Spydermine0240
ASL S21 English Commentary…
namkraft
Customize Sidebar...

Website Feedback

Closed Threads



Active: 11710 users

Heart of the Swarm Balance Update – May 13, 2013 - Page 13

Forum Index > SC2 General
375 CommentsPost a Reply
Prev 1 11 12 13 14 15 19 Next All
padfoota
Profile Blog Joined February 2011
Taiwan1571 Posts
Last Edited: 2013-05-14 18:39:54
May 14 2013 18:38 GMT
#241
guys guys GUYS

THEY DIDNT TOUCH THE BUNKER

MIRACLE

On May 15 2013 03:23 EliteEFive wrote:
Show nested quote +
On May 14 2013 09:31 heyoka wrote:
From the Blizzard blog. Making a new thread to restart the discussion since the discussed balance change is now live, and to keep it to this and not the oracle changes or whatever.

Heart of the Swarm Balance Update – May 13, 2013

[image loading]


A little over a week ago, we requested your help in testing a few proposed balance tweaks for StarCraft II: Heart of the Swarm by playing with each change on our new Balance Test Map. After reviewing your thoughts, gathering pro player feedback, examining ladder stats, and watching lots of tournament matches, we're ready to move forward with a balance update.

Today, we’ll be implementing the following balance change for StarCraft II: Heart of the Swarm multiplayer:

Zerg

  • Spore Crawler damage increased from 15 + 15 vs. biological to 15 + 30 vs. biological
    If you'd like to read more on the reasoning behind this change, feel free to check out David Kim's recent forum post, in which he provided his team's thoughts on StarCraft II balance after reviewing test map results and feedback.


As always, thank you for play testing the changes we proposed with the most recent Balance Test Map. The extensive testing and quality of feedback you've provided have allowed us to make this call, and we look forward to sharing more of our thoughts on StarCraft II balance with you in the future.


Poll: Final thoughts on the change?

Approve (1355)
 
65%

Neutral-prove (381)
 
18%

Disapprove (334)
 
16%

2070 total votes

Your vote: Final thoughts on the change?

(Vote): Approve
(Vote): Disapprove
(Vote): Neutral-prove


Really dislike this patch... Now mutas isn't even a viable option as the other player will just spread creep and spam spores everywhere. Instead of forcing builds down our throats, maybe just have players explore other options... Hydra,roach,infestor,queen,ultra for late game works just fine, Especially with normal spores as they are. I don't even see muta viable anymore in zvz... Another bad nerf for zerg. Yes nerf because mutas are useless in zvz now..


thats like saying hellions arent viable after queen range buff :/
Stop procrastinating
padfoota
Profile Blog Joined February 2011
Taiwan1571 Posts
Last Edited: 2013-05-14 18:39:46
May 14 2013 18:39 GMT
#242
Stop procrastinating
mostevil
Profile Joined February 2011
United Kingdom611 Posts
May 14 2013 18:42 GMT
#243
On May 15 2013 02:11 Nerski wrote:
The only thing that concerns me about their recent balance ideals is that there seems to be a heavier focus on is it fun to watch and not is it fun to play. They seem to be getting desperate in trying to catch riot which is a bad way to develop a game long term. To prove that statement, largely ZvT right now is the same compositions smashing against one another ever game. It's however far less boring to watch then ZvZ is. So they don't see ZvT as an issue where they do see ZvZ as an issue, hence a heavier focus on watch ability rather then true balance and in game fun.


I dunno about that, they're not losing out to LoL because SC2 is less watchable, LoL's popularity is down to it being easy to play, free and the client directing players to tournament streams. Welcome to the future, people like easy games here :/.

I personally don't find muta styles fun to play, its pretty simplistic micro and with the stacking and bounce they scale too well (they're balanced in other matchups despite this). Both as a player and as a spectator I'd rather any ultimate composition required more than 2 unit types and clicking on the thing you want to die.

While I approve of the change I feel this isn't really going to solve the problem, there's still a critical mass of mutas at which they'll one shot spores, negating them regardless of damage, unless theres a big field of the things... Muta's still shut down that third base hard. I'm going to continue to go for ling bling into pre muta roach all in until I'm sure things are changing.

Maybe if air units couldn't stack up so tightly things would be different but then things like the thor splash and pheonix stacking vs muta balls get all out of whack and need looking at.... yeah lets forget I ever said that :D
我的媽和她的瘋狂的外甥都
Niska
Profile Joined March 2011
31 Posts
May 14 2013 19:47 GMT
#244
I don't think this spore change is directed at late mid game to late game at all. Once a flock of mutas has been achieved this buff will do nothing. Which is good. The problem currently was that muta survivability was to high and players could harass and achieve that flock before the opponent could really get a mobile AA army. This will open that gap up a little more so players can safely get infestor/queen or infestor/hydra.

Also I don't think Blizzard is making these changes at all for spectators. The muta vs muta is far to popular right now because it is much easier to build a spire and harass then defend with infestor/hydra. I don't think it was impossible to go non muta but it did seem harder to do. With this spore buff hopefully it will be a little easier to hold of mutas in time to stop the big flock.

And by no means will this stop people from going mutas and if you think it will you are clearly not thinking at all. Once you establish a certain amount of mutas spores won't do anything. This is clearly just a mid game AA buff that is all.

I am glad Blizzard is taking it slow because the game feels pretty balanced right now. Obviously this is just my opinion so take it for what it is.
Nerski
Profile Blog Joined November 2010
United States1095 Posts
May 14 2013 20:09 GMT
#245
On May 15 2013 03:42 mostevil wrote:
Show nested quote +
On May 15 2013 02:11 Nerski wrote:
The only thing that concerns me about their recent balance ideals is that there seems to be a heavier focus on is it fun to watch and not is it fun to play. They seem to be getting desperate in trying to catch riot which is a bad way to develop a game long term. To prove that statement, largely ZvT right now is the same compositions smashing against one another ever game. It's however far less boring to watch then ZvZ is. So they don't see ZvT as an issue where they do see ZvZ as an issue, hence a heavier focus on watch ability rather then true balance and in game fun.


I dunno about that, they're not losing out to LoL because SC2 is less watchable, LoL's popularity is down to it being easy to play, free and the client directing players to tournament streams. Welcome to the future, people like easy games here :/.


I wouldn't deny for a moment what you said isn't true as far as why SC2 isn't as popular as league. I would counter that while that may be true all of blizzards language and actions, would at least in appearance make it sound like their greatest concern is improving what the game looks like to a viewer. This based on them getting involved with WCS, buying IPL, and every balance talk has lots of 'this is fun to watch' 'this isn't fun to watch' kind of language now used.

I'd believe it was less about watch ability if say for instance, with people complaining across the board about hellbat drops that something was at least tested on their latest test map. Whether any change actually happened it'd at least show it was a thought crossing their mind. Instead the last round of balance changes were stupid...

*Oracale speed because why? it'd look awesome seeing someone abuse the hell out of a fast oracle?

*Burrow change why? because players could do neat fun to watch things with super early burrow timings?

*Spore change why? because ZvZ is boring to watch...only change to go in and thus far if anything it seems to have made the whole muta vs muta thing worse. Which remains to be for sure seen but thus far it seems like a lack luster adjustment.

The two that didn't go in basically seemed like a dumb idea to most people from the onset balance wise. Blizzard was more then happy to try them out on what basis? The only one I can think of is trying to make 'cool things happen' that are 'fun to watch'. Even if it'd make playing the game absolutely a horrific experience.

Twitter: @GoForNerski /// Youtube: Youtube.com/nerskisc
convention
Profile Joined October 2011
United States622 Posts
Last Edited: 2013-05-14 21:10:40
May 14 2013 21:10 GMT
#246
On May 15 2013 05:09 Nerski wrote:
Show nested quote +
On May 15 2013 03:42 mostevil wrote:
On May 15 2013 02:11 Nerski wrote:
The only thing that concerns me about their recent balance ideals is that there seems to be a heavier focus on is it fun to watch and not is it fun to play. They seem to be getting desperate in trying to catch riot which is a bad way to develop a game long term. To prove that statement, largely ZvT right now is the same compositions smashing against one another ever game. It's however far less boring to watch then ZvZ is. So they don't see ZvT as an issue where they do see ZvZ as an issue, hence a heavier focus on watch ability rather then true balance and in game fun.


I dunno about that, they're not losing out to LoL because SC2 is less watchable, LoL's popularity is down to it being easy to play, free and the client directing players to tournament streams. Welcome to the future, people like easy games here :/.


I wouldn't deny for a moment what you said isn't true as far as why SC2 isn't as popular as league. I would counter that while that may be true all of blizzards language and actions, would at least in appearance make it sound like their greatest concern is improving what the game looks like to a viewer. This based on them getting involved with WCS, buying IPL, and every balance talk has lots of 'this is fun to watch' 'this isn't fun to watch' kind of language now used.

I'd believe it was less about watch ability if say for instance, with people complaining across the board about hellbat drops that something was at least tested on their latest test map. Whether any change actually happened it'd at least show it was a thought crossing their mind. Instead the last round of balance changes were stupid...

*Oracale speed because why? it'd look awesome seeing someone abuse the hell out of a fast oracle?

*Burrow change why? because players could do neat fun to watch things with super early burrow timings?

*Spore change why? because ZvZ is boring to watch...only change to go in and thus far if anything it seems to have made the whole muta vs muta thing worse. Which remains to be for sure seen but thus far it seems like a lack luster adjustment.

The two that didn't go in basically seemed like a dumb idea to most people from the onset balance wise. Blizzard was more then happy to try them out on what basis? The only one I can think of is trying to make 'cool things happen' that are 'fun to watch'. Even if it'd make playing the game absolutely a horrific experience.


Let's all be honest here, playing BW was that exact horrific experience. I hated playing BW because of how stupidly hard it was to attack with my 50 lings, and how much effort it took to just mine minerals and build units. Yet BW was very fun to watch and it thrived because of that. I don't think any change Blizzard could ever make would make SC2 less fun to play than BW. So I agree with their focus on making the game fun to watch, because I can always make the game fun to play for myself, by building fun units even if it means staying in lower leagues.
Nikoras
Profile Blog Joined March 2012
United States115 Posts
May 14 2013 21:32 GMT
#247
As long as it doesn't go back to straight roach/hydra/festor wars. Who knows maybe we'll see some swarm hosts since the spores do more damage to overseers now as well
kinsky
Profile Joined November 2010
Germany368 Posts
May 14 2013 21:39 GMT
#248
I love how carefully these changes are made by Blizzard. Good job!!
catplanetcatplanet
Profile Blog Joined March 2012
3834 Posts
May 14 2013 21:58 GMT
#249
On May 14 2013 09:34 heyoka wrote:
I'm down for anything that increases the number of viable strategies so if it makes gameplay more diverse, then good job.

up or down? am i directionally challenged?
I think it's finally time to admit it might not be the year of Pet
Tuczniak
Profile Joined September 2010
1561 Posts
Last Edited: 2013-05-14 22:06:56
May 14 2013 22:06 GMT
#250
On May 15 2013 06:58 catplanetcatplanet wrote:
Show nested quote +
On May 14 2013 09:34 heyoka wrote:
I'm down for anything that increases the number of viable strategies so if it makes gameplay more diverse, then good job.

up or down? am i directionally challenged?
I think he meant it was left decision to do so.
Penev
Profile Joined October 2012
28524 Posts
May 14 2013 22:08 GMT
#251
Hmm. I understand the change but it is a bit of an ugly one.
I Protoss winner, could it be?
Slayer-
Profile Joined February 2010
United States113 Posts
Last Edited: 2013-05-14 22:15:22
May 14 2013 22:13 GMT
#252
not a fan, i'd of liked +1 muta armor -1 attack. but it is a careful balance.

edit; i one base muta a lot, so this weakens such a cheese.

edit 2: bring back scourge :D
the best way to add insult to injury is to sign someones cast
Antylamon
Profile Joined March 2011
United States1981 Posts
Last Edited: 2013-05-14 22:32:54
May 14 2013 22:29 GMT
#253
On May 15 2013 07:13 Slayer- wrote:
not a fan, i'd of liked +1 muta armor -1 attack. but it is a careful balance.

edit; i one base muta a lot, so this weakens such a cheese.

edit 2: bring back scourge :D

Armor is much more valuable than attack. Mutalisks would survive a lot more easily (24 vs 20 shots against Marine and 14 vs 10 against Stalker, both on equal upgrades), but their damage output wouldn't be reduced by that much (just one more shot to kill a worker or a Marine, 2 more shots to kill a Stalker).

My conclusion is that it changes way too much outside of ZvZ.
brieN
Profile Joined November 2011
United States158 Posts
May 14 2013 22:47 GMT
#254
doesnt solve anything, david kim for president
check yo self befo yo wreck yo self
lue
Profile Joined October 2012
Sweden27 Posts
May 14 2013 23:02 GMT
#255
On May 15 2013 06:32 Nikoras wrote:
As long as it doesn't go back to straight roach/hydra/festor wars. Who knows maybe we'll see some swarm hosts since the spores do more damage to overseers now as well


Overseer vision: 11
Spore Crawler range: 7

The only change this will make is that people will no longer dive into bases with 20~ mutas as eagerly.

Oh and for myself, it'll make my matches longer, but my overall strategy will remain the same.
Doc Daneeka
Profile Joined March 2010
United States577 Posts
May 14 2013 23:28 GMT
#256
i'm sort of neutral on this. if it allows you to tech past mutas behind your spores then i guess it's good. i'm not convinced it'll do that. i think it'll just delay the inevitable for the person with less mutas. my only concern is that if the stronger spores actually do their job of letting the non-muta player survive to tech to something else, it'll kill mutas in zvz and we'll end up with a different forced composition. but that might just be the nature of zvz till the end of time. who knows. that's just my gut feeling.

the best thing about this patch is that this is the only change. i highly approve of this careful approach. there are some things i think will inevitably be nerfed or tweaked somehow (helbats, free-to-use medivac boost, possibly void rays, etc) but from what i've seen aren't so bad as to break the game right now and i full support them giving players a chance to work it out for themselves.
payed off security
StarscreamG1
Profile Joined February 2011
Portugal1653 Posts
May 15 2013 00:30 GMT
#257
WHY don't aditional biological damage to corrupters?
convention
Profile Joined October 2011
United States622 Posts
May 15 2013 01:47 GMT
#258
On May 15 2013 09:30 StarscreamG1 wrote:
WHY don't aditional biological damage to corrupters?

Mutas are never going to engage corruptors anyway. No one is going to build a bunch of corruptors to sit at their bases instead of spores. The same goes for why hydras getting the buff doesn't help. The biggest problem with not playing mutas is never that you can't win muta vs corruptor/hydra engagements, it's that you can never leave your base or it'll get destroyed by the mutas. The spore buffs make harassing much more dangerous, and means if you put 4-5 at a base, the muta player will lose quite a few mutas attacking into it. It might then make hydra play more viable since now they have the option to leave their base instead of sit in it till they lose.
Glenn313
Profile Joined August 2011
United States475 Posts
May 15 2013 02:21 GMT
#259
This seems nice to me as a Zerg.
Hey man
Big J
Profile Joined March 2011
Austria16289 Posts
May 15 2013 08:00 GMT
#260
so, any experiences yet?
So far I have been having decent success with roach/spine/queen 3base defenses against mutas on this patch. (only few games) - it's more that I don't have a clue what to do afterwards (roach/hydra into swarm host?!?)
Prev 1 11 12 13 14 15 19 Next All
Please log in or register to reply.
Live Events Refresh
Replay Cast
00:00
StarCraft Evolution League #19
CranKy Ducklings22
LiquipediaDiscussion
[ Submit Event ]
Live Streams
Refresh
StarCraft 2
PiGStarcraft548
SpeCial 95
JuggernautJason53
Ketroc 31
StarCraft: Brood War
GuemChi 3194
Artosis 684
Shine 22
Bale 8
Dota 2
monkeys_forever606
League of Legends
JimRising 475
Super Smash Bros
C9.Mang0208
AZ_Axe145
PPMD75
Other Games
summit1g11697
ToD164
Maynarde95
Trikslyr34
Organizations
Other Games
gamesdonequick630
StarCraft 2
Blizzard YouTube
StarCraft: Brood War
BSLTrovo
sctven
[ Show 18 non-featured ]
StarCraft 2
• Hupsaiya 93
• davetesta12
• CranKy Ducklings SOOP3
• sooper7s
• Migwel
• LaughNgamezSOOP
• IndyKCrew
• Kozan
• intothetv
• AfreecaTV YouTube
StarCraft: Brood War
• Azhi_Dahaki19
• BSLYoutube
• STPLYoutube
• ZZZeroYoutube
Dota 2
• masondota21630
League of Legends
• Doublelift3772
Counter-Strike
• Scarra765
Other Games
• imaqtpie991
Upcoming Events
Sparkling Tuna Cup
9h 56m
Afreeca Starleague
9h 56m
Rush vs PianO
Flash vs Speed
PiGosaur Cup
23h 56m
Replay Cast
1d 8h
Afreeca Starleague
1d 9h
BeSt vs Leta
Queen vs Jaedong
Replay Cast
1d 23h
The PondCast
2 days
OSC
2 days
RSL Revival
3 days
TriGGeR vs Cure
ByuN vs Rogue
Replay Cast
3 days
[ Show More ]
RSL Revival
4 days
Maru vs MaxPax
BSL
4 days
RSL Revival
5 days
uThermal 2v2 Circuit
5 days
BSL
5 days
Replay Cast
6 days
Liquipedia Results

Completed

Acropolis #4 - TS6
WardiTV Winter 2026
NationLESS Cup

Ongoing

BSL Season 22
CSL Elite League 2026
CSL Season 20: Qualifier 1
ASL Season 21
StarCraft2 Community Team League 2026 Spring
RSL Revival: Season 4
Nations Cup 2026
BLAST Open Spring 2026
ESL Pro League S23 Finals
ESL Pro League S23 Stage 1&2
PGL Cluj-Napoca 2026
IEM Kraków 2026
BLAST Bounty Winter 2026
BLAST Bounty Winter Qual

Upcoming

CSL Season 20: Qualifier 2
Escore Tournament S2: W1
CSL 2026 SPRING (S20)
Acropolis #4
IPSL Spring 2026
BSL 22 Non-Korean Championship
CSLAN 4
Kung Fu Cup 2026 Grand Finals
HSC XXIX
uThermal 2v2 2026 Main Event
IEM Cologne Major 2026
Stake Ranked Episode 2
CS Asia Championships 2026
IEM Atlanta 2026
Asian Champions League 2026
PGL Astana 2026
BLAST Rivals Spring 2026
CCT Season 3 Global Finals
IEM Rio 2026
PGL Bucharest 2026
Stake Ranked Episode 1
TLPD

1. ByuN
2. TY
3. Dark
4. Solar
5. Stats
6. Nerchio
7. sOs
8. soO
9. INnoVation
10. Elazer
1. Rain
2. Flash
3. EffOrt
4. Last
5. Bisu
6. Soulkey
7. Mini
8. Sharp
Sidebar Settings...

Advertising | Privacy Policy | Terms Of Use | Contact Us

Original banner artwork: Jim Warren
The contents of this webpage are copyright © 2026 TLnet. All Rights Reserved.