Blizzard's thoughts on Swarm Hosts - Page 20

On May 07 2014 07:52 Scarx wrote:
I mid be the only one who actually enjoys Swarm Host vs. Swarm Host...

On May 07 2014 08:02 Footler wrote:
It sounds like they do want to remove/redesign the Swarm Host but possibly not until LotV. So why not make massive air units immune to abduct? I know Blizzard is not a fan of these kinds of changes but it might be the best band-aid fix until the LotV is out with the redesigned unit.

On May 07 2014 02:58 Musicus wrote:
I think they should just release a patch: "Broodlords are immune to abduct". Give them a passive like the Ultralisk, that says exactly that and be done with it. I don't think anybody would complain.

On May 07 2014 08:12 [PkF] Wire wrote:
I'm REALLY happy to see they're aware of the existence of a problem.

The first solution would be kind of acceptable. When David Kim says the effects on the other mus would be minor, if I'm not mistaken, there would be no effect at all ; which P or T unit is bio air ? If he's worried about imba phoenix + hydras strats in team play, let us reassure him : we don't care .

The second solution can't be acceptable. Colossi balls would become near impossible to deal with. Something like "air massive units become immune to abduct" sounds good especially because mothership would now become a legit counter to passive SH play a la Firecake, but that would make Tempests too good in the mu -and you can't really mess up with the Tempest massive attribute because of its bonus damage vs massive.

If I was in charge of the game, given how useless Tempests are (I don't know any interesting strat relying on Tempests, they're just an unneeded addition to the Protoss ball) I'd just get rid of Tempests and make massive air units immune to abduct. It's not like you can't fight BL infestor without tempest nowadays and you may actually see carriers more often. Realistically though, I dunno what they can do without being too lame ("zerg massive immune to abduct" ?).

On May 07 2014 08:16 Rainmansc wrote:
So when are we finally getting a anti air units vs the retarded BC/Raven play style that has been becoming popular lately?
People will realise sooner or later that it is the new broodlord infestor.

On May 07 2014 08:16 MisterWinter wrote:
What about having the locusts not benefit from the attack and armor upgrades? This would me more consistent with infestors, and will probably solve these ZvZ late game issues.

On May 07 2014 08:18 Josh_Video wrote:


No, the new Broodlord Infestor is Swarmhost SporeCrawler.

On May 07 2014 08:32 B-rye88 wrote:
Re-hash of my earlier post with an added idea.

- Give SH 80 energy
- Locusts cost 30 energy to spawn
- Locusts move faster and have a reasonable lifespan
- Change enduring locusts to another upgrade that prevents EMP/feedback from bringing a swarmhost below 30 energy.

Prevents ghosts/HT from negating 30 supply of units prior and then engaging while still allowing them to mitigate the damage they cause. Facilitates seige-break play, mobile defense, micro.

On May 07 2014 08:34 Josh_Video wrote:


That would nerf swarmhosts to the point of making them useless.

On May 07 2014 08:36 B-rye88 wrote:


Feel free to tinker with numbers / damage to the point of viability. The idea is the design, not the effectiveness.

On May 07 2014 08:46 pure.Wasted wrote:


How is that different from the way SH is right now? If anything, this would be a huge buff because you'd be able to spawn locusts twice instantly at the beginning of an engagement, and one more time soon after, at which point the standard timer would kick in. You'd have three waves of locusts in the time it normally takes to have one.

But those are just numbers. I certainly like the idea of SH having more counters, in this case HTs and Ghosts. Though it doesn't solve ZvZ since Zerg doesn't have any real anti-casters.

But this is the sort of huge overhaul that Blizzard is not interested in right now. They're dumb for not being interested, and they're making a huge mistake, but it is what it is.