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Blizzard's thoughts on Swarm Hosts - Page 21

Forum Index > SC2 General
1050 CommentsPost a Reply
Prev 1 19 20 21 22 23 53 Next
Entropy137
Profile Joined January 2012
Canada215 Posts
May 07 2014 00:02 GMT
#401
Swarm hosts need to be reworked or removed or replaced when LotV comes out. Till then we should settle for small balance tweaks.
GunLove
Profile Joined June 2011
Netherlands105 Posts
Last Edited: 2014-05-07 00:09:45
May 07 2014 00:04 GMT
#402
About the potential Hydra vs Muta change:

I'm not a fan of these very specific buffs. In the info window of the Hydra attack it might as well come to say "x bonus damage against mutalisks". I don't like the recent buff to widow mines vs shields either. Basically I don't like any of these race- or unit-specific counters, for instance the whole Ghost unit is nothing more than an anti-High Templar weapon since the snipe nerf.

The thing is, the core charm of having 3 different races is that in the different matchups you have the same units, but they handle in a different way depending on the enemy race. I feel that the way of balancing the game as described above somehow negates that charm, because of this type of artificial intervention. If the core functionality of a unit changes too radically from one matchup to another, you might as well make it so that for example, in TvZ you can't make Ghosts anymore, but instead you have some new unit that somehow counters a core unit of Zerg (for instance Swarm Host), like it does in the TvP matchup. Why not have completely different unit sets per matchup? It's a slippery scale.

What I'm afraid of in the end, is that this type of balancing will make the game and meta even more stale, because it is always clear what counter you have to build, because every unit is so specialized. Also I'm afraid that more and more units will become completely obsolete in certain matchups.
WombaT
Profile Blog Joined May 2010
Northern Ireland26225 Posts
May 07 2014 00:13 GMT
#403
Well, it's about time they were tweaked a bit. Will reserve judgement until we see what they plump for and how it plays out.
'You'll always be the cuddly marsupial of my heart, despite the inherent flaws of your ancestry' - Squat
PiGStarcraft
Profile Blog Joined December 2010
Australia987 Posts
May 07 2014 00:15 GMT
#404
Both suggestions are a bit off the mark, broods would still be weak to abduct if spores were nerfed, and muta harassment would be too strong.

Making massive units immune to abduct removes the point of the spell.

Just make broodlords immune to abduct.
Progamerwww.twitch.tv/x5_pig | pigrandom88@gmail.com | @x5_PiG | www.facebook.com/pigSC2
[PkF] Wire
Profile Joined March 2013
France24238 Posts
Last Edited: 2014-05-07 00:21:13
May 07 2014 00:17 GMT
#405
Just for fun, read the fourth answer to that thread that was launched a few days after spore buff. God definitely heard that guy and answered his prayer. Now, that guy must be asking himself anxiously "What have I done ?".

http://www.teamliquid.net/forum/starcraft-2/416415-was-the-second-spore-crawler-buff-worth-it

On May 07 2014 09:15 PiGStarcraft wrote:
Both suggestions are a bit off the mark, broods would still be weak to abduct if spores were nerfed, and muta harassment would be too strong.

Making massive units immune to abduct removes the point of the spell.

Just make broodlords immune to abduct.


I was thinking exactly the same thing, broods aren't weak to abduct because spores are strong against bio, but because once abducted they can get focus fired very easily and any anti air would do the trick. Spores being that stupidly strong against bio air makes it more obvious but yeah, it would solve nothing.
B-rye88
Profile Joined October 2013
Canada168 Posts
May 07 2014 00:21 GMT
#406
On May 07 2014 08:59 Josh_Video wrote:
Show nested quote +
On May 07 2014 08:46 pure.Wasted wrote:
On May 07 2014 08:39 Josh_Video wrote:
On May 07 2014 08:36 B-rye88 wrote:
On May 07 2014 08:34 Josh_Video wrote:
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.


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


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


Maybe if they made them cost a less energy than 30, or maybe hold more than 80, because energy takes so long to replenish, especially if you are in the middle of a fight, then you just have 40 Swarmhosts without the ability to attack anything.


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.


I hadn't even considered spawning 3 at once.


This is the reason for the numbers I had proposed.

Allows for a number of hosts to actually break or severely damage a turtle opponent in exchange for leaving them as empty supply for a period of time, which... seems like a seige unit to me?

And honestly, while it's technically a 'design change', it might be one that's manageable enough that they'd look at.
TT1
Profile Blog Joined December 2008
Canada10012 Posts
May 07 2014 00:23 GMT
#407
abduct vs collosus is already broken so they should implement that change
ab = tl(i) + tl(pc), the grand answer to every tl.net debate
Orcasgt24
Profile Joined August 2011
Canada3238 Posts
May 07 2014 00:25 GMT
#408
I like the idea of making Broodlords immune to Abduct and making Hydralisks better vs bio air. Two great changes if they go through.

Just a question, are Ultralisks immune to abduction?
In Hearthstone we pray to RNGesus. When Yogg-Saron hits the field, RNGod gets to work
Plansix
Profile Blog Joined April 2011
United States60190 Posts
May 07 2014 00:28 GMT
#409
On May 07 2014 09:23 TT1 wrote:
abduct vs collosus is already broken so they should implement that change

Yeah, it does make the unit pretty useless if you have equal number of vipers. I would rather it just pulled them a short distance forward, rather than right into the enemy army.
I have the Honor to be your Obedient Servant, P.6
TL+ Member
Shinta)
Profile Joined July 2010
United States1716 Posts
May 07 2014 00:29 GMT
#410
On May 07 2014 05:38 anestetic wrote:
Why did none figured that it would be just awsome to make the triggering locust manual,not automatic i.e. you build 10 SH and let them stand unburrowed,then suddenly a wild zealot appears,hit burrown,and "c" for triggering the locust,unburrow reposition and something like that.

There would not be a endless stream of locust,micro potential is just ridiculously high,even in a mirror matchup it would be sort of a skill to know when your opponent triggers the locust,so you can trigger yours,and counter them while locust reload on the SH,sort of?

I like what this guy is onto. Let them have a cooldown, but don't have it automatically triggered. Force the zerg to manually cast locust.

Just adds skill into the equation.

Not a solution to the problem, but it would be a cool implementation anyways.
Suteki Da Ne 素敵だね Isn't it Wonderful
[PkF] Wire
Profile Joined March 2013
France24238 Posts
May 07 2014 00:33 GMT
#411
@Shinta, that would be way too tedious. Z is already the most demanding race on tedious tasks (injects, creep spread) and I don't think that'd be a good way to solve the SH problem. Plus I don't see how it deals with the mirror problem, if you just spawn your locusts reactively to your opponent's you'll never be in trouble.
LingBlingBling
Profile Joined December 2012
United States353 Posts
May 07 2014 00:33 GMT
#412
On May 07 2014 09:23 TT1 wrote:
abduct vs collosus is already broken so they should implement that change


Learn to micro your HT for feed backs? Every single Professional player has no issue with vipers, in fact they state that type of micro is fun. Unless your trolling, the match up would be incredibly broken in the Protoss favor.
Remember our motto: We ain't got it.
Shinta)
Profile Joined July 2010
United States1716 Posts
Last Edited: 2014-05-07 00:46:04
May 07 2014 00:42 GMT
#413
On May 07 2014 09:33 [PkF] Wire wrote:
@Shinta, that would be way too tedious. Z is already the most demanding race on tedious tasks (injects, creep spread) and I don't think that'd be a good way to solve the SH problem. Plus I don't see how it deals with the mirror problem, if you just spawn your locusts reactively to your opponent's you'll never be in trouble.

Um.... It's stated right there that I don't think it's a solution to the problem. Yet your follow up is: "I don't see how it deals with the problem"? Why even post a comment -_-
And as a zerg player, even though I'm nowhere near pro, I don't think it's too demanding at all. On the counter point, I've always felt like swarmhosts were just lazy...
Forcing players to press 1 button every 25 seconds isn't very demanding...

On May 07 2014 09:33 LingBlingBling wrote:
Show nested quote +
On May 07 2014 09:23 TT1 wrote:
abduct vs collosus is already broken so they should implement that change


Learn to micro your HT for feed backs? Every single Professional player has no issue with vipers, in fact they state that type of micro is fun. Unless your trolling, the match up would be incredibly broken in the Protoss favor.

Yeah I pretty much agree. Blizzard would be able to nerf abduct range if Protoss wouldn't be able to 100% counter them with such a nerf. Protoss doesn't really have to suffer much vs vipers so long as the Protoss is paying attention.
It does add an extra little micro process which is very necessary. If HT's weren't able to instantly destroy vipers, an easier solution to the problem would be available, but the fact of the matter is that HT's are just that strong, and so Protoss makes balancing Zerg even more tricky.
Suteki Da Ne 素敵だね Isn't it Wonderful
[PkF] Wire
Profile Joined March 2013
France24238 Posts
May 07 2014 00:46 GMT
#414
Something people should consider before making brood lords immune to abduct :

How on earth could a Zerg attack into brood lords that have spores underneath if you can't abduct them ?

I fear the mu could evolve from very rare locusts vs locusts to commonplace broodlings vs broodlings.
Kaeljin
Profile Joined February 2012
Mexico25 Posts
May 07 2014 00:59 GMT
#415

We’re thinking along these lines:

- Revert spore buff and buff hydralisk anti-air vs. biological units only.
o With this, even if Broodlords are Abducted by Vipers, they would still be great against base Defenses.
o The Mutalisk strength in ZvZ could possibly be countered a bit better by Hydralisks.
o The effect on ZvZ would be acceptable, and the potential effects on ZvP and ZvT are minor.

- Change the Viper’s Abduct ability to make massive units immune to it.
o By making Brood Lords immune to Abduct, we’d solve the stalemate. Late game ZvZ would be mostly about who wins in the air.
o There are downsides -- Abduct is a really cool ability, and it is something Zerg needs vs. Colossi in PvZ.
o To address that, we’d consider a potential buff to Blinding Cloud so that Vipers would still be a valuable utility unit in the ZvP matchup.

.


these guys lack of imagination, what about creating another category of massive unit?

*Massive Ground unit
*Massive air unit

With this category you can set which unit can be immune to abduct, for example battlecruisers, carriers and broodlords, with this you solve the issue of z v z stalemate and you would see a bit more of BCs and Carriers on late game those units are slow anyway and can be easily chased by other zerg units.
Bangara Rufio!
Hot_Ice
Profile Joined January 2013
139 Posts
Last Edited: 2014-05-07 01:26:10
May 07 2014 01:07 GMT
#416
--- Nuked ---
Bodzilla
Profile Joined March 2011
Australia472 Posts
May 07 2014 01:09 GMT
#417
Make broodlords immune to abduct, or to spine crawlers. you'll still have the heavy ground roach midgame, but transition into an air lategame, similar to how TvT is played out.
when life gives you lemons, make banelings
asdfOu
Profile Joined August 2011
United States2089 Posts
May 07 2014 01:18 GMT
#418
blizzard politics
rip prime
Advantageous
Profile Blog Joined May 2012
China1350 Posts
May 07 2014 01:28 GMT
#419
my 2 cents towards the swarm host change: make them spawn broodlings instead.
"Because I am BossToss" -MC ヽ༼ຈل͜ຈ༽ノ raise your dongers ヽ༼ຈل͜ຈ༽ノ I'm sure that all of my fellow class mates viewed me as the Adonis of the Class of 2015 already. -Xenocider, EG, ieF 2013 Champion.
Deleted User 26513
Profile Joined February 2007
2376 Posts
Last Edited: 2014-05-07 01:58:20
May 07 2014 01:37 GMT
#420
Something tells me that the Swarm Host wont make it into LotV. The unit was a big mistake and it doesn't do what it was intended. They made it as a "siege" unit that helps the zerg breaking defenses. Now it is used as a counter to itself in ZvZ... I don't think that they can fix this with balance patching. SH should be removed and something better should take it's place.
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