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Blizzard's thoughts on Swarm Hosts - Page 31

Forum Index > SC2 General
1050 CommentsPost a Reply
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Big J
Profile Joined March 2011
Austria16289 Posts
Last Edited: 2014-05-08 06:00:43
May 08 2014 05:59 GMT
#601
well, since every ZvZ may become muta wars again, this might actually solve "the SH problem".
usethis2
Profile Joined December 2010
2164 Posts
Last Edited: 2014-05-08 06:26:03
May 08 2014 06:07 GMT
#602
On May 08 2014 14:37 FabledIntegral wrote:
Show nested quote +
On May 08 2014 13:51 usethis2 wrote:
On May 07 2014 07:39 Kupon3ss wrote:
2 minerals per locusts alongside reducing their cost by 10 or so is quite reasonable. Think of it this way, 1 set of spawns per 25 seconds is about 2.5 spawns per every minute. This means that you can fully sustain 20 locusts at 100 minerals/minute.

Which is honestly quite trivial by the time you actually have 20 locusts.

It's not reasonable at all because it means all your SH become completely useless once you run out of resources. Imagine marines stop shooting once you run out of minerals. Reasonable?

Energy-based solution could be a reasonable one but that will take a whole new balancing work.


Carriers work in a similar fashion, once you run out of minerals and your intercepters are dead, they're useless. Worked the same way with reavers in BW - they couldn't shoot if you didn't have the minerals to buy the shot. I don't see an issue.

What do you mean you don't see an issue with carriers. They are a shit unit that was supposed to be cut in HOTS but somehow managed to stay in thanks to "fans' request" and no sane person ever makes them. If that is your definition of "no issue," then I think you need a reality check.

And SH and carriers work differently. You can try to maintain interceptors and carriers have their minimal use. Still they are a shit unit. SH has no other function than sending out locusts that spontaneously die.
Enstein
Profile Joined April 2013
Russian Federation134 Posts
May 08 2014 06:40 GMT
#603
I really can't agree with the proposed changes. The ZvP balance could be seriously affected. With the spore nerf any fenix opening would force the opponent into hydra play, while right now it is still possible to counter it by adding spores and queens.
Rooting for MaNa, Snute and Bunny. Europe holds!
ejozl
Profile Joined October 2010
Denmark3481 Posts
May 08 2014 06:43 GMT
#604
I really can't agree with the proposed changes. The ZvP balance could be seriously affected. With the spore nerf any fenix opening would force the opponent into hydra play, while right now it is still possible to counter it by adding spores and queens.

The nerf removes the +bio on spores and adds some of it to Hydras.
This will only have effect when Protoss lift their own bio units with Phoenix=Not often.
SC2 Archon needs "Terrible, terrible damage" as one of it's quotes.
usethis2
Profile Joined December 2010
2164 Posts
May 08 2014 07:28 GMT
#605
On May 08 2014 04:05 convention wrote:
I have the hardest time teaching friends to play DOTA2. "This makes you immune to magic, but not all magic, these 15 spells will go through it. But it also purges stuff off of you, unless it's these 10 debuffs. Also, makes you immune stuns, except the stuns from 12 abilities....". On the other hand, the abilities in SC2 are so much more simple, which has made a lot more friends stay with SC2 than I've ever had with DOTA2, and it's because the entrance knowledge required is so much less, and so much more readily available.

Totally agree. These armor types and worse, unit-specific counters are nothing but a candid acknowledgement of game dev's failure of balancing. I thought it was hilarious when Blizzard invented "unarmored" armor type in WC3 Frozen Throne and applied that to units like Huntresses who wore full body armor and shields because they could not balance that unit in the original.
Penev
Profile Joined October 2012
28512 Posts
May 08 2014 08:53 GMT
#606
On May 08 2014 08:42 Thieving Magpie wrote:
Show nested quote +
On May 08 2014 05:42 Penev wrote:
On May 08 2014 04:53 FiWiFaKi wrote:
On May 08 2014 03:52 Shellshock wrote:
On May 08 2014 03:50 habeck wrote:
On May 08 2014 02:56 whatami wrote:
There is a an extremely easy fix to this problem, do absolutely nothing else but make broodlords specifically, no other unit, but broodlords, immune to abduct. vipers abducting in pvz is necessary, just stop it as a thing in ZVZ, how hard is that?


as i said, just make biological units immune to abduct, problem solved, but nobody listens people just like dumb discussions

why biological? What's wrong with being able to abduct things like infestors or the other player's vipers?


I hate such specific balance changes. Can't abduct broodlord? Why, what makes the broodlord so special? That's why I agree can't abduct biological units is better.

But what's the logic in not being able to abduct biological units? The Viper's tongue can only attach to metal (or shields)?

Edit: Even worse; What about marines, ghosts, HT's etc?


Because its easier to make sensical lore explaining how the blah blah of vipers don't affect biological units as opposed "Broodlords too heavy dude, I can only drag motherships"

Most definitely not. It's much easier to just have the BL have a specific counter to Vipers like what Tuczniak humorously proposed, or Shellshocks idea that does work if it is only applied to the BL. Please, correct me if I'm wrong by proposing an easy explanation for Vipers not being able to abduct bio units and remember that all the races have them.
I Protoss winner, could it be?
Ramiz1989
Profile Joined July 2012
12124 Posts
May 08 2014 09:35 GMT
#607
On May 08 2014 15:43 ejozl wrote:
Show nested quote +
I really can't agree with the proposed changes. The ZvP balance could be seriously affected. With the spore nerf any fenix opening would force the opponent into hydra play, while right now it is still possible to counter it by adding spores and queens.

The nerf removes the +bio on spores and adds some of it to Hydras.
This will only have effect when Protoss lift their own bio units with Phoenix=Not often.

The amount of people in this thread that have bad reading comprehension is mind-boggling...
"I've been to hell and back, and back to hell…and back. This time, I've brought Hell back with me."
SatedSC2
Profile Blog Joined March 2014
England3012 Posts
May 08 2014 09:37 GMT
#608
--- Nuked ---
mostevil
Profile Joined February 2011
United Kingdom611 Posts
May 08 2014 09:39 GMT
#609
On May 07 2014 17:55 deacon.frost wrote:
Maybe I am wrong, but why so much hate on DKim? He is NOT responsible for game design and unit design at all. He is, AFAIK, responsible for tuning the game into playable state. Skills of units, new units, old units(etc.) are others responsibility, DKim is a person who changes numbers, isn't he?


He can very easily change the numbers on swarm hosts to make them fit the stated role of breaking turtles, rather than forming them, but instead he's coming up with insane ideas to create difficult to execute counters. They throw locusts too far with no interruption in the waves which allows creates the stalemates. If they die faster and there's a pause between waves all the problems go away and the unit becomes what it's supposed to be. Currently its a low skill way to win the game by waiting... this is not good.

If we want to watch auto-spawned minions kill pointlessly each other while clicking once a minute we can go play a moba.

Aesthetically a flying unit abducting massive ground units looks really silly, so on those grounds changing abduct makes sence. However massive units are generally all that's worth abducting, given that it can pull a colossus into a wave of locust for no risk it seems broken, but that's only in the context of there being a wave of locusts there in the first place. Address the damn problem DK.

In general his suggestions sound pretty dumb, which is probably why the hate. Swarm hosts are a problem, lets make mutas a problem again to distract people isn't the way this should be one.
我的媽和她的瘋狂的外甥都
SmoKim
Profile Joined March 2010
Denmark10305 Posts
May 08 2014 10:11 GMT
#610
aaah
- Spore Crawler damage decreased from 15+30bio to 15+15bio

so that's why my mutas died
"LOL I have 202 supply right now (3 minutes later)..."LOL NOW I HAVE 220 SUPPLY SUP?!?!?" - Mondragon
ejozl
Profile Joined October 2010
Denmark3481 Posts
Last Edited: 2014-05-08 10:26:20
May 08 2014 10:26 GMT
#611
aaah
Show nested quote +
- Spore Crawler damage decreased from 15+30bio to 15+15bio


so that's why my mutas died

You see? You see?
That's why we can't add to many special rules and +dmg tags. Rotti still think Reapers do +dmg vs light, in his casts.
SC2 Archon needs "Terrible, terrible damage" as one of it's quotes.
cheekymonkey
Profile Joined January 2014
France1387 Posts
May 08 2014 10:29 GMT
#612
I hope they realize the blinding cloud ability is already really strong against tanks. What ZvT does not need is yet another nerf to mech.
Big J
Profile Joined March 2011
Austria16289 Posts
May 08 2014 10:31 GMT
#613
On May 08 2014 18:39 mostevil wrote:
Show nested quote +
On May 07 2014 17:55 deacon.frost wrote:
Maybe I am wrong, but why so much hate on DKim? He is NOT responsible for game design and unit design at all. He is, AFAIK, responsible for tuning the game into playable state. Skills of units, new units, old units(etc.) are others responsibility, DKim is a person who changes numbers, isn't he?


He can very easily change the numbers on swarm hosts to make them fit the stated role of breaking turtles, rather than forming them, but instead he's coming up with insane ideas to create difficult to execute counters. They throw locusts too far with no interruption in the waves which allows creates the stalemates. If they die faster and there's a pause between waves all the problems go away and the unit becomes what it's supposed to be. Currently its a low skill way to win the game by waiting... this is not good.

If we want to watch auto-spawned minions kill pointlessly each other while clicking once a minute we can go play a moba.

Aesthetically a flying unit abducting massive ground units looks really silly, so on those grounds changing abduct makes sence. However massive units are generally all that's worth abducting, given that it can pull a colossus into a wave of locust for no risk it seems broken, but that's only in the context of there being a wave of locusts there in the first place. Address the damn problem DK.

In general his suggestions sound pretty dumb, which is probably why the hate. Swarm hosts are a problem, lets make mutas a problem again to distract people isn't the way this should be one.

Aesthetically speaking, abduct makes a thousand times more sense and looks very pretty, compared to what it is fighting against:
+ Show Spoiler +
[image loading]


Remove the obnoxious air behaviour of units stacking into each other for LotV, if you want to do something for the game aesthetically (and in terms of gameplay).
WombaT
Profile Blog Joined May 2010
Northern Ireland26323 Posts
May 08 2014 10:33 GMT
#614
Brood War, Wc3 had all those kind of values and were still popular. The majority of the players I play use clearly identifiable builds that are taken from somewhere else, I don't see it as a stretch to think they can look up the armour types.

That or include them in the client. I'd rather have a functional game than one which kowtows to 'casuals'
'You'll always be the cuddly marsupial of my heart, despite the inherent flaws of your ancestry' - Squat
mostevil
Profile Joined February 2011
United Kingdom611 Posts
May 08 2014 10:56 GMT
#615
On May 08 2014 19:31 Big J wrote:
Show nested quote +
On May 08 2014 18:39 mostevil wrote:
On May 07 2014 17:55 deacon.frost wrote:
Maybe I am wrong, but why so much hate on DKim? He is NOT responsible for game design and unit design at all. He is, AFAIK, responsible for tuning the game into playable state. Skills of units, new units, old units(etc.) are others responsibility, DKim is a person who changes numbers, isn't he?


He can very easily change the numbers on swarm hosts to make them fit the stated role of breaking turtles, rather than forming them, but instead he's coming up with insane ideas to create difficult to execute counters. They throw locusts too far with no interruption in the waves which allows creates the stalemates. If they die faster and there's a pause between waves all the problems go away and the unit becomes what it's supposed to be. Currently its a low skill way to win the game by waiting... this is not good.

If we want to watch auto-spawned minions kill pointlessly each other while clicking once a minute we can go play a moba.

Aesthetically a flying unit abducting massive ground units looks really silly, so on those grounds changing abduct makes sence. However massive units are generally all that's worth abducting, given that it can pull a colossus into a wave of locust for no risk it seems broken, but that's only in the context of there being a wave of locusts there in the first place. Address the damn problem DK.

In general his suggestions sound pretty dumb, which is probably why the hate. Swarm hosts are a problem, lets make mutas a problem again to distract people isn't the way this should be one.

Aesthetically speaking, abduct makes a thousand times more sense and looks very pretty, compared to what it is fighting against:
+ Show Spoiler +
[image loading]


Remove the obnoxious air behaviour of units stacking into each other for LotV, if you want to do something for the game aesthetically (and in terms of gameplay).

The stacking and clumping both air and ground looks bad and has many negative side effects. But that's a different issue entirely that needs a complete redesign. I'm pretty sure the LotV team are going to be more a mod team rather than a dev team, with the same awful designers. Don't expect much. Also not changing something stupid because there are more stupid things isn't a good paradigm, and if you're race biased about it there's even less reason to listen.
我的媽和她的瘋狂的外甥都
Big J
Profile Joined March 2011
Austria16289 Posts
May 08 2014 11:17 GMT
#616
On May 08 2014 19:56 mostevil wrote:
Show nested quote +
On May 08 2014 19:31 Big J wrote:
On May 08 2014 18:39 mostevil wrote:
On May 07 2014 17:55 deacon.frost wrote:
Maybe I am wrong, but why so much hate on DKim? He is NOT responsible for game design and unit design at all. He is, AFAIK, responsible for tuning the game into playable state. Skills of units, new units, old units(etc.) are others responsibility, DKim is a person who changes numbers, isn't he?


He can very easily change the numbers on swarm hosts to make them fit the stated role of breaking turtles, rather than forming them, but instead he's coming up with insane ideas to create difficult to execute counters. They throw locusts too far with no interruption in the waves which allows creates the stalemates. If they die faster and there's a pause between waves all the problems go away and the unit becomes what it's supposed to be. Currently its a low skill way to win the game by waiting... this is not good.

If we want to watch auto-spawned minions kill pointlessly each other while clicking once a minute we can go play a moba.

Aesthetically a flying unit abducting massive ground units looks really silly, so on those grounds changing abduct makes sence. However massive units are generally all that's worth abducting, given that it can pull a colossus into a wave of locust for no risk it seems broken, but that's only in the context of there being a wave of locusts there in the first place. Address the damn problem DK.

In general his suggestions sound pretty dumb, which is probably why the hate. Swarm hosts are a problem, lets make mutas a problem again to distract people isn't the way this should be one.

Aesthetically speaking, abduct makes a thousand times more sense and looks very pretty, compared to what it is fighting against:
+ Show Spoiler +
[image loading]


Remove the obnoxious air behaviour of units stacking into each other for LotV, if you want to do something for the game aesthetically (and in terms of gameplay).

The stacking and clumping both air and ground looks bad and has many negative side effects. But that's a different issue entirely that needs a complete redesign. I'm pretty sure the LotV team are going to be more a mod team rather than a dev team, with the same awful designers. Don't expect much. Also not changing something stupid because there are more stupid things isn't a good paradigm, and if you're race biased about it there's even less reason to listen.


Vipers not abducting all the stronger units also requires a complete redesign. Of course it looks silly when Colossi fly through the air, but so does half of the stuff in the game. Marauders boxing the air when firing out of their hands, zealots spanking rocks, the fusion core dance, banelings rolling... Thing is, it is a game that is not really realistic. Cherrypicking out one thing with the only justification being "hey, it looks silly" is hardly a reason to change it. At least it is a very distinct, yet not gameplay influencing animation. Can't say that about everything else.
Daswollvieh
Profile Blog Joined October 2009
5553 Posts
May 08 2014 12:11 GMT
#617
For LotV I wish for every race to have sensibly achievable air and ground splash damage.
TaShadan
Profile Joined February 2010
Germany1978 Posts
May 08 2014 13:09 GMT
#618
On May 08 2014 21:11 Daswollvieh wrote:
For LotV I wish for every race to have sensibly achievable air and ground splash damage.


LotV will introduce one or two new free units for each race! It is going to be awesome :D
Total Annihilation Zero
havok55
Profile Joined May 2013
United States276 Posts
May 08 2014 13:53 GMT
#619
Maybe make blinding cloud a debuff that sticks on units for its duration (adjust accordingly). I mean what's blinding cloud really good against that can't be completely negated by a click from your opponent? Unattended siege tanks? Already have abduct for that. Every time I see some poor zerg trying to use cloud only to have their opponent take a step back... it's just sad.

But I guess it becomes too much like fungal...
MegaRomse
Profile Joined September 2013
2 Posts
May 08 2014 14:10 GMT
#620
So the hydra buff affects Biological units and those are:

Overlord
Overseer
Broodlord
Viper
Corruptor
Mutalisk
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