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Update on HotS Balance - December 3

Forum Index > SC2 General
469 CommentsPost a Reply
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Aeromi
Profile Blog Joined August 2012
France14456 Posts
Last Edited: 2014-12-03 18:50:40
December 03 2014 18:18 GMT
#1
[image loading]


Blizzard just released a post about balance.

Hello everyone,

We’ve been assessing the state of Heart of the Swarm balance recently, and while our data shows that balance at lower skill levels is quite even, we’ve noted some concerns at the highest levels of play. We’re seeing that Terran looks slightly stronger than the other two races, and Zerg is underperforming slightly in both matchups.

As suggested by pro players and members of the community, we feel the map pool in Season 3 contributed a lot to these racial differences and we’re going to be making changes next season to help with this. Our goal for the upcoming season is to have a good mix of maps that are balanced as well as some that slightly favor specific races. We’re currently working towards finalizing the 2015 Season 1 map pool and we’re hoping that we can update to the new ladder map pool later this month.

Additionally, we’ve been considering potential balance changes to help address these issues. One area we’ve been keeping close tabs on that we believe we can help improve balance is the strength of the Widow Mine in TvP. We believe the direction of our last balance update was correct, but we wonder if the actual numbers were slightly too much. We’re currently thinking of testing the following change on a balance test map:

Widow mine splash damage decreased from 40 +40 shields to 40 +20 shields.

This will change a few key unit relationships such as Zealots requiring three shots to die from Widow Mine splash damage to four shots and Sentries/Templars would go from one shot to two shots.

We’re currently in the off-season, so we have time to fully test out changes to the game, but we first wanted to hear your thoughts before committing to a balance test map.

Thank you.


Poll: Widow Mine Damage Decreased to 40 + 20 Shields

Like (795)
 
55%

Dislike (353)
 
25%

DREAMPOOL (290)
 
20%

1438 total votes

Your vote: Widow Mine Damage Decreased to 40 + 20 Shields

(Vote): Like
(Vote): Dislike
(Vote): DREAMPOOL




Source : http://us.battle.net/sc2/en/forum/topic/15522792124
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HellHound
Profile Joined September 2014
Bulgaria5962 Posts
December 03 2014 18:21 GMT
#2
Huh, blizz actually paying attention to reasonable suggestion and not making big changes.
Let's see how this will play out.
Classic GosoO |sOs| Everyone has to give in, let Life win | Zest Is The Best | Roach Cultist | I recognize the might and wisdom of my Otherworldly overlord | Air vs Air 200/200 SC2 is best SC2 | PRIME has been robbed | Fuck prime go ST | ROACH ROACH ROACH
DarkPlasmaBall
Profile Blog Joined March 2010
United States44137 Posts
December 03 2014 18:21 GMT
#3
I'm all for this A minor change to a very versatile unit. Nice!
"There is nothing more satisfying than looking at a crowd of people and helping them get what I love." ~Day[9] Daily #100
The_Templar
Profile Blog Joined January 2011
your Country52797 Posts
December 03 2014 18:22 GMT
#4
Sounds good. Wondering if more balance changes are coming though
Moderatorshe/her
TL+ Member
CakeSauc3
Profile Joined February 2011
United States1437 Posts
December 03 2014 18:22 GMT
#5
Would this bring back Templar openings?

Glad they're mostly focusing on maps.
Nebuchad
Profile Blog Joined December 2012
Switzerland12136 Posts
December 03 2014 18:23 GMT
#6
I'd rather they change the map pool before they decide that change of WM is needed. Both at the same time seems too much.
No will to live, no wish to die
OtherWorld
Profile Blog Joined October 2013
France17333 Posts
December 03 2014 18:23 GMT
#7
FFS Blizzard when will you learn that changing two variables at the same bad is not a good idea... Start by changing the map pool, then see if the imbalance persists. If it does, try your changes.
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Nebuchad
Profile Blog Joined December 2012
Switzerland12136 Posts
December 03 2014 18:24 GMT
#8
Also there's something fun in reading "We've noticed that zerg is underperforming, therefore we're offering this TvP change"
No will to live, no wish to die
HoZBlooddrop
Profile Blog Joined December 2013
Italy324 Posts
December 03 2014 18:26 GMT
#9
finally!

good change
Killscreen
Profile Joined February 2012
188 Posts
December 03 2014 18:29 GMT
#10
Kind of odd that they are struggling so much to find the sweet spot for a specific unit. As a masters zerg player I found them so annoying to deal with in the first season of hots that it ultimately led me to quit playing.

The WM has to be the unit that has been adjusted most often? Or maybe the infestor?
Ragnarork
Profile Blog Joined June 2011
France9034 Posts
December 03 2014 18:30 GMT
#11
Damn, just saw the tweet and thought I'd post it, but sniped by 10 minutes by Aeromi.
LiquipediaWanderer
Genesis_443
Profile Joined December 2012
Scotland52 Posts
December 03 2014 18:31 GMT
#12
On December 04 2014 03:24 Nebuchad wrote:
Also there's something fun in reading "We've noticed that zerg is underperforming, therefore we're offering this TvP change"


There is something else fun in noticing they said that the map pool is what they believe to have contributed the most to the balance, and not having a knee jerk reaction and nerfing/buffing units. Good call by Blizz to take a minimalist approach, can't wait to see if this works out.
Supersamu
Profile Joined November 2014
Germany296 Posts
December 03 2014 18:32 GMT
#13
On December 04 2014 03:24 Nebuchad wrote:
Also there's something fun in reading "We've noticed that zerg is underperforming, therefore we're offering this TvP change"


But they are also changing the mappool.

What I don't understand is the following:
"Our goal for the upcoming season is to have a good mix of maps that are balanced as well as some that slightly favor specific races."

Obviously it is virtually impossible to ever achieve perfect balance with the races and the maps, but I hope they aim for perfect balance in each individual map and don't try to design a map to have a particular imbalance. I guess if they balance their map imbalances, then everything is balanced again, but that is also a lot of work.
johnbongham
Profile Joined April 2014
451 Posts
Last Edited: 2014-12-03 18:34:48
December 03 2014 18:33 GMT
#14
wrong thread
[PkF] Wire
Profile Joined March 2013
France24192 Posts
December 03 2014 18:33 GMT
#15
Ohhhhhh, at last. This was long overdue and I'm happy Protoss will be able to open chargelots templars again. I'm happy to hear they understand a lot of the balance problems are due to maps too. I hope maps like Nimbus or Catallena are never to be seen again.
PinoKotsBeer
Profile Joined February 2014
Netherlands1385 Posts
December 03 2014 18:33 GMT
#16
The only decent unit vs toss gets a nerf, hope they will consider to buff the tank (shield damage)
http://www.twitch.tv/pinokotsbeer
Ctesias
Profile Joined December 2012
4595 Posts
December 03 2014 18:34 GMT
#17
Would rather have seen how the new maps would affect balance before they start number tuning, but that might be due to my love for watching Protoss units die to Widow mines.

On December 04 2014 03:29 Killscreen wrote:The WM has to be the unit that has been adjusted most often? Or maybe the infestor?

The bunker.
Flash | Mvp
Enigmasc
Profile Joined February 2014
United Kingdom147 Posts
December 03 2014 18:36 GMT
#18
nice to see that there taking the moderate approach and just looking at making maps less T sideded
i kinda like the widowmine change aswell, there still good and will still be usefull aggressivley ( widowmine drops etc) but this might be enough that Ht openings arnt 100% dead
collossus play is getin stale

Nebuchad
Profile Blog Joined December 2012
Switzerland12136 Posts
December 03 2014 18:36 GMT
#19
Now that I think about it it's technically the right approach: changing the maps, and doing some tests with the widow mines in case the map change isn't enough.
No will to live, no wish to die
Olli
Profile Blog Joined February 2012
Austria24417 Posts
December 03 2014 18:38 GMT
#20
Not sure if that's enough but they're addressing the right issue. Can always scale it up/down from there. Reassuring to know that they're aware of what the issues for PvT are though!
Administrator"Declaring anything a disaster because aLive popped up out of nowhere is just downright silly."
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