EPTGreetings, dear TL Forums! Not long ago, more specifically on February 23th, Blizzard released a Balance Test Map in which they would test a Siege Tank Damage Buff. In order to get a clearer picture of the repercusions of this Damage Buff, I decided to make charts which would showcase the amount of shots that it would take for a Siege Tank to kill the ground units of all three races and some structures, considering these two scenarios: the current Siege Tank Damage (Original) and the improved Siege Tank Damage (Buff).
Siege Tank Damage Chart
On a more detailed note, the amount of shots that a Siege Tank requires to kill a unit/structure is a calculation that takes into consideration the following factors: Health Points (HP), Shield points, Base Armor (and Upgraded Armor, when necessary), Siege Tank Damage (and Vehicle Weapon upgrades). It goes as follows:
# of shots = (HP + Shield Points) / (Damage - Base Armor)
The result of this calculation is an integer number and, in case the result is a fraction, it is always rounded up.
Just for clarification purposes, the cells filled in GREEN indicate that there is an improvement due to the buff. Also, I have added notes marked by the symbol *, please make sure to read those as they showcase certain exceptions, give explanations on why it's an improvement or clarify a point.
On a more personal note, I am happy that I can share this information with you,I sincerely hope it helps you draw your conclusions on wether you like it or not and,last but not least, showcase how much of an improvement a simple flat damage buff can prove to be!
Without further ado, I am attaching the charts as follows.
Terran Units
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![[image loading]](http://i.imgur.com/RuUyYtg.jpg)
Zerg Units
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![[image loading]](http://i.imgur.com/abK9MoN.jpg)
Ultralisk (Yes, it has its own chart LOL)
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![[image loading]](http://i.imgur.com/SVhzCNH.jpg)
Protoss Units
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![[image loading]](http://i.imgur.com/bUGBvFm.jpg)
Conclusions / Additional Notes
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Siege Tank Splash Damage
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On March 01 2016 06:12 Cyro wrote:
it's also important to note that siege tanks do three stages of damage based on how far the enemy is from the main target. With lings, they'll die in 2 hits instead of 3 from the 50% damage splash radius
it's also important to note that siege tanks do three stages of damage based on how far the enemy is from the main target. With lings, they'll die in 2 hits instead of 3 from the 50% damage splash radius
Some Conclusions
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The advantage that Siege Tanks receive from the buff is that, in general terms, it takes 1 less shot to kill most Protoss units.However, if we go in depth and analyse both type of armor interaction. We could conclude the following:
- Siege Tanks, as a consequence of the buff, would become better against Light / No-Armor-Type Ground Protoss Units only during the early/mid game, as that's when the Siege Tanks takes 1 less shot to kill them (in ALL the cases, except for the archon).
- Siege Tanks would become much better all the time against Armored-Type Ground Protoss Units like the Immortal and the Colossi, and I believe personally that this area could be the one giving a bit of trouble. But we have to take into consideration, that by applying the damage buff, we should also be applying the Medivac pickup removal, only THAT would make things fair, as Siege Tanks would still have a strong weakness in their lack of mobility. That would make it tough to be aggressive with them, while keeping their defensive capabilities strong.
-Also the fact that Siege Tanks become better against most of protoss units means that you can hit the critical mass of Siege Tanks much faster, as you are going to need less Siege Tanks to control / protect as much space as before. Considering that Siege Tanks and Mech generally are weak against Air Armies and having more Siege Tanks than what you need is not going to help against that matter, actually having / requiring less supply of Siege Tanks is a buff to mech as well, as you will be able to produce more units to complement your Siege Tanks.
Having said all of this, I do agree it's scary, we've never had a mech army go toe to toe against a protoss army (especially if Toss has Air) in an equal situation, usually mech has mostly worked against Protoss when the protoss is at some kind of disadvantage (or at least that is what I have experienced).
- Siege Tanks, as a consequence of the buff, would become better against Light / No-Armor-Type Ground Protoss Units only during the early/mid game, as that's when the Siege Tanks takes 1 less shot to kill them (in ALL the cases, except for the archon).
- Siege Tanks would become much better all the time against Armored-Type Ground Protoss Units like the Immortal and the Colossi, and I believe personally that this area could be the one giving a bit of trouble. But we have to take into consideration, that by applying the damage buff, we should also be applying the Medivac pickup removal, only THAT would make things fair, as Siege Tanks would still have a strong weakness in their lack of mobility. That would make it tough to be aggressive with them, while keeping their defensive capabilities strong.
-Also the fact that Siege Tanks become better against most of protoss units means that you can hit the critical mass of Siege Tanks much faster, as you are going to need less Siege Tanks to control / protect as much space as before. Considering that Siege Tanks and Mech generally are weak against Air Armies and having more Siege Tanks than what you need is not going to help against that matter, actually having / requiring less supply of Siege Tanks is a buff to mech as well, as you will be able to produce more units to complement your Siege Tanks.
Having said all of this, I do agree it's scary, we've never had a mech army go toe to toe against a protoss army (especially if Toss has Air) in an equal situation, usually mech has mostly worked against Protoss when the protoss is at some kind of disadvantage (or at least that is what I have experienced).
Personal Author Notes
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Woosh! I was finally able to do this! Figuratively speaking, I had this stuck inside my chest for such a long time, it would've been painful to allow obstacles to keep me from posting this for much longer.
When Mr. David Kim posted that Community Feedback in which he stated Siege Tanks would receive a flat damage buff,I was SUPER excited to finally see a simple straightforward buff to my favourite unit!
Finally, some love for the Siege Tank!
However, I believe I didn't fully understand the implicancies of this buff, or what it exactly meant in gameplay, otherwise I wouldn't be able to say this is strong or it is not such a strong change in a conscious way, joo know.
But then, the Balance Test Map was announced, and that is when I came up with the idea of making the charts, in order to have factual information, so that I could draw my own conclusion. Three days later, by the 26th, I finished the charts, however it has not been until today that I finally found the time and courage to post it.
I had stuff to do during the weekend, plus the fact that I have barely posted anything on TL ever, I didn't know how to format it in a way it would be easily understandable. So I was feeling annoyed by the fact that I wanted to share this as soon as possible before the testing on the map finished and conlusions were drawn by Blizz, in other words, before the charts were not necessary anymore.
Then, Blizzard released this Community Feedback in which they were considering alternatives to the flat damage buff and that just was enough. I just decided to be sincere in the redaction without making it look scientific or anything, after all, it's all about sharing facts.
So, here it is! And that was a little bit of catharsis. Letting it go now that it is finally done and in your hands now. I feel like I have taken down some weight off my shoulders.
When Mr. David Kim posted that Community Feedback in which he stated Siege Tanks would receive a flat damage buff,I was SUPER excited to finally see a simple straightforward buff to my favourite unit!
Finally, some love for the Siege Tank!
However, I believe I didn't fully understand the implicancies of this buff, or what it exactly meant in gameplay, otherwise I wouldn't be able to say this is strong or it is not such a strong change in a conscious way, joo know.
But then, the Balance Test Map was announced, and that is when I came up with the idea of making the charts, in order to have factual information, so that I could draw my own conclusion. Three days later, by the 26th, I finished the charts, however it has not been until today that I finally found the time and courage to post it.
I had stuff to do during the weekend, plus the fact that I have barely posted anything on TL ever, I didn't know how to format it in a way it would be easily understandable. So I was feeling annoyed by the fact that I wanted to share this as soon as possible before the testing on the map finished and conlusions were drawn by Blizz, in other words, before the charts were not necessary anymore.
Then, Blizzard released this Community Feedback in which they were considering alternatives to the flat damage buff and that just was enough. I just decided to be sincere in the redaction without making it look scientific or anything, after all, it's all about sharing facts.
So, here it is! And that was a little bit of catharsis. Letting it go now that it is finally done and in your hands now. I feel like I have taken down some weight off my shoulders.
Credits
Special thanks to Liquipedia, I took the information regarding the unit stats from it, they do a great job keeping the info up to date.
Thanks a lot for reading my post in advance, I hope you can share your thoughts as well here.
PS: LOL, Protoss chart is all green xD
Obviously, with its proper quote.
They should be one shotted too! I am just waiting for Blizzard to create an incredible map pool with some cliffs behind minerals where the tank can be abused 
