Balance Update Thanks to everyone who provided feedback on the proposed changes. We really appreciated all of the thoughtful discussion! After reading over the feedback, we are preparing to implement the balance changes that have been on the testing matchmaking queue.
Terran
Thor Thor armor was increased from 1 to 2. Thor morph times reduced from 2.5 to 1.79. Thor morph random delay durations reduced from 0.36 to 0.18.
Raven Auto-Turret damage reduced from 24 to 18. Auto-Turret duration increased from 7.14 to 10.
Protoss
Tempest Kinetic Overload damage increased from 30 (+14 massive) to 30 (+22 massive).
Void Ray Prismatic Alignment slows the Void Ray by 40% while active.
Zealot Charge upgrade cost lowered from 200/200 to 100/100.
Zerg
Roach & Infestor Undetected burrow move visual effects should be more visible.
Currently, we are planning for these changes to go live next week in the upcoming 3.14 patch. As always, we welcome your thoughts and feedback!
I wonder if the patch will come with any other features. I thought that balance changes were supposed to be separate from client patches for some time now.
On May 17 2017 06:15 BronzeKnee wrote: I really don't like the Void Ray change. It was useful for chasing down Carriers and Tempests, and with the speed nerf, you can't do that.
I think it was either that or the bonus damage was getting nerfed, guess they didn't want to nerf the VR's straight up fight capability. You have to admit it is a completely no brainer ability, "Now I press the button and my Void Rays move faster and hit harder". Kind of like stim minus the impressive micro capabilities of the Marine.
On May 17 2017 06:15 BronzeKnee wrote: I really don't like the Void Ray change. It was useful for chasing down Carriers and Tempests, and with the speed nerf, you can't do that.
I think it was either that or the bonus damage was getting nerfed, guess they didn't want to nerf the VR's straight up fight capability. You have to admit it is a completely no brainer ability, "Now I press the button and my Void Rays move faster and hit harder". Kind of like stim minus the impressive micro capabilities of the Marine.
Prismatic Align doesn't increase the speed of a Void Ray.
But sure, it is absolutely a bad ability, buttons you press that only improve your units with no cost represents poor game design (cough... Medivac Boost... cough).
In fact, the Void Ray isn't a well designed unit honestly. But in SC2 it is a near microless air unit necessary to counter other near microless air units in PvP... unless you build Carriers and Tempests yourself, there is no other counter to those units once their numbers start getting high enough. So ideally the Void Ray would be replaced with a better designed unit, but until then the Carrier and Tempest just go so much stronger in PvP...
Air versus air is so fun in a RTS. I'd really like Stalkers to be better at killing air units.
On May 17 2017 06:15 BronzeKnee wrote: I really don't like the Void Ray change. It was useful for chasing down Carriers and Tempests, and with the speed nerf, you can't do that.
I think it was either that or the bonus damage was getting nerfed, guess they didn't want to nerf the VR's straight up fight capability. You have to admit it is a completely no brainer ability, "Now I press the button and my Void Rays move faster and hit harder". Kind of like stim minus the impressive micro capabilities of the Marine.
Prismatic Align doesn't increase the speed of a Void Ray.
But sure, it is absolutely a bad ability, buttons you press that only improve your units with no cost represents poor game design (cough... Medivac Boost... cough).
In fact, the Void Ray isn't a well designed unit honestly. But in SC2 it is a near microless air unit necessary to counter other near microless air units in PvP... unless you build Carriers and Tempests yourself, there is no other counter to those units once their numbers start getting high enough. So ideally the Void Ray would be replaced with a better designed unit, but until then the Carrier and Tempest just go so much stronger in PvP...
Air versus air is so fun in a RTS. I'd really like Stalkers to be better at killing air units.
I completely agree with your entire post and I apologize about the movement speed, I was totally wrong lol
On May 17 2017 05:57 A.Alm wrote: Lol was a video really needed? Pretty small patch. Nice video tho
The answer is NO, it's not needed... but as my girlfriend and I were discussing a few moments ago, making content about everything and anything is how you expand your name on the internet He got to you, didnt he!?
PiG has been making a name for himself for quite some time, and now it's almost like a Day9-esque reputation as far as im concerned. Which isn't a bad thing, as I've learned a crap ton from PiG's stuff.
Am I the only one worried about a possible resurgence of proxy-thor builds in TvT ?
Also, most changes seem sensible and make sense, without overdoing it. Looks like a pretty good patch I'd say !
I like the autoturret change. Shouldn't change much at the highest level (where the players have almost instant reactions) but it'll help mid and lower level players immensely (how many time have I lost half of a mineral line because I took like 4-5s to respond...).
Edit: can't believe I almost missed this... HAPPY PI PATCH PEOPLE ! \o/
On May 17 2017 17:02 LoneYoShi wrote: Am I the only one worried about a possible resurgence of proxy-thor builds in TvT ?
Nope. I'd imagine they're a lot harder to hold with marines and cyclones doing no damage per shot.
That's my fear as well. I like to open with a fast expand (reaper expo or reaper + factory expo), might be complicated now. Or I'll have to accept the possibility of a BO loss. I haven't really thought about it, but the recent addition of High Impact Payload may also be a problem towards the common approach of using a viking to shut down this build... Did it change how much damage a Thor does to a viking ?
On May 17 2017 17:02 LoneYoShi wrote: Am I the only one worried about a possible resurgence of proxy-thor builds in TvT ?
Nope. I'd imagine they're a lot harder to hold with marines and cyclones doing no damage per shot.
1-1-1 with marine/tank/viking or marine/tank/raven will still beat proxy thor.
Yeah there'll always be builds that hold it, but I'd like to avoid having to open full 1-1-1 on 1 base every TvT... I'll adapt if I have to, but playing 1 base isn't really what I prefer.
On May 17 2017 05:57 A.Alm wrote: Lol was a video really needed? Pretty small patch. Nice video tho
This patch is incredibly huge for protoss meta game so I'm not quite sure what you're talking about. I mean, take Nony in this thread for example. One of the builds he did in early WoL, his upg'd zealot timing attacks were incredibly, incredibly strong for quite a while. Imagine having speed +1 armor lots +forge for mine drop detection now at like ~5-6minutes in the game while being able to defend a 3rd as toss..... seems like quite a strong build to me, just gotta find out how to make it work.
edit: it is actually such a fun prospect being able to play this style again that I'm debating playing 1v1 a bit too now. I really dislike the PvT disruptor style.
EPT
