We happy to push 5.0.13 to which features a variety of Map Pool Updates and Balance. We would like to thank our partners at ESL, Balance Community Council and Community Mapmakers for all your contributions that went into 5.0.13.
MAP POOL UPDATE
1v1
Goldenaura LE
Site Delta LE
Oceanborn LE
Post-Youth LE
Amphion LE
Crimson Court LE
Dynasty LE
Alcyone LE
Ghost River LE
2v2
Catalesque CE
Divergence CE
Nightscape CE
Emerald City CE
Heavy Artillery LE
Overgrown Facility
Reclamation LE
Rhoskallian LE
Graystone Ravine
3v3
Flashback CE
Black Site 2E
Sandstorm CE
Mountain Pass CE
Sentinel CE
Jungle Depths LE
Bastion of the Conclave
Misty Swamp
Buried Caverns
4v4
Alaeni Enclave CE
Enigma CE
Fractional Disstilation Plant
Lexiphanicism CE
Multiprocessor CE
Concord LE
Forgotten Sanctuary
Shipwrecked LE
Tuonela LE
VERSUS
Balance Council on 5.0.12
Patch 5.0.12 was a big effort from the community balance council working on it, and we would like to thank everyone for providing their feedback and to apologize for us not being able to communicate proactively.
While we believe that some of the previous patch goals were successfully achieved, other goals, e.g. related to the Protoss versus Terran matchup, are yet to be accomplished.
Certain changes originally received mixed feedback from the community and also led to unintentional consequences, particularly in the case of Cyclones, so we might need to revisit those.
With the upcoming patch we would like to take a more careful approach and focus on fewer goals to improve the current state of the game.
The progamers involved in the balance council feel that the state of Terran versus Zerg and Protoss versus Zerg doesn't require any major balance changes.
Balance Council 5.0.13 Goals
Improve the state of Protoss versus Terran matchup at the professional level.
Mainly accomplished by changes to Terran units.
Address the community concerns about the most oppressive openings like Cyclone all-ins and Widow Mine drops.
Implement QoL improvements and the small changes proposed by the map making community to give more freedom in the competitive map design.
BALANCE UPDATE
General
Worker attack range increased from 0.1 to 0.2.
Worker inner radius (collision with terrain / structures) reduced from 0.375 to 0.3125.
Adjusted footprint size of Vespene Geysers (maintain previous interactions with Workers and Geysers).
Allows mapmakers to create 'Worker only Paths'.
'Zerg Rocks' now lose hp off creep.
Allows mapmakers to create rocks which lose HP over time, naturally opening up pathways on maps.
Mineral Fields can now be destroyed by collapsible rock towers.
Terran
Liberator
Advanced ballistics range bonus reduced from 3 to 2.
Widow Mine
Invisibility while reloading now requires Drilling Claws upgrade instead of a constructed Armory.
Splash damage radius reduced from 1.75 to 1.5.
Now gives an attack alert to the enemy when burrowing in range of enemy units.
Alert is not given for already burrowed Widow Mines when enemies enter range.
Increased visibility of targeting line and targeted unit.
Reduced maximum impact of shots by reducing the radius (has a greater impact towards shots in Mineral lines due to how units clump).
Reduced game ending moments when Armory-cloaked Widow Mines are dropped throughout multiple Protoss bases in the midgame.
Now gives more opportunity for counterplay through the changes to visuals and alerts.
Armory
Cost reduced from 150/100 to 150/50.
Engineering Bay
Infantry weapons/armor upgrades cost reduced from 100/175/250 to 100/150/200.
Cyclone
Weapon cooldown increased from 0.48 to 0.58.
Lock On now cooldown increased from 0 to 2.86.
Weapon now has turret tracking, damage point reduced from 0.119 to 0.036.
Health increased from 110 to 130.
Raven
Interference Matrix can no longer target units already targeted or affected by Interference Matrix.
Zerg
Hatchery/Lair/Hive
Creep spread radius increased from 12 to 13.
Infestor
Fungal Growth range increased from 9 to 10.
Vision range while burrowed reduced from 10 to 8.
Unburrow time increased from 0.357 - 0.714 seconds to 0.625 - 0.714 seconds.
Range relates to random delay.
Increased size of moving burrowed Infestor visuals effects.
Overlord
Transport Overlord morph time increased from 12.14 to 15 seconds.
Transport Overlord move speed increased from 1.10 to 1.28 (2.83 to 3.00 with Pneumatized Carapace).
Protoss
Observer
Build time reduced from 21.4 to 17.9 seconds.
Health/Shields increased from 40/20 to 40/30.
Model size increased by 10% / Surveillance Mode animation speed increased by 75%.
Sentry
Damage increased from 6 to 6 (+4 vs Shields).
Light attribute tag removed.
Pylon
Sight range increased from 9 to 10.
BUG FIXES & QUALITY OF LIFE UPDATE
Siege Tank (Unsieged) Turret now tracks previously attacked unit.
Fixed an issue where Siege Tank attack animation would sometimes not play.
Fixed an issue with Reaper's KD8 Charge Animation.
Fixed an issue with Ghost's Snipe tooltip not showing bonus damage vs psionic.
Fixed an issue where Banelings could deal additional damage on ramps.
Activating Generate Creep on overlords now activates for all selected Overlord types (Drop / Default).
Lurker subgroup priority increased (Now has higher priority than Ravager).
Fixed an issue where Immortals would not fire while surrounded by units or partially covered by Forcefields.
Immortal Turret now tracks previously attacked unit.
Fix tooltip on Mothership Cloak Field buff.
Fixed various issues with Recall.
No longer includes units already being Recalled.
All Recall abilities now cancel Adept Psionic Transfer and Disruptor Purification Nova.
Tempest Tectonic Destabilizers upgrade now also applies to attacks targeting flying buildings.
Fixed an issue where Guardian Shield would not apply to units on a different cliff level than the Sentry.
Fixed an issue where certain Vespene Geysers would not update visually when Depleted.
Fixed various issues with Rocks appearance on the minimap.
Fixed various issues with Healing Shrines.
Fixed an issue where Cyclone Lock On could activate on a hidden unit (Bug where Lock On would never end).
Fixed an issue where Shield Battery's Recharge impact model was visible through the fog.
Fixed an issue where Shield Battery could not be ordered to stop recharging a structure while auto-cast was enabled.
Fixed an issue where Disruptors were treated differently when being dropped by a transporter that was not a Warp Prism.
Fixed an issue where Acceleration and Inhibitor Zones affected structures on the ground.
Curious to play with the new changes. Terran upgrade cost reduction is going to be nice to tinker with.
Still not a fan of the widow mine burrowing alert, but curious to see how the radius reduction feels.
Aside from that still pretty disappointed in the toss changes. And really not understanding the overlord drop buffs, maybe I missed the people asking for this lol.
Also the hatch creep buff didn't they nerf that a couple patches ago? Curious to see if we actually get more variety to map design as a result
I think it would be a great addition for Probes and Drones to autosplit Widow Mine shots - the above 4 nerfs and the additional alert might just not be enough to make the only viable TvP tactic vs 4g Blink completely useless.
When Terran gets a nerf, why does it always have to be atleast 2-3 nerfs for the same unit at once? Why can't we take steps gradually, see how it goes, then adjust when neccessary?
On March 27 2024 05:32 Psz wrote: I think it would be a great addition for Probes and Drones to autosplit Widow Mine shots - the above 4 nerfs and the additional alert might just not be enough to make the only viable TvP tactic vs 4g Blink completely useless.
When Terran gets a nerf, why does it always have to be atleast 2-3 nerfs for the same unit at once? Why can't we take steps gradually, see how it goes, then adjust when neccessary?
Nah that's not enough, we also need zealot and ling bane autosplit. Lord forbid terran can take a bunch ling bane out at once. You will get overrun and you will enjoy it. On a more serious note, I'm with you. It's even more egregious that supposedly this was strictly a tvp patch and yet zergs get compensatory buffs in addition to indirect buffs from the terran nerfs. I guess clem winning an international tournament and maru gsl is too much
Edit: Again community has nothing to say, they don't really care about feedback. Oh wait they did care about Feedback, when apparently Reynor told them to remove it. Cabal wins again.
The intransparent nature of community balance council is bad for the game. In my opinion members of the balance council should not be allowed to hide from the public. Conflicted individuals, especially those who are actively competing in sc2, or developing competing games should immediately be remove from any decisions about game balance.
Competition gamers balancing the game they compete in, is the same as criminals on the police force. Utterly insane.
Glad the Cyclone change went through / didn't revert!
Just too bad they didn't give the Cyclone +1 (+1 vs Mechanical) per attack upgrade. (They could have tweaked the damage/dps to keep it consistent with the 10% rule thing). But, I did test it out with upgrades in unit tester, and it was actually able of slightly beating mass immortal of equal cost/supply. So, maybe it was slightly too good..
Thx for posting. Terran lifer here. Been playing since March 2010.
As long as the match maker keeps my winning % near 50% I'm all good. I am looking forward to having fun with the changes.
On March 27 2024 07:09 Branch.AUT wrote: The intransparent nature of community balance council is bad for the game.
i disagree. The balance gods no longer have a giant multibillion dollar behemoth protecting them. I respect their privacy and look forward to competing on the new patch.
Also, when game developers try to come across like they are "my friend" it immediately raises suspicion.
Don't love the widow mine radius change, let's see how much it ends up mattering in practice/if other buffs compensate.
One thing I'm curious about is the indirect impact of faster observer build time - 3 seconds isn't massive, but robo build time is such a vital resources for Toss. Over the course of longer games it could matter a lot?
On March 27 2024 07:09 Branch.AUT wrote: The intransparent nature of community balance council is bad for the game.
i disagree. The balance gods no longer have a giant multibillion dollar behemoth protecting them. I respect their privacy and look forward to competing on the new patch.
Also, when game developers try to come across like they are "my friend" it immediately raises suspicion.
Nah. If you're going to be making changes to the game everyone plays, people should know who is making those changes. If you don't want it to be known, you don't have to be on the balance council. No one is forcing you. It's a public service. Also there is invested interest and bias from races. If balance council is 50% zerg 30% terran and 20% protoss it should be known.
On March 27 2024 07:41 JimmyJRaynor wrote: Thx for posting. Terran lifer here. Been playing since March 2010.
As long as the match maker keeps my winning % near 50% I'm all good. I am looking forward to having fun with the changes.
On March 27 2024 07:09 Branch.AUT wrote: The intransparent nature of community balance council is bad for the game.
i disagree. The balance gods no longer have a giant multibillion dollar behemoth protecting them. I respect their privacy and look forward to competing on the new patch.
Also, when game developers try to come across like they are "my friend" it immediately raises suspicion.
Nah. If you're going to be making changes to the game everyone plays, people should know who is making those changes. If you don't want it to be known, you don't have to be on the balance council. No one is forcing you. It's a public service. Also there is invested interest and bias from races. If balance council is 50% zerg 30% terran and 20% protoss it should be known.
Agreed. I'm not saying that everyone is like this, but to those who are on the council or those who say that they want to feel protected and that we should be thankful for their efforts and not complain that we don't know who they are: hey, I never said I want you on the council on the first place.
I want who's on the council to be known. If they can't handle the heat or the burden of responsibility behind their decisions, I don't trust them to be on the council and I don't want them speaking for or representing me. If they don't feel confident enough in the decisions to die by them, then that's on them.
It's really weird that we know so little about who's approving or finalizing these changes. There is no accountability. I suppose you could say that Blizzard is still approving them in order to make them live, but is it just some intern or other blizzard employee helping do this? Is there someone who can be the face and put their name over these patches, someone to take responsibility? If we don't know who's making the decisions and who has what ideas for the game, how do they know if the community agrees with the ideas they're pushing for? It's fine to be called a Balance Council, but it's definitely not a "Community Balance Council".
Why is it every time Zerg gets a nerf they get an equally big buff to something else to compensate , which then get's abused by the top zergs and it turns out that became OP. You just nerfed kamikaze Infestor burrow fungals but now you basically buffed zerg late game army by giving Infestor 1 more range. 1 more range in hands of pro's is huge,1 range can decide a game easily. I seriously question whoever is on this balance council when you basically just buffed Infestor/Broodlord/Corruptor comps.
Infestor just needed a vision and or visual nerf so single burrowed infestors can't win games that's all you needed to do
On March 27 2024 08:12 Yoshi Kirishima wrote: If we don't know who's making the decisions and who has what ideas for the game, how do they know if the community agrees with the ideas they're pushing for? It's fine to be called a Balance Council, but it's definitely not a "Community Balance Council".
On March 27 2024 07:41 JimmyJRaynor wrote: Thx for posting. Terran lifer here. Been playing since March 2010.
As long as the match maker keeps my winning % near 50% I'm all good. I am looking forward to having fun with the changes.
On March 27 2024 07:09 Branch.AUT wrote: The intransparent nature of community balance council is bad for the game.
i disagree. The balance gods no longer have a giant multibillion dollar behemoth protecting them. I respect their privacy and look forward to competing on the new patch.
Also, when game developers try to come across like they are "my friend" it immediately raises suspicion.
Nah. If you're going to be making changes to the game everyone plays, people should know who is making those changes. If you don't want it to be known, you don't have to be on the balance council. No one is forcing you. It's a public service. Also there is invested interest and bias from races. If balance council is 50% zerg 30% terran and 20% protoss it should be known.
Batshit insane and illegal agreement - in particular the section regarding waiving your legal rights - required to play SC2 (even offline) as of this patch.
EPT
