• Log InLog In
  • Register
Liquid`
Team Liquid Liquipedia
EDT 09:56
CEST 15:56
KST 22:56
  • Home
  • Forum
  • Calendar
  • Streams
  • Liquipedia
  • Features
  • Store
  • EPT
  • TL+
  • StarCraft 2
  • Brood War
  • Smash
  • Heroes
  • Counter-Strike
  • Overwatch
  • Liquibet
  • Fantasy StarCraft
  • TLPD
  • StarCraft 2
  • Brood War
  • Blogs
Forum Sidebar
Events/Features
News
Featured News
[ASL21] Finals Preview: Two Legacies18Code S Season 2 (2026) - RO12 Preview2herO wins GSL Code S Season 1 (2026)5Code S Season 1 (2026) - RO4 & Finals Preview5[ASL21] Ro4 Preview: On Course12
Community News
Crank Gathers Season 4: BW vs SC2 Team League0Weekly Cups (May 11-17): Classic wins double0Code S Season 1 (2026) - RO8 Results2Weekly Cups (May 4-10): Clem, MaxPax, herO win1Maestros of The Game 2 announcement and schedule !18
StarCraft 2
General
herO wins GSL Code S Season 1 (2026) Code S Season 2 (2026) - RO12 Preview Weekly Cups (May 11-17): Classic wins double Code S Season 1 (2026) - RO4 & Finals Preview Team Liquid Map Contest #22 - The Finalists
Tourneys
GSL Code S Season 2 (2026) Crank Gathers Season 4: BW vs SC2 Team League GSL Code S Season 1 (2026) Sparkling Tuna Cup - Weekly Open Tournament Maestros of The Game 2 announcement and schedule !
Strategy
Custom Maps
[D]RTS in all its shapes and glory <3 [A] Nemrods 1/4 players
External Content
Mutation # 527 Hell Train The PondCast: SC2 News & Results Mutation # 526 Rubber and Glue Mutation # 525 Wheel of Misfortune
Brood War
General
25 Years Since Brood War Patch 1.08 VPN experiences vespene.gg — BW replays in browser (Spoiler) ASL21 Winner's Interview [ASL21] Finals Preview: Two Legacies
Tourneys
[Megathread] Daily Proleagues [ASL21] Grand Finals Escore Tournament StarCraft Season 2 Small VOD Thread 2.0
Strategy
Any training maps people recommend? Muta micro map competition [G] Hydra ZvZ: An Introduction Fighting Spirit mining rates
Other Games
General Games
Nintendo Switch Thread Stormgate/Frost Giant Megathread Dawn of War IV ZeroSpace Megathread Warcraft III: The Frozen Throne
Dota 2
The Story of Wings Gaming
League of Legends
Heroes of the Storm
Simple Questions, Simple Answers Heroes of the Storm 2.0
Hearthstone
Deck construction bug Heroes of StarCraft mini-set
TL Mafia
Vanilla Mini Mafia Mafia Game Mode Feedback/Ideas TL Mafia Community Thread Five o'clock TL Mafia
Community
General
US Politics Mega-thread Trading/Investing Thread Dating: How's your luck? Russo-Ukrainian War Thread European Politico-economics QA Mega-thread
Fan Clubs
The herO Fan Club!
Media & Entertainment
[Manga] One Piece Anime Discussion Thread [Req][Books] Good Fantasy/SciFi books
Sports
2024 - 2026 Football Thread McBoner: A hockey love story TeamLiquid Health and Fitness Initiative For 2023 Formula 1 Discussion
World Cup 2022
Tech Support
streaming software Strange computer issues (software)
TL Community
The Automated Ban List
Blogs
Esports Organizations: Raisi…
TrAiDoS
Why RTS gamers make better f…
gosubay
ramps on octagon
StaticNine
Funny Nicknames
LUCKY_NOOB
ASL S21 English Commentary…
namkraft
Customize Sidebar...

Website Feedback

Closed Threads



Active: 1428 users

5.0.15 Balance Patch Notes (Live version)

Forum Index > SC2 General
119 CommentsPost a Reply
1 2 3 4 5 6 Next All
TL.net ESPORTS
Profile Joined July 2011
4 Posts
October 01 2025 09:05 GMT
#1
Blizzard has released the 5.0.15 balance patch for StarCraft II: official post + patch notes


We are happy to bring 5.0.15 Live, which contains various balance changes, bug fixes, and quality of life improvements. We want to thank all the community contributors who provided valuable feedback during our PTR period.

Zerg
  • Spire cost reduced from 200/200 to 150/150.
  • Spire build time reduced from 71 seconds to 66 seconds.
  • Centrifugal Hooks now give +5 HP bonus to Banelings again.
  • Microbial Shroud reduces range attacks by 50% damage.
  • Microbial Shroud effect no longer persists for a few seconds after the unit has left the shroud.
  • Microbial Shroud cost increased from 75 to 100.
  • Microbial Shroud now requires an upgrade again (150/150).


Protoss
  • Energy Recharge grant has been reduced from 100 to 50 energy.
  • Energy Recharge cooldown reduced from 60 to 45 seconds.
  • Mothership movement speed reduced from 2.83 to 2.25.
  • Psionic Storm changed from 80 damage over 3 seconds to 140 damage over 6 seconds (26.7 DPS > 23.3 DPS).
  • Psionic Storm radius increased from 1.5 to 2.
  • Psionic Storm range reduced from 9 to 8.
  • Dark Templar Blink attack delay reduced from 0.75 to 0.25.
  • Surveillance mode now reveals the Observers.
  • Surveillance mode increases vision from 13.75 to 15.
  • Purification cooldown reduced from 21.4 seconds to 17 seconds.
  • Stasis Ward duration reduced from 170 seconds to 90 seconds.


Terran
  • Siege Tank can no longer be abducted when in siege mode.
  • Viking cost reduced from 150/75 to 125/75.
  • Drilling Claws effectiveness increased from 1.07 to 0.71 seconds.
  • Hyperflight Rotors research time decreased to from 100 to 79 seconds.
  • Liberator Sight reduced from 10 to 9.
  • Ghost supply reduced from 3 to 2.
  • Ghost now has light attribute.


Bug Fixes
  • Updated Protoss AoE UI indicator.
  • Fixed an issue where units with beam attacks would conflate each other's cooldowns.
  • Fixed an issue where Probes would become unresponsive near Assimilators.
  • Fixed an issue with Cyclone attack upgrade giving +1 instead of +2.
  • Fixed an issue with Mothership attacking at max range.
  • Fixed an issue with Cyclone Lock-On Cooldown.
  • Fixed an issue with Orbital Commands not auto-rallying.
  • Fixed an issue where Mothership had a redundant Psionic tag.
  • Fixed an issue where Mothership weapon behaved erratically when targeting Changelings.
  • Fixed an issue where Mothership was unable to designate and maintain the correct number of targets (4) for target-firing (including during movement).
  • Fixed an issue where Mothership's target-acquiring process would cause it to overly-prioritize low-priority targets (such as Larvae).
  • Fixed an issue where Mothership's range was less than intended.
  • Fixed an issue where units unloaded out of transports would not reset their acquired attack target to the closest unit.
  • Fixed an issue where Commands with add-on build would be issued to the same Barracks repeatedly rather than spread out.
  • Fixed an issue where hitting the key to construct an add-on twice could result in the production structure lifting when certain settings were used.
  • Fixed an issue where "Set Rally" could not be issued if both flying and ground structures were simultaneously selected.
  • Fixed an issue where visual effects from abilities could be seen through the fog of war (Parasitic Bomb, Stimpack).
  • Fixed an issue where visual effects from abilities could not be seen even when large portions of the model were well within vision range (Guardian Shield, Microbial Shroud).
  • Fixed an issue where Disruptors lacked an AoE indicator.
  • Fixed an issue where Stasis Wards had no pre-placement visual indicator or sound.
  • Fixed an issue where Liberators could designate an attack target while morphing from AG to AA, but not while morphing from AA to AG.
  • Fixed an issue where Liberators commanded to siege in areas inside their range could result in slower execution than being commanded to siege outside their range.
  • Fixed an issue where the model for Zerg 6x6 rocks was set to be too large for its footprint, and projectiles would not produce flesh squibs.
  • Fixed an issue where Ravagers would glide along the ground if told to move command after issuing corrosive bile.
  • Fixed an issue where no target impact animation was present for Corrosive Bile.
  • Fixed an issue where Broodlings could greatly delay launching or fail to launch toward their target, depending on their position relative to the broodlord.
  • Improved Microbial Shroud particle effects for units within the shroud, particularly as certain map lighting could cause bright flashing lights.
  • Fixed an issue where players could accidentally drain excess health while attempting to cast Stimpack (It now has a very short cooldown to prevent rapid re-cast).
  • Fixed an issue where Cyclones hit by a Lurker spine would instantly go into Lock-On cooldown.
  • Fixed an issue where Cyclone Lock-On projectiles would damage targets even if the target had escaped detection before impact.
  • Fixed an issue where Contaminate could be cast on targets that could not research or train units (like Creep Tumors).
  • Fixed an issue where 'damaged' graphics would not trigger on Rich Refineries/Extractors.
  • Fixed an impactful balance issue where Motherships were not playing their coolest available visual animation while constructing. This is intended to buff Protoss visually.
  • Updated turning/position visuals for Reapers, Hellions, and Cyclones.
  • Fixed an issue where Dark Templar attack sounds would complete regardless of whether a unit had been dealt damage.
  • Adjusted smartcast behavior for Caustic Spray and Consume abilities. This is intended to reduce the reliance on 'Rapidfire' settings for optimal use.
  • Fixed an issue where Locusts spawned simultaneously would have perfectly synchronized animations rather than behaving like a swarm.
  • Fixed an issue where researching Hi-Sec Auto Tracking would not update its level on the icon of units it affected.
  • Increased allied push priority for Thors and Siege Tanks. Intended to assist bulky units in pathfinding when surrounded by many small friendly units.
  • Fixed an issue where Reaper's rapid regeneration model would persist above its transport.
  • Fixed an issue where Siege Tank impact fire model would persist above its target's transport.
  • Fixed an issue where Siege Tank impact craters would disappear and reappear if the target was picked up/dropped out of a transport.
  • Fixed an issue where Thor's High-Impact weapon made no launch sound.
  • Fixed an issue where KD-8 Charge could cause ground units to resemble air units by moving them to a different height plane.
  • Fixed an issue where KD-8 Charge knockback animation would persist on units that were no longer being knocked back.
  • Added polish to the casting of Microbial Shroud via a short cast finish time.
  • Fixed an issue where the rich Assimilators' shield armor icon would not update with shield upgrades.
  • Fixed an issue where it was difficult to tell the progression of Lurker spikes underneath clumps of units.
  • Fixed an issue where Lurker spine damage was desynced substantially with its visual effects due to the visual spine taking too long to appear.
Facebook Twitter Reddit
TL+ Member
redloser
Profile Joined May 2011
Korea (South)1749 Posts
October 01 2025 09:09 GMT
#2
man it'd be nice had they at least stated the purpose of the changes (e.g. they find PvZ midgame was too weak for P in pro game so we buff storm, etc.) instead of just churning out patches with no remarks
MiCroLiFe
Profile Joined March 2012
Norway275 Posts
October 01 2025 09:41 GMT
#3
Storm is actually better than it was before
Im Terran. Yes i will balance whine somethimes. And thats how we terrans survive, Hoping for balance patches<3
MJG
Profile Joined May 2018
United Kingdom1451 Posts
October 01 2025 10:44 GMT
#4
At least it looks playable, unlike the initial proposals.
puking up frothing vitriolic sarcastic spittle
MiCroLiFe
Profile Joined March 2012
Norway275 Posts
October 01 2025 10:49 GMT
#5
Protoss is even more safe now:/ terrans stil have to do all ins
Im Terran. Yes i will balance whine somethimes. And thats how we terrans survive, Hoping for balance patches<3
CicadaSC
Profile Joined January 2018
United States1916 Posts
October 01 2025 10:55 GMT
#6
loved what i saw in patch so far.
Remember that we all come from a place of passion!!
Kreuger
Profile Joined October 2011
Sweden871 Posts
October 01 2025 11:07 GMT
#7
Will be fun seeing how this will play out in the coming weeks
derkopf
Profile Joined July 2004
Germany86 Posts
October 01 2025 11:17 GMT
#8
not having a changelog in the game-client itself is a silly one
Cyro
Profile Blog Joined June 2011
United Kingdom20328 Posts
October 01 2025 11:57 GMT
#9
How long til we have a community mod reverting this?
"oh my god my overclock... I got a single WHEA error on the 23rd hour, 9 minutes" -Belial88
tigera6
Profile Joined March 2021
3486 Posts
October 01 2025 12:21 GMT
#10
First online cup with the new patch and we have 7 1/2 Protoss in top 8, look promising.
Kreuger
Profile Joined October 2011
Sweden871 Posts
October 01 2025 12:23 GMT
#11
Looking at the matchups, maybe 1-2 of those tosses are a suprise but nothing special otherwise
MJG
Profile Joined May 2018
United Kingdom1451 Posts
Last Edited: 2025-10-01 13:02:42
October 01 2025 13:01 GMT
#12
On October 01 2025 21:21 tigera6 wrote:
First online cup with the new patch and we have 7 1/2 Protoss in top 8, look promising.

(Wiki)LiuLi Cup/Weekly/8

Which Ro16 match-ups do you think are upsets caused by balance?

Clem is only 1/3 a Protoss btw...
puking up frothing vitriolic sarcastic spittle
CicadaSC
Profile Joined January 2018
United States1916 Posts
Last Edited: 2025-10-01 13:06:39
October 01 2025 13:05 GMT
#13
On October 01 2025 21:21 tigera6 wrote:
First online cup with the new patch and we have 7 1/2 Protoss in top 8, look promising.

lots more top protoss play than zerg or terran, you can look at noteable signups list on liquipedia... everyone knows protoss dominate weekly cups along with clem and well... this looks about what you would expect any patch. get serral and reynor and everyone else in there and then maybe we can have a discussion about balance. Also, i will note it is still early, so even then idk if i would even buy that. meta def gotta settle on this one.

For me, i think after RSL season 3 i will have a much better picture on the state of this patch.
Remember that we all come from a place of passion!!
Ciaus237
Profile Joined July 2015
South Africa288 Posts
October 01 2025 13:58 GMT
#14
The idea that Serral and Reynor are the only Zergs relevant for balance (and that the near absence of the race from smaller cups is not relevant) is an... interesting one.
The time that we kill keeps us alive
Charoisaur
Profile Joined August 2014
Germany16065 Posts
October 01 2025 14:23 GMT
#15
Zerg will be crazy this patch. 40 hp Banes that smash Ghosts, buffed Mutas, Mini dark swarm, and bugfixed Broodlords and Cyclones.
At least the buffed units are fun (minus the broodlord)
Many of the coolest moments in sc2 happen due to worker harassment
Moonerz
Profile Joined March 2014
United States461 Posts
Last Edited: 2025-10-01 15:02:22
October 01 2025 15:00 GMT
#16
Didnt realize this had gone live until I played a game last night and someone sieged an observer and I killed it.

Ultimately terran feels like it comes out the loser by a decent margin in this patch.

TvP maybe got a little better since toss won't be able to maintain vision as easily especially at f2 levels. But gonna have to see how that works out.

TvZ yeah I think zerg clearly gets some help in exchange for yoinking tanks.
dysenterymd
Profile Joined January 2019
1250 Posts
Last Edited: 2025-10-01 15:06:50
October 01 2025 15:05 GMT
#17
On October 01 2025 22:58 Ciaus237 wrote:
The idea that Serral and Reynor are the only Zergs relevant for balance (and that the near absence of the race from smaller cups is not relevant) is an... interesting one.

I think the performance of players like Solar/Shin against players like Showtime/Zoun and Cure/Byun (the A- tier players of their race, for lack of a better term. Maybe that's unfair to Cure because he has great results but I still put him below Maru/Clem) is absolutely relevant. I do question the relevance of smaller cups though. The best Terran (Clem) and the three best Protoss all like playing small cups, while only some good Zerg do, and those that do aren't nearly as prolific.

Could that be because playing Protoss is so unfun for Zerg that they choose not to play cups? It could be. But also with the dearth of top players in general, it's totally feasible that by chance the top Zerg we have just aren't too inclined towards cup play. A tournament like RSL with decent prize pool will be far more instructive.
Serral | Inno | sOs | soO | Has | Classic
[PkF] Wire
Profile Joined March 2013
France24238 Posts
October 01 2025 15:34 GMT
#18
not gonna lie, the first tourney on the patch didn't look good. Overcharge got reasonably nerfed but I didn't realize how much stronger the new storm was ; those being the main changes aimed at TvP which was very imbalanced, I don't see how this is going to solve it. Even a slight storm buff would have been questionable (the overcharge nerf was needed and, if we agree TvP was massively problematic, didn't need to have any counterpart), but here ? I genuinely already hope this iteration doesn't last the year.
Charoisaur
Profile Joined August 2014
Germany16065 Posts
October 01 2025 15:35 GMT
#19
Fixed an impactful balance issue where Motherships were not playing their coolest available visual animation while constructing. This is intended to buff Protoss visually.

The intern was surely having fun
Many of the coolest moments in sc2 happen due to worker harassment
Admiral Yang
Profile Joined July 2025
48 Posts
October 01 2025 16:15 GMT
#20
everyone knows protoss dominate weekly cups along with clem and well... this looks about what you would expect any patch


Is it unreasonable to say that this is exactly what a balance patch is supposed to address?
1 2 3 4 5 6 Next All
Please log in or register to reply.
Live Events Refresh
Wardi Open
11:00
#88
WardiTV1187
IntoTheiNu 806
TKL 429
Rex136
Ryung 114
Liquipedia
[ Submit Event ]
Live Streams
Refresh
StarCraft 2
TKL 429
sc2solar 188
Rex 136
Ryung 114
Railgan 85
ProTech76
StarCraft: Brood War
Britney 56402
Calm 8015
Mini 1291
EffOrt 1184
Jaedong 1059
Hyuk 456
Larva 352
BeSt 352
Light 306
actioN 304
[ Show more ]
firebathero 304
ggaemo 293
Snow 283
Soulkey 201
Nal_rA 142
Rush 128
Sharp 125
Mind 122
Pusan 117
Mong 95
[sc1f]eonzerg 77
scan(afreeca) 50
Barracks 44
ToSsGirL 42
Aegong 37
Sexy 30
JulyZerg 29
soO 26
Movie 19
HiyA 13
ajuk12(nOOB) 13
IntoTheRainbow 12
Terrorterran 12
Rock 10
Icarus 6
Dota 2
Dendi1550
XaKoH 751
XcaliburYe416
League of Legends
Reynor111
Counter-Strike
olofmeister2701
byalli828
allub241
Other Games
B2W.Neo1011
hiko950
Beastyqt676
Lowko513
crisheroes308
Happy304
Liquid`VortiX79
amsayoshi64
ArmadaUGS56
Hui .56
Organizations
StarCraft: Brood War
UltimateBattle 1875
Counter-Strike
PGL939
StarCraft 2
Blizzard YouTube
StarCraft: Brood War
BSLTrovo
[ Show 17 non-featured ]
StarCraft 2
• StrangeGG 39
• Kozan
• AfreecaTV YouTube
• sooper7s
• intothetv
• Migwel
• LaughNgamezSOOP
• IndyKCrew
StarCraft: Brood War
• iopq 4
• STPLYoutube
• ZZZeroYoutube
• BSLYoutube
Dota 2
• HappyZerGling54
League of Legends
• Jankos3944
• Nemesis1767
• Stunt384
Other Games
• WagamamaTV275
Upcoming Events
Monday Night Weeklies
2h 5m
Replay Cast
10h 5m
Kung Fu Cup
21h 5m
GSL
1d 19h
herO vs Classic
Cure vs Clem
uThermal 2v2 Circuit
2 days
Replay Cast
2 days
GSL
2 days
Maru vs SHIN
Zoun vs Rogue
WardiTV Spring Champion…
2 days
SKillous vs Strange
Lambo vs Strange
Ryung vs Strange
Lambo vs Ryung
Ryung vs SKillous
Lambo vs SKillous
Replay Cast
3 days
Maestros of the Game
3 days
[ Show More ]
Replay Cast
4 days
RSL Revival
4 days
Lambo vs SHIN
Solar vs Rogue
herO vs Clem
Maestros of the Game
4 days
IPSL
5 days
ZZZero vs WorsT
Julia vs eOnzErG
Replay Cast
5 days
RSL Revival
5 days
Maestros of the Game
5 days
IPSL
6 days
Dragon vs Artosis
dxtr13 vs Hawk
BSL
6 days
Wardi Open
6 days
Liquipedia Results

Completed

ASL Season 21
2026 GSL S1
Heroes Pulsing #1

Ongoing

2026 KK StarCraft Pro League
BSL Season 22
IPSL Spring 2026
KCM Race Survival 2026 Season 2
KK 2v2 League Season 1
YSL S3
Acropolis #4
CSCL: Masked Kings S4
SCTL 2026 Spring
WardiTV Spring 2026
2026 GSL S2
RSL Revival: Season 5
CS Asia Championships 2026
Asian Champions League 2026
IEM Atlanta 2026
PGL Astana 2026
BLAST Rivals Spring 2026
IEM Rio 2026
PGL Bucharest 2026
Stake Ranked Episode 1
BLAST Open Spring 2026
ESL Pro League S23 Finals

Upcoming

Escore Tournament S2: King of Kings
BSL 22 Non-Korean Championship
CSLAN 4
Blizzard Classic Cup 2026
Kung Fu Cup 2026 Grand Finals
HSC XXIX
uThermal 2v2 2026 Main Event
Maestros of the Game 2
Bounty Cup 2026
BLAST Bounty Summer 2026
BLAST Bounty Summer Qual
Stake Ranked Episode 3
XSE Pro League 2026
IEM Cologne Major 2026
Stake Ranked Episode 2
TLPD

1. ByuN
2. TY
3. Dark
4. Solar
5. Stats
6. Nerchio
7. sOs
8. soO
9. INnoVation
10. Elazer
1. Rain
2. Flash
3. EffOrt
4. Last
5. Bisu
6. Soulkey
7. Mini
8. Sharp
Sidebar Settings...

Advertising | Privacy Policy | Terms Of Use | Contact Us

Original banner artwork: Jim Warren
The contents of this webpage are copyright © 2026 TLnet. All Rights Reserved.