• Log InLog In
  • Register
Liquid`
Team Liquid Liquipedia
EST 18:00
CET 00:00
KST 08:00
  • 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
TL.net Map Contest #21: Winners2Intel X Team Liquid Seoul event: Showmatches and Meet the Pros10[ASL20] Finals Preview: Arrival13TL.net Map Contest #21: Voting12[ASL20] Ro4 Preview: Descent11
Community News
Starcraft, SC2, HoTS, WC3, returning to Blizzcon!20$5,000+ WardiTV 2025 Championship5[BSL21] RO32 Group Stage3Weekly Cups (Oct 26-Nov 2): Liquid, Clem, Solar win; LAN in Philly2Weekly Cups (Oct 20-26): MaxPax, Clem, Creator win9
StarCraft 2
General
TL.net Map Contest #21: Winners Starcraft, SC2, HoTS, WC3, returning to Blizzcon! RotterdaM "Serral is the GOAT, and it's not close" Weekly Cups (Oct 20-26): MaxPax, Clem, Creator win 5.0.15 Patch Balance Hotfix (2025-10-8)
Tourneys
$5,000+ WardiTV 2025 Championship Constellation Cup - Main Event - Stellar Fest Merivale 8 Open - LAN - Stellar Fest Sea Duckling Open (Global, Bronze-Diamond) $3,500 WardiTV Korean Royale S4
Strategy
Custom Maps
Map Editor closed ?
External Content
Mutation # 498 Wheel of Misfortune|Cradle of Death Mutation # 497 Battle Haredened Mutation # 496 Endless Infection Mutation # 495 Rest In Peace
Brood War
General
BGH Auto Balance -> http://bghmmr.eu/ SnOw's ASL S20 Finals Review [BSL21] RO32 Group Stage Practice Partners (Official) [ASL20] Ask the mapmakers — Drop your questions
Tourneys
[Megathread] Daily Proleagues [BSL21] RO32 Group B - Sunday 21:00 CET [BSL21] RO32 Group A - Saturday 21:00 CET BSL21 Open Qualifiers Week & CONFIRM PARTICIPATION
Strategy
Current Meta How to stay on top of macro? PvZ map balance Soma's 9 hatch build from ASL Game 2
Other Games
General Games
Stormgate/Frost Giant Megathread Dawn of War IV Nintendo Switch Thread ZeroSpace Megathread General RTS Discussion Thread
Dota 2
Official 'what is Dota anymore' discussion
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
TL Mafia Community Thread SPIRED by.ASL Mafia {211640}
Community
General
US Politics Mega-thread Russo-Ukrainian War Thread Things Aren’t Peaceful in Palestine YouTube Thread Dating: How's your luck?
Fan Clubs
White-Ra Fan Club The herO Fan Club!
Media & Entertainment
Anime Discussion Thread Movie Discussion! [Manga] One Piece Korean Music Discussion Series you have seen recently...
Sports
2024 - 2026 Football Thread NBA General Discussion MLB/Baseball 2023 TeamLiquid Health and Fitness Initiative For 2023 Formula 1 Discussion
World Cup 2022
Tech Support
SC2 Client Relocalization [Change SC2 Language] Linksys AE2500 USB WIFI keeps disconnecting Computer Build, Upgrade & Buying Resource Thread
TL Community
The Automated Ban List Recent Gifted Posts
Blogs
Saturation point
Uldridge
DnB/metal remix FFO Mick Go…
ImbaTosS
Why we need SC3
Hildegard
Career Paths and Skills for …
TrAiDoS
Reality "theory" prov…
perfectspheres
Our Last Hope in th…
KrillinFromwales
Customize Sidebar...

Website Feedback

Closed Threads



Active: 1298 users

Simple idea for nerfing the mule...

Forum Index > Closed
Post a Reply
1 2 3 4 5 Next All
SeaSmoke
Profile Joined July 2010
United States326 Posts
September 12 2010 06:24 GMT
#1
OK, OK...first of all I play zerg so take the rest of this for what you will.

Seeing as everyone these days are crying imbalance here and there (i don't think it's all that bad actually but definitely present). I had an idea about leveling what I think is one of the main problems with T's advantage.

Why not make it so each orbital command center can only drop one mule at any given time? This would greatly even the macro mechanics' playing field. If the queen can only spawn larvae once on a hatch, it seems only fair. Even a protoss player can only chrono boost his nexus once at a given time. If too much energy is stored it can be used elsewhere, but the nexus can only take one boost.

The mule as everyone knows is so forgiving it's not even close. I mean unless you build up a full 200 energy almost nothing is lost from forgetting to use mules. We've all seen terrans take a gold expo and drop tons of mules and the economy just skyrockets.

It's not like the energy would go to waste. A scan or even a supply drop is still a super powerful ability to use.

What do you guys think?

Poll: Is limiting the mule to one at a time a good idea?

Yes (204)
 
69%

No (84)
 
28%

How about splitting the difference at 2? (8)
 
3%

296 total votes

Your vote: Is limiting the mule to one at a time a good idea?

(Vote): Yes
(Vote): No
(Vote): How about splitting the difference at 2?





MangoTango
Profile Blog Joined June 2010
United States3670 Posts
September 12 2010 06:33 GMT
#2
There are legitimate reasons for dropping multiples. Dealing with cloaked units? Save energy. Cloaked units all killed? Drop mules and win.
"One fish, two fish, red fish, BLUE TANK!" - Artosis
Wolfpox
Profile Blog Joined March 2010
Canada164 Posts
September 12 2010 06:35 GMT
#3
Until you mentioned the Queen's inability to cast multiple Spawn Larva, I thought "Nah this is too harsh." But you're right.
[B] Butigroove wrote:[/B] Blizzard is double expanding to the natural gold base of our poor little nerd hearts.
Nokarot
Profile Blog Joined April 2010
United States1410 Posts
Last Edited: 2010-09-12 06:38:59
September 12 2010 06:36 GMT
#4
Maybe this is because I'm bad and I play against bad players, but I'd almost rather let them spend all their energy on mules. Just gives me more opportunities to burrow under someone or catch them with banelings or something.

All in all, it's an interesting thought, but I'm not sure mules are high on the chopping block in regards to balance. It's certainly annoying to wipe out somebodies economy, only to find out they can drop some mules and catch up. For the sake of not starting yet another TVZ balance thread, though, I'll refrain. I just think that most people would rather see changes elsewhere.

On September 12 2010 15:35 Wolfpox wrote:
Until you mentioned the Queen's inability to cast multiple Spawn Larva, I thought "Nah this is too harsh." But you're right.


You're not tied to one creep tumor per queen, though, or heal on a cooldown. You can use more than one chronoboost at a time per nexus.

I know, I know... it's not the same as dropping 5 mules and getting 1500 minerals, but I just thought I'd point it out. There is much more to consider in regards to balance than "X race can do this and YZ can't!"
beep beep boop
SlowBro
Profile Joined July 2010
Canada7 Posts
September 12 2010 06:37 GMT
#5
I don't get how this is one of T's "big advantages." The better players will always hit these timings and won't build up energy unless it's intentional. Limiting mules to one per OC would hurt the bad players and do nothing to the good players. And besides, isn't the mule a balancing factor made to keep up with protoss and zerg? Forgetting to mule for 10 seconds means other things are slowed down in the build.

Kurau
Profile Joined August 2010
United States16 Posts
September 12 2010 06:41 GMT
#6
On September 12 2010 15:37 SlowBro wrote:
I don't get how this is one of T's "big advantages." The better players will always hit these timings and won't build up energy unless it's intentional. Limiting mules to one per OC would hurt the bad players and do nothing to the good players. And besides, isn't the mule a balancing factor made to keep up with protoss and zerg? Forgetting to mule for 10 seconds means other things are slowed down in the build.



I've seen a few matches where high level players saved up energy, dropped a gold expo and flooded it with mules. Normal patch - 30 per, high yield 42 per trip. Yes they're limited by time, but it's a gigantic boost in mineral income for the time they're active. That's all I have to say on it though.
powar
Profile Joined April 2008
Canada36 Posts
September 12 2010 06:42 GMT
#7
It's more of saving mules for a gold expo that's the problem. If the third terran expo is on gold and he was saving energy off of two other orbital commands, that's a lot of minerals all at once just for getting a gold online 5 seconds ago.

I like the idea... but I'm a zerg player, so my opinion probably doesn't count! I have other ideas concerning zerg though, for one, hydras should come with nitro packs on their backs!
Samhax
Profile Joined August 2010
1054 Posts
September 12 2010 06:42 GMT
#8
I think one mule per orbital command is fair, it will punish bad macro or bad decision making for terrans. But if he messed up he can use his energy to add supply or doing some scan (no limitation for this two abilities). i think it's a good idea overall.

Plenty of mules on a gold mineral spot is ridiculous atm...
bLah.
Profile Joined July 2009
Croatia497 Posts
September 12 2010 06:43 GMT
#9
actually mule is not forgiving because terran mechanics works in a way that you need to have constant production and think ahead. You can't just get resources and pump out 30 units like zerg. So if you wait with your mules you won't have any units and then when you use all your mules you will have more resources than you can spend.

And mule is nerfed enough already since you can't use it later on because it shares energy with scan.
torm
Profile Joined May 2010
Canada274 Posts
September 12 2010 06:43 GMT
#10
I'm pretty sure that on fully saturated one base zerg/protoss vs one base terran, the terran will effectively have a 25% better mineral income because of the mules, which is part of the reason why terran is able to be so strong off of a single base.
cive
Profile Blog Joined May 2010
Canada370 Posts
September 12 2010 06:43 GMT
#11
Terran is just the new Protoss. The only "imbalance" worth a discussion is marauder's building destroying capability.

Going back to your MULE story, OC is already pretty limited by its mana. Due to terran's very expensive detector, many of the current builds used at high levels include OC mana. Also a pro would not spam MULE until they have enough OC to waste because you would not have the production capability or the gas to handle the spike of mineral income. Mana is rather saved for emergency like a critical supply block or scan.

MULE is already pretty nicely balanced out with its low HP. I am very upset as well that even a 13 year old Terran can beat a respected zerg player like cella. But its a problem much more complicated than something that would be solved just from limiting the number of MULEs that can be dropped. I think the main problem lies in the fact that workers mine 5 minerals at a time and each mineral nod contain 1500. It makes 1 base strategies too good. Also the maps are too small and narrow for zerg to fight.
Play Terran
freshiie22
Profile Joined May 2010
Canada132 Posts
September 12 2010 06:43 GMT
#12
sorry but i dont see how this can possible make sense. a zerg player van stock pile all their larvas early game it wont happen cuzz thats when you have to be crisp on ur timings and macro. in the early game you will never see any good players with un used larvas, however late game yo will have alot of spare larvas. same can be said for the OC early game there isnt much room to slip on macro and let your orbital build up energy. however late game you might have 3 orbitals at 200/200 just spame E and cLl dow 12 mules. and crono boost can be used right after the otjer so you can constantly keep up fSter production.
Phase 1: Bronze League Rank 78. Phase 2: Silver Rank 45 .August 23: Platinum Rank 7 and climbing
MegaVolt
Profile Joined September 2010
28 Posts
September 12 2010 06:44 GMT
#13
Yes, it's a very good idea.
I'd even go further and limit the maximum CC energy to 75. That way the Terran can't save up a lot of energy and has to sacrifice a bit of economy to keep scans ready (which should help the mid- and lategame a lot).
Fontong
Profile Blog Joined December 2007
United States6454 Posts
September 12 2010 06:48 GMT
#14
On September 12 2010 15:44 MegaVolt wrote:
Yes, it's a very good idea.
I'd even go further and limit the maximum CC energy to 75. That way the Terran can't save up a lot of energy and has to sacrifice a bit of economy to keep scans ready (which should help the mid- and lategame a lot).

This would only be a valid fix if there were 75 MULE energy and 75 scan energy too. Double the regen rate in total, but punishes people who don't use them properly.
[SECRET FONT] "Dragoon bunker"
heishe
Profile Blog Joined June 2009
Germany2284 Posts
Last Edited: 2010-09-12 06:50:38
September 12 2010 06:50 GMT
#15
one at a time MINING per expansion, yes. I wouldn't mind calling them down for repair or somethign else.
If you value your soul, never look into the eye of a horse. Your soul will forever be lost in the void of the horse.
Jakalo
Profile Blog Joined March 2009
Latvia2350 Posts
September 12 2010 06:50 GMT
#16
On September 12 2010 15:43 freshiie22 wrote:
sorry but i dont see how this can possible make sense. a zerg player van stock pile all their larvas early game it wont happen cuzz thats when you have to be crisp on ur timings and macro. in the early game you will never see any good players with un used larvas, however late game yo will have alot of spare larvas. same can be said for the OC early game there isnt much room to slip on macro and let your orbital build up energy. however late game you might have 3 orbitals at 200/200 just spame E and cLl dow 12 mules. and crono boost can be used right after the otjer so you can constantly keep up fSter production.


I am sorry to inform you, but your post doesnt make much sense.
Nostalgia is not as good as it used to be.
Samhax
Profile Joined August 2010
1054 Posts
Last Edited: 2010-09-12 06:52:12
September 12 2010 06:52 GMT
#17
On September 12 2010 15:50 heishe wrote:
one at a time MINING per expansion, yes. I wouldn't mind calling them down for repair or somethign else.


Yeah we can add this too the tooltip
heishe
Profile Blog Joined June 2009
Germany2284 Posts
September 12 2010 06:52 GMT
#18
On September 12 2010 15:43 freshiie22 wrote:
sorry but i dont see how this can possible make sense. a zerg player van stock pile all their larvas early game it wont happen cuzz thats when you have to be crisp on ur timings and macro. in the early game you will never see any good players with un used larvas, however late game yo will have alot of spare larvas. same can be said for the OC early game there isnt much room to slip on macro and let your orbital build up energy. however late game you might have 3 orbitals at 200/200 just spame E and cLl dow 12 mules. and crono boost can be used right after the otjer so you can constantly keep up fSter production.


a zerg player can stockpile his larvae just as a terran can stockpile his minerals. the only difference is that we can't quickly get 12 larvae if we miss cooldowns, just like you can quickly get 1k minerals if you miss mule cooldowns.
If you value your soul, never look into the eye of a horse. Your soul will forever be lost in the void of the horse.
a176
Profile Blog Joined August 2009
Canada6688 Posts
September 12 2010 06:52 GMT
#19
How about 100 energy mule, 50 energy scan?
starleague forever
leeznon
Profile Joined April 2010
United States255 Posts
September 12 2010 06:54 GMT
#20
Absolutely.
Zerg=Skill
1 2 3 4 5 Next All
Please log in or register to reply.
Live Events Refresh
Replay Cast
23:00
WardiTV Mondays #58
CranKy Ducklings11
LiquipediaDiscussion
OSC
22:00
Masters Cup 150 Open Qual
davetesta26
Liquipedia
LAN Event
18:00
Day 3: Ursa 2v2, FFA
SteadfastSC405
LiquipediaDiscussion
[ Submit Event ]
Live Streams
Refresh
StarCraft 2
SteadfastSC 405
White-Ra 276
ProTech125
JuggernautJason28
StarCraft: Brood War
Shuttle 482
UpATreeSC 117
Artosis 32
NaDa 13
Counter-Strike
Foxcn134
Super Smash Bros
AZ_Axe110
Heroes of the Storm
Liquid`Hasu448
Other Games
tarik_tv14290
fl0m749
shahzam427
FrodaN293
ToD196
Pyrionflax174
C9.Mang0152
Mew2King86
PPMD25
Organizations
Counter-Strike
PGL103
StarCraft 2
Blizzard YouTube
StarCraft: Brood War
BSLTrovo
sctven
[ Show 20 non-featured ]
StarCraft 2
• Hupsaiya 55
• musti20045 33
• Kozan
• LaughNgamezSOOP
• sooper7s
• AfreecaTV YouTube
• intothetv
• Migwel
• IndyKCrew
StarCraft: Brood War
• mYiSmile110
• Azhi_Dahaki6
• STPLYoutube
• ZZZeroYoutube
• BSLYoutube
Dota 2
• masondota2244
• Ler85
League of Legends
• TFBlade1228
Other Games
• imaqtpie1397
• Scarra542
• Shiphtur162
Upcoming Events
OSC
13h
LAN Event
16h
Korean StarCraft League
1d 4h
CranKy Ducklings
1d 11h
LAN Event
1d 16h
IPSL
1d 19h
dxtr13 vs OldBoy
Napoleon vs Doodle
BSL 21
1d 21h
Gosudark vs Kyrie
Gypsy vs Sterling
UltrA vs Radley
Dandy vs Ptak
Replay Cast
2 days
Sparkling Tuna Cup
2 days
WardiTV Korean Royale
2 days
[ Show More ]
LAN Event
2 days
IPSL
2 days
JDConan vs WIZARD
WolFix vs Cross
BSL 21
2 days
spx vs rasowy
HBO vs KameZerg
Cross vs Razz
dxtr13 vs ZZZero
Replay Cast
3 days
Wardi Open
3 days
WardiTV Korean Royale
4 days
Replay Cast
5 days
Kung Fu Cup
5 days
Classic vs Solar
herO vs Cure
Reynor vs GuMiho
ByuN vs ShoWTimE
Tenacious Turtle Tussle
6 days
The PondCast
6 days
RSL Revival
6 days
Solar vs Zoun
MaxPax vs Bunny
Kung Fu Cup
6 days
WardiTV Korean Royale
6 days
Liquipedia Results

Completed

BSL 21 Points
SC4ALL: StarCraft II
Eternal Conflict S1

Ongoing

C-Race Season 1
IPSL Winter 2025-26
KCM Race Survival 2025 Season 4
SOOP Univ League 2025
YSL S2
IEM Chengdu 2025
PGL Masters Bucharest 2025
Thunderpick World Champ.
CS Asia Championships 2025
ESL Pro League S22
StarSeries Fall 2025
FISSURE Playground #2
BLAST Open Fall 2025
BLAST Open Fall Qual
Esports World Cup 2025

Upcoming

BSL Season 21
SLON Tour Season 2
BSL 21 Non-Korean Championship
Acropolis #4
HSC XXVIII
RSL Offline Finals
WardiTV 2025
RSL Revival: Season 3
Stellar Fest: Constellation Cup
META Madness #9
BLAST Bounty Winter 2026: Closed Qualifier
eXTREMESLAND 2025
ESL Impact League Season 8
SL Budapest Major 2025
BLAST Rivals Fall 2025
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 © 2025 TLnet. All Rights Reserved.