Not to clutter the MB with patch posts, but this is a huge balance patch, greatly nerfing Protoss, slightly nerfing Terran, and buffing Zerg big time.
First, Protoss. Blizzard really used their big stick here.
1. Void Rays:
A. got their speed upgrade nerfed (not that most people ever got the speed upgrade, since it is so expensive [requires building a Fleet Beacon which is probably the most expensive building in the game, then researching the upgrade itself which takes a fairly long while]).
B. Got their attack vs. armored units nerfed a lot. Instead of 25, it's now 16 vs armored. That's a pretty huge decrease. I know some players complained about void rays being OP, but this is really a huge decrease and void rays are not cheap, unlike their counters (hydralisks, marines, stalkers)
I think this might be an overnerf as well, losing 9 damage, even though they do more initial damage might be too much. Though I never really massed VRs, but now I'd probably skip them altogether and get carriers.
2. High Templar: Effectively nerfing the Feedback ability since Thors and Corruptors no longer have energy. It was always nice to use feedback against Corruptors when they were attacking Collossi. Now it's no longer possible. On the other hand, this means the Zerg can't store up multiple Corruption spells on one Corruptor.
Terran
1. Barracks: Requires a supply depot to be built first. All I can say is... what were they thinking?? This won't make a difference for standard play, but it means rushing/proxying is a lot more difficult. Also makes 'builds' like Zerg 6-pool more dangerous for Terran to defend.
This one I really don't like, though I feel like it shouldn't be that big of a deal since toss always had to do this and can still apply early pressure.
2. Reapers: Zerg complained about this unit, and probably with good reason, but they already nerfed it in the last patch by increasing its build time. Now they also require the depot before the barracks, further increasing the first Reaper build time (which is essentially all they're good for... early pressure). Now, they also require building a factory before getting their speed upgrade. Basically, they've removed the unit as an option on ladder games.
I never really had problems against reapers. Moving their speed to requiring factory before the other nerfs wouldn't have been bad, but at this point the reaper has become almost useless.
3. Medivacs: speed is nerfed. This is OK, probably a good thing in fairness. Before this, Medivacs were just as fast as Vikings, which means they couldn't be caught by what should be a countering unit.
This will make MMM more difficult, since medivacs tended to fall behind anyway.
4. Thor: no more energy. Use cooldown for the strike-cannon ability. Makes them more effective vs. Protoss.
Huge buff, I think, especially since so few research the upgrade but they still had the energy bar.
Finally, Zerg.
1. Building hit points increased for spawning pool, hatchery, lair, spire, & ultralisk cavern. This makes sense given how good stimmed Marine and Marauders are (even in small drops), however, a spawning pool having more hitpoints than a spire or ultralisk cavern does not make sense, which those buildings are much more expensive.
Very necessary, all of the zerg tech buildings are still weaker than the terran/toss equivalent and usually cost more.
2. Corruptors: no more energy. Have to wait to use the corruption ability after they spawn, but still very effective vs. Protoss. It also nullifies any ghost EMPs from terran, though I don't think players usually get corruptors vs. terran.
I don't think I ever really had a problem with feedback or EMP, so this is kind of whatever.
3. Roach: Range increased from 3 to 4. Goodbye Forge-fast-expand for Protoss. The roaches can now attack the wall of buildings without getting in range of cannons. Or they can just attack the cannons directly if you place them too close to your wall. Roaches have so much hit points, a couple of cannons do nothing anyway. This makes roaches a good unit choice again even for mid-game since they can deal with more units now than before, because of the range limitation. And roaches are dirt cheap! The only 'problem' I can see for the Zerg is that this will bunch up the standard roach/hydralisk army since the normal range on hydralisks is 5. This makes the army more vulnerable to splash damage from tanks and colossi, but that's about it.
Huge buff, will likely lead to massing roaches again and a future nerf of some sort.
So, overall, Protoss really taking one on the chin, Terran opening strategy becoming more one-dimensional (macro-oriented), and Zerg possibly becoming the best race.
So, what do you think about this patch? Will it affect how you play? Will it affect your race choice?
I might actually make some roaches.
Human beings, who are almost unique in having the ability to learn from the experience of others, are also remarkable for their apparent disinclination to do so.
Starcraft II Patch 1.1.2
- 15/10/2010 06:31:08 PM
815 Views
Balancing the least played and weakest race doesn't make it the best.
- 16/10/2010 07:06:43 AM
479 Views
Re: Balancing the least played and weakest race doesn't make it the best.
- 16/10/2010 08:11:19 PM
449 Views
I think the first patch pretty much leveled out the playing field.
- 16/10/2010 11:57:31 PM
438 Views
No joke...
- 18/10/2010 06:03:51 PM
437 Views
Exactly. And if you get roaches, your midgame gets mad delayed.
- 18/10/2010 06:28:28 PM
417 Views
Getting a queen....(here's my typical build order)
- 18/10/2010 08:25:17 PM
441 Views
Queens CAN work... but you have to do awesome micro, and they're better at defense
- 18/10/2010 05:41:39 AM
427 Views
I've found myself enjoying the Zerg, and not using Voids when I go Toss anyway, so...
- 17/10/2010 02:59:40 PM
454 Views
as a random player I think terran got overnerfed
- 18/10/2010 04:13:18 PM
581 Views