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Last year we released Patch 3.8 which, unlike smaller balance patches released throughout the year, was a larger set of changes aimed at improving multiplayer StarCraft II through various design changes. This year we are embarking on another design patch and are excited to share with you our initial list of changes! This time around our general focus is to address underused units and abilities while also trying to reduce sudden game ending moments.
As with last year, this design patch will require a large amount of testing, feedback and revision before it can go live for everyone to enjoy, so we wanted to get it into your hands for testing as fast as possible. The changes in this blog will be live soon on the Testing section of StarCraft II Multiplayer, and we would like to release the final changes after this year’s tournament season concludes in November. In the sections below we outline the proposed changes, and give some of our thoughts on each one to explain what we would like to accomplish.
Economy
In Legacy of the Void we changed the amount of resources in each base to promote expanding and discourage overly defensive playstyles. While this change did have the intended results, we think that there might be a way to make comebacks easier when players are denied a 3rd or 4th base. To do this, we’d like to increase the amount of minerals on Vespene gas geysers, as well as the large mineral nodes. This means that bases take longer to completely run out, but since it’s only the large mineral node being adjusted, players are still encouraged to take new bases to increase their mineral income rate. This should also decrease some of the pressure on new players to secure new bases right away.
- Large mineral nodes at bases are increased from 1500 to 1800 per node
- Small mineral nodes remain at 900 per node
- Vespene Geyser value increased from 2000 to 2250 to maintain the mineral to gas ratio
Last year Terran had a major update to its Mech arsenal. This year we are looking into adjusting MULEs to better synergize with Terran Mech, and giving them a bit more flexibly in general. We wanted to also take a look at Terran caster units and see where we could make changes to have them become more useful earlier in the game, or in smaller numbers. In general, we also wanted to improve some under used options and reduce sudden game ending tactics.
Unit Redesign
While the Mule admirably performs its current job as mineral collector, we wanted to experiment with a version that is more flexible for Terran commanders. MULEs will now be able to mine Vespene gas at a rate higher than SCV’s but lose efficiency if more than one MULE is assigned per refinery. In exchange the MULE’s mineral mining rate has been slightly reduced.
Changes:
- MULEs can now harvest Vespene gas from refineries
- MULEs harvest 10 Vespene gas per trip
- MULEs harvest 20 minerals per trip instead of 25
Unit Redesign
We are exploring a redesign of the Raven’s abilities to turn it into a more supportive caster role. Auto Turret and Point Defense Drone are being removed and Seeker Missile is being redesigned. Our goal here is to address feedback that Ravens are only somewhat useful when made in small numbers and become oppressive if massed. Players should now want to make a few Ravens during a game but not have incentive to heavily mass produce Ravens.
The new abilities are: Scrambler Missile, Repair Drone and Shredder Missile.
General:
- Removal of existing abilities
- New Ability: Scrambler Missile
- New Ability: Repair Drone
- New Ability: Shredder Missile
Scrambler Missile:
Scrambler Missile is an anti-mechanical unit ability that temporarily disables all weapons and unit abilities. This ability is effective against important enemy units to help swing a battle in your favor, even if you are down in supply. Since it disables abilities, this can also be used against Medivacs and Warp Prisms to prevent loading or unloading of units, cutting off retreats or incursions into your base.
- Cost: 50 Energy
- Range: 8
- Effect: Target mechanical unit's weapons and abilities are disabled for a short time.
Repair Drone
Repair Drone is a deployable unit that is unable to move, but has a repair beam that restores the health of a nearby friendly mechanical unit. The Repair Drone will give Terran Mech commanders a new way to keep their units up and running.
- Cost: 75 Energy
- Effect: Deploys a timed life Repair Drone. The drone can target and repair mechanical units that enter the area.
Shredder Missile
Shredder Missile functions like the old Seeker Missile, but on impact it works a bit differently. Instead of doing 100 splash damage it now does 30, but it also decreases the armor of all units hit by 3 for a short duration. This is intended to stack less efficiently with itself than the old Seeker Missile but will be more of a combo ability to use with core units such as Marines, Cyclones or Vikings.
- Cost: 125 Energy
- Effect: Deploys a Shredder Missile which activates after a short delay and pursues the target unit, dealing 30 damage on impact and reducing armor by 3 for a short duration.
- Recalibrated Explosives Upgrade has been removed
- New Upgrade: Enhanced Munitions
- Increases the blast radius of Shredder Missile by 20% and its tracking range by 50%
Additional Changes
Widow Mine:
In an effort to reduce certain game ending moments, we want to try making Widow Mines easier to clean up. They will now be revealed when their weapon is reloading, even if they are still burrowed. This should make cleaning up unattended Widow Mines much easier, while still allowing the Widow Mine to perform its splash damage role if properly set up with a Terran army or used defensively.
- Widow Mines are now revealed while Sentinel Missile is on cooldown.
Ghost:
The illusive and deadly Ghost is already a strong late game tech choice for Terran compositions. However we wanted to try out having the Ghost’s key defensive ability, Cloak, come online faster while balancing this out by breaking out the Mobeius Reactor upgrade and putting it back on the Ghost Academy. This is intended to help players transition into Ghosts more safely in the mid-late game and possibly make Ghosts as an unusual but strategic opening for Terran players.
- Cloak is now available by default on Ghosts
- Ghosts now start with 50 energy instead of 75
- Moebius Reactor is re-added to the Ghost Academy. It provides +25 starting energy to Ghosts
Liberator:
The Liberator is getting a minor design change to its vision when deployed in Defender Mode. Instead of getting a flat vision increase to allow it to fire into its targeting circle it will instead get extra vision within the targeting circle. This lets the Liberator still fire unsupported but makes it easier for opponents to sneak around its vision or attack from alternate angles.
- No longer gains bonus vision when using Defender Mode
- Now gains vision of its target location in Defender Mode
Cyclone:
We want the Cyclone’s Lock-On ability to feel a bit more impactful than it does currently. To that end we are making it so that the first four shots will fire rapidly to help increase the guaranteed damage that the Cyclone can deal to its target. We are also introducing a new upgrade to increase the Cyclone’s Lock On damage against armored units. While the Cyclone is not intended as an all around Anti-air option we wanted to try experimenting with giving its Anti-air weapon a bit more long term use.
- First four shots of Lock On fire more rapidly. Total damage over time remains at 160.
- New upgrade: Armor Piercing Rockets
- This upgrade adds +2 armored damage to each of the Cyclone’s missiles during Lock On, +46 armored damage total.
New Upgrade: Smart Servos
This upgrade will make Thors, Hellions, Hellbats and Vikings transform much faster. This is a rather experimental change to see if we can get some more micro out of the Terran transform mechanic. However, we are not targeting Terran siege units such as the Siege Tank and Liberator with this upgrade as we feel it would take away the interesting counter play to those units.
- Hellion, Hellbat, Thor and Viking transformation times are reduced heavily.
- Located on the Factory Techlab
With Protoss we are looking into smoothing out control of certain units within the Protoss arsenal. Especially in regards to their core splash damage options with the High Templar, Colossus and Disruptor. We also wanted to take another look at the early game defenses of Protoss, especially the ubiquitous Mothership Core, and seeing if we could make these defenses revolve more around the basic Protoss early game units. Since these changes are quite large we will be keeping a close eye on how they all work out.
Unit Removal
In perhaps the most experimental, and risky, change of this update we are trying out removing the Mothership Core and moving its early game defense role to the Nexus itself. This is not a minor change and we will be paying close attention to how this plays out during testing. In doing this change, we hope to somewhat simplify Protoss early game defenses by concentrating defensive power in the Nexus itself rather than a specialized unit that moves between them.
Changes:
- Mothership Core removed
- Redesigned Nexus Ability: Chrono Boost
- New Nexus Ability: Mass Recall
- New Nexus Ability: Shield Restore
Chrono Boost:
We are changing Chrono Boost to behave more like it did during Heart of the Swarm where it costs energy to cast and lasts a fixed duration. Its macro boost rate is overall similar to how the ability currently functions in Legacy of the Void. By moving the macro ability back to being an energy cost there will be interesting decisions to make between spending Nexus energy on macro boosting or defenses.
- Cost: 50 Energy
- Duration: 10 seconds
- Effect: Boosts a building’s work rate by 100%.
Mass Recall:
We have changed how Mass Recall works. Now Mass Recall will bring back units in a target location to the Nexus that cast the ability. This should allow for Protoss players to make the choice to be more active on the map with their units. As games go longer this could increasingly give Protoss players more mobility as they take and hold more bases. We don’t want this to result in super safe army movements, so when units are being recalled they will be unable to attack or move while the ability is being channeled before they are called back to the nexus.
- Cost: 100 Energy
- Effect: After 4 seconds all units in target area are teleported to the Nexus. Units are unable to move or attack during this time.
Shield Recharge:
In replacing Photon Overcharge we are trying out a Shield Recharge mechanic. This should allow Protoss players to use more of their combat units for defense. Currently the ability works on both buildings and units so that players can decide if they want to keep important structures alive during all ins or heavy harass.
- Cost: 1 Energy per 3 shield restored
- Range: 8
- Has autocast functionality
- Can be cast on units or structures
Additional Changes
Stalker:
With the removal of the Mothership Core we are also looking into Protoss’s other early game units. In particular we wanted to try sharpening the role of the Stalker, and make it more of a shoot and move unit with sniping capabilities. To do this we are slowing its attack rate but increasing its damage per shot.
- Increased Stalker’s Particle Disruptor weapon from 10 (14 vs armored) to 15 (21 vs armored)
- Increased Particle Disruptor’s weapon period from 1.03 to 1.54
- Particle Disruptor now gets +2 damage per weapon upgrade, up from +1
Disruptor:
While we like how much micro the current Disruptor provides, we thought that we could try making it do damage more consistently with slightly less game ending potential per shot. To do this we are making it so that the Purification Nova has a triggering detonation circle in the middle of the shot. So if an enemy unit comes in contact with the Purification Nova it will detonate immediately. In exchange the damage per shot is reduced but the cooldown is reduced as well. This allows the Purification Nova to hit more constantly against opposing armies but each shot is less likely to detonate in the center of the enemy forces and cripple them.
- Purification Nova
- Purification Nova now detonates on contact with enemy units (not structures)
- Purification Nova still lasts 2 seconds before detonating
- Damage reduced from 145 (+55 shields) to 135 (+25 shields)
- Cooldown reduced from 21 to 18
- When dropped from a Warp Prism the Disruptor’s Purification Nova will be set to a brief cooldown. As it felt a little too strong vs worker lines otherwise.
Colossus:
As mentioned in previous updates we wanted to take another look at the Colossus role in Protoss splash damage. With the High Templar filling the role of general splash damage, and the Disuptor dealing burst damage we wanted to push the Colossus towards a consistent anti-light armor role. In addition, the Extended Thermal Lance upgrade has perhaps too much power locked behind it for the Colossus’ more niche role. So we are looking into making it easier to obtain.
- Damage changed from 12 to 10 (15 vs Light)
- Damage per upgrade changed from 1 to 1 (+1 vs Light)
- Range increased from 6 to 7
- Upgrade: Extended Thermal Lance
- Range upgrade decreased from +3 to +2
- Cost decreased from 200 / 200 to 150 / 150
Carrier:
For the Carrier we wanted to slightly increase the cost of their Interceptors. We don’t want to remove the Carrier’s role from the game as a powerful end game unit but feedback from the community is that it can overperform in this role due to easily replacing lost Interceptor units.
- Interceptor cost increased from 10 to 15 minerals
High Templar:
The High Templar’s abilities and role are already in a solid state in Legacy of the Void. Instead we wanted to try making the unit slightly easier to use. To do this we are adding a very low damage auto attack to the High Templar, like in the campaign. This will keep the High Templar further back during fights and avoid its charging heedlessly into danger.
- Added Psi Blast weapon
- Range: 6
- Damage: 4
- Attack period: 1.25
Mothership:
With the removal of the Mothership Core we have adjusted the abilities of the Mothership itself slightly. This is likely not its final state, but is just a starting point.
- Now built directly from the Nexus
- No longer can cast Photon Overcharge
- Mass Recall now works like the Nexus version above, all units targeted will be recalled to the Mothership
Observer:
While we don’t want to make Protoss ability gameplay any more complicated we wanted to try making Observers more useful for ladder players. Currently Observers are selected with the select all army button (F2 by default) which can often bring Observers out of position and to their untimely demise. While we’d like to keep observers in this selection, we are considering adding the ability to ‘deploy’ your observer for increased vision range in exchange for being unable to move.
- New ability: Surveillance Mode
- The observer is unable to move and gains 25% more vision
Since last year’s update, we have seen a number of new strategies and tactics come from the Zerg. This time around we are looking into encouraging more direct interaction with Creep spread from Zerg specialist units and wanted to increase the utility of the Lurker. Additionally we want to look into experimenting with Zerg ground based anti-air options outside of the Queen and Hydralisk. Looking forward as the testing progresses, we want to make sure that Zerg has enough aggressive options before late game so that Zerg players don’t feel heavily pressured into only defensive play.
Unit Redesign
For the Infestor we wanted to try experimenting with making the unit interact more with Creep. We also wanted to see if we could reduce some of the game ending potential of fungal growth while keeping it as a strong disable/area of effect ability.
Changes:
We are changing Fungal Growth to no longer hit air units, and those units hit off Creep will now be slowed instead of rooted. At the same time those units who are hit on Creep are now rooted to the Creep and the overall radius of Fungal Growth is larger. Since this affects Zerg anti-air we will be closely watching this to make sure that Zerg still has sufficient options in this area.
The Infested Terran ability for the Infestor is also being changed. Currently the unit is used as a last resort and we think that there is potential to make it a bit more useful. But we do not want Infested Terrans to become a main army composition. Instead we are trying out having Infested Terrans move into an anti-air role with a weaker anti-ground attack.
Fungal Growth:
- Radius increased from 2.0 to 2.5
- No longer hits air units
- Units hit off Creep have their movement speed reduced by 50%
- Units hit on Creep are immobilized
Infested Terran:
- Now benefits from Zerg Missile Attacks and Ground Carapace upgrades.
- Infested Gauss Rifle damage decreased from 8 to 6
- Infested Gauss Rifle no longer hits air
- New Weapon: Acid Spores
- Projectile
- Range 6
- Damage 14
- Period 0.95
- Prioritized over ground weapon
- Infested Terrans spawn much faster on Creep
Unit Redesign
With the Lurker, we like its current role as a zone controller but we think that its current window of use is a bit too small. This is due to a combination of the Lurker Den being soft locked behind the important Hydralisk Muscular Augments upgrade and when games go late detection can heavily reduce their effectiveness.
To address this we have split off the Lurker Den into its own building that can be made from a Drone once a Hydralisk Den has been built. Additionally, we are adding a new upgrade called Digging Claws on the Lurker Den which increases the Lurker’s move speed and burrow speed. Our goal here is to give the Lurker more late-game utility when detectors are more numerous.
Changes:
- Mutate to Lurker Den removed from Hydralisk Den
- New Building: Lurker Den
- Costs 100 minerals / 150 Vespene gas / 86 seconds
- New Upgrade: Digging Claws
- Located on Lurker Den
- Requires Hive
- Costs 150 minerals / 150 Vespene gas / 56 seconds
- Reduces burrow time. Increases Lurker movement speed from 4.13 to 4.55
Additional Changes
Viper:
The Viper’s Parasitic Bomb ability is often used as an all or nothing mass cast tactic. You want to get as many Parasitic Bombs ready as possible and cast them all at once to destroy the enemy quickly. We wanted to keep the ability as a strong anti-air option but make it no longer exponentially grow in power. By increasing its damage a Viper user can be more confident about targeted enemies being destroyed.
- Parasitic Bomb
- Damage no longer stacks with other Parasitic Bomb effects
- Damage increased from 90 to 180
Overseer:
Much like the Observer we wanted to try making the Overseer less likely to run to its doom if a player was intending for them to hold position somewhere.
- New Ability: Oversight
- The Overseer is unable to move and gains 25% more vision
Swarm Host
For the Swarm Host we wanted to increase the counter play options against them. By slowing down its move speed off Creep to that of the Siege Tank and Immortal opposing players should have an easier time counter attacking Swarm Hosts. Its move speed on Creep is unchanged however, keeping Creep spread very appealing to a Swarm Host user.
- Move speed off Creep decreased from 4.13 to 3.15
- Move speed on Creep remains at 5.36
