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SC2 Twitch Drops Return, Recent Balance Mod Update, & Future Changes

by - 5 years ago

StarCraft 2 Twitch Loot Drops Return

Tune into Twitch for the championship tournaments any time between opening week and the actual BlizzCon for some guaranteed drops and some random ones to spice things up.

The rewards also work for Heroes of the Storm, and the details get a little sticky. Read on:

Originally Posted by Blizzard Entertainment (Blue Tracker / Official Post)

Guaranteed Drops

Guaranteed Drops for four hours of viewing either Heroes of the Storm or StarCraft II:

  • Fans who watch Heroes of the Storm or StarCraft II for a total of four hours during BlizzCon Opening Week from Oct. 25–28 and/or BlizzCon on Nov. 2–3 will receive one Rare Loot Chest in Heroes of the Storm and the Alarak Portrait in StarCraft II.

Guaranteed Drops for eight and 12 hours of viewing Heroes of the Storm:

  • Fans who watch eight hours of the HGC Finals at BlizzCon Opening Week and/or BlizzCon also will receive a Cheery Vikings Portrait in Heroes of the Storm.
  • Tuning in for 12 hours will add a Cheery Vikings Spray.

Guaranteed Drops for eight and 12 hours of viewing StarCraft II:

  • Fans who watch eight hours of the WCS Global Finals at BlizzCon Opening Week and/or BlizzCon also will receive a James “Sirius” Sykes Portrait in StarCraft II.
  • Tuning in for 12 hours will add the 2018 WCS Finals Emoji Pack, as well as the Heaven’s Devils Spray.

Random Drops for Heroes of the Storm

During live broadcasts of the HGC Finals at BlizzCon Opening Week and BlizzCon, 500 Common Loot Chests will be awarded randomly to viewers each hour. On top of that, Heroic Account Unlock codes—which unlock every Hero up to Mal’Ganis—will be granted to three lucky viewers each broadcast day. To win a Heroic Account Unlock, tune in for at least one hour during eligible broadcast times.

Random Drops for StarCraft II

During live broadcasts of the WCS Global Finals at BlizzCon Opening Week and BlizzCon, 2000 new race Banners—exclusive for a limited time—will be awarded randomly to viewers each hour. For a chance at a Banner, tune in for at least one hour during eligible broadcast times.

Eligible Channels for Heroes of the Storm:

Eligible Broadcast Times for Heroes of the Storm:

  • Oct. 25 from 9:00 a.m. to 6:30 p.m. PDT
  • Oct. 26 from 9:00 a.m. to 6:30 p.m. PDT
  • Oct. 27 from 9:00 a.m. to 6:30 p.m. PDT
  • Oct. 28 from 9:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. PDT
  • Nov. 2 from 12:00 p.m. to 8:00 p.m. PDT
  • Nov. 3 from 9:30 a.m. to 7:00 p.m. PDT

For more details, read the official rules here.

Eligible Channels for StarCraft II:

Eligible Broadcast Times for StarCraft II:

  • Oct. 26 from 8:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. PDT
  • Oct. 27 from 8:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. PDT
  • Oct. 28 from 8:00 a.m. to 7:00 p.m. PDT
  • Nov. 2 from 8:00 a.m. to 11:00 p.m. PDT
  • Nov. 3 from 11:00 a.m. to 11:00 p.m. PDT

For more details, read the official rules here.

How to Link Your Account

Before you can receive rewards, you must link your Twitch.tv and Blizzard accounts. Here’s how:

  • Log in or create an account on Twitch.tv.
  • Navigate to the Settings menu by clicking your account name in the top-right corner of the home screen.
  • Navigate to the Connections tab of the Settings menu.
  • Find the Battle.net section, then follow the instructions after selecting a region and clicking Connect.
  • When connecting accounts, be sure that you’re currently logged into the Blizzard account on which you’d like to receive your rewards.

Click here to go straight to the Twitch settings page.

 

 

Balance Mod Update & Future Changes

Originally Posted by Blizzard Entertainment (Official Post)

Thanks for testing out the most recent balance changes, and for your continued helpful feedback. After reading over the discussions, we’d like to make a few more changes to the testing matchmaking queue.

Terran

  • Cyclone
    • Attack-moving Cyclones will stop at 7 range instead of 5 range when Locked on to an enemy target.

Previously, when an attack-moving Cyclone would Lock On to an enemy target, the Cyclone would continue to move toward its target until it was 5 range away. This was due to its weapon having 5 range but the Lock On ability having 7 range. As a result, Cyclones would put themselves in danger against 6-range opponents such as Immortals and Ravagers. After this change, the Cyclone will now behave like other units—stopping at maximum effective range when given an attack-move order.

  • Medivac
    • “High Capacity Fuel Tanks” upgrade name changed to “Rapid Reignition System”.

Since the effects of this upgrade are changing, we’re going to update its name to better capture its new functionality. We also want to take the time to clarify its new functionality:

  • A Medivac without any upgrades can boost for 5.71, seconds with 8.57 seconds of downtime (40% uptime).
  • A Medivac with the old “High Capacity Fuel Tanks” upgrade could boost for 8.57 seconds with 5.71 seconds of downtime (60% uptime).
  • A Medivac with the new “Rapid Reignition System” upgrade will be able to boost for 5.71 seconds with 3.57 seconds of downtime (62% uptime).

We believe this new upgrade will be more attractive and promote multi-tasking-based drop play more than the previous one did.

Protoss

  • Warp Prism
    • Pick-up range reverted from 5 to 6.

After reviewing feedback, we have decided to revert the pick-up range from 5 to 6 as we’d like for all races to feel like they have strong options out of the gate with the new patch.

Countdown Timer

We like the addition of the new countdown timer because it can provide players with a smoother transition from the loading screen to the start of a match. However, we’ve discovered some issues with the feature and would like to resolve them before pushing this countdown timer live. We’ll be removing the countdown timer from the testing matchmaking queue for now, but we plan to reintroduce it at a later date.

Upcoming changes

We’re also planning to introduce two additional changes in the new season, but they require code modifications, so they cannot be directly added to the balance testing mod. We plan to introduce the following changes in an upcoming post-Blizzcon patch:

  • SCV
    • SCV single-click selection priority will now be higher than the buildings they are constructing

During intense Bunker rushes, the ability for the Bunkers to be completed can often mean the difference between success and failure. The defender is highly incentivized to destroy the SCVs building the Bunkers, but it’s currently difficult to do so, partially because buildings under construction can block the ability to click on the SCV building it. We don’t believe this interaction should be a core skill-testing component of StarCraft, so we’ll be making a change that allows SCVs to be more easily clicked while constructing structures.

At the same time, we’re slightly concerned about the effect of this change on early-game SCV harass (such as when a Terran player is building a Command Center at their natural expansion), so we’ll be keeping a close eye on this change.

  • Barracks, Factory, Starport – Tech Lab
    • If a player tries to lift a structure when there is an upgrade being researched in an attached Tech Lab, the player will not be able to do so and will receive a red text error message.

This change prevents players from accidently cancelling an upgrade while attempting to lift buildings.

Lastly, in order to prepare for the upcoming changes that will go live with the next ladder season, we will be turning off the balance testing matchmaking queue on October 30th. During this downtime, we will start implementing art changes and resolving any issues or bugs that may come up.  Even though the balance testing matchmaking queue will be off, the balance test mod extension mod will still be available for custom games.

Don’t forget that you can find a complete list of proposed changes on the official blog (bottom of post). Also, don’t miss the 4.6.2 patch notes that just hit October 16.


Seth Harkins

PC gamer and lover of (most) things Blizzard. In his off time, he writes bad fan fiction, tends to his growing number of house plants, and enjoys a love-hate relationship with two cats.


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