by JR Cook - 11 years ago     show comments

Coming in hot on the heels of the recent live balance patch and the Q&A with David Kim, Starcraft II will soon get an update to the Balance Test Map for Starcraft II.

For those with confusion about what the Test Map is, David Kim has the answer:

Before we begin, I’d like to point out these changes are for a test map. There seems to be some confusion when we’ve tested changes in the past that all the changes we are testing are going to be patched into the game. This is simply not the case. Please keep this in mind as you consider and respond to the change-list.

Overall, the changes are what we expected

. But there are a few surprises. With specific information and numbers on the proposed changes we can ponder how each might affect play.

The first change being tested via Kim:

Mothership Core vision radius decreased from 14 to 9

online pharmacy zovirax over the counter with best prices today in the USA

We currently feel this would be a helpful change, but we’re worried that a vision radius decrease doesn’t really nerf the highest end Protoss players who are positioning the Mothership Core perfectly already. We’ll talk to professional Protoss players about this one once the test map goes live

This is a substantial nerf to the Mothership Core’s massive 14 vision radius. For comparison, Observers have 11 sight range. While 9 range still keeps the Mothership core out of the attack range of Marines and Queens (the early threats to the MSC during Blink Stalker all-in) it does create tension at lower levels of play by giving the aggressive Protoss player less high ground information to Blink into. However, as Kim notes, this may have no affect on the higher levels of play where players are already cautious with their Mothership Core’s positioning.

It is the next change that would really smack the Blink Stalker dominant Protoss meta-game with the almighty nerf hammer:

Blink cooldown increased from 10 to 15
This is a more direct nerf that affects all Protoss players. If Blink play continues to be problematic, this is the sort of thing we’d want to have tested and prepared to put in the game.

A 50% increase in the cooldown on Blink is substantial. 15 seconds is an eternity in the fast-paced combat of Starcraft II. For comparison, Terran Stim Packs and Sentry Force Fields currently have a 15 second duration. 5 more in-game seconds may not seem like much but if you think about a sustained engagement or a series of pokes it severely cuts down on how risky a Protoss can be with their Blink Stalkers without risking serious losses. Every decision to Blink with this nerf would have to be considered and evaluated more carefully (about 50% more carefully).

The next change is another surprise but fits in with the theme of trying to make Terran Mech more viable especially in the TvP match-up.

Widow Mine splash damage component deals 40 + 40 shield damage
We’ve seen some games against Protoss where Widow Mines are used, and they are very exciting to watch, whether they’re just Widow Mine drops or Widow Mines in combination with the Terran army (while sniping Observers). We feel like both of these strategies could use a bit of help. The Widow Mine potential against Protoss basic units will be unchanged for direct hits, but we’d reduce the number of indirect hits required against units like Stalkers, Zealots, or Sentries. Also, when using Widow Mine drops against Protoss, the chance of splash damage one-shotting Probes will increase slightly.

The Widow Mine currently does 125 + 35 shield damage with splash damage starting at 40 damage and decreasing in stages the further out from the initial impact (down to a minimum of 10). It is likely the splash increased shield damage would scale down at a matching rate (40, 20, 10). This effectively doubles the Widow Mine’s splash damage at all tiers against Protoss without affecting the TvZ or TvT match-ups. This change could give Mech the defensive and harassment options it needs to deal with increasingly mobile Protoss armies. However, it does stand the possibility of making Widow Mine drops against Protoss too powerful again as even at the middle splash damage tier a 20 + 20 shields damage would one shot Probes. As with all Test Map changes, it remains to be seen how viable this change would be.

Tempest ground weapon damage increased from 30 to 30+30-to-structures
We still think this is a good change, and we want to see more testing with it. If Tempests gain more ability to wear down Zerg defenses, Zerg players will be less incentivized to play a completely defensive style. Surprisingly, we’ve gotten a lot of feedback that proxy Tempest rushes are too strong right now, and this change would make that strategy even stronger, but we’ve been watching all of the major tournament games, and we still don’t think it’s being used enough (or being used at all). If you can identify some games where the best of the best pro players have successfully used this strategy against a formidable opponent, please let us know. We’d like to check out such games and analyze them.

We have discussed this before in detail so I will try to avoid rehashing old arguments. It does seem like others in the community agree this buff could create a new overpowered Tempest-rush strategy (a strategy some propose is already on the rise). It also doesn’t seem to address the core problem it purports to solve, notably the Swarm Host itself. But as we discussed previously, it is likely the changes Kim & co. want to make to the Swarm Host are too substantial for a balance patch and will be held back until Legacy of the Void. As a band-aid to the multi-hour turtle-fests the “buff the Tempest” line of thinking has some merit. We will have to see how it unfolds as testing progresses.

Note the call to action from Kim at the end of that explanation. Anyone out there with replays or VODs meeting his requested requirements should post them to the balance forums.

Hydralisk delay between attacks decreased from .83 to .75
This would increase Hydralisk damage output against all targets by about 10%. Our stance on Hydralisks needing a buff in TvZ and ZvZ hasn’t changed. Additionally, the trend toward Protoss being stronger than Zerg has continued. We need more time and results to draw conclusions on the most-recent balance patch, but we’d like to be prepared to help Zerg here if it’s necessary.

This is not the change I expected for Hydralisks. A straight increase to their DPS of about 18% is scary but only serves to further pigeonhole the Hydralisk into the glass cannon role. However, with a wall of Roaches, it would be more likely that the player with a larger pocket of Hydralisks could comes out on top. It may also help a Hydralisking player target down Banelings as they roll in. But whether that 18% will make the difference between standing tall after an engagement or slumping over in a puddle of green goo remains to be seen.

A straight damage buff seems unlikely to motivate Zerg to include Hydralisks in ZvT where Hellions are a standard part of any early-game (bar all-ins). It will also not allow Hydralisks any greater mobility to deal with the lightning fast and incredibly efficient Terran drops which are the biggest reason Ling/Mutalisk remains the dominant meta in the match-up. This change could make the Hydralisk more potent in ZvP however where Phoenixes and Immortals are very popular options and become somewhat impotent as Hydralisk numbers grow.

Remember, these changes are NOT final and will NOT be going live any time soon. They are just being put on the Balance Test Map later this week for experimentation to see how they might shake up the current meta-game.