Season 6 Map Update + 1.4.3
Beginning with Season 4, we’ve been experimenting with prioritizing tournament-style maps on the StarCraft II ladder. Now, in Season 6, we’re giving player-created maps the spotlight!
TeamLiquid.net recently hosted the TeamLiquid map contest to offer enthusiasts from the StarCraft II community a chance to show off their map making skills. The competitors in that contest were also tempted with the tantalizing possibility of seeing their creations featured on the official StarCraft II ladder. The contest was a smashing success and we had the opportunity to see the map contest finalists in action during the TL Open. The contest also gave you, the player community, a chance to share your opinions and shape StarCraft history by voting on your favorite maps in the wake of the tournament. The votes were tallied, the final winners were chosen, and the time has come! In Season 6, you can finally meet your fellow players in furious battle on top TeamLiquid map contest maps: Cloud Kingdom and Korhal Compound. We’re truly excited to give such high quality community created maps a place on the official ladder.
Season 6, which begins the week of February 14, brings with it the following changes to the existing map pool:
Maps being removed:
(2) Xel’naga Caverns
Players have been enjoying Xel’naga Caverns since the StarCraft II beta. However, as this map is no longer preferred in a tournament setting, we’ve opted to pull it from the pool for this season.
(2) Arid Plateau
In the spirit of making every ladder map tournament viable, we added two new maps last season that would be true to that goal. We pushed some new features on Arid Plateau such as unusual natural expansions, and a lot of open areas around the map. Arid Plateau wasn’t as widely accepted as a tournament friendly map, so we’ve decided to retire it from the rotation for Season 6.
Maps being added:
(2) Cloud Kingdom
By SUPEROUMAN and the other members of the ESV Mapmaking Team
(2) Korhal Compound
By monitor and the other members of the ESV Mapmaking Team
We would also like to recognize IronmanSC and the members of ESV and The Planetary Workshop (TPW) for their amazing work on Ohana, which took second place in the TeamLiquid map contest. We’re currently working with IronmanSC to help fix a few bugs while ensuring we retain the intent of the map, and once those are done we’ll be adding it to the pool for a future ladder season.
We will continue to change the map lineup on the StarCraft II ladder over time, and we’ll also maintain our focus on tournament-viable maps to ensure the fiercest competition. Maps that don’t make the cut will be replaced by maps that meet the standards set by major tournaments all around the globe.
Thanks god !! Xel’naga Caverns is gone now!
Btw, Cloud kingdom reminds me a timmay's map. (Does anyone know which one I am talking about?)
We’re pleased to bring you the latest StarCraft II: Wings of Liberty situation report. In this edition, we'll be discussing some of the most notable changes in patch 1.4.3 and shed some light on the design philosophy behind this update.
MULEs now harvest the same amount of minerals on both high yield minerals and normal minerals.
We’ve been looking into the effects that high yield expansions have on gameplay, in particular how the added efficiency of MULEs on these mineral patches can affect matchups. This is also a common piece of feedback we’ve received from both pro players and the community.
We’ve been closely monitoring several sources of information: GSL tournaments which feature maps that do not have high yield mineral patches at all, major tournaments that still use high yield expansions, and our own ladder maps data now that our 1v1 ladder features a tournament-like map pool.
Based on these observations, we’ve made the decision to keep MULE resource generation the same regardless of mineral type, while allowing high yield mineral patches to remain on our ladder maps. This change helps keep the risk vs. reward the same for all three races when acquiring expansions that feature high yield minerals.
Snipe damage changed from 45 to 25 +25 Psionic
We felt the Snipe ability was countering zerg broodlords and ultralisks slightly too well. Especially at the pro level, we were seeing a lot of games where terran players were playing very defensive games while massing ghosts to counter most of the options zerg players had at their disposal.
While we like to see creative and innovative use of units, we felt that in this case Snipe was becoming too effective against zerg’s most expensive units. When adjusting the ability, we tried to settle on a number that would allow using Snipe to remain a viable tactic, though not as powerful as it is now. With this change, brood lords will fall in ten casts of Snipe rather than six (taking into account health regeneration), while an ultralisk will die in 19 casts, up from 11. This also significantly increases the number of ghosts and stockpiled energy needed to pull this tactic off, which we feel confident about because, previously, terran players rarely needed to consider the energy on their ghosts units.
Phoenix now has a range upgrade at the Fleet Beacon
In the past, we’ve discussed whether protoss needed a more immediate change to give them additional ways of dealing with mutalisks in PvZ, or whether it was more appropriate to make changes to that matchup in Heart of the Swarm. After investigating, testing, and reviewing both community and pro feedback, we’ve decided to include a change in this patch.
The phoenix will now have 6 attack range after purchasing an upgrade, which should allow them to more easily deal with a large number of mutalisks. In the previous patch, when protoss players attempted to move their armies out across the map, their bases became extremely vulnerable. Existing options to cope with massed mutalisks were costly and not always effective. This range upgrade should help even the odds by giving protoss players the option to reactively build phoenixes in smaller numbers, and with some micro, allow them to more efficiently defend against mutalisk swarms. Upgraded phoenixes should also offer protoss players the potential for better map control in the PvZ match up.
Still, we also wanted to make sure that producing mutalisks in PvZ remains a viable strategy, and believe that it is. While it might not be a good idea to brute force a protoss opponent with a ton of mutalisks, pairing them with units such as infestors and/or corruptors will help counter the advantage the new range upgrade provides.
APM / CPM changes
There was a lot of concern and debate regarding whether APM should be an accurate number or it should be a fun, play style distinguishing factor like it has been traditionally. After hearing a lot of feedback from both sides, we decided to bring back classic APM, and change our current APM (that doesn’t count spam clicks) to be called Commands Per Minute, or CPM.
This way, pro players who want to show off how fast their hands move can do so, while at the same time players who really just want to know how accurate and efficient their actions are can look at CPM.
************
As always, we will continue to follow player discussions on our forums as well as fan sites and beyond, and we look forward to your constructive feedback regarding these changes. As with all balance-related changes, we've made these decisions with great care and consideration to ensure a great playing experience for players of all skill levels.
* David Kim is a game designer for StarCraft II and he’s a big fan of community map contest maps.
TeamLiquid.net recently hosted the TeamLiquid map contest to offer enthusiasts from the StarCraft II community a chance to show off their map making skills. The competitors in that contest were also tempted with the tantalizing possibility of seeing their creations featured on the official StarCraft II ladder. The contest was a smashing success and we had the opportunity to see the map contest finalists in action during the TL Open. The contest also gave you, the player community, a chance to share your opinions and shape StarCraft history by voting on your favorite maps in the wake of the tournament. The votes were tallied, the final winners were chosen, and the time has come! In Season 6, you can finally meet your fellow players in furious battle on top TeamLiquid map contest maps: Cloud Kingdom and Korhal Compound. We’re truly excited to give such high quality community created maps a place on the official ladder.
Season 6, which begins the week of February 14, brings with it the following changes to the existing map pool:
Maps being removed:
(2) Xel’naga Caverns
Players have been enjoying Xel’naga Caverns since the StarCraft II beta. However, as this map is no longer preferred in a tournament setting, we’ve opted to pull it from the pool for this season.
(2) Arid Plateau
In the spirit of making every ladder map tournament viable, we added two new maps last season that would be true to that goal. We pushed some new features on Arid Plateau such as unusual natural expansions, and a lot of open areas around the map. Arid Plateau wasn’t as widely accepted as a tournament friendly map, so we’ve decided to retire it from the rotation for Season 6.
Maps being added:
(2) Cloud Kingdom
By SUPEROUMAN and the other members of the ESV Mapmaking Team
(2) Korhal Compound
By monitor and the other members of the ESV Mapmaking Team
We would also like to recognize IronmanSC and the members of ESV and The Planetary Workshop (TPW) for their amazing work on Ohana, which took second place in the TeamLiquid map contest. We’re currently working with IronmanSC to help fix a few bugs while ensuring we retain the intent of the map, and once those are done we’ll be adding it to the pool for a future ladder season.
We will continue to change the map lineup on the StarCraft II ladder over time, and we’ll also maintain our focus on tournament-viable maps to ensure the fiercest competition. Maps that don’t make the cut will be replaced by maps that meet the standards set by major tournaments all around the globe.
Thanks god !! Xel’naga Caverns is gone now!
Btw, Cloud kingdom reminds me a timmay's map. (Does anyone know which one I am talking about?)
We’re pleased to bring you the latest StarCraft II: Wings of Liberty situation report. In this edition, we'll be discussing some of the most notable changes in patch 1.4.3 and shed some light on the design philosophy behind this update.
MULEs now harvest the same amount of minerals on both high yield minerals and normal minerals.
We’ve been looking into the effects that high yield expansions have on gameplay, in particular how the added efficiency of MULEs on these mineral patches can affect matchups. This is also a common piece of feedback we’ve received from both pro players and the community.
We’ve been closely monitoring several sources of information: GSL tournaments which feature maps that do not have high yield mineral patches at all, major tournaments that still use high yield expansions, and our own ladder maps data now that our 1v1 ladder features a tournament-like map pool.
Based on these observations, we’ve made the decision to keep MULE resource generation the same regardless of mineral type, while allowing high yield mineral patches to remain on our ladder maps. This change helps keep the risk vs. reward the same for all three races when acquiring expansions that feature high yield minerals.
Snipe damage changed from 45 to 25 +25 Psionic
We felt the Snipe ability was countering zerg broodlords and ultralisks slightly too well. Especially at the pro level, we were seeing a lot of games where terran players were playing very defensive games while massing ghosts to counter most of the options zerg players had at their disposal.
While we like to see creative and innovative use of units, we felt that in this case Snipe was becoming too effective against zerg’s most expensive units. When adjusting the ability, we tried to settle on a number that would allow using Snipe to remain a viable tactic, though not as powerful as it is now. With this change, brood lords will fall in ten casts of Snipe rather than six (taking into account health regeneration), while an ultralisk will die in 19 casts, up from 11. This also significantly increases the number of ghosts and stockpiled energy needed to pull this tactic off, which we feel confident about because, previously, terran players rarely needed to consider the energy on their ghosts units.
Phoenix now has a range upgrade at the Fleet Beacon
In the past, we’ve discussed whether protoss needed a more immediate change to give them additional ways of dealing with mutalisks in PvZ, or whether it was more appropriate to make changes to that matchup in Heart of the Swarm. After investigating, testing, and reviewing both community and pro feedback, we’ve decided to include a change in this patch.
The phoenix will now have 6 attack range after purchasing an upgrade, which should allow them to more easily deal with a large number of mutalisks. In the previous patch, when protoss players attempted to move their armies out across the map, their bases became extremely vulnerable. Existing options to cope with massed mutalisks were costly and not always effective. This range upgrade should help even the odds by giving protoss players the option to reactively build phoenixes in smaller numbers, and with some micro, allow them to more efficiently defend against mutalisk swarms. Upgraded phoenixes should also offer protoss players the potential for better map control in the PvZ match up.
Still, we also wanted to make sure that producing mutalisks in PvZ remains a viable strategy, and believe that it is. While it might not be a good idea to brute force a protoss opponent with a ton of mutalisks, pairing them with units such as infestors and/or corruptors will help counter the advantage the new range upgrade provides.
APM / CPM changes
There was a lot of concern and debate regarding whether APM should be an accurate number or it should be a fun, play style distinguishing factor like it has been traditionally. After hearing a lot of feedback from both sides, we decided to bring back classic APM, and change our current APM (that doesn’t count spam clicks) to be called Commands Per Minute, or CPM.
This way, pro players who want to show off how fast their hands move can do so, while at the same time players who really just want to know how accurate and efficient their actions are can look at CPM.
************
As always, we will continue to follow player discussions on our forums as well as fan sites and beyond, and we look forward to your constructive feedback regarding these changes. As with all balance-related changes, we've made these decisions with great care and consideration to ensure a great playing experience for players of all skill levels.
* David Kim is a game designer for StarCraft II and he’s a big fan of community map contest maps.
2012 Battle.net World Championship
This year for Blizzard & eSports will be of epic proportions as they will be providing major competitive events for World of Warcraft and Starcraft 2. This of course means that there will be no BlizzCon 2012. This will allow Blizzard have more time squeezing out their three current games in development.
Blizzard Entertainment is proud to announce the 2012 Battle.net World Championship, a major global eSports event featuring some of the best pro-gaming competition in the world. Slated to take place in Asia toward the end of 2012, the Battle.net World Championship will host this year’s StarCraft II and World of Warcraft Arena World Championship tournaments. Blizzard gamers and eSports fans from around the world will be invited to attend and witness some of the most skilled pro players on the planet battle it out for cash and glory.
We’re excited to be showcasing Blizzard eSports on a truly global stage this year. We're also heavily focused on getting Diablo III, Mists of Pandaria, and Heart of the Swarm into players’ hands as soon as possible. In light of our jam-packed schedule, we’ve decided to hold the next BlizzCon in 2013.
More details about the 2012 Battle.net World Championship and BlizzCon 2013, including specific dates and locations, will be coming in the months ahead.
Source: Battle.net
Blizzard Entertainment is proud to announce the 2012 Battle.net World Championship, a major global eSports event featuring some of the best pro-gaming competition in the world. Slated to take place in Asia toward the end of 2012, the Battle.net World Championship will host this year’s StarCraft II and World of Warcraft Arena World Championship tournaments. Blizzard gamers and eSports fans from around the world will be invited to attend and witness some of the most skilled pro players on the planet battle it out for cash and glory.
We’re excited to be showcasing Blizzard eSports on a truly global stage this year. We're also heavily focused on getting Diablo III, Mists of Pandaria, and Heart of the Swarm into players’ hands as soon as possible. In light of our jam-packed schedule, we’ve decided to hold the next BlizzCon in 2013.
More details about the 2012 Battle.net World Championship and BlizzCon 2013, including specific dates and locations, will be coming in the months ahead.
Source: Battle.net
David Kim discusses balance
David Kim recently spent some time answering some gameplay and balance questions after the G-Star event in Korea. Some of the Q&A pertains to HOTS while others are current balance problems. The following questions were answered:
Jump over to the blog to read more.
Source: Battle.net
- Mass Mutalisks vs. Protoss
- Protoss Win Rate is Too Low in Tournaments
- Carrier Removal in Heart of the Swarm
- Terran Can’t Beat Protoss
- Ghost EMP is Too Weak
- Forge Fast Expand is Difficult to Stop as Zerg
- Nydus Worm is Too Inconsistent -- Make It More Like the Overlord Transport
Jump over to the blog to read more.
Source: Battle.net
Protest PIPA and SOPA
In response to the two bills in congress, H.R.3261 "Stop Online Piracy Act" and S.968 "PROTECT IP", we here at the Armory would like to raise awareness. These bills would destroy the internet as we know it, allowing ISPs to blacklist domains, enforce copyright that would restrict user-generated content and new innovative ideas. Unlike the Armory, other major internet giants have gone dark in protest of these bills. Please give your support to Reddit.com, Wikipedia.org, Google.com, Wordpress.org, Mozilla.org and many others by contacting your representatives and letting them know how terrible these bills are.
For more information on these bills:
For more information on these bills:
- Low level explanation of PIPA and SOPA
- Information on H.R.3261 – Stop Online Piracy Act
- Information on S.968 – PROTECT IP Act
Armory Chat
Spent a little time this weekend implementing a IRC chat system into the website. The chat is currently hooked up to the QuakeNet IRC servers and will auto-join the #armory and #teamliquid channels. As of now, the chat is using an embedded QuakeNet iframe chat but I am open to test alternative systems.
If you have any suggestions on another system to use, or features that you would like, be sure to send your feedback to this thread.
Come chat with us! It would be nice to get all of you to idle and talk in here!
If you have any suggestions on another system to use, or features that you would like, be sure to send your feedback to this thread.
Come chat with us! It would be nice to get all of you to idle and talk in here!
StarCraft 2 Best Paying eSport 2011
We all know 2011 was a record breaking year for eSports but how much money was actually paid out in prizes? Over 5 million USD from the top 3 best paying eSports of 2011.
#1 StarCraft 2 – $2,525,775
The best paying eSport of 2011 goes to StarCraft 2 with over 2.5 million USD in tournaments an average of $200,000 prizes per month. This is 1.7 million more in prizes than the 2010 total of $800,000.
In 2011 StarCraft 2 not only had the largest prize pool but 130 tournaments each with a $1,000 or more prize pool in 2011. The year before StarCraft 2 had only about 30 tournaments with $1,000 or more in prizes an increase of 100 tournaments.
What makes StarCraft so special is that Blizzard does not sponsor many of these events. StarCraft 2 has past the two million dollar threshold because of fans. With live streaming individual gamers, teams and small organizations have the chance to appear on the world stage. With such easy access to content fans are now able to support pro gamers like never before.
With the success of smaller organizations larger organizers are now getting in on the action. Across America you have the MLG, IPL, NASL and ESEA. In Europe you have the ESL, DreamHack and INSOMNIA . In Asia there is the GSL.
Now that every major online competitive title is being released with a 1,000,000 or more prize pool (Call of Duty XP, DotA 2 International and soon Battlefield 3 World Conquest) StarCraft 2 has more competition than ever.
StarCraft 2, it missed being the first tournament to have a $1,000,000 prize pool but with Blizzard and their near endless funds maybe it will be the first game to host a $10,000,0000 prize pool in 2012. Heading into 2012 and regardless of what happens next StarCraft 2 has made esports mainstream.
#2 DotA 2 – $1,698,500
The second best paying eSport of 2011 is DotA 2 with over 1,600,000 USD in prizes. DotA 2 also held the largest single prize tournament of 1.6 million - 'The International'.
The one tournament may account for the majority of 2011 prizes but this game is still in Beta. What is remarkable is the number of organizations starting up or adding DotA 2 tournaments. We are certain DotA 2 will compete with StarCraft 2 tournament for tournament and dollar for dollar once released. DotA 2 is a hit before launch, StarCraft 2 better watch out because this is the competition we mentioned.
#3 Call of Duty MW3 - $1,010,000
Played on the XBOX360 CoD MW3 has done the impossible. It has created an eSport franchise that can be both short lived and popular with pro gamers. Although we may be talking about Call of Duty MW4 in 2012 if it is released with million or more prize pool who cares! Yes, this is a money grab. Instead of releasing updates they have you buy a new game. The answer they thought of was to give some of the money back in the form of tournaments. This concept may not be popular with everyone but it has shown to be successful in 2011 bringing many top gamers to compete in the million dollar Call of Duty XP tournament.
As mentioned above we don't know how long this eSport will last until replaced by a new version or a competing title (Battlefield 3) and it has not shown many self start tournaments.
Thanks for reading the 2011 eSport year end review.
For those interested on how we calculated the year end totals they are individual tournaments manually researched by us - PGT. Each of these tournaments have their own page with the prize pool and other related information including the source. These tournament pages can be found on our site www.progamingtours.net
#1 StarCraft 2 – $2,525,775
The best paying eSport of 2011 goes to StarCraft 2 with over 2.5 million USD in tournaments an average of $200,000 prizes per month. This is 1.7 million more in prizes than the 2010 total of $800,000.
In 2011 StarCraft 2 not only had the largest prize pool but 130 tournaments each with a $1,000 or more prize pool in 2011. The year before StarCraft 2 had only about 30 tournaments with $1,000 or more in prizes an increase of 100 tournaments.
What makes StarCraft so special is that Blizzard does not sponsor many of these events. StarCraft 2 has past the two million dollar threshold because of fans. With live streaming individual gamers, teams and small organizations have the chance to appear on the world stage. With such easy access to content fans are now able to support pro gamers like never before.
With the success of smaller organizations larger organizers are now getting in on the action. Across America you have the MLG, IPL, NASL and ESEA. In Europe you have the ESL, DreamHack and INSOMNIA . In Asia there is the GSL.
Now that every major online competitive title is being released with a 1,000,000 or more prize pool (Call of Duty XP, DotA 2 International and soon Battlefield 3 World Conquest) StarCraft 2 has more competition than ever.
StarCraft 2, it missed being the first tournament to have a $1,000,000 prize pool but with Blizzard and their near endless funds maybe it will be the first game to host a $10,000,0000 prize pool in 2012. Heading into 2012 and regardless of what happens next StarCraft 2 has made esports mainstream.
#2 DotA 2 – $1,698,500
The second best paying eSport of 2011 is DotA 2 with over 1,600,000 USD in prizes. DotA 2 also held the largest single prize tournament of 1.6 million - 'The International'.
The one tournament may account for the majority of 2011 prizes but this game is still in Beta. What is remarkable is the number of organizations starting up or adding DotA 2 tournaments. We are certain DotA 2 will compete with StarCraft 2 tournament for tournament and dollar for dollar once released. DotA 2 is a hit before launch, StarCraft 2 better watch out because this is the competition we mentioned.
#3 Call of Duty MW3 - $1,010,000
Played on the XBOX360 CoD MW3 has done the impossible. It has created an eSport franchise that can be both short lived and popular with pro gamers. Although we may be talking about Call of Duty MW4 in 2012 if it is released with million or more prize pool who cares! Yes, this is a money grab. Instead of releasing updates they have you buy a new game. The answer they thought of was to give some of the money back in the form of tournaments. This concept may not be popular with everyone but it has shown to be successful in 2011 bringing many top gamers to compete in the million dollar Call of Duty XP tournament.
As mentioned above we don't know how long this eSport will last until replaced by a new version or a competing title (Battlefield 3) and it has not shown many self start tournaments.
Thanks for reading the 2011 eSport year end review.
For those interested on how we calculated the year end totals they are individual tournaments manually researched by us - PGT. Each of these tournaments have their own page with the prize pool and other related information including the source. These tournament pages can be found on our site www.progamingtours.net
The Great Purge 2011
It has been almost 5 years (yes 5) since I launched this site, so I decided to do some cleanup. For both SC2A and D3A, I deleted all topics, posts and polls older than 1.5 years. There were no exceptions to the deletion as it would of been so granular and complicated, so sorry if I deleted something on accident. Here's some quick stats on how much was deleted:
Topics - 16,000
Posts - 300,000
Polls - 1,000
Poll Votes - 40,000
Poll Questions - 5,000
As you can see, we have posted quite a bit for being such a small community. A new system will be set in place to automatically delete any old posts every 24 hours.
On top of the deletion, I have cleaned up the forum categories. Below is a list of changes:
SC2A
- All the modding forums have been merged into 1 forum and supports the tag system
- Polls have been placed under General Discussion
- Any SC2 related forum is now contained under the Starcraft 2 section
- Articles have been removed
D3A
- All the class forums have been merged into 1 forum and supports tags
- Any D3 related forum is now contained under the Diablo 3 section
- Editorials have been removed
Both
- The Content Hub section is now available on both sites instead of just SC2
- Fan Fiction has moved to the Content Hub section
These changes have been made in preparation for the new site design, the Diablo 3 release and the upcoming HOTS and DOTA content. Enjoy!
Topics - 16,000
Posts - 300,000
Polls - 1,000
Poll Votes - 40,000
Poll Questions - 5,000
As you can see, we have posted quite a bit for being such a small community. A new system will be set in place to automatically delete any old posts every 24 hours.
On top of the deletion, I have cleaned up the forum categories. Below is a list of changes:
SC2A
- All the modding forums have been merged into 1 forum and supports the tag system
- Polls have been placed under General Discussion
- Any SC2 related forum is now contained under the Starcraft 2 section
- Articles have been removed
D3A
- All the class forums have been merged into 1 forum and supports tags
- Any D3 related forum is now contained under the Diablo 3 section
- Editorials have been removed
Both
- The Content Hub section is now available on both sites instead of just SC2
- Fan Fiction has moved to the Content Hub section
These changes have been made in preparation for the new site design, the Diablo 3 release and the upcoming HOTS and DOTA content. Enjoy!
Armory moving off GoDaddy; Possible downtime
In the recent events regarding SOPA, it has come to the communities attention that GoDaddy is a huge supporter. Since the Armory hosts its domains at GoDaddy, and with the recent boycott, I have decided to move my domains away from GoDaddy. More information about the boycott can be found here.
You may expect some downtime while the domains transfer ownership. Sorry for the inconvenience
More information on SOPA. Do yourself a favor and read it.
You may expect some downtime while the domains transfer ownership. Sorry for the inconvenience
More information on SOPA. Do yourself a favor and read it.
2 Maps are being replaced in Season 5
Source:
http://us.battle.net/sc2/en/blog/4103100/Season_5_Ladder_Map_Pool_Update-12_14_2011#blog
Beginning with Season 4, we experimented with prioritizing tournament-style maps on the StarCraft II ladder. This has been working out very well not only because it’s allowed pro players better opportunities to practice on the ladder, but also because players across all skill levels can now experience the tournament feel when playing on Battle.net. Given the success of these changes, we’re removing the last two maps in the current map pool that aren’t tournament-viable, and will be replacing them with new, tournament-ready maps.
Season 5 brings with it the following changes to the existing map pool, which begins the week of December 19:
These maps will be removed:
(4)Abyssal Caverns
(4)Nerazim Crypt
These maps will be added in their place:
(2)Arid Plateau
The rush distance on this map is comparable to Shakuras Plateau or the longest distance on Metalopolis. We tried to go for a slightly more exposed natural expansion, followed up by a greater choice of which third expansion to take. The high-yield expansion offers better resource acquisition, but is also the most difficult to defend, while the corner expansion is similar to expansions found on Metalopolis or Shattered Temple. The base closest to your main is open, but remains easy to defend because of short travel time from the natural expansion. We wanted to go for a more open center with very powerful Watch Tower placements.
(4)Entombed Valley
We’ve seen that rotationally symmetric four-player tournament maps can provide an advantage depending on where you start compared to your opponent and which races are involved in the match-up. This is feedback that we received from the community as well.
Our goal with this map was to address that issue. Whether you start horizontally, vertically, or diagonally, the game should be almost completely symmetric for both players. Also, no matter where you start, we were focused on minimizing features which tend to favor a specific race such as certain races experiencing challenges expanding beyond two bases, air-to-air distances which are too short between starting locations, the center path being the only viable attack route, or too many choke points.
TL Open
On the subject of new maps, TeamLiquid.net recently hosted a map contest to offer map makers a chance to show off their skills. This past weekend, the top contenders in the TL Open battled it out on the top maps that emerged from that contest. The TL Open tournament has now concluded, but you can still see these new maps in action by checking out the replays and VoDs. We’re carefully reviewing the maps that were featured in the tournament, and those which meet our standards have a chance to be included in future ladder seasons.
We’re very much looking forward to your feedback, so please let us know what you think about Arid Plateau and Entombed Valley, as well as the maps that were featured in the TL Open!
http://us.battle.net/sc2/en/blog/4103100/Season_5_Ladder_Map_Pool_Update-12_14_2011#blog
Beginning with Season 4, we experimented with prioritizing tournament-style maps on the StarCraft II ladder. This has been working out very well not only because it’s allowed pro players better opportunities to practice on the ladder, but also because players across all skill levels can now experience the tournament feel when playing on Battle.net. Given the success of these changes, we’re removing the last two maps in the current map pool that aren’t tournament-viable, and will be replacing them with new, tournament-ready maps.
Season 5 brings with it the following changes to the existing map pool, which begins the week of December 19:
These maps will be removed:
(4)Abyssal Caverns
(4)Nerazim Crypt
These maps will be added in their place:
(2)Arid Plateau
The rush distance on this map is comparable to Shakuras Plateau or the longest distance on Metalopolis. We tried to go for a slightly more exposed natural expansion, followed up by a greater choice of which third expansion to take. The high-yield expansion offers better resource acquisition, but is also the most difficult to defend, while the corner expansion is similar to expansions found on Metalopolis or Shattered Temple. The base closest to your main is open, but remains easy to defend because of short travel time from the natural expansion. We wanted to go for a more open center with very powerful Watch Tower placements.
(4)Entombed Valley
We’ve seen that rotationally symmetric four-player tournament maps can provide an advantage depending on where you start compared to your opponent and which races are involved in the match-up. This is feedback that we received from the community as well.
Our goal with this map was to address that issue. Whether you start horizontally, vertically, or diagonally, the game should be almost completely symmetric for both players. Also, no matter where you start, we were focused on minimizing features which tend to favor a specific race such as certain races experiencing challenges expanding beyond two bases, air-to-air distances which are too short between starting locations, the center path being the only viable attack route, or too many choke points.
TL Open
On the subject of new maps, TeamLiquid.net recently hosted a map contest to offer map makers a chance to show off their skills. This past weekend, the top contenders in the TL Open battled it out on the top maps that emerged from that contest. The TL Open tournament has now concluded, but you can still see these new maps in action by checking out the replays and VoDs. We’re carefully reviewing the maps that were featured in the tournament, and those which meet our standards have a chance to be included in future ladder seasons.
We’re very much looking forward to your feedback, so please let us know what you think about Arid Plateau and Entombed Valley, as well as the maps that were featured in the TL Open!
Season 4 To Close Soon
Season 4 is coming to a close soon, and Season 5 will be coming in a few weeks. It's time for everyone to get their MMRs up.
Season 4 is drawing to a close, and that means that all ladders will be locked soon.
Season 4 Lock
What does this mean for you? During the Season 4 lock, you can no longer be promoted or demoted out of your current league or division, and your bonus pool will stop growing. Once locked to a league and division, you'll still be able to play out your remaining bonus pool and compete for standing within your division until the end of the season, so it's a great time to enjoy yourself and maybe even push for a better milestone. If you're pursuing a league promotion, there's no time like the present! The Season 4 lock will go into effect on Tuesday, December 13 at 4:30 AM PST.
Please note that the hidden ratings used to determine promotions and demotions will continue to update during the Season 4 lock and be used for matchmaking purposes. This means that if you play significantly better or worse than your assigned league at the time of the lock, your league may change when Season 5 begins and you play your first placement match. If you go on a major winning streak during the lock, for example, you may end up promoted next season. Conversely, if you happen to lose a lot more than usual, you may end up demoted. Your games during the lock still count!
Season 5 Start Date
The Season 4 lock also means that Season 5 is right around the corner. During the week of December 20, Season 4 will end and Season 5 will begin. Season milestone rewards will be locked in at this time, and bonus pools will start over. Hidden skill ratings used for matchmaking and league placement will carry over from the previous season, so if you've completed placement matches in a previous season you will only need to play one new placement match after Season 5 starts.
Season 4 is drawing to a close, and that means that all ladders will be locked soon.
Season 4 Lock
What does this mean for you? During the Season 4 lock, you can no longer be promoted or demoted out of your current league or division, and your bonus pool will stop growing. Once locked to a league and division, you'll still be able to play out your remaining bonus pool and compete for standing within your division until the end of the season, so it's a great time to enjoy yourself and maybe even push for a better milestone. If you're pursuing a league promotion, there's no time like the present! The Season 4 lock will go into effect on Tuesday, December 13 at 4:30 AM PST.
Please note that the hidden ratings used to determine promotions and demotions will continue to update during the Season 4 lock and be used for matchmaking purposes. This means that if you play significantly better or worse than your assigned league at the time of the lock, your league may change when Season 5 begins and you play your first placement match. If you go on a major winning streak during the lock, for example, you may end up promoted next season. Conversely, if you happen to lose a lot more than usual, you may end up demoted. Your games during the lock still count!
Season 5 Start Date
The Season 4 lock also means that Season 5 is right around the corner. During the week of December 20, Season 4 will end and Season 5 will begin. Season milestone rewards will be locked in at this time, and bonus pools will start over. Hidden skill ratings used for matchmaking and league placement will carry over from the previous season, so if you've completed placement matches in a previous season you will only need to play one new placement match after Season 5 starts.
Blizzard Dessert Contest 2011
This years holiday contest is out form blizzard for those who are both insane fans of their games, and creative culinary mad scientists.
Not sure how many of you guys care, but might as well post the upcoming contest. If you guys are interested I can post winners when they come out.
Most people enjoy the holiday tradition of sharing a meal with family and friends -- and delicious desserts are a big part of the reason why. This year, we're hungry to see you spread holiday joy from your kitchen by cooking up sweet culinary creations -- and finishing them off with a Blizzard touch.
Simply prepare and decorate a Warcraft, StarCraft, or Diablo-themed dessert. Take a picture of your creative confection and submit it, and you might just find something special under your tree from Greatfather Winter!
We will handpick three of the most inventive, hearth-warming, or funny entries to win awesome prizes:
First Place
- Wilton Ultimate Decorating Set
- Marauder StarCraft II Gaming Keyboard
- Banshee StarCraft II Gaming Headset
- Spectre StarCraft II Gaming Mouse
Second Place
- Marauder StarCraft II Gaming Keyboard
- Banshee StarCraft II Gaming Headset
- Spectre StarCraft II Gaming Mouse
Third Place
- StarCraft II Zerg Edition Messenger Bag
We're waiting to see what delightful, dazzling, and delicious submissions you whip up. The contest begins on November 29th. If you're ready to put on your apron and get cooking, you can find the contest rules here.
Source: Battle.net
Not sure how many of you guys care, but might as well post the upcoming contest. If you guys are interested I can post winners when they come out.
Most people enjoy the holiday tradition of sharing a meal with family and friends -- and delicious desserts are a big part of the reason why. This year, we're hungry to see you spread holiday joy from your kitchen by cooking up sweet culinary creations -- and finishing them off with a Blizzard touch.
Simply prepare and decorate a Warcraft, StarCraft, or Diablo-themed dessert. Take a picture of your creative confection and submit it, and you might just find something special under your tree from Greatfather Winter!
We will handpick three of the most inventive, hearth-warming, or funny entries to win awesome prizes:
First Place
- Wilton Ultimate Decorating Set
- Marauder StarCraft II Gaming Keyboard
- Banshee StarCraft II Gaming Headset
- Spectre StarCraft II Gaming Mouse
Second Place
- Marauder StarCraft II Gaming Keyboard
- Banshee StarCraft II Gaming Headset
- Spectre StarCraft II Gaming Mouse
Third Place
- StarCraft II Zerg Edition Messenger Bag
We're waiting to see what delightful, dazzling, and delicious submissions you whip up. The contest begins on November 29th. If you're ready to put on your apron and get cooking, you can find the contest rules here.
Source: Battle.net
KASL 2 Launched!
Present by DarkLord
Interested in showing off your skills? Sc2armory is now hosting its second King of the Armory tournament that will be featuring MLG and GSL maps. The tournament will last several weeks and will test your strategies and passion against other skilled opponents from the community. To sign up, follow the link below.
Source: [KASL2] Signups
Patch 1.4.2 - Nov 8th
The 1.4.2 patch has finally been released and with it comes a wide range of Protoss buffs. How will these changes affect the e-sports scene? Should be exciting.
General
- “Alert Fade” under Sound Options has been renamed to Game Volume During Alerts. Its tooltips have also been changed for clarification.
- The fade-in for game sound during alerts changed from .5 seconds to 2 seconds.
- Play-Time Schedule under Parental Controls now applies World of Warcraft settings to StarCraft II
Bug Fixes
- Fixed a truncation on specific resolution if the current and maximum supplies are 3 digits.
- Fixed an issue which prevented footprints from being edited in the Footprint Editor.
- Fixed an issue that caused the game to have missing icons and images on low end graphics cards.
Balance
PROTOSS
Forge
- The cost of Upgrade Shields Level 1 has been decreased to 150/150, down from 200/200
- The cost of Upgrade Shields Level 2 has been decreased to 225/225, down from 300/300
- The cost of Upgrade Shields Level 3 has been decreased to 300/300, down from 400/400
- The cost of Upgrade Ground Weapons Level 2 has been decreased to 150/150, down from 175/175
- The cost of Upgrade Ground Weapons Level 3 has been decreased to 200/200, down from 250/250
- The cost of Upgrade Ground Armor Level 2 has been decreased to 150/150, down from 175/175
- The cost of Upgrade Ground Armor Level 3 has been decreased to 200/200, down from 250/250
TERRAN
Ghost
- EMP radius has been decreased from 2 to 1.5
General
- “Alert Fade” under Sound Options has been renamed to Game Volume During Alerts. Its tooltips have also been changed for clarification.
- The fade-in for game sound during alerts changed from .5 seconds to 2 seconds.
- Play-Time Schedule under Parental Controls now applies World of Warcraft settings to StarCraft II
Bug Fixes
- Fixed a truncation on specific resolution if the current and maximum supplies are 3 digits.
- Fixed an issue which prevented footprints from being edited in the Footprint Editor.
- Fixed an issue that caused the game to have missing icons and images on low end graphics cards.
Balance
PROTOSS
Forge
- The cost of Upgrade Shields Level 1 has been decreased to 150/150, down from 200/200
- The cost of Upgrade Shields Level 2 has been decreased to 225/225, down from 300/300
- The cost of Upgrade Shields Level 3 has been decreased to 300/300, down from 400/400
- The cost of Upgrade Ground Weapons Level 2 has been decreased to 150/150, down from 175/175
- The cost of Upgrade Ground Weapons Level 3 has been decreased to 200/200, down from 250/250
- The cost of Upgrade Ground Armor Level 2 has been decreased to 150/150, down from 175/175
- The cost of Upgrade Ground Armor Level 3 has been decreased to 200/200, down from 250/250
TERRAN
Ghost
- EMP radius has been decreased from 2 to 1.5
Play Starcraft 2 Heart of the Swarm Now [Repost from Infgaming]
Reddit member XenoX101 has used the SC2 Editor to build a pre-beta edition of Starcraft 2 Heart of the Swarm. Play this expansion even before most of Blizzard can. Includes all new units with current metagame. Still a work in progress though.
4 Maps Available
Play With Infgaming
Jump on SC2 Chat Channel 'Clan Infinity' to set up games with members of our community. Test out new units in friendly games. Or use your knew knowledge to crush some of the clan leaders. Either way grab some buddies and jump into our chat channel and lets have some fun.
New Unit Stats
Source: Reddit.com
Do you prefer the website with light text on a dark background, or dark text on a light background?
In preparation for the HOTS release next year, I want to ship out the new design of the website. The new design will be more wowhead-ish in that I will fit more content into the page with the removal of specific design elements. The outer frame of the site will be pretty design heavy however.
So before I begin on this, I would like to see what type of design you guys prefer!
So before I begin on this, I would like to see what type of design you guys prefer!
Season 4 has begun!
The fourth ladder season is upon us, featuring the return of Metalopolis, the removal of close spawn locations and reduced season lengths.
Season 4 has arrived! Season 3 milestone rewards will be locked in at this time and bonus pools will reset. Hidden skill ratings used for matchmaking and league placement will carry over from the previous season, so players who have completed placement matches in a previous season will only need to play one new placement match. Don’t forget to review the map changes which are coming in Season 4 as well.
Beginning with Season 4, two changes are coming to future ladder seasons:
• Each season will now last for approximately two months.
• Grandmaster league placement time will be reduced to one week (from two weeks) to account for the reduced season length.
Good luck, have fun!
Source: Battle.net
Season 4 has arrived! Season 3 milestone rewards will be locked in at this time and bonus pools will reset. Hidden skill ratings used for matchmaking and league placement will carry over from the previous season, so players who have completed placement matches in a previous season will only need to play one new placement match. Don’t forget to review the map changes which are coming in Season 4 as well.
Beginning with Season 4, two changes are coming to future ladder seasons:
• Each season will now last for approximately two months.
• Grandmaster league placement time will be reduced to one week (from two weeks) to account for the reduced season length.
Good luck, have fun!
Source: Battle.net
Patch 1.4.2 PTR - 10/25
This PTR patch doesn't have a ton of changes, but none the less they are significant. Protoss is getting a few buffs that will effect the whole race and the radius of EMP is reduced to the same radius as Psi Storm. Most of these changes were discussed at the Blizzcon panels.
General
- “Audio Fade” under Sound Options has been renamed to Game Volume During Alerts. Its tooltips have also been changed for clarification.
- The fade-in for game sound during alerts changed from .5 seconds to 2 seconds.
Bug Fixes
- Fixed a truncation on specific resolution if the current and maximum supplies are 3 digits.
- Fixed an issue which prevented footprint from being edited in the Footprint Editor.
- Fixed an issue that caused the game to have missing icons and images on low end graphics cards.
Balance
PROTOSS
Forge
- The cost of Upgrade Shields Level 1 has been decreased to 150/150, down from 200/200.
- The cost of Upgrade Shields Level 2 has been decreased to 225/225, down from 300/300.
- The cost of Upgrade Shields Level 3 has been decreased to 300/300, down from 400/400.
- The cost of Upgrade Ground Weapons Level 2 has been decreased to 150/150, down from 175/175.
- The cost of Upgrade Ground Weapons Level 3 has been decreased to 200/200, down from 250/250.
- The cost of Upgrade Ground Armor Level 2 has been decreased to 150/150, down from 175/175.
- The cost of Upgrade Ground Armor Level 3 has been decreased to 200/200, down from 250/250.
TERRAN
Ghost
- EMP radius has been decreased from 2 to 1.5
Source: Battle.net
General
- “Audio Fade” under Sound Options has been renamed to Game Volume During Alerts. Its tooltips have also been changed for clarification.
- The fade-in for game sound during alerts changed from .5 seconds to 2 seconds.
Bug Fixes
- Fixed a truncation on specific resolution if the current and maximum supplies are 3 digits.
- Fixed an issue which prevented footprint from being edited in the Footprint Editor.
- Fixed an issue that caused the game to have missing icons and images on low end graphics cards.
Balance
PROTOSS
Forge
- The cost of Upgrade Shields Level 1 has been decreased to 150/150, down from 200/200.
- The cost of Upgrade Shields Level 2 has been decreased to 225/225, down from 300/300.
- The cost of Upgrade Shields Level 3 has been decreased to 300/300, down from 400/400.
- The cost of Upgrade Ground Weapons Level 2 has been decreased to 150/150, down from 175/175.
- The cost of Upgrade Ground Weapons Level 3 has been decreased to 200/200, down from 250/250.
- The cost of Upgrade Ground Armor Level 2 has been decreased to 150/150, down from 175/175.
- The cost of Upgrade Ground Armor Level 3 has been decreased to 200/200, down from 250/250.
TERRAN
Ghost
- EMP radius has been decreased from 2 to 1.5
Source: Battle.net
Season 4 Map Pool
These maps will be removed:
Backwater Gulch
Searing Crater
Typhon Peaks
These maps will form the new 1v1 map pool:
Abyssal Caverns (non-tournament)
Antiga Shipyard
Metalopolis (close spawns disabled)
Nerazim Crypt (non-tournament)
Shakuras Plateau
Shattered Temple (close spawns disabled)
Tal’darim Altar LE
Xel’naga Caverns
Source: Battle.net
Backwater Gulch
Searing Crater
Typhon Peaks
These maps will form the new 1v1 map pool:
Abyssal Caverns (non-tournament)
Antiga Shipyard
Metalopolis (close spawns disabled)
Nerazim Crypt (non-tournament)
Shakuras Plateau
Shattered Temple (close spawns disabled)
Tal’darim Altar LE
Xel’naga Caverns
Source: Battle.net
Protoss HotS Unit Review
Most of you may be aware that gearvOsh and I attended BlizzCon 11. My favorite race just so happened to be the Protoss which is why I was appointed and chose this assignment. The information I will be telling you will hopefully answer any questions you may have in mind.
Other Blizzcon Reviews
- Terran Units (Coming soon)
- Zerg Units (Coming soon)
Tempest - A-
This has to be one of the best units to be released in Heart of the Swarm. The best way to describe how this unit feels/acts is that the Tempest is basically like the Corsair, but with better damage/stats/HP and a ground attack. Easily adaptable, the Tempest can fit well into a Protoss 'Death Ball' durring late game situation. The ground attack was not very effective as the AoE air attack was but that's not an issue seeing is how Protoss have enough ground attacks to deal massive damage.
The Tempest is extremely effective against clumps of air units, obviously, despite the slow DPS. Phoenix & Mutalisks will be crushed but that doesn't mean they can't 'Magic Box' the Tempest's attack. Vikings will prove difficult to handle unless you have air to support/tank your tempest. My only complaint so far about this unit is that it's size is to big. Maybe scale it down a little?
Oracle - B
Supposedly a replacement for the mothership, this unit will become the ultimate casting air unit. Astonishing though is that it has no form of weapons or abilities that actually harm your opponent. Instead the Oracle is a base harassment unit (like the Overseer), releasing powerful abilities that will screw around with your enemy's buildings & mineral line. It's speed is remarkably fast like a mutalisk. I've already developed some strategies for this unite during the demo. Getting an early stargate and chrono boosting out an Oracle first can really prove beneficial in mid game to demobilize your opponent and see exactly what he/she is up to.
The new abilties are Pre-Ordain, which grants vision to a building for 120 seconds. You can see what your enemies are researching. It's radius is large so you can see almost the entire base of what they are doing. Other spells are Phase shift, which phases out a unit from attacking for 45 seconds, and Entomb which places a temporary force-field for 60 second. These force-fields can be destroyed however and have 80 hp. Mathematically, if you Entomb all 8 mineral patches (which is possible with such a big spell radius) for 1 minute, that's 500 minerals not being mined.
Replicant - C+
I'm not entirely sure how I feel about this unit. It's almost as if Blizzard said, "Hey! Let's make a ditto unit for the protoss!". After trying him out a few times I didn't really understand the point of having this unit when I could have just been making Immortals from the Robotics Facility. It basically works like mind control from the Dark Archon, where you can just take any unit you want and have it as your own. What I don't understand though is what tactics can this unit bring forth? Sure, you can replicate an Infestor, a Ghost, or even an Archon. That's cool and all but does having one off-race unit really worth the 200/100 cost and turn the tide of battle?
Blizzard even stated that they are hoping this unit will be useful and will open new tactics. I think the idea of this unit is amazing but I don't think it is needed in multiplayer. Oh and encase you were wondering, Dustin Browder confirmed that it can replicate workers and use their building tech. Also, once you replicate something, it is permanent and cannot be changed back.
Removal of Units:
Carrier - A
Seeing is how this unit was almost never used in multiplayer, I found myself not upset at all that it was removed. The replacement, Tempest, is perfect to step into the shoes of a teir 3 massive air unit. I love the Carrier, rest in peice, but I'm afraid it wont be missed once players try out the extremely awesome Tempest.
Mothership - B
It's a shame to see such an epic Protoss unit get scrapped but I believe it was for the best. The mothership just was not carrying her weight in battle (no pun intended) as she would be the first to get shot down in battle and her attack/speed was garbage. The only use for her was the abilities.
What I don't understand though is that Blizzard stated the Mothership would die to quickly in battle vs AA units. Yet they nerfed the Mothership in the first place when they turned 400/400 hp to 350/350.
New Abilities:
Arc Shield - B+
Grants buildings extra armor and shield armor, as well as a photon cannon-like weapon from the Nexus; costs 25 energy. I really liked this ability due to extremely stressful cheesing, such as 6 pool, cannon rushing or proxy 2 barracks. The Protoss are stuck with only probes and zealots to defend against such cheese which can prove difficult sometimes. I see this new ability as an emergancy back up incase you are in a hot spot.
However, I also see this new ability as potential cheese itself; imagine if your cannon rushing someone or proxy 2 gate. All you need to do is use this ability to boost your cannon's defense and add an extra weapon. Sounds nuts!
Mass Recall - A
Originally used on the mothership, this ability has been recycled onto the nexus for the cost of 75 energy. I'm extremely happy that this ability was kept in the game, as I feel it had much potential in Starcraft with both the abitar in Brood War and the mothership in Wings of Liberty. Dustin Browder stated that they felt the Protoss were often up against the ropes in battle and cannot flee from battle like a Zerg or Terran can, so this ability can pull your entire army out of hot spots. He also said that despite chrono boost being such a great spell, it isn't often used in the late game to max potential so this ability will no doubt eat up a lot of energy from the nexus.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
2008 Blizzcon Reviews
- Terran Units
- Protoss Units
- Zerg Units
Other Blizzcon Reviews
- Terran Units (Coming soon)
- Zerg Units (Coming soon)
Tempest - A-
This has to be one of the best units to be released in Heart of the Swarm. The best way to describe how this unit feels/acts is that the Tempest is basically like the Corsair, but with better damage/stats/HP and a ground attack. Easily adaptable, the Tempest can fit well into a Protoss 'Death Ball' durring late game situation. The ground attack was not very effective as the AoE air attack was but that's not an issue seeing is how Protoss have enough ground attacks to deal massive damage.
The Tempest is extremely effective against clumps of air units, obviously, despite the slow DPS. Phoenix & Mutalisks will be crushed but that doesn't mean they can't 'Magic Box' the Tempest's attack. Vikings will prove difficult to handle unless you have air to support/tank your tempest. My only complaint so far about this unit is that it's size is to big. Maybe scale it down a little?
Oracle - B
Supposedly a replacement for the mothership, this unit will become the ultimate casting air unit. Astonishing though is that it has no form of weapons or abilities that actually harm your opponent. Instead the Oracle is a base harassment unit (like the Overseer), releasing powerful abilities that will screw around with your enemy's buildings & mineral line. It's speed is remarkably fast like a mutalisk. I've already developed some strategies for this unite during the demo. Getting an early stargate and chrono boosting out an Oracle first can really prove beneficial in mid game to demobilize your opponent and see exactly what he/she is up to.
The new abilties are Pre-Ordain, which grants vision to a building for 120 seconds. You can see what your enemies are researching. It's radius is large so you can see almost the entire base of what they are doing. Other spells are Phase shift, which phases out a unit from attacking for 45 seconds, and Entomb which places a temporary force-field for 60 second. These force-fields can be destroyed however and have 80 hp. Mathematically, if you Entomb all 8 mineral patches (which is possible with such a big spell radius) for 1 minute, that's 500 minerals not being mined.
Replicant - C+
I'm not entirely sure how I feel about this unit. It's almost as if Blizzard said, "Hey! Let's make a ditto unit for the protoss!". After trying him out a few times I didn't really understand the point of having this unit when I could have just been making Immortals from the Robotics Facility. It basically works like mind control from the Dark Archon, where you can just take any unit you want and have it as your own. What I don't understand though is what tactics can this unit bring forth? Sure, you can replicate an Infestor, a Ghost, or even an Archon. That's cool and all but does having one off-race unit really worth the 200/100 cost and turn the tide of battle?
Blizzard even stated that they are hoping this unit will be useful and will open new tactics. I think the idea of this unit is amazing but I don't think it is needed in multiplayer. Oh and encase you were wondering, Dustin Browder confirmed that it can replicate workers and use their building tech. Also, once you replicate something, it is permanent and cannot be changed back.
Removal of Units:
Carrier - A
Seeing is how this unit was almost never used in multiplayer, I found myself not upset at all that it was removed. The replacement, Tempest, is perfect to step into the shoes of a teir 3 massive air unit. I love the Carrier, rest in peice, but I'm afraid it wont be missed once players try out the extremely awesome Tempest.
Mothership - B
It's a shame to see such an epic Protoss unit get scrapped but I believe it was for the best. The mothership just was not carrying her weight in battle (no pun intended) as she would be the first to get shot down in battle and her attack/speed was garbage. The only use for her was the abilities.
What I don't understand though is that Blizzard stated the Mothership would die to quickly in battle vs AA units. Yet they nerfed the Mothership in the first place when they turned 400/400 hp to 350/350.
New Abilities:
Arc Shield - B+
Grants buildings extra armor and shield armor, as well as a photon cannon-like weapon from the Nexus; costs 25 energy. I really liked this ability due to extremely stressful cheesing, such as 6 pool, cannon rushing or proxy 2 barracks. The Protoss are stuck with only probes and zealots to defend against such cheese which can prove difficult sometimes. I see this new ability as an emergancy back up incase you are in a hot spot.
However, I also see this new ability as potential cheese itself; imagine if your cannon rushing someone or proxy 2 gate. All you need to do is use this ability to boost your cannon's defense and add an extra weapon. Sounds nuts!
Mass Recall - A
Originally used on the mothership, this ability has been recycled onto the nexus for the cost of 75 energy. I'm extremely happy that this ability was kept in the game, as I feel it had much potential in Starcraft with both the abitar in Brood War and the mothership in Wings of Liberty. Dustin Browder stated that they felt the Protoss were often up against the ropes in battle and cannot flee from battle like a Zerg or Terran can, so this ability can pull your entire army out of hot spots. He also said that despite chrono boost being such a great spell, it isn't often used in the late game to max potential so this ability will no doubt eat up a lot of energy from the nexus.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
2008 Blizzcon Reviews
- Terran Units
- Protoss Units
- Zerg Units