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Starcraft II: Legacy of the Void Beta Thread - Will You Be An Archon With Me?
- Thread starter SmartWaffles
- Start date
Are you sure? We are nearing the end of LoTV beta with probably 2 months left if not less. And how slow Blizzard is putting out updates lately (over a month while it has been every 2 weeks) and there are still units that don't get much used like BC, Ravens or Thors. They need buffs if not just take them out of the game
They've been giving weekly beta updates lately. I figure they're doing the macro change now because it's such a drastic one, and then they'll balance the rest around it. Should arrive at a decently balanced state for launch in Nov/Dec. And I mean it's not like balance updates stop at launch either. I think they've got enough time to get it into a solid state once these big design changes are through.
What I'm afraid is that units that are not viable anymore won't get the redesign they need. When beta is over Blizzard won't look at Thor or Battlecruiser and say "Gee we need to redesign these 2 units!" They will let these 2 units rot like they have been doing since WoL
I've seen Protoss go carriers a lot after the massive buffs it got. It's almost impossible to beat, but thanks to liberators and a few BC they are easy to beat
I've never seen Liberators do well against carriers is there some micro trick beyond baiting the interceptors and then having the liberators target the clumps?
It;s no a flat 16 seconds though or are you speaking strictly of the 16 second duration situation?
It;s no a flat 16 seconds though or are you speaking strictly of the 16 second duration situation?
I am talking about the long-warp-in-time-situation. For lategame it's too long imho. Maybe there should be a second warpgate research in the Twilight Council or Templar Archives.
We'll have to see how it plays in testing. I feel like warp will still be good defensively with that 2 second warp when connected. And offensively, it'll encourage more warp prism play rather than just putting pylons down because the prisms will have the 2 second warp as well. To me that's a good thing on paper, but yeah again we'll have to see how it actually plays out. They say they are going to continue with bigger design changes for one more month and then get to fine tuning for release.
Ravens just got a realignment/buff where the Auto Turrets/HSM/PDD are all stronger but have a much shorter duration. It's still too short imo, but I think they are envisioning scrappy gameplay where throwing down an auto turret can help swing things for a crucial moment with smaller engagements. The turrets either need better armor or a longer duration right now though imo and the upgrade buff to them that gives them +30% dmg isn't enough right now.
What I do against mass carriers only is that I have at most 2-5 Thors or Battlecruisers that attack first with a ton of Liberators behind which fast and effectively kill all if not most of the interceptors. It doesn't work all the time but when it does it's very easy to kill carriers
Sorry but I disagree here, Ravens got over nerfed. I understand that blizzard and people hated that Ravens could be massed easily but for the cost they have right now is not worth getting them. I've tried raven with their new turrets and imho they are t good at anything other than killing workers. You need at least 10+ Ravens with full energy to kill a command center now before the turrets die off.
Automated tournaments coming to beta real soon. They're working on more features still but for now it's 3-round and 6-round tournaments (with group stage).
http://us.battle.net/sc2/en/blog/19840424/automated-tournaments-coming-to-beta-8-19-2015
http://us.battle.net/sc2/en/blog/19840424/automated-tournaments-coming-to-beta-8-19-2015
grandwizard
Member
Automated tournaments sound great. Looks like a cool way to get lower league players in on the tournament action. I'm kind of surprised I haven't seen them in games before as they were super popular on Poker sites.
Today's balance update: http://us.battle.net/sc2/en/blog/19875306
Hello, everyone!
We have a significant balance update today for Legacy of the Void. Many of you may already know whats coming from interacting with us and providing feedback via our weekly community feedback updates, but for those who want a breakdown of all the changes and why were making them, you can find all the details below! Please remember that none of these changes are final, and we are eager to hear your thoughts before and after you play with these changes.
Macro mechanics changes:
Spawn Larva is reduced to 2 per injection, and set to autocast by default
M.U.L.E. is removed
Chrono Boost is removed
As weve been discussing over the past few weeks, wed like to try out these changes on a larger scale. We are aware that these changes may present the need for balance tuning in other areas, so it would be great if everyone can keep this in mind while testing. For example, this type of feedback: removing Chrono Boost was bad because Blink now takes unreasonably long isnt very useful because changing research and build time is easy if we determine that the Chrono Boost change is good.
Due to the Chrono Boost removal, were also adding the following buffs to help Protoss in the early game:
Warpgate research time reduced to 140, from 160
Disruptor build reduced to 50, from 60
Added one additional supply to Nexus
Cyclone
Anti-air attack reinstated, but damage is reduced
Damage against ground units is reduced
Removed current upgrades and replaced with one which greatly increases Lock On damage against both air and ground units
The main goal for the Cyclone is to have them counter air units early on, but not to the point that you cant go air against Terran like we saw early on in the beta. In late-game scenarios, due to their reasonable speed, range, and damage against all unit types, it has not been uncommon to see armies almost exclusively consisting of Cyclones. We also wanted to hit this a bit hard so that in the late game, Cyclones can be good but not to the point that theyre the only unit needed.
Zealot Charge upgrade
Speed bonus is reset to Heart of the Swarm levels
Charge deals 30 damage on hit
We want to have a clear difference between Zealots and Adepts. We believe Adepts are more effective than Zealots in large, extended engagements. Therefore, we wanted to look for a change that would make Zealots clearly better in harassment situations. However, because Zealot burst damage will be effective in direct engagements as well, well be monitoring exactly when Zealots outperform Adepts and vice-versa.
Warpgate
Warping in at Pylons takes 16 seconds
Pylon power is buffed when touching a Nexus or a Warpgate
Warping in takes 2 seconds in this case
Warping in takes 2 seconds from Warp Prisms
Due to the results weve had internally, wed like to test this rather large change and see if its good for the game. We initially believe that the buff to defensive situations is good because Protoss is currently struggling to keep up with expansions as the game enters the mid-to-late game. Also, while 16 seconds on offense may be too big of a nerf, wed really love to try out this more extreme number just to be able to quickly test the side effects of this change.
Rapid Deployment Medivac upgrade removed
New upgrade added: High Capacity Fuel Tanks - Increases the speed boost duration of Ignite Afterburners by 50%
The current upgrade for Medivacs is too big of an upgrade to the in-combat cases. We want to try out a buff that mostly affects the harassment and retreat cases. Well see how this new upgrade goes before we make a call on what to do in this area going forward.
Disruptor Redesign:
Disruptors now shoot out a ball of energy that can be manually controlled.
This energy ball blows up after a few seconds, dealing high damage.
Disruptor invulnerability removed. Energy balls are invulnerable.
If the Disruptor is killed, the energy ball fizzles dealing no damage.
As we mentioned briefly at gamescom, we've completed redesigned the Disruptor into a unit that fires explosive weapons into the enemy lines. This new version has been working out very well for us. It has the core, awesome part of the Disruptor in the beta (its ability to have micro on both sides in engagements where Disruptors are used), and now has a change that opens up more counter opportunities.
Enemy Spawn location display increased from 10 seconds to 25 seconds
We heard your feedback about the potential enemy spawn location display being too short right now, so weve tried to strike a balance where it doesnt stay up too long, but players have enough time to check when they arent busy at the start of games. Wed like to try out 25 seconds for now and see how that feels.
Hello, everyone!
We have a significant balance update today for Legacy of the Void. Many of you may already know whats coming from interacting with us and providing feedback via our weekly community feedback updates, but for those who want a breakdown of all the changes and why were making them, you can find all the details below! Please remember that none of these changes are final, and we are eager to hear your thoughts before and after you play with these changes.
Macro mechanics changes:
Spawn Larva is reduced to 2 per injection, and set to autocast by default
M.U.L.E. is removed
Chrono Boost is removed
As weve been discussing over the past few weeks, wed like to try out these changes on a larger scale. We are aware that these changes may present the need for balance tuning in other areas, so it would be great if everyone can keep this in mind while testing. For example, this type of feedback: removing Chrono Boost was bad because Blink now takes unreasonably long isnt very useful because changing research and build time is easy if we determine that the Chrono Boost change is good.
Due to the Chrono Boost removal, were also adding the following buffs to help Protoss in the early game:
Warpgate research time reduced to 140, from 160
Disruptor build reduced to 50, from 60
Added one additional supply to Nexus
Cyclone
Anti-air attack reinstated, but damage is reduced
Damage against ground units is reduced
Removed current upgrades and replaced with one which greatly increases Lock On damage against both air and ground units
The main goal for the Cyclone is to have them counter air units early on, but not to the point that you cant go air against Terran like we saw early on in the beta. In late-game scenarios, due to their reasonable speed, range, and damage against all unit types, it has not been uncommon to see armies almost exclusively consisting of Cyclones. We also wanted to hit this a bit hard so that in the late game, Cyclones can be good but not to the point that theyre the only unit needed.
Zealot Charge upgrade
Speed bonus is reset to Heart of the Swarm levels
Charge deals 30 damage on hit
We want to have a clear difference between Zealots and Adepts. We believe Adepts are more effective than Zealots in large, extended engagements. Therefore, we wanted to look for a change that would make Zealots clearly better in harassment situations. However, because Zealot burst damage will be effective in direct engagements as well, well be monitoring exactly when Zealots outperform Adepts and vice-versa.
Warpgate
Warping in at Pylons takes 16 seconds
Pylon power is buffed when touching a Nexus or a Warpgate
Warping in takes 2 seconds in this case
Warping in takes 2 seconds from Warp Prisms
Due to the results weve had internally, wed like to test this rather large change and see if its good for the game. We initially believe that the buff to defensive situations is good because Protoss is currently struggling to keep up with expansions as the game enters the mid-to-late game. Also, while 16 seconds on offense may be too big of a nerf, wed really love to try out this more extreme number just to be able to quickly test the side effects of this change.
Rapid Deployment Medivac upgrade removed
New upgrade added: High Capacity Fuel Tanks - Increases the speed boost duration of Ignite Afterburners by 50%
The current upgrade for Medivacs is too big of an upgrade to the in-combat cases. We want to try out a buff that mostly affects the harassment and retreat cases. Well see how this new upgrade goes before we make a call on what to do in this area going forward.
Disruptor Redesign:
Disruptors now shoot out a ball of energy that can be manually controlled.
This energy ball blows up after a few seconds, dealing high damage.
Disruptor invulnerability removed. Energy balls are invulnerable.
If the Disruptor is killed, the energy ball fizzles dealing no damage.
As we mentioned briefly at gamescom, we've completed redesigned the Disruptor into a unit that fires explosive weapons into the enemy lines. This new version has been working out very well for us. It has the core, awesome part of the Disruptor in the beta (its ability to have micro on both sides in engagements where Disruptors are used), and now has a change that opens up more counter opportunities.
Enemy Spawn location display increased from 10 seconds to 25 seconds
We heard your feedback about the potential enemy spawn location display being too short right now, so weve tried to strike a balance where it doesnt stay up too long, but players have enough time to check when they arent busy at the start of games. Wed like to try out 25 seconds for now and see how that feels.
grandwizard
Member
Community feedback update: http://us.battle.net/sc2/en/forum/topic/18704214130?page=1
Its on Amazon right now.
Soo... It only took them all these years to include something to the game WC3 did ages ago? xD
I remember back when I played how dissapointed I was with all the missing online features in WoL. It appear they're finally getting everything into the game.
These tournaments were great back then. I never really got far, but it was fun and you could get special avatars for winning
I remember back when I played how dissapointed I was with all the missing online features in WoL. It appear they're finally getting everything into the game.
These tournaments were great back then. I never really got far, but it was fun and you could get special avatars for winning
Battlesmurf
Member
Dumb question-is there any way to zoom outa little further in campaign without having the account get banned?
SmartWaffles
Member
Simply put: no.
Yeah that's my thought after seeing Archon mode as well.
It is disappointing. :\ Really wish they would have stuck with the macro changes.
grandwizard
Member
Wow they undid all the cool stuff :/ I was so looking forward to LotV being a radical change but they backed off.
SmartWaffles
Member
Yeah the 180 is super lame and disappointing.
grandwizard
Member
They must be super paranoid about leaving the game in a hugely altered state for it's final expansion going into the future. I really enjoyed the lack of injects so its a huge bummer to me they reverted.
I have to agree, it was nice as a Terran to just pump out tons of SCV's to keep up with Zerg and Protoss
I tried but it keeps telling me that I dont have the correct expansions. Thanks for the generosity though!
Been a while since I posted in here. While things were looking up for a while there, I've ended up underwhelmed by this beta and have no faith that the current multiplayer design team has any idea what it's doing. At one point it looked like they were willing to make the big changes the came could have used. Then the release date was announced and they reverted and fell back into HotS with new, mostly silly units and abilities that don't belong. I'm still looking forward to the game but the "main" multiplayer now has nothing to do with that sentiment. I'm looking forward to it because the campaign mission design has been excellent throughout SC2 and the arcade & custom games scene is showing signs of life since the UI update. And allied commanders could be cool. The ladder though, nah, it's a mess and not fun to play or watch at all imo. Way too many gimmicks and band-aids. The design team wasted this beta.
unknownstranger
Member
I haven't followed updates regularly but have been watching more Pro play. Of what I've seen recently of the new units:
Liberator's: They've taken the place of Banshees for openers in TvZ and way too easy to harass with in early game. Zerg are forced to make Ravager's to deal with them because they can out maneuver Queen's.
Cyclones: I've seen very few Cyclones so I can't really comment.
Ravagers: Decent in early game but making more than a few prevents Zerg from going into Muta's in mid game because of the gas cost. Good at stalling Blink builds but not good enough to hold all-ins alone.
Lurkers: I've barely seen them used which surprises me because of how many Protoss never make a Robotics Facility.
Adepts: Their range and damage plus the Warp Prism change makes them ridiculously strong for harass. Haven't seen anyone make more than a few of them in early game.
Disruptors: Completely dominate the game on either side of the map. If there's a small ramp somewhere (natural's), they can almost infinitely prevent them from coming down more so than force fields. They're not too hard to avoid but completely destroy any choke on the map.
Liberator's: They've taken the place of Banshees for openers in TvZ and way too easy to harass with in early game. Zerg are forced to make Ravager's to deal with them because they can out maneuver Queen's.
Cyclones: I've seen very few Cyclones so I can't really comment.
Ravagers: Decent in early game but making more than a few prevents Zerg from going into Muta's in mid game because of the gas cost. Good at stalling Blink builds but not good enough to hold all-ins alone.
Lurkers: I've barely seen them used which surprises me because of how many Protoss never make a Robotics Facility.
Adepts: Their range and damage plus the Warp Prism change makes them ridiculously strong for harass. Haven't seen anyone make more than a few of them in early game.
Disruptors: Completely dominate the game on either side of the map. If there's a small ramp somewhere (natural's), they can almost infinitely prevent them from coming down more so than force fields. They're not too hard to avoid but completely destroy any choke on the map.
