Starcraft II: Legacy of the Void will see some significant changes to its multiplayer, but the good news is players have plenty of time to prepare.
According to a post on the Starcraft II website, Blizzard plans to launch the changes at the end of the current tournament season in November. This is due to them wanting to spend plenty of time testing, gathering feedback, and revising the changes.
“We believe we can make StarCraft II an even more enjoyable and competitive game experience and would like to explore a series of major changes to bring about these improvements,” stated the post. “We intend for these changes to receive significantly more testing than the ‘Test Maps’ which we’ve done in the past, both because of the significance of the changes themselves, and also due to improvements we are making which we will discuss in greater detail below.”
Below is a summary of some of the changes coming to the races of Starcraft II:
Terran
- Improving the viability of Factory unit armies, a.k.a Mech compositions
- Turning the Cyclone into a core unit with a powerful anti-armoured attack against ground units
- Increasing Siege Tank damage, but it can no longer be picked up by Medivacs
- Removal of the +light damage from the Liberator’s Anti-air attack
- Upping the splash damage to the Thor’s Javelin Missile. Punisher Cannons will now be prioritised before Thor’s Hammer.
- Buff to the Viking’s auto-attack
- Increase to the damage of the Raven’s auto turret
Protoss
- Massing Tempests became an easy way to deal with Terran Mech. As such, the supply count of the Tempest has been increased, along with its anti-ground damage. The range of anti-ground weapon has been decreased.
- Zealot’s Research Charge upgrade getting a movement speed increase
- Removal of the Release Interceptor ability from the Carrier. Interceptor mineral cost reduced.
- New ability for Dark Templars. Blizzard may scrap this, however.
Zerg
- Swarm Host getting a significant resource cost reduction
- Addition of an Armoured Flag to the Ravager
- Aiming to make the Hydralisk a core unit by buffing its attack range and movement speed.
- Health buff to Banelings
- Experimental changes for the Infestor. A new ability and being able to cast all abilities while burrowed
These changes are not set in stone and could very well be revised before they go live. Blizzard plans to release the first balance test map sometime this week.
