All comments posted by Buzzjuice :
It seems the Protoss keeps getting nerfed and nerfed. I like the fact that defensive structures are getting a boost on the Protoss side, so that rushing CAN be stopped and those cannons aren't a complete waste w/o a wall to defend them. I'm skeptical about the sunken crawlers because they are pretty god, but I like the spore crawlers change. Because it is cheaper, it encourages building them to prevent airborne rushes. The most famous use I can think of is the Banshee rush on Desert Oasis, which is fatal to Zerg. Having cheaper spore crawlers, gives more excuse to build them in precaution.
Banshees are very good. I don't know why the HP buff, since it has good HP and does quite a bit of damage. That 10 HP is game breaking if spells like Psionic Storm don't kill them. And this gives more excuses to cheese a banshee rush. I was honestly thinking of Blizzard nerfing their power. I think it is better that they have a HP nerf, while retaining their damage.
Also, the HP/Shield buff to Templar. This makes doing spells on the Templar like multiple snipes, and Psi Storms less and less effective. Though Psionic Storm needs a buff. I mean it is already nerfed from Brood War so why reduce it further?
On the Terran side, I like how Missile Turrets are getting buffed because they now deal more damage to Mutas and I like the fact that the Thor is now becoming a solution to mass mutas. Terrans are pretty weak in ground to air Anti Air because they just have marines and Thor.
I whole heartedly agree with the Brood Lord nerf. It is just way too powerful, once you get 5 of these in the battlefield. They tear through ground units because of the broodlings and how they mess with the AI. Actually I was thinking that the Brood Lord just attacks with 15 or 10 damage. The resulting broodlings are pretty powerful in terms of damage (2 broodlings that do 20 damage each!)
Roaches need to be nerfed further. I like how Blizzard tried to create a micro aspect by having organic carapace only affect burrowing but the upgrade is in the Hive tech, so unlikely to get it in early mid game and the Roach is already powerful enough without needing this updgrade. I mean the speed and the move burrow upgrade are just too good to ignore and Roaches still have 2 armor! Seriously!
A very nice and informative guide with plently of replays and pictures to look at.
The build order was quite direct and easy to follow. You explained each aspect of the build, including it's strengths, weaknesses and counters.
I just wanted to add another counter. Sentries are powerful with forcefields, but if you have a few sentries and combine them with Colluses, you have mass Roach BBQ on your hands. This is a game HD starcraft commented on: Artosis vs Voidwards. Artosis, as Zerg uses mass Roaches against Voidwards who replies in kind with sentries's Forcefields, and then creates Collusus. In this case, the Protoss is nearly on the same economic level as the Zerg.
I like how, as more patches get through, there seems to be less and less emphasis on 'hard counters' in terms of damage e.g Void Rays moved from +4 to armored, to no bonus. I see, like Tyrion says, it becomes more flexible to units.
It is still a nerf though, and I expected as much because of the ease of having 10 Void rays out in the open, which almost always leaves the opponent defenseless, unless the other guy predicts it, or prevents it.
Roach HAD to be nerfed. They were just too used up in Zerg matchups where Roach were staples. Now everyone will stop complaining:"How come the Roach has 2 armor? EVEN THE THOR, SUPPOSEDLY MADE UP OF BATTLECRUISER ARMOR HAS ONE ARMOR! HOW COME YOU HAVE TO BE A BATTLECRUISER TO MATCH THE ROACH IN TERMS OF ARMOR!"
With Terran, Blizzard seems to be encouraging a more balanced style of play and trying to delay getting slow shooting Marauders from getting a very good early advantage against other units. I'm not sure whether the mech has been buffed enough though to be a very viable matchup. Still, there is more reason now to think about going bio, or mech because the staple units for both builds have been changed.
At the same time can you also make sure that region the replay was in doesnt' affect it being uploaded? I had a bunch of really good replays that I could not upload because they were German. Everytime I hit that upload button, it would upload to 100%, and then direct me to a page saying "Invalid File".
Woah, woah, woah, woah! Back up! Read through this carefully, there are a ton of changes. Don't worry, we'll get through this together.
"Battlecruiser operational!" I really don't see that many games where people tech up to Battlecruisers. I like this, for more varied games. I also feel that Protoss need a similar change to the Carrier. Again, you don't see the Carrier enough.
A buff to hellions? Aren't they really good already?
Seeker missile is a huge change. It takes way too long to get it, and for it to be truly effective because by that time, the opponent usually have higher tiered units that absorb the damage. Now that it is a direct research, it will now be much faster to get it. Predictably, though, I expected some sort of nerf to it, since you get it a lot faster, and so splash and range have reduced.
First, splash damage has been changed from the impact location, to center of target. This means if let's say you attack a marine clump and hit the center guy, the splash damage will affect marines in a circle. Predictable. On the other hand, before, it would affect more marines in front of the target. Hmm... nerf or buff? Hard to say. But now players can position their forces better and reduce splash damage. Oh, seige tanks get a buff! YAY!
Thor gets an overall nerf to it's capabilities as a ground unit. It can't two shot hydras now, though 30 damage is still good. I'm guessing Blizzard wants Siege Tanks to be more damage the opponent and Thor to block off air units and provide overall support. The 250mm cannon upgrade? I'm guessing Blizzard doesn't like the ability of a few Thors to be able to snipe off a building right when they come out. (Is it just me or as the patches keep coming, more and more abilities have to be researched? I mean Concussive Shells, 250mm cannons?)
Now to Protoss. Archons had no splash damage as far as I was concerned, and you don't see them as often as you would like to. Check out Husky's video of Archons vs Ultralisks and just see how viable these units are.
Collosus gets a nerf basically. Faster damage for less? (Again, is it just me or overall units now do faster damage with weaker hits? I'm guessing they are trying to make room for micro)
Phoenix! Yay! There is a very good article on Team Liquid that deals with the dealing with the issue of micro. Because of how units glide, especially air units like the Phoenix, you can't do a moving shot. The phoenix just stands still, and shoots, and so micro suffers. I like how Blizzard is trying to bring back some micro into SC2.
Sentries were too good against mutas. And they were more like support units. Not expected, but I'm cool with it.
Now to Zerg. Broodlords get that good nerf, Ultras get more powerful, and Neural Parasite gets an overall nerf with a very big buff. Air units can be mind controlled. Corruption is now reworked. Firstly, Corruption is very crap. No one uses it (think about it, how many Zerg games have you seen iwith Corruption spammed, or even used?), and I'm glad that it got reworked. I think the Corruptor is now geared towards taking on capital ships, though I still think the fact that it still moves slower than a banshee makes it a little difficult to use. I still think Corruptors will only be used to get out those Broodlords, and only used if let's say Carriers or come into play. Its just that Broodlords are just so damn awesome!
I can't think of a very good reason for deserving this beta key other than the fact that I love starcraft 2 and watch as much of it as possible. It is fine if I don't win, I can wait and I hope everyone has fun enjoying the SC2Beta while it lasts!
Husky's video of Patch 13 more or less sums up my opinions and comments on this patch.
The one thing that really jerks my chain is that in Patch 13, because of a really awful bug, you can't view replays from Patch 1 to 12. I'm hoping this is fixed because this is a really big problem right now. (This is also why the HDH is right now having difficulties with the 3rd Place matchup between Nony and TLO. They had their replays on Patch 12, and so these replays can't be casted until this bug is fixed. The finals are casted fine. I recommend watching them! Really epic! (Won't give out spoilers here!))
This video is just all the more reason to get Starcraft 2. When you buy Starcraft 2, you don't just buy an RTS game, you buy the ability to play Tetris, DoTA, Tower Defense, RPGs, and yes, even FPS or TPS action games as shown above. Imagine you playing the marine, and then get a flamethrower and then you burn down an Ultralisk. How cool would that be! I know you want to see that in first person!
The power of the Starcraft Galaxy Editor and the control it grants to players cannot be denied, and if Blizzard is truly successful with their 'Battlenet 2.0' and with the map publishing system that promises that, in the near future, you will be able to sell off maps, then this video is truly the tip of the iceberg. Think iTunes or the App Store if you still don't get how big this could become.
EXPECT A LOT MORE coming in July when Starcraft comes out. I cannot wait!
Let's see:
Not any big changes except for the Ultralisk thing. You rarely see them out and about. The only reason you go a Hive is so that you can get those Broodlords out, and the recent nerf didn't help either. Now, they seem to be much faster, have more HP, still have that +2 armor upgrade, and can walk through forcefields. Hopefully we'll see them.
Again, not any big changes. The Archon buff is very minimal. It just encourages Templars to convert to Archons when run out of energy. No reason to get Archons specifically in your army because the other units eclipse it and Archons don't have splash.
Viking's balance was more about it's range and damage. If they wanted to really nerf it, which I don't think they should considering how integral vikings can be in a Terran arsenal, they should have gone for air. It just encourages people to use them for air which people already know.
Corruption is interesting. It harks back to the days of the Defiler. Maybe something along that lines and establish the Corruptor as an anti-air support unit rather than a full on anti-air solution?
With Roaches, Blizzard is really trying to encourage the fact that Roaches can move underground and raid bases that way. Since that nerf bat (from having 1 supply to 2), you can't get that mass Roach army without sacrificing those Hyrdas. People don't use them that much, and now opt for Hydras. Note, Roaches are still good, but now Zerg play has diversified which is even better I guess.
Nice work guys! Seriously! Getting near 200 EXP is amazing! Though I should have concentrated on replays more. And I have to comment on how fast the replays and guides go up. I hardly have time to post a new replay to see another already in the system!
Btw, any chance more contests like these going up in the near future?
@Silent - Don't worry. I'll keep voting! :)