Blizzard has just dropped new Starcraft 2 patch notes, and it’s continuing to make significant changes to the longstanding RTS game. The dev says that this latest update is “calibrating both Protoss and Terran to help deal with Zerg,” and there are some pretty dramatic balance changes to consider. Knocking 25% off the price of Command Centers? Why not? I’ll admit that I’m glad the SC2 team didn’t just walk away after its big worker overhaul, but this continued attention now has me eager for more, both in terms of communication and effect.
It’s been nearly two months since Blizzard announced a transformative Starcraft 2 patch that, among quite a few notable changes, decreased the starting worker count from 12 down to eight. It was an all-but-complete reversal of one of the most notable shifts coming into the Legacy of the Void expansion in 2015, and as expected, it turned the multiplayer economy on its head.
The developer hasn’t stopped there, delivering an additional round of balancing in June, and now it’s back again. Sitting rather innocuously at the top of the Terran patch notes is a change so significant as to be nearly as shocking as the worker shift: the Command Center, Terran’s main base building, has been reduced in cost from 400 minerals to 300. Whether you’re just looking for a fast early expansion or want to spam them in the late game, that’s a colossal cut in price.
For comparison, while the Protoss Nexus also costs 400 minerals, the Zerg Hatchery is priced at 300 – but Zerg also needs to spend a Drone (worth another 50 minerals) and the larva used to hatch it. Along with the ability to use your CC for an expansion, there’s also the fact that it grants the Terran an additional 15 supply, and all that for just triple the price of a standalone Supply Depot (which gives you just eight supply). Grabbing at least a second expansion immediately is really too good to pass up now.
To slightly counteract this, the upgrade to a Planetary Fortress has been increased from 150 minerals and 150 gas to 250/150. That stops you from simply spamming them as an aggressive maneuver, but the price of the economy-focused Orbital Command upgrade hasn’t changed. Alongside this, the supply cost of Ghosts continues to yo-yo endlessly backwards and forth; it’s down from three to two again, but at this point I wouldn’t be shocked if it went back up next time we had a balance patch.
The Protoss also get quite a few changes, although nothing nearly so dramatic. Some of the damage dealt by Colossi has been moved into its base attack – it’s now 12 (+3 vs Light) instead of 10 (+5 vs Light). Adepts get twice the buff with each attack upgrade that they used to. Gateways train units 50% faster (up from 40%) after Warpgate tech is researched, and the transformation between modes has been dropped to just four seconds in both directions.
When selecting all buildings of a single type, Warpgates and Gateways will now be treated as separate things. If you have them both within a selection, the Warpgates will take priority. Lastly for the Protoss, the ‘phantom weapon’ range on Disruptors has been brought down. This was introduced recently as a way to keep them at a more optimal distance when attack-moving with a group, but was leaving them too far behind the pack, so that particular change is very welcome.
Blizzard has also temporarily disabled another feature it recently introduced: the ability to tell transport vehicles to ‘load nearby units.’ This is most likely because players found it was able to grab units that ordinarily wouldn’t have been able to embark, such as Tanks in Siege Mode or burrowed Widow Mines. The dev says it is looking to re-introduce this feature later, which all but confirms that as the reason in my mind, and I’ll be glad when it’s back.
I’m very glad Blizzard is making active, regular changes to Starcraft 2 again. Even if not every decision is a winner, I’ll take that over a meta that grows stagnant for months or years at a time. If this is going to be the plan moving forward, however, I’d like to see something more. At the very least, more open communication would be nice – who at Blizzard is making these changes, and what’s going into their thought process?
The dreamer in me wants to think even bigger, spinning wild yarns of Starcraft 3, or at least that much-rumored spin-off game. Given the current turmoil at Xbox, I’d rather not get my hopes up too high for now, but the joy either would bring into my heart is immeasurable.