Blizzard are updating the StarCraft Test Map, and ask players to give as much feedback as possible on the sweeping changes.
Following the initial changes after the WCS Challenger rounds - which saw players suspended for a myriad of reasons, including match lengthening – Blizzard are updating the StarCraft Test Map yet again following certain WCS Ro32 Groups this week.
Swarms Hosts and their balancing are becoming a very widely discussed topic, by both pro players and players on ladder, and it seems Blizzard are listening to the community to adjust the balance accordingly. The current changes being proposed for the Test Map are:
Locust duration decreased from 30 to 25.This will allow countering mass Swarm Host armies during the long downtime between Locust spawns even better, while not hurting the smaller scale mobility based harassment cases as much.
Viper Blinding Cloud range increased from 10 to 11.To help vs. Mech, especially since the range difference between Vipers and Vikings will be slightly greater.
Tempest no longer has +massive damage vs. air.Brood Lords can still be countered by the long range of Tempests, but they won’t be the hard counter they are now, meaning Brood Lords can serve to fill the missing gap created by the redesign of the Swarm Host.
Along with these new changes, Blizzard are turning to the community and want to stress how much they need players to play on the Test Map and give them as much feedback as possible: “The next few weeks will be crucial in helping shape our next balance update. It will be difficult to patch such a major change without help from our community and the pro players.”
Should you wish to get involved with the Test Map yourself, all you need to do is:- Make sure your SC2 client is fully up-to-date- Go to Custom Games in the Main Menu, and select the map: “Deadwing LE (2.1.8 Balance v1.0”.- Once you've had your fill of testing, jump on the StarCraft forums to let them know how you got on.
None of these changes are finalised, as is normally the case with these Test Map updates, but this looks to be the direction Blizzard are heading at the moment. We will, as always, be sure to keep you apprised of any future updates.
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