First HotS beta patch!

[RamiZ]

Something interesting that we might see being done in the future!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature...&v=kcDPJFN5VUU

To be honest, this way you don't have to upgrade the drops, and it is much faster because Vipers are really fast units. And the same way you can save your units without them being sniped when they are inside the Overlord, lol. ^^

[Rake]

Something interesting that we might see being done in the future!

Perhaps it will also be used to save slow broodlords that are out of position.

I think we will see a lot of really cool use for the viper.

[Skyze]

That isgood. zerg had some good units added. Im happy for widow mines too, but wish Protoss had something equally as cool.

[DemolitionSquid]

Zerg BY FAR got the best changes - Swarm Host, Viper, Ultralisk Charge and Hydra speed. All looking very good. Protoss comes in second with the Oracle and Mothership Core working well, but the 22 range Tempest is an underwhelmingly stupid quick-fix. Then there's Terran who just got shafted, with only the Widow Mine worthy of note. The Warhound is an uninspired Marauder clone, and the Battle Hellion is a pathetic shoehorning of the nigh-useless Firebat.

[RamiZ]

Zerg BY FAR got the best changes - Swarm Host, Viper, Ultralisk Charge and Hydra speed. All looking very good. Protoss comes in second with the Oracle and Mothership Core working well, but the 22 range Tempest is an underwhelmingly stupid quick-fix. Then there's Terran who just got shafted, with only the Widow Mine worthy of note. The Warhound is an uninspired Marauder clone, and the Battle Hellion is a pathetic shoehorning of the nigh-useless Firebat.

I disagree with you. I mean, yes, Zerg got the best changes, but most of the people are whining about Protoss and how they got only Mothership core that is worth a note. I don't have opinion on Protoss yet, I have to see Pros using new units to the full potential so I can make the judgement. On the other hand, I dislike how strong Warhound is, but numbers can be tweaked. Widow Mine is a joke when it costs 2 supply, and Battle Hellion is currently the best addition. That unit alone makes Mech viable, even without Warhound. I've seen many timing attacks with Battle Hellions and Marines/Warhounds/Banshees that weren't possible before just because they died too fast. It isn't useless at all, and they made it 1000 times better. With that addition Hellions went from one-dimensional unit(worker killer), to great unit that can be played in a different ways. I know that you don't like it, because it is basically a buffed Firebat, but it does its job pretty damn well.

Also, you are including the Hydras and Ultras buffs but didn't include the Terran units buffs? Battle Cruiser's Yamato Cannon cost 100 energy(from people on TL net, didn't test it so don't know if it is true), Raven speed has been buffed from 2.25 to 2.5, and HSM energy cost is reduced to 100. Reapers got drugs by default and still have the speed upgrade, which makes them pretty threatening units at the start of the game.

Edit: Wanted to say that Widow Mines are really really cool, I like everything about that unit, but really need to tweak the supply and AoE damage. 2 Supply for a Mine is useless because they don't kill stuff, you trade 1 Mine for 1 Roach/Zergling/Marine/Zealot, and if you are lucky, you deal 35 AoE damage. They have to be 1 supply, and with it, damage can stay as it is right now.

[DemolitionSquid]

I disagree with you. I mean, yes, Zerg got the best changes, but most of the people are whining about Protoss and how they got only Mothership core that is worth a note. I don't have opinion on Protoss yet, I have to see Pros using new units to the full potential so I can make the judgement. On the other hand, I dislike how strong Warhound is, but numbers can be tweaked. Widow Mine is a joke when it costs 2 supply, and Battle Hellion is currently the best addition. That unit alone makes Mech viable, even without Warhound. I've seen many timing attacks with Battle Hellions and Marines/Warhounds/Banshees that weren't possible before just because they died too fast. It isn't useless at all, and they made it 1000 times better. With that addition Hellions went from one-dimensional unit(worker killer), to great unit that can be played in a different ways. I know that you don't like it, because it is basically a buffed Firebat, but it does its job pretty damn well.

Also, you are including the Hydras and Ultras buffs but didn't include the Terran units buffs? Battle Cruiser's Yamato Cannon cost 100 energy(from people on TL net, didn't test it so don't know if it is true), Raven speed has been buffed from 2.25 to 2.5, and HSM energy cost is reduced to 100. Reapers got drugs by default and still have the speed upgrade, which makes them pretty threatening units at the start of the game.

I've been hearing rave reviews for the Oracle's Entomb and Precognition abilities, so there's that.

My loathing for the Warhound and Firebat comes from how completely uninspired, insipid, and desperate they are. I acknowledge their effectiveness in combat, but that doesn't change the sad fact that Blizzard basically gave up on creating anything new and reskinned two other units. I feel a real sense of disappointment that Blizzard had to resort to such cheap gimmicks just to meet their "two new units" quota.

As for the upgrades, aside from the Reaper healing they're minor stat changes to existing things, a simple balance patch. If the Battle Cruiser or Raven got new abilities or upgrades like the Hydra and Ultra, I'd be far more excited since we're taking about a complete expansion pack and not a quick-fix patch.

On Reaper healing, I don't honestly see it affecting anything in the way all the other changes do. Reapers will come back into play for a time as players adjust, but they are just so weak in HP until the heal kicks in out of combat that any base raiding situation they'll enter after the 10 minute mark will bear the same results it does now. They won't replace Marines in the army, and if someone wishes to to truly make use of them in raiding they'll have to be used with Medevacs, which negates most of the purpose of giving them self healing anyway. If Blizzard wanted to honestly make Reapers better, they'd increase their HP or armor to keep them alive long enough to deal damage in the enemy base without a thought of retreat. Reapers have always been best used as suicide units - no one expects them to come back alive, nor should they.

[RamiZ]

On Reaper healing, I don't honestly see it affecting anything in the way all the other changes do. Reapers will come back into play for a time as players adjust, but they are just so weak in HP until the heal kicks in out of combat that any base raiding situation they'll enter after the 10 minute mark will bear the same results it does now. They won't replace Marines in the army, and if someone wishes to to truly make use of them in raiding they'll have to be used with Medevacs, which negates most of the purpose of giving them self healing anyway. If Blizzard wanted to honestly make Reapers better, they'd increase their HP or armor to keep them alive long enough to deal damage in the enemy base without a thought of retreat. Reapers have always been best used as suicide units - no one expects them to come back alive, nor should they.

Yes, I was thinking the same way as you are right now, just before I saw Thorzain killing ~10 Marines with 2 Reapers. He was kiting and killing Marines 1 by 1, in 3 Shots(Reapers got damage buffed vs. light units btw), he killed 5 of them, retreated from combat with both Reapers red on health. After 10 seconds, he came back for more Marines. Also, Demuslim won against some Terran that went 1-Rax-CC build with just 2 Reapers and labeled them as overpowered now. I don't think that they are overpowered, but I think that they are decent in the early game.

[DemolitionSquid]

Yes, I was thinking the same way as you are right now, just before I saw Thorzain killing ~10 Marines with 2 Reapers. He was kiting and killing Marines 1 by 1, in 3 Shots(Reapers got damage buffed vs. light units btw), he killed 5 of them, retreated from combat with both Reapers red on health. After 10 seconds, he came back for more Marines. Also, Demuslim won against some Terran that went 1-Rax-CC build with just 2 Reapers and labeled them as overpowered now. I don't think that they are overpowered, but I think that they are decent in the early game.

I agree they're powerful early game, that's why I said it'll revert to WoL standard after they've been balanced and players can counter them and defend after 10 minutes in game.

[Rake]

My loathing for the Warhound and Firebat comes from how completely uninspired, insipid, and desperate they are. I acknowledge their effectiveness in combat, but that doesn't change the sad fact that Blizzard basically gave up on creating anything new and reskinned two other units. I feel a real sense of disappointment that Blizzard had to resort to such cheap gimmicks just to meet their "two new units" quota.

I don't particularly like the new terran units either. I think it is pretty stupid that a cheap, utilitarian buggy transforms into a walking unit.

Still, I think part of the reason for the lameness is that Terran already has so much awsome stuff that jamming in extra things and keeping balance is quite tricky. Imagine if they were only adding the Banshee now, or the Planetary Fortress. Everyone would think they are great new additions. But they can't because their roles are already taken.

Blizzard had only one thing they could do for Terran when came to HotS. Fix Terran mech.

Still, I wish that the warhound had treads and the hellion didn't 'transform'.

Well, I don't play Terran anyway so it wont bother me.

[MulletBen]

Just a couple of things:
1. Battle hellions are seriously different from firebats, and anyone who says otherwise hasn't seriously considered the implications of the unit. Yes, it has similar movement speed, health and attack; it plays a similar role. At first glance, it is for all intents and purposes a firebat, but take a closer look. To start, it costs no gas, is mechanical, and is built from a factory. These are obvious results of them being a transformer for hellions, and you'd be right in dismissing them as trivial details, if they were the only difference. But the clearest difference between the firebat and the battle hellion is that the firebat could never transform into a buggy. Think about that for a moment. You say firebats are nigh useless, and you're completely correct. They're only good against, what, lings and zealots? and so are battle hellions. But buggy hellions are good for scouting, denying creep, and harassing drones, something firebats could never do. Buggy hellions can kite lings, and they do pretty well, but if they're surrounded, they're screwed. Buggy hellions aren't very good against zealots either. But battle hellions are. And here's the deal breaker: they're the same unit. You arent just buying a battle hellion or a buggy hellion; you're buying both. Think about it. No one buys a siege tank for its tank mode, at least not when there are marauders. But there are plenty of situations where an unsieged tank is better than a sieged tank. By adding the battle hellion, you aren't adding a new unit, you're giving an old unit an upgrade.

2. It's SM, not HSM, Hunter Seeker Missile is a terrible name that's way longer than necessary and blizzard rightfully ditched. People who say seeker missile aren't trying to be short, they're calling the ability by its actual fucking name. People who say hunter seeker missile or HSM have never looked at the tooltip for the spell and at using a name that is so archaic it DIDNT EVEN MAKE IT TO FUCKING BETA.

Sorry, just a couple pet peeves of mine.