My views so far having played 1 day in the beta.

[TheProgramer]

Hey, love it, Blizzard did a great job. Just a few thoughts.

BALANCE THOUGHTS:

1: The Oracle's Attack Spell is too similar to the Void Ray's attack.

• It reminds me of a Flux Vane Void Ray that's permanently charged. Obvious it has less health and only hits buildings but there was a reason flux vanes were removed.
• Perhaps change out this ability so it doesn't have an overlap with the Void Ray, please do not change the void ray so that you can keep this ability.

2: The upgrade that extends Locust's life by 10 seconds is too powerfull.

• If you don't have an air unit I find the counter to swarm hosts is to attack them in between their spawns. The upgrade makes that impossible since they're is no longer an inbetween.
• It's hard enough to kill just swarm hosts with this upgrade, but when they have backup it's nearly impossible.

OTHER THOUGHTS:
1: I really hated the idea of Entomb being removed. Ever since it was announced it was the thing I looked foward to the most. But being able to slow down their workers and being able to use that same ability in combat I think in the end was the better decision.

2: I have been playing random (just like I did in the WoL beta) and I've found that Terran seems to be giving me the most trouble. Not sure why, but I seem to have more trouble using Terran's new units compared to the other two race's.

3: I played a 3v3 where I went only Widow Mines and it gave us such map control that we were able to handily beat our opponents. I think these new units are goign to severley change 2v2, 3v3, and 4v4.

It's been fun so far!

[TheEconomist]

Five oracles = nexus rape in 10 seconds flat.

[DemolitionSquid]

It's pretty much assured that Pulsar Beam will be nerfed a bit. Even a scrub can tell that 25 is a bit too high. I predict 15 at lowest, 20 at highest.

[Noctis]

they stated VR's are going to be reworked already

[TheProgramer]

they stated VR's are going to be reworked already

I think that's a horrible decision.

[topsecret221]

That's a great decision. The VR is a boring unit that's only usable in cheese openings.

[TheProgramer]

It is a great unit. The micro it demands to attack it with it's charging mechanic is interesting, and without it the Protoss will have no moderatley cheap air unit that hits air and ground.

[flak4321]

That's a great decision. The VR is a boring unit that's only usable in cheese openings.

Actually, no. It has uses in other circumstances. I regularly counter a colossus heavy Toss by switching up from stalker/zealot/collo to stalker/void. I have also used a stalker/void/ht build with some success vs zerg and terran. The key is the hts to replace the collo splash. Basically if you have the econ and time to pull of either switch, it can be very effective. Vs. zerg you do need to be very fast though.

I've also used he build some in HotS. Combined with a few Oracles harassing, it's pretty good.

[MulletBen]

Tempest fill the anti-colossus role better than void rays by far. As far as microing goes, void rays are admittedly more interesting than oracles, but their charge gimmick is used so very little that I don't think it matters.

The only time I've seen void rays used for legitimate strategic reasons in HOTS is to hold off a roach all-in after a phoenix/oracle opening. Otherwise, I see no strategic purposes for building void rays that are not filled by either tempests, phoenixes or oracles.

[flak4321]

Tempest fill the anti-colossus role better than void rays by far. As far as microing goes, void rays are admittedly more interesting than oracles, but their charge gimmick is used so very little that I don't think it matters.

The only time I've seen void rays used for legitimate strategic reasons in HOTS is to hold off a roach all-in after a phoenix/oracle opening. Otherwise, I see no strategic purposes for building void rays that are not filled by either tempests, phoenixes or oracles.

I agree the tempest overlaps a lot, as does the oracle. However, I feel void rays may be preferable to Tempests in situations where gas is less than optimal and airborne anti-air is needed. I use them regularly vs. corruptor broodlord depending on corruptor coverage. The rate of fire on the tempest is too slow to be effective in a lot of these situations.

I would also prefer voids (micro'd effectively; bear in mind they get a vs massive bonus similar to the tempest) and/or collos vs Thors if the viking count stays low enough and I have gas to burn. Note: I do this vs Terran because I'm still learning storm usage, but I am mixing in some storm here and there.

I'm now of a mind to set up a test of tempest vs void ray to compare them both straight against each other, and vs certain targets. I already know that the void ray wins vs buildings and vs massive units (when charged, groups of 6-8). Wish I could remember my sources that I may mark them appropriately.