Today during the WCS Season 3 Premier League Finals in Kraków, Poland, Blizzard revealed that Legacy of the Void, the final chapter in the StarCraft II trilogy, will officially launch on November 10, 2015. Our long wait is almost over, just two days after BlizzCon 2015, the Protoss expansion will conclude the StarCraft story lines that began almost 18 years ago. In addition to the Protoss campaign and new multiplayer units, Legacy of the Void, available as a standalone game, includes major new features, including Archon Mode, Allied Commander, and automated tournaments.
Blizzard has also been very vocal about the improvements it has been making to the new player experience. The new progression system that guides novices through the various game modes, gradually introducing them to more complex parts of the game, will hopefully act as a source of fresh blood into the amazing and passionate StarCraft community for years to come. While Legacy of the Void is the last announced expansion for StarCraft II, Blizzard has been very clear that this isn't the end of the StarCraft mythos, just the end of the current story threads. Additionally, their commitment to supporting the game well into the future is well documented.
While no official launch celebrations have been announced yet, in typical Blizzard fashion, it is likely that there will be some spectacular events around the globe to celebrate the game's launch. As various events are announced, StarCraft Legacy will keep you updated.
In a special feature segment during the WCS Season 3 Premier League Finals in Kraków, Poland, Blizzard revealed the StarCraft II: Legacy of the Void intro cinematic. Among the Protoss ruins on Aiur, the cinematic depicts an intense battle between a small party of Protoss warriors and an overwhelming Zerg force.
It provides a rare glimpse of the the raw power, generally only seen in the lore, that the Protoss wield. Throughout the short clip, the determination and resiliency of the Protoss are artfully illustrated. In StarCraft: Brood War, the Judicator Aldaris articulated the importance of Aiur to the Protoss' identity:
"... the Protoss do not run from their enemies. Aiur is our homeworld. It is here that we shall make our stand".
That sentiment is beautifully portrayed in the cinematic as the Protoss warriors selflessly give their lives to protect and avenge Aiur. The story the cinematic portrays reinforces all that we already know about the Protoss, but also teases what promises to be a major plot point in Legacy of the Void - the inevitable attempt by the remaining Protoss to reclaim Aiur from the Zerg Swarm.
The cinematic is nothing less than what we would expect from Blizzard's team. It is beautifully rendered, charged with action, and dripping with nostalgic emotion, the cinematic finally gives the Protoss their due.
The date of the world premiere for Legacy of the Void has been announced. On September 13, the new expansion will be displayed in two ways: in person and on Twitch.tv.
Hosted by William “Chobra” Cho, the stream will take place on September 13 at 10:00am PDT on the official StarCraft Twitch channel and finish with the epic conclusion of the WCS Season 3 finals.
Or come on out and watch it all unfold on the big screen with StarCraft II developers and friends at the Blizzard Barcraft in downtown L.A.! Join us for food, goodies, and fun—the first drink’s on us! Doors open at 6:00 A.M.
Get in on the action at:
The Theatre at Ace Hotel 929 South Broadway Los Angeles, CA 90015
Showing possible enemy placements on a map has been increased to 25 seconds.
Protoss
Removed Chrono Boost.
Warp Gate research time reduced to 140 from 160.
Nexus provides 11 supply up from 10.
Zealot
Charge now deals 30 damage on hit.
Charge speed buff reduced to 2.75, down from 2.95.
Warp Gate
Warping in units at a Pylon increased to 16 seconds, up from 5.
Warping in units at a Pylon that is near a Warp Gate or a Nexus will take 2 seconds.
Warp Prism
Warping in units takes 2 seconds, down from 5.
Disruptor
Purification Nova removed.
New ability: The disruptor becomes immobile and shoots out a ball of energy that can be controlled and detonates after a few seconds, dealing 145 damage and 55 damage to shields.
If the Disruptor is destroyed before the energy ball detonates, it will fail to explode.
Build time reduced to 50 seconds from 60.
Terran
Calldown: MULE has been removed.
Cyclone
Lock On damage reduced to 300 over 20 sec.
Can use Lock ON against air units; deals 120 damage over 20 sec.
New Upgrade: Increases Lock On damage to 600 over 20 sec against ground units and 360 over 20 sec for air units.
Medivac
Removed faster unload upgrade.
New upgrade increases Ignite Afterburners by 50%.
Zerg
Spawn Larva
Spawns 2 larva, down from 4.
Set to autocast by default.
Bug Fixes
Fixed an issue that caused clicking sounds when launching StarCraft II for Windows 10 users.
In a lengthy post, Blizzard has announced that "Automated Tournaments" will be coming to the Legacy of the Void beta. These automated tournaments will be a way for people to compete without the managing, organizing, and communication normally required to hold a tournament.
Once the tournament begins , you will receive a notifcation (even while in-game) that will take you to prepare for your first match. You will get a chance to veto up to three maps of your choice each round, allowing you to cater your map choices to the opponent you’re playing next. Your opponent will do the same, not knowing your veto choices. You’ll be able to see your opponent’s win record on each map to help with your veto decisions.
Signing up to an automated tournament is done in the game client. 3-round tournaments are held Mondays to Thursdays, and 6-round tournaments are held Fridays to Sundays. The rules for each of these are different, as seen below:
There are two tournament formats:
3-Round Tournaments
Schedule: Monday–Thursday
Duration: Approximately 60–90 minutes
Format: Single-elimination bracket
6-Round Tournaments
Schedule: Friday–Sunday
Duration: Approximately 3-4 hours
Format: Group Stage -> Single-elimination bracket
More information on how to sign up to tournaments can be found on this page. Also on that page are Blizzard's plans to add onto the automated tournament system, and what's to come in the future.
A new contest is starting for all aspiring mappers/modders. Called Rock the Cabinet 2015, it's an official Blizzard contest that is offering over $20,000 in total prizes.
All games are due on Wednesday, October 28. After the deadline has passed, we’ll review all entries and present to you the ten games that we feel have the most potential. Then, the Blizzard community will get to decide which games make it to the final five by voting for their favorites. After the votes are in, we’ll closely examine (and play!) each of the games and declare the winners of Rock the Cabinet 2015.
The first place prize for this contest includes two tickets to BlizzCon 2015, a hardcover World of Warcraft Udon Tribute Art Book, two StarCrafts Cut and Sew hoodies, their game's text localized into Chinese (traditional and simplified), Korean, Russian, and Spanish, and a chance for the winners to interact with members of the StarCraft II development team and discuss high-level game design topics. To see the full list of prizes, as well as the official rules, click here.
Legacy of the Void, the next expansion for StarCraft II, is now available for prepurchase. The expansion, which includes new units for all the races, new multiplayer features, and a new singleplayer campaign, costs $39.99 USD for the standard edition. The digital deluxe edition, which costs $59.99 USD, includes in addition: new portraits and Protoss unit skin for StarCraft II, a pet for World of Warcraft, a card back for Hearthstone, transmogs for Diablo III, and a Voidseeker mount for Heroes of the Storm.
The shop page for the game does not state a specific release date for the game, though it does say "Expected Game Release Winter 2015/2016*" and "*Game is due for release before March 20, 2016.", which means that we can expect the game by late March 2016 at the latest. There is also confirmation of an epilogue past the end of the singleplayer campaign which shows the various races and what happens to them.
After you play through the Prologue and the Protoss single-player campaign, wrap up the StarCraft II trilogy storyline by finding out what happens to each race in the Epilogue.
For the Blizzard store page for Legacy of the Void, click here. Also, for the news post of the start of prepurchases, which has an FAQ and some announcements, click here.
Reminiscent of the original StarCraft Precursor Campaign and the StarCraft II: Wings of Liberty Protoss mini-campaign, Blizzard has announced a three-mission prologue campaign, titled Whispers of Oblivion, that will bridge the gap between Heart of the Swarm and Legacy of the Void. The announcement was made by Dustin Browder, StarCraft II's Game Director, and Chris Sigaty, StarCraft II's Executive Producer, during the inaugural E3 PC Gaming Show. The three-mission series will follow, the Dark Templar Prelate turned mystic, Zeratul's quest to unravel the final piece of the Xel'Naga prophecy. Since the Legacy of the Void campaign will focus on Artanis, the Protoss Hierarch, this addition to the canon will provide players with another opportunity to experience more of the StarCraft mythos from another perspective.
During the reveal, Dustin Browder also announced that Whispers of the Void would be released for free to all players regardless of whether they have purchased any of the previous StarCraft games. However, to receive early access, players will need to pre-order Legacy of the Void.
What is Whispers of Oblivion?
Whispers of Oblivion is a special three-mission prologue series that has been created to bridge the storyline between Heart of the Swarm and Legacy of the Void.
What can we expect from these missions?
In Whispers of Oblivion, players will join Zeratul for the first time since Wings of Liberty to unravel the final piece of the Xel’naga prophecy.
How can I play these new campaign missions?
We will be making Whispers of Oblivion available to all players before the game’s release, but prior to that, we will be providing early access to the Prologue missions with pre-purchase of the game. Look for more details sometime in July.
The announcement of Whispers of Oblivion is an unexpected and exciting development. As the original StarCraft arcs are wrapped up in Legacy of the Void, it is fantastic that more single-player content will be provided than players originally anticipated. If this series proves to be a success, perhaps it lays the foundation for Blizzard to consider producing mini-campaigns as paid DLCs. The creation of mini-campaigns would provide several benefits to the StarCraft community. They would provide high-quality first-party content regularly into the game's ecosystem, provide a mechanism to explore new lore on a continuous basis, and provide perpetual momentum for the StarCraft product as a whole.
As we get closer to the release of this mini-series and Legacy of the Void, we'll continue to provide coverage of the conclusion to the story that began almost seventeen years ago.
![StarCraft II: Legacy of the Void Cinematic](/"images/uploaded/starcraftiinews/lotvlaunch/cinematic-shield-bordered.jpg')
