Legacy of the Void is getting a major balance patch and some of its signature new units are getting some sizeable nerfs, while Blizzard desperately try to make the new-school Swarm Host more popular.
But one of the more interesting parts of the patch notes doesn’t concern their balance changes at all, but the new Terran unit that has yet to be revealed.
These patch notes are an interesting document, because the first thing Blizzard say is that they don’t really know what the new Terran unit will be. Should it be a building? An add-on? A pony? Who can say! Not Blizzard! Not yet, anyway. But they’ve narrowed it down, probably, to a new Starport unit.
What will it be? Well, um…
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High damage, low rate of fire
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Low damage, high rate of fire
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Variable attack “modes” – High damage w/ low range & Low damage w/ high range.
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Small radius area attack w/ high damage
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And more…
So it could be just about anything. But it’s fascinating how open Blizzard are being about their thinking right now.
“In general, we believe that armies made from the Factory or Starport will be more capable as independent compositions in Legacy of the Void,” they write. “Players will be able to commit to a tech-path specifically, and so we are also interested in splitting out the mech and air upgrades again. We believe that bringing back this choice is a potential improvement for the game.”
I’m for anything that makes SkyTerran something we see more than once in a blue moon, but I also worry that it’s the “all-or-nothing” approach to Terran builds that help make an air-based Terran army so rare. If you can’t build and upgrade five BattleCruisers, you don’t build any. Hopefully that goes away.
But most important for Legacy of the Void as it exists right now: Cyclones have been nerfed. They can no longer target air units. Thank Adun.
They’ve also stepped back from the low-economy bases, so that the expansion pressure isn’t quite as great as it was early in the beta.
The Reaper also has a fascinating-sounding grenade ability that sounds like it will function as a crowd-control weapon, delivering knockback to the units it strikes.
Outrageously, the patently bogus Protss Disruptor has been left alone. But oh, your day will come Disruptor. When you get to beta unit hell, say hi to the Warhound for me.