New changes in HoTS look sick. Goodbye thor!!!

10/21/2011 6:47:51 PM

Have more time to write up a little bit about the new stuff...

Totally loving the QQ from Terran and Toss right now.

Terran were the most balanced race to begin with. They had the most options, already had "their" version of the game come out, what were they really expecting. They got one additional unit that will probably be pretty abusive (shredder), the thor got a nerf which might not hurt it too bad as they end up with a single massive tank and tons of mini support thors, and they get a morph for hellions that makes them an even better unit.

Toss have the carrier (a unit nobody uses) removed and replaced with a unit that might not get a ton of use, but will at least get more then the carrier since it will rape specific situations (vs mass air). They get a super multipurpose scouting/harass tool and they get a couple new abilities on the nexus that should help a bunch. And they get a unit that lets them be any other race? Uhh, yes?

As for Zerg - finally getting to be multidimensional. And I could still see a zerg hero unit being unveiled at some point here - that or some buff to the queen. Hydras are viable, corrupters are still shit but at least can do more, and all their new units and buffs look great. Ultra charge is Zerg are going to be nerfed hard before HoTS hits the shelves though.

Really interested to see some Viper abuse. I wonder if you can use the scorpion ability multiple times in a row on the same unit. Imagine having your army a good distance away, snatch a colossus three times in a row from the toss army to your own. Or snatch a siege tank and NP it. So sick.

Burrowed moving banelings.

[Edited on October 21, 2011 at 10:18 PM. Reason : a]

10/21/2011 10:16:34 PM

That crowd at the GSL final was fucking insane. So glad I stayed for it.

10/22/2011 3:19:54 AM

apparently the thor isnt gone, it is going to be a massive unit similar to the mothership (only one at a time)

http://www.reddit.com/r/starcraft/comments/lka02/lots_of_more_hots_changes_from_the_korean_press/

10/22/2011 1:05:43 PM

Right, so the Thor is gone.

The Thor will no longer be used in TvZ, TvT, maybeeee TvP.

10/22/2011 2:15:55 PM

I thought they were going to show all the Blizzcon games free. Realized too late that they're only showing two games from the winners bracket.

10/22/2011 2:25:40 PM

Can't wait for HoTS, going to be great I think.

Fingers crossed I can get a beta key for that... would be nice to get a jump on everyone else with the new units. I don't think it will change the game that much, but just add some nice depth and options that the game is needing. Still looks like they are doing things to make Terran to strong, not because the units are so good just because they still have so many different options.

The only thing they don't seem to really address for zerg is scouting. Fine with losing the overseer but I've really gotten use to using it to scout the opponent with the recent cost change, or using changelings. With that being removed are they just banking on OL speed being a standard upgrade to get now? Maybe they'll make that a T1 upgrade(OL Speed) that just requires a pool. That would be nice.

10/23/2011 7:44:16 AM

Rest assured the detection changes wont make it through beta. Ditto with the burrowed banelings. Also hydra/ling/viper will be insane vs toss.

10/23/2011 8:56:58 AM

Sure they will. They might get adjusted but they wouldn't have gotten to this point and do radical changes. I don't see why burrow move blings or how the detection would work would change. I think they should leave the overseer in though as well.

10/23/2011 6:46:01 PM

I dont see how they leave it how it is with the viper being our first mobile detection. Its more expensive then an overseer before the overseer price drop. Obviously its a better unit, but still. Also not to mention it can only cast its spell on one unit to detect... im not sure what unit you would use it on.

And burrowed banelings move super fast. They are going to be dangerous.

Swarm Lords or Brood Lords are going to change I think. They are way too similair.

And blizzard betas are real betas. Look how much changed from beta of sc2 to release. A ton of units got removed or changed. I would expect quite a bit to change.

So tired of bitching about the replicator. It is going to be a sick unit. I would love if it were a zerg unit.

10/23/2011 7:05:57 PM

they need to nerf broodlord/infestor/corruptor vs. protoss. it's OP

10/23/2011 7:13:11 PM

Its only op if you play timid like Mana and let Stephano build 6 bases.

10/23/2011 8:00:39 PM

really excited about all the new zerg units. obviously they wanted to give zerg new options against turtling opponents. the viper spell that reduces everything's range to 1 will be HUGE at ramps and chokepoints.

10/24/2011 4:25:40 PM

Yeah I like what they've done for zerg, added a bit more depth to the race which is nice.

10/24/2011 7:42:39 PM

Ladder reset today. Placed into Masters with a nice ZvZ loss

10/25/2011 12:36:51 PM

Just played a ZvZ.

I opened the game by saying "where r u spawned, I'm 6 pooling".

He laughed.

Then I 6 pooled and won.

10/26/2011 10:17:00 PM

Epic SC2 references in tonights Office. Dwight dresses up as Kerrigan, jokes about lurkers and plays a 2v2.

10/27/2011 9:32:09 PM

is it on now?

10/27/2011 9:44:37 PM

Pretty funny to see SC2 on the office.

10/27/2011 10:38:50 PM

I want to mess around and off-race ladder some on my other account I hardly use.

Is there a way to quickly move my hotkey profile over from my main account? I messed around with it but didn't see that option, since it seems to be stored on b.net and not your computer and now way to transfer. I don't feel like redoing all the hotkeys again, just a pain if there is a quicker way than trying to remember all the keys I rebound for every race.

10/28/2011 9:08:55 AM

tbh i didnt know titan had an off race

10/28/2011 1:38:20 PM

? I just play random for fun, especially in team games, but every now and then some 1s as well. I got the hotkeys fixed, figured it out.

10/28/2011 3:10:24 PM

what headsets do you guys who play team games use? I'm considering the Razer Carcharias but i've read some reviews saying the mic sucks. thoughts? I think $60-70 is about the sweet spot for how much I'd like to spend.

10/28/2011 4:42:18 PM

I use my computer speakers and my webcam's microphone. My brother and friends have no complaints about how I sound. Sometimes the clickity clakity of my keyboard gets annoying to them though.

zags just recently got a mic but I've yet to play with him using it. ZAGS!

titans has no mic.

10/28/2011 5:32:06 PM

I had a razer headset but then got these

http://shop.steelseries.com/us/steelseries-siberia-v2-full-size-headset.html

badass all around. mic is good and retracts up into the headset if you dont need it. I travel with them a lot too.

10/28/2011 5:47:40 PM

I dont use a mic because i dont want to talk to my shitty teammates.

10/28/2011 6:03:43 PM

trolololoolololol

10/28/2011 7:43:02 PM

lol. the only time that I use a headset is when i play sotis.

10/30/2011 2:40:33 AM

Not getting a mic anytime soon either.

Especially because my method playing team games is generally ignoring my teammates, double expanding, and hoping they'll defend me while I macro up and then look like the hero winning the game with a massive army. Having a mic would just get in the way of all that.

10/31/2011 7:26:38 PM

^ Now that is the honest truth. We will be playing and I'm pinging all over the map because shits going on, and hes just sitting there ignoring me and macroing away. I'm like move your 18 void rays over and attack to save us. Instead he waits till he has 20, my base is wiped, THEN he amoves his way to victory.

10/31/2011 7:28:52 PM

true dat. so who wants to play team games with me?

10/31/2011 9:15:53 PM

Specter: Get a decent pair of headphones and a Zalman clip mic. I personally love my HD-555s and ATH-A700s.

11/1/2011 1:02:25 AM

You don't have to use the in-game communicator. Just hop on skype with my brother and me. We do very little talking and the majority of it is catching up. It's just nice that I can tell people what's up without having to stop and type.

11/1/2011 5:58:03 PM

just got into sc2. been playing 1v1 only. I guess I suck because highest I've got on bronze ladder is 26. I feel like I'm about 50/50 though. Played 4v4 with friends who are on top of diamond or whatever the highest ladder is and was confused as shit the whole time

[Edited on November 3, 2011 at 12:55 AM. Reason : only know how to play terran also ]

11/3/2011 12:55:09 AM

If you are just starting bronze is where you should be Just keep playing and you will get better and start to move up.

11/3/2011 6:16:04 AM

zags used to be awful at this game. I still am pretty bad since i play so infrequently. play a lot, watch pro games/streams, and day9 and you'll get better at the game. I went from god awful (I think I placed silver, went 3-2 in placement way back when. 1 lag out, and one game where I just fucked up and miscontrol from being tired keeps the 3-gate blink play I used to love from breaking the guy, and then I lost to dts) to being able to 4 gate/2 gate robo ~diamond level before I went to bootcamp. now I'm very mehhh again, but still.

11/3/2011 12:39:45 PM

Keep practicing and you can be as good as me one day.

11/3/2011 12:42:18 PM

haha too bad i gave up my hopes of being the next Nestea

I used to steal all my builds from LiquidTyler haha

11/3/2011 12:51:47 PM

I'm up to the #34 ranked Diamond player in the world now. I'm going to go pro I think.....that is the only logical next step.

11/3/2011 12:57:40 PM

next step is to start streaming your 1v1 ladder matches.

and then streaming yourself going mass queens from bronze to platinum 1v1

and then streaming yourself playing Amnesia: the dark descent

11/3/2011 1:09:00 PM

Thats garbage, I was number 1 silver in the world for a day or two. Suck on that.

11/3/2011 2:20:01 PM

I could be the #1 bronze leaguer in the world... if I wanted to

oh, you're doing some build everything play? HOW DO YOU LIKE MY 1 GATE ROBO?

11/3/2011 2:25:08 PM

I didn't want to be the #1 silver player in the world.

The stupid promotion system just wouldnt let me move up. Finally sent me straight to diamond (back before there was masters).

11/3/2011 2:37:33 PM

Quote :

"The stupid promotion system just wouldnt let me move up. Finally sent me straight to diamond (back before there was masters)."

Did this happen at the end of a season where they lock the ladder until the next season starts?

11/3/2011 3:42:07 PM

that was before they had seasons. I remember it because this was back when zags, titans and i played a shitload of threes and pretty much always won.

11/3/2011 3:43:37 PM

^^It was before there were seasons. Basically the issue the ladder has is that it doesnt promote you till you stabilize. So when I first started playing I was at about silver skill. Played a decent amount of 1v1's but didnt get higher then silver. After playing a ton of the 3v3s bigego mentioned along with some 2v2s, my skill increased dramatically. So I started in silver and just kept winning and winning. After going like 35-3 I was #1 overall in silver (such an accomplishment ), then lost a few games in a row and the system assumed I stabilized and promoted me.

Same thing happened after I had intentionally tanked and played several hundred levels at the bronze level to portrait farm . When I was going back up (at this point masters had come out) I got stuck in diamond for a long while. Winning 95% of my games but not getting promoted. Meanwhile titans with his smaller game count came in and won a few and got promoted. I was top 5 diamond in the world (again ) before getting promoted.

Ladder system is screwy. Don't judge your skill level based off what your rank is, judge it off the average level of the people you play.

11/3/2011 3:53:09 PM

There was a theory on TL at the time that you actually had to lose games to get promoted. so if you placed bronze, you could win 10 games straight against diamond leaguers and not get promoted.

11/3/2011 4:09:50 PM

Yeah I don't know if there is much sense to the system. It just shook out over time and now nobody really thinks about it much anymore.

I've recently been laddering up my 2nd account just for fun, and to see how tough it would be to get masters. Went 5-0 to start and placed in plat, then in a few games was up to Diamond, and now I'm guessing I'll get promoted soon but who knows. You can tell because for a while I was just playing low diamond, then high diamond, and now I'm pretty much all masters games.

I should save replays, I've had some real epic games where I've scrapped out some wins and even some good losses. Forge/FE toss players get me with that 2 base 6-7 gate +2 timing. I keep trying to take a 3rd but the eco from it doesn't kick in well enough before they hit.

11/3/2011 4:14:58 PM

^watch yesterdays daily and try to steal from it everything that happens before AriA can't figure out how to finish off HuK who is just a bad ass. He gets in great position, keeps HuK in check, is allowed to be aggressive while safely getting a 3rd up.

11/3/2011 4:24:35 PM

^Aria's macro was just insane in the early game. He was able to get a huge econ lead with very good timings. Zergs normally get an early lead on protoss around the 10-12 minute mark but his was huge. From there he was able to just screw around until Huk eventually won.

11/3/2011 4:31:50 PM