Starcraft 2 received a new update on March 26, adding huge changes to the game itself and introducing new balance changes across all three races: Terran, Zerg, and Protoss. Blizzard has also decided to update the existing maps and has thrown in new map rotation for 1v1, 2v2, 3v3, and 4v4 modes.
Well, it seems that the new maps will shuffle things around and give players a better chance to counter those who were very experienced before. The complete patch notes are below.
Starcraft 2 March 26 Patch Notes, 5.0.12
MAP POOL UPDATE
1v1
- Goldenaura LE
- Site Delta LE
- Oceanborn LE
- Post-Youth LE
- Amphion LE
- Crimson Court LE
- Dynasty LE
- Alcyone LE
- Ghost River LE
2v2
- Catalesque CE
- Divergence CE
- Nightscape CE
- Emerald City CE
- Heavy Artillery LE
- Overgrown Facility
- Reclamation LE
- Rhoskallian LE
- Graystone Ravine
3v3
- Flashback CE
- Black Site 2E
- Sandstorm CE
- Mountain Pass CE
- Sentinel CE
- Jungle Depths LE
- Bastion of the Conclave
- Misty Swamp
- Buried Caverns
4v4
- Alaeni Enclave CE
- Enigma CE
- Fractional Disstilation Plant
- Lexiphanicism CE
- Multiprocessor CE
- Concord LE
- Forgotten Sanctuary
- Shipwrecked LE
- Tuonela LE
VERSUS
Balance Council on 5.0.12
- Patch 5.0.12 was a big effort from the community balance council working on it, and we would like to thank everyone for providing their feedback and to apologize for us not being able to communicate proactively.
- While we believe that some of the previous patch goals were successfully achieved, other goals, e.g. related to the Protoss versus Terran matchup, are yet to be accomplished.
- Certain changes originally received mixed feedback from the community and also led to unintentional consequences, particularly in the case of Cyclones, so we might need to revisit those.
- With the upcoming patch we would like to take a more careful approach and focus on fewer goals to improve the current state of the game.
- The progamers involved in the balance council feel that the state of Terran versus Zerg and Protoss versus Zerg doesn’t require any major balance changes.
Balance Council 5.0.13 Goals
- Improve the state of Protoss versus Terran matchup at the professional level.
- Mainly accomplished by changes to Terran units.
- Address the community concerns about the most oppressive openings like Cyclone all-ins and Widow Mine drops.
- Implement QoL improvements and the small changes proposed by the map making community to give more freedom in the competitive map design.
BALANCE UPDATE
General
- Worker attack range increased from 0.1 to 0.2.
- Worker inner radius (collision with terrain / structures) reduced from 0.375 to 0.3125.
- Adjusted footprint size of Vespene Geysers (maintain previous interactions with Workers and Geysers).
- ‘Zerg Rocks’ now lose hp off creep.
naturally opening up pathways on maps.
- Mineral Fields can now be destroyed by collapsible rock towers.
Terran
Liberator
- Advanced ballistics range bonus reduced from 3 to 2.
Widow Mine
- Invisibility while reloading now requires Drilling Claws upgrade instead of a constructed Armory.
- Splash damage radius reduced from 1.75 to 1.5.
- Now gives an attack alert to the enemy when burrowing in range of enemy units.
- Alert is not given for already burrowed Widow Mines when enemies enter range.
- Increased visibility of targeting line and targeted unit.
- Reduced maximum impact of shots by reducing the radius (has a greater impact towards shots in Mineral lines due to how units clump).
- Reduced game ending moments when Armory-cloaked Widow Mines are dropped throughout multiple Protoss bases in the midgame.
- Now gives more opportunity for counterplay through the changes to visuals and alerts.
Armory
- Cost reduced from 150/100 to 150/50.
Engineering Bay
- Infantry weapons/armor upgrades cost reduced from 100/175/250 to 100/150/200.
Cyclone
- Weapon cooldown increased from 0.48 to 0.58.
- Lock On now cooldown increased from 0 to 2.86.
- Weapon now has turret tracking, damage point reduced from 0.119 to 0.036.
- Health increased from 110 to 130.
Raven
- Interference Matrix can no longer target units already targeted or affected by Interference Matrix.
Zerg
Hatchery/Lair/Hive
- Creep spread radius increased from 12 to 13.
Infestor
- Fungal Growth range increased from 9 to 10.
- Vision range while burrowed reduced from 10 to 8.
- Unburrow time increased from 0.357 – 0.714 seconds to 0.625 – 0.714 seconds.
- Range relates to random delay.
- Increased size of moving burrowed Infestor visuals effects.
Overlord
- Transport Overlord morph time increased from 12.14 to 15 seconds.
- Transport Overlord move speed increased from 1.10 to 1.28 (2.83 to 3.00 with Pneumatized Carapace).
Protoss
Observer
- Build time reduced from 21.4 to 17.9 seconds.
- Health/Shields increased from 40/20 to 40/30.
- Model size increased by 10% / Surveillance Mode animation speed increased by 75%.
Sentry
- Damage increased from 6 to 6 (+4 vs Shields).
- Light attribute tag removed.
Pylon
- Sight range increased from 9 to 10.
BUG FIXES & QUALITY OF LIFE UPDATE
- Siege Tank (Unsieged) Turret now tracks previously attacked unit.
- Fixed an issue where Siege Tank attack animation would sometimes not play.
- Fixed an issue with Reaper’s KD8 Charge Animation.
- Fixed an issue with Ghost’s Snipe tooltip not showing bonus damage vs psionic.
- Fixed an issue where Banelings could deal additional damage on ramps.
- Activating Generate Creep on overlords now activates for all selected Overlord types (Drop / Default).
- Lurker subgroup priority increased (Now has higher priority than Ravager).
- Fixed an issue where Immortals would not fire while surrounded by units or partially covered by Forcefields.
- Immortal Turret now tracks previously attacked unit.
- Fix tooltip on Mothership Cloak Field buff.
- Fixed various issues with Recall.
- No longer includes units already being Recalled.
- All Recall abilities now cancel Adept Psionic Transfer and Disruptor Purification Nova.
- Tempest Tectonic Destabilizers upgrade now also applies to attacks targeting flying buildings.
- Fixed an issue where Guardian Shield would not apply to units on a different cliff level than the Sentry.
- Fixed an issue where certain Vespene Geysers would not update visually when Depleted.
- Fixed various issues with Rocks appearance on the minimap.
- Fixed various issues with Healing Shrines.
- Fixed an issue where Cyclone Lock On could activate on a hidden unit (Bug where Lock On would never end).
- Fixed an issue where Shield Battery’s Recharge impact model was visible through the fog.
- Fixed an issue where Shield Battery could not be ordered to stop recharging a structure while auto-cast was enabled.
- Fixed an issue where Disruptors were treated differently when being dropped by a transporter that was not a Warp Prism.
- Fixed an issue where Acceleration and Inhibitor Zones affected structures on the ground.
