Call to Action: Balance Testing (TvZ)

Blizzard announced a last week that they are currently testing some balance changes centered on the use of Zerg creep spread and tumors, as well as the Terran’s Raven receiving a speed and acceleration boost.

So here is what they are currently testing in detail:

Creep tumor build radius, vision radius, and creep spread radius decreased from 10 to 8.

This is a relatively minor change, but one that we feel will positively impact game balance at the highest of levels of competition. After carefully watching as the pro game has shifted since Zerg players started spreading creep more often, we noticed the increase in creep spread was only having significant impact on TvZ. These are our goals with this change:

• Keep the early game queen defenses and creep spreading viable, while at the same time making it slightly more difficult for the Zerg pro to quickly spread creep across the whole map.
• With tactics where a single creep tumor is being used, there is practically no change. Creep doesn’t spread fast enough for this change to make a difference at most level of play.

Raven movement acceleration increased from 2 to 2.25, and speed increased from 2.25 to 2.5.

After seeing pro players using the Raven, we make these changes considering these two lines of reasoning:

• Even the best micro players in the world were struggling to use the raven due to the slower acceleration and movement speed of the unit. Seeker missile cost or cast range appear to be secondary factors.
• Because Ravens are difficult to use, we don’t expect this buff will have more than a small impact on high-level play or any significant impact on balance at more skill levels.”

(Taken from )

So how do you feel this will change the way you play? Will you adapt well or do you think what they are suggesting incorrect?

Join the debate in our forums and let us know!

Keep on learning,

Mike ‘Xstatic’ Waller