The slightest bit of spiking (<150ms) causes this game to stutter on the client side to the effect that keys pressed are not registered and intended movements are not executed during the brief periods of latency. If player actions would queue on client side the slideshow would at least be somewhat tolerable. As it stands I often try to skill shot from a tactical location, freeze up from lag, and, for no apparent reason, fast forward with no control sprinting at their structures.
I know this is largely an ISP concern (and they should be locked up for overcharging their garbage service) but I don’t see why the client can’t be modified to where latency only increases need to “lead” the target on skill shots, play more cautiously, and plan our movements earlier.
Plays Haalp!
Unfortunately I doubt there is any chance of this happening.
Client/server based games can be sometimes coded to have the client to handle interruptions in server updates by allowing it to predict what is to happen based on what it knows so there is no freezing, with the next server update it gets telling it what is actually the state of the game and then it corrects on the client. For instance, if the client knows a unit is moving in a direction at a given speed, it can continue to animate that unit at that velocity even without a server up, then later put the unit where the server says it actually should be. It can cause a sort of hiccough but at least the client doesn’t completely freeze.
Instead HotS seems to use a fully authoratative server where the client only updates based on getting regular server updates, and pauses completely when it doesn’t get a server update promptly. Then when the update finally comes the client speeds through all that happened in the meantime to get caught up.
I have no inside information and am totally speculating here, but this seems to be the case. If so, then this is baked into how the game operates and would likely need a major overhaul to change that.
Ultimately there is no really great solution for when server communication gets lagged; it will be problematic no matter how it is handled. All I can recommend if your internet speed is supposed to be fast enough, is looking into a upgrading your modem, and router if used. Initially I had a lot of lag in this game. Then I researched modems and routers that got good reviews online specifically for high-speed gaming. I replaced both for about $50 each and noticed a big difference where I hardly had any lag anymore, even with the same ISP connection.