Hello world. I would like to share my thoughts about SC2 and its balance issues. Firstly, I would like to point that I play StarCraft since 2000, and since then, I track the SC eSport scene quite meticulously.
In my opinion, it’s really important to stress that SC1 is quite different from SC2. In the first part of this epic series, the 3 races were quite similar when it comes to game mechanics, but the variety of strategies for each race was something which differentiated them greatly. The stereotypes that the zergs were just massing units, the terrans were campers and the protosses have to be creative (especially in PvZ) were just the tip of the iceberg. The most important thing in SC1 was to control small groups of your units and simultaneously to maintain a production, which was the greatest challenge in SC1.
The SC2 came with big differences to each race.
Zergs obtained creep and larva injections which made this race even more expansive. This characteristic is also justified by the capability to play combos like Nydus + Swarm Hosts, which actually produce free units and give precious seconds and to replenish or advance creep even more. And that’s fine. This is the essence of the swarm.
Protosses obtained Warp Gates and Warp Prims which made this race even more daring. Mass recalls also create opportunities to sacrifice sure footing for devastating strikes. And that’s fine. This is the essence of the combat.
When it comes to terrans, it is not so visible for me which aspects of this race were elevated. I would say that the transition from Medics to Medivacs made terrans more mobile. But it’s not a big deal for me. The more important aspect which is crucial to understand terrans characteristics is how SC2 changed compared to SC1. As I said, SC1 was about management of small groups of units and maintaining a production simultaneously, whereas production in SC2 is quite trivial but the management of small groups of units is still challenging, especially those with casting capabilities. The keystrokes and clicks spent on production in SC1 were delegated to actions on the battlefield in SC2. And this conclusion creates the important context for evaluation of terran race. The terran race doesn’t have any area of effect spells (well there is EMP, but it is only against Protoss and shield regenerate quite fast). And that’s fine. Terrans have to learn the art of contain.
Unfortunately, the art of contain is connected with complex game mechanics and requires great care of your units. It is important to repair Banshees, Medivacs and now also Battlecruisers. If you play battle mech, Cyclones repairs also wouldn’t go amiss. Dropping mules to repair them is easy, but honestly, it is great cost even when you do this far away from your base. In my opinion, the only viable choice is sending SCVs, but it requires additional attention, complicating terran control even more.
Currently, there are few incentives to build Raven. Auto-turret is only for harassment (and it is quite irritating that this spell has so small casting range. Had it been some upgrade to improve this spell, maybe it would find some interesting applications in the late game, but OK I can digest the current state of Auto-turret spell). Interference matrix is only viable for the mid-game period, in situations where armies are quite small and it is super effective to turn off a couple of enemy Tanks or Colossi. Anti-Armor Missile is in my opinion, the greatly designed concept, supporting my theory that terrans have to contain enemies and elaborate on the conditions to conduct a battle, but it is not something which is worth 100m/200g, knowing that it will require additional clicks and keystrokes to use it. As I said terran mechanics is super complex and using Raven definitely requires additional dexterity. And therefore I propose to add one more ability – healing of mechanics units. I am aware, that there was the period when Repair Drone was present as Raven’s spell, but it was when there was kind of hybrid of Anti-Armor Missle and Seeker Missile (so if one made a Raven, he would rather use it to deal splash damage from this unit). But as I said, Seeker Missiles did not suit Terran characteristic so let’s forget about this spell.
To sum up, to change the state, being that so few Terrans advance at the top tournaments, buff for Terran is necessary. This buff should not touch things like StimPack (it just adding a couple of nasty timings to strategy pool, which are obviously not spectacular) and should not address issues of splash damage (this will erode the fundamental philosophy of playing terrans), but it should address the mechanics of playing the terran race. My proposal is to add a kind of healing of mechanical units - e.g. ability like nano-healing or repair drones (e.g. to Raven, to activate this unit), which should be easy to use and support the Terran strategies based on containing the opponent.
Notice that I’m not a native english speaker. If you don’t understand part of my utterance, ask for an elaboration. I will gladly respond.
L2P issue