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Yesterday Blizzard did another developer chat that covered Starcraft 2 this time. While we primarily focus on WoW I know a lot of you are also following Starcraft 2 and looking forward to it. There were a few interesting Blue Posts over the past couple days also such as Frozen Orbs being changed to Greed only in 3.3.3.
Developer Chat
Blue Posts
Developer Chat
Quote
Battle.net 2.0
Q. Hi. So many people are complaining about this on the forum... is it true that there will be no chat channels? I hope not!
A. We do have plans for chat channels. Specifically, we want to organize chat channels around users' interests so you know what types of conversations you are going to get into when you join a channel. This feature is not something that will be in for beta. Currently we plan to do this feature in a patch after the game launches.
Q. Will we be able to play with our friends on other continents like we could in StarCraft's Battle.net?
A. Currently we do not have plans to integrate friends between regions for launch. In the long run that's definitely something we'll be looking at.
Q. Is logging in to Battle.net version 2.0 mandatory even for Single-Player Games?
A. Yes. StarCraft II does require an online connection and you must login the first time you play. We are in the middle of adding an "Offline" feature which allows you to play the Campaign offline if you, for example, are traveling and want to play on a laptop. Playing while connected allows your progress in the campaign to be saved online to your account. This means if you switch to a different computer to play you can pick up from where you were.
Q. Are there any plans to try to fine-tune or reduce the innate built-in latency for StarCraft II over Battle.net 2.0?
A. We will definitely be experimenting with this over the weeks ahead. We want to make sure the playing field is balanced for all participants as far as "best connection latency." At the same time, internet connectivity and latency has definitely improved over the years and our current 250ms expected latency may be too high.
Q. How exactly does the ladder/division/league system work? How do players move up and down? What exactly is the top 8 for? Tournaments?
A. We are working on a FAQ for this right now that we will release to the community soon. At some point in the future we will be looking at doing tournaments and that is what the top positions are for.
Q. Are there plans to implement something like a "Draw" function for multiplayer games?
A. Not during a multiplayer game for all players. However, we do intend to implement drawing functionality for referees to use which will likely correspond with the first expansion - Heart of the Swarm.
Q. Will there be an option to log into World of Warcraft with an authenticator, but StarCraft II without one? Do I need to protect my StarCraft II account?
A. The authenticator is used to protect your Battle.net account and is NOT specific to the game you're playing. If you have an authenticator attached to your Battle.net account with a World of Warcraft license and then buy StarCraft II, you will use the same authenticator to log into StarCraft II.
Q. Are there plans to clean up or enhance the look of the replay function?
A. We are cleaning up the replay list UI and eventually replays will be able to be saved to Battle.net (after launch). However, there are no specific changes to the replay play/fast forward UI. If you have any specific features you would like to see, please post them in our Suggestions Forum.
Q. Is there a way to report abuse/innapropriate behavior in beta? I had some issues and couldn't find a way to report...
A. There is a way to "Report Abuse" by right-clicking on players' names when in chat with them or in a lobby. However, the usual time you want to do this (during a game) is not properly supported. Currently, if you want to report someone you just played a game with you must:
1. "Add Friend" from the score screen.
2. Right-click on their name from your friends list and click the "More . . ."
3. Choose "Report Abuse" and follow the directions.
4. Remove them from your friends list.
We will be addressing this in our upcoming content patch which we hope to release in mid-April.
Q. Will you be able to host and share replays via Battle.net?
A. This is definitely our long-term goal. This will not be ready at ship, but we do intend to release functionality that allows you to share your replays in a patch sometime after ship.
Q. Any plans to allow games to be watched by a LOT of people through battle.net? Like a built-in stream to watch tournament finals?
A. This is a feature that we've talked about for a while and do intend to implement at some point in the future. It's quite a lot of work to put together and will likely correspond with one of the future expansions.
Q. Will more than one user profile per account be allowed?
A. At ship we intend to have only a single profile per user. This encourages better player behavior and allows us to do better match-making between players. It obviously causes a number of issues. For example I may want to try a new race as a player but I'm afraid of losing rating, what do I do? We are looking to fix these types of issues for launch.
Galaxy Editor
Q. Can we expect to have new maps or the map editor in the beta soon?
A. Yes. We will be adding a few new maps as we continue to release patches including a few 3v3 and 4v4 maps. Additionally, we are hoping to release the map editor to the community sometime in April.
Q. Are you guys still working on the Map Editor; and if so, what features are you planning to incorporate into the final piece?
A. Yes. We're still working on the Map Editor and currently working on the publishing system. We intend to release an early version of the editor during the beta so the map-making community can get a head start creating their own maps. This is going to be a stretch for us to pull off, but our hope is to get it out before the end of April.
Q. Is there support to build symmetrical maps in the editor, if so, does it include rotational symmetry and odd player numbers?
A. You can build whatever types of maps you want in the editor but there are no methods of auto-mirroring parts of the map.
Q. Will units that have been cut from the game still be in the Galaxy Editor, or higher tier units from original StarCraft?
A. Units that have been cut from the game completely will NOT be in the editor. However, there are many units that make an appearance in the single-player campaign that WILL be available to use in the editor, such as the Medic, Firebat, and Goliath.
Q. Will it be technically possible to recreate a Defense of the Ancients custom map complete with ladder and matchmaking?
A. You will be able to recreate the map and we are looking at different ways for community maps to become part of the ladder and matchmaking.
Q. Does map publishing also store any extra resources (sounds, graphics, etc.) specific to the map, or is this a limitation?
A. Yes. If you add art or sound to a map, it's stored in the map and is therefore downloaded with the map once it's published. Long-term we will be adding support for custom mods where other maps can depend on a single mod pack. For example, if the community wanted to build a "Classic StarCraft" mod, they could do that and share it online and then many maps could be built that depend on that mod.
Q. Can we expect to have new maps and/or the map editor in the beta soon?
A. We are going to release some new maps for 2v2 specifically pretty soon. We are seeing problems with terran+terran teams on some of our maps and we are interested in testing a fix that involves changing the map pool. We will release the editor during the beta if we get it ready in time.
General
Q. StarCraft: Brood War counters were more about inherent abilities (speed, size, spells, etc.), while StarCraft II emphasizes a hard counter damage system. Why the change?
A. Brood War also had many hard counters (Firebats vs. Zerglings). We also have many ability-based relationships. Stalkers for example are easily beaten by Zealots unless the Stalkers use their speed and mobility to their advantage. Banelings will easily kill Marines unless Stim or Marauders are used to defend the Marines. Battles at choke-points favor certain units that could easily be killed in the open. I guess I don't agree that there was a change, but if we are going too "hard counter," we will learn that in the beta and scale it back.
Q. Mac beta please! Any information?
A. We are currently working on a Mac version of the beta and hope to release it sometime in April. Hang in there!!
Q. Do you plan to open the Beta to everyone? If yes, when?
A. We have no plans to make an open Beta at this time.
Q. What race are the developers least happy about as far as balance goes? Who needs the most work or a major change?
A. Terrans are currently losing more games than they are winning at gold and platinum skill levels. We are going to be looking to address some of these issues in future patches.
Q. What is your overall opinion about the beta right now? Have you already achieved what you were looking for?
A. The beta has been a great success so far. We're extremely happy with the information we've been getting back from the community and are reacting each week to all the information we're seeing. We definitely have NOT achieved our final goals and are continuing to work on balance, stability, our patching process, and more. We intend to release a patch next week that helps with readability of the zerg on creep, protoss team color with regards to Warp In, and other issues raised by the community.
Beyond that we have plans to release a major content patch in approximately mid-April that will add in a few example achievements, improved Voice Chat, and a whole lot more. We're definitely reading and listening to the feedback from our community and will continue to do so until the beta ends.
Q. Will we see any familiar characters from the novel in the campaign? Michael Liberty, Nova, Rosemary Dahl, etc?
A. You'll have to wait and see, but we did look to the greater StarCraft universe lore in creating the story for StarCraft II: Wings of Liberty.
Q. In the campaign mode, will players who do not have much experience with Real-Time-Strategy games have a chance to play a tutorial?
A. Definitely. We have a more integrated tutorial experience than any of our previous games. There is a hands on tutorial and new video tutorials that allows you to reference game play information in case you've forgotten basic controls as you start playing the campaign itself.
Q. Playing StarCraft II before beta and playing StarCraft II today do you think balance between races is better?
A. The race balance has improved greatly since before BlizzCon of last year and has continued to improve during the beta. Though really we don't even know yet how good the balance really is since the community has been playing for such a short time. =)
We are currently looking at the protoss vs. protoss matchup as well as terrans. Terrans are losing a little too frequently in almost every match up and the protoss vs protoss game is currently a little stale with a few strategies dominating both the early and the end game.
Q. What is your overall opinion about the beta right now? Have you already achieved what you were looking for?
A. We have not begun to achieve our goals for the beta. For the first week we watched as the community learned the game. As the beta went forward we began to see a lot of the Pylon, Photon Cannon and Gateway rushes. Now we we are starting to see lots of "single unit" strategies. We have a ways to go with the beta before we are satisfied.
Q. Are you still confident about releasing the game in mid-summer?
A. Yes. We are still on target to release the game in the middle part of this year.
Q. Before implementing patch ideas, how do you test them? Do you just crunch numbers or does a player like David Kim do the testing?
A. We crunch numbers as well as play internally. In many cases in the beta we are shipping patches with only a few days of testing. That is not something we will be able to do once we launch the game, but in beta we can still be a little more aggresive with our patches.
Q. Have there been any strategies that the community has come up with that have surprised you guys? Examples would be nice!
A. We were surprised by some of the proxy Pylon stuff in the first few days. We had seen it internally, but not nearly as often or as aggresive once the game went live. Also the triple Gateway strategies in protoss vs. protoss games were a surprise. The Planetary Fortress rush was a good one. =)
I still think there are lots more surprises waiting for us in the months to come.
Q. How come you didnt attempt to add a fourth race?
A. Several reasons; a) we felt like we had a lot more left to do with the three we had; B ) each race and each unit in StarCraft needs to feel as different as possible from every other race and unit, and we felt that with four races we would likely start repeating roles and game mechanics, and we would lose some of the diversity that makes the game so great.
Q. Why are the load times (loading screen) for StarCraft II so long, will we be able to get in games quicker?
A. We are always looking at performance and load times and seeing what we can do to improve them.
Q. Are there any specific units that you are unsatisfied with that you plan on changing but have not yet changed? Which?
A. We are still working on the Infestor (see today's patch) and we will continue to evaluate every unit until we ship. We have a "watch list" for units which means we are concerned about their balance and we are looking for data that will prove the unit has issues or prove that it is okay. The Roach and the Reaper are currently on our watch list.
Q. How many hours do you estimate the single player campaign will be?
A. We don't know for sure. I'm guessing 20-30 hours depending on your skill level, though I imagine if you are very good and playing on an easy setting you could finish much faster than that.
Q. Besides the protoss Mothership, in your original designs, did the designers create any super weapons for the terran or zerg?
A. We did talk about a massive zerg flier at one point, but it didn't feel right. The Queen at one point was a "hero" style unit, but that also didn't feel right.
Q. Are the voices and effects present in the beta finalized, or are they subject to change?
A. We are mostly done with the voice and effects. However, based on feedback we are taking a look at a few of the attack and hit sound effects to ensure they have the right "umph" to be noticeable during frantic gameplay.
Q. Do you agree with players about the zerg voice, or are you happy with it?
A. We are looking at pulling some different takes for the zerg Queen that change the personality of her voice (a little bit).
Q. Static defenses are very weak at the moment. It is more interesting to use the minerals on mobile units instead. Do you have any thoughts about this?
A. Static defenses have always been vulnerable in StarCraft. They are used primarily to defend against raids, not to stop frontal assaults. The biggest current weakness in defenses in StarCraft II is not the weaknesses of the defenses themselves but the mobility of the armies that allow them to bypass the defenses in the first place. We have introduced several counters to increased mobility including Sensor Towers, Bunker Salvage, Spine and Spore Crawler movement as well as Warp-In which allow each race to have some answers to a sudden enemy attack.
Q. There is an issue with people wanting to try a new race but not wanting to lose ladder placements due to inexperience. What are your thoughts on this?
A. We are very aware of this issue and we are actively looking for a solution. Thanks for the great question!
Q. Will there be an option that allows you to choose between different customized hotkey configurations?
A. We are in the process of adding a few hotkey templates for ship which include left and right-handed "name-based" options. Grid based left and right-hand templates. Finally, we also intend to add a "Classic" hot key template which will, as best as possible, attempt to mimic the hotkey settings from the original game. We'll default to "name-based" right-handed for ship, but the end user can then choose from any of the other four templates.
Long term we're exploring allowing fully customizable hot keys. Assuming we can solve the many user interface challenges to make this work we will either release it in a patch or in the upcoming expansion.
Q. Will you be adding additional zoom-out levels since it was suggested by a lot of players?
A. No, we will not be adding zoom-out levels. StarCraft II plays well only at a very specific camera height. Too close and you cannot see what is going on, too far and you cannot effectively micro your units. We have picked a camera position that maximizes the tension between the player's need to see a lot of space as well as micro units. There are also game perfomance implications of a zoomed out camera. If we zoom out more, we are drawing more units on screen at one time and game perfomance will suffer.
Terran
Q. Have you considered moving the Terran scan ability to the sensor tower? Other improvements to that building would be welcome.
A. The Sensor Tower has some uses but is not required for every match. We do not want to move Scan to the Sensor Tower since that would take off a lot of the energy tension that exists between Scan and MULE.
Q. Great job with terran. Mech seems weaker and less reliable than a bio build at the moment. Any plans to buff mech?
A. We are looking at the terran mech build now. Actually right now. The balance guys are currently testing some fixes we tried this morning. We will get something to you guys as soon as we can.
Protoss
Q. The Mothership feels like a slow useless arbiter. What are your plans for this unit? Are you happy with it?
A. We will continue to evaluate the Mothership. I do not agree that it is useless but we can make fixes if we need to in the future.
Q. Are there any potential balance tweaks to Phoenixes and/or Mutalisks being considered? Do you consider these units balanced?
A. We are happy with the current relationship between Mutalisks and Phoenixes. That doesn't mean we won't see problems in the future or there may even be current problems that have not yet come to our attention. We don't consider anything "balanced" yet. =)
Q. Do you feel that the High Templar and Colossus fill the same role in the protoss army?
A. The Colossus and the High Templar both attack small units with a powerful attack, but there are some key differences. The High Templar is effective against ground and air but is also very vulnerable to certain types of counter-attacks (snipe and EMP for example). The Colossus can take a ton more damage but is very vulnerable to air-to-air attacks. Since the protoss have to make some more hard choices about how to tech than some of the other races, we feel that having splash in several places is important for the race.
Q. It was previously mentioned that the balance team feels Archons were underused. Is this still the case?
A. The Archon is intended to be a unit you can use when your High Templar run out of energy. It is not meant in StarCraft II to be a core counter to a variety of threats. Currently it is functioning reasonably well in that role but we are always looking for additional data that will prove our assumptions wrong.
Q. The protoss templar line seems much less reliable to use than a robo build. Same for terran mech builds. What are your plans?
A. We are looking hard at the terran mech builds and will hopefully bring out some fixes in the next patch. I don't know that I agree that Templars not useful. We are certainly seeing that at some skill levels, but other skill levels are getting quite a bit out of High Templars. We will continue to evaluate as we go forward in the beta.
Q. High and Dark Templars have split into two techs. Are you seeing a lot of people just going for other tech options now?
A. High Templars are not a given in every game, nor are Dark Templar, but we are certainly seeing these units get a lot of use
Zerg
Q. Do you agree that the zerg currently suffers from a lack of diverse army composition, and if so what are your plans to fix it?
A. Yes, we are looking at the zerg diversity issue. We are working to make the Infestor a more core part of more match-ups. We will continue to moniter the use of Banelings, Roaches, Hydras, Zerglings, Mutalisks and Corruptors to make sure the zerg army remains diverse in each match-up.
Q. Zerg seem to be missing one more ground unit to really diversify the race. Is this something you have considered?
A. We think the zerg have plenty of ground units. If we have a need for a specific unit later on in the beta, we will add one.
Q. Obvious concerns about the Roach and how it "fits in" with the zerg. What role was it created to fill? Does the zerg need it?
A. We have heard this concern many times from many sources. There is no way to add units to StarCraft without changing the nature of these races. Since we are adding new units the personality of the races will alter.
The Roach was created to be an early game assault unit. We also wanted a unit that could maintain constant contact with the enemy. Not just through speed but through sheer durability. Looking at our inspiration for the zerg (a variety of hollywood, comic book and role-playing game aliens) this kind of "kit" seemed appropriate for the zerg.
Other
Q. Do you really use beers to balance units? And do you really use that rubber gun to make a decision??
A. I'm drunk now!
Seriously the Jace Hall show was fun to do, but we take our jobs pretty seriously when it comes to the actual work. =)
Q. Who would win in a fight, Greg Street or Dustin Browder?
A. The battle would be close, but both parties would suffer TERRIBLE, TERRIBLE DAMAGE!
Q. Will there be an achievement or something similiar that labels a player who has participated in the beta?
A. There are no plans to have a "beta" achievement. But I love the idea. =)
Q. I was wondering when you were going to introduce the 2 new races in the upcoming StarCraft II expansion sets?
A. We are not doing new races in the expansions. Each expansion will feature a new 20-30 mission campaign as well as new units and abilities for all three races in each expansion pack.
Q. How much does Dustin Browder get paid each year?
A. Over a hundred dollars a year. I also get free WoW accounts (I get banned a lot).
Q. Where are the critters?!
A. There are a few critters in the beta, but more are on the way. Critters were not a high priority item for us in getting the beta to the community.
Q. Just want to say thanks to you guys for all the hard work. I'm not yet in the beta but am enjoying watching streams. =)
A. Thanks for the thanks!
We definitely will be adding a lot more people to the beta over the next several weeks so stay tuned. If you haven't opted-in to participate in future betas, now is the time to do so!!
Q. Will we ever be able to play as the Xel'naga?
A. "Ever" is a long time, but there are no plans currently to introduce a fourth race.
Q. Hi. So many people are complaining about this on the forum... is it true that there will be no chat channels? I hope not!
A. We do have plans for chat channels. Specifically, we want to organize chat channels around users' interests so you know what types of conversations you are going to get into when you join a channel. This feature is not something that will be in for beta. Currently we plan to do this feature in a patch after the game launches.
Q. Will we be able to play with our friends on other continents like we could in StarCraft's Battle.net?
A. Currently we do not have plans to integrate friends between regions for launch. In the long run that's definitely something we'll be looking at.
Q. Is logging in to Battle.net version 2.0 mandatory even for Single-Player Games?
A. Yes. StarCraft II does require an online connection and you must login the first time you play. We are in the middle of adding an "Offline" feature which allows you to play the Campaign offline if you, for example, are traveling and want to play on a laptop. Playing while connected allows your progress in the campaign to be saved online to your account. This means if you switch to a different computer to play you can pick up from where you were.
Q. Are there any plans to try to fine-tune or reduce the innate built-in latency for StarCraft II over Battle.net 2.0?
A. We will definitely be experimenting with this over the weeks ahead. We want to make sure the playing field is balanced for all participants as far as "best connection latency." At the same time, internet connectivity and latency has definitely improved over the years and our current 250ms expected latency may be too high.
Q. How exactly does the ladder/division/league system work? How do players move up and down? What exactly is the top 8 for? Tournaments?
A. We are working on a FAQ for this right now that we will release to the community soon. At some point in the future we will be looking at doing tournaments and that is what the top positions are for.
Q. Are there plans to implement something like a "Draw" function for multiplayer games?
A. Not during a multiplayer game for all players. However, we do intend to implement drawing functionality for referees to use which will likely correspond with the first expansion - Heart of the Swarm.
Q. Will there be an option to log into World of Warcraft with an authenticator, but StarCraft II without one? Do I need to protect my StarCraft II account?
A. The authenticator is used to protect your Battle.net account and is NOT specific to the game you're playing. If you have an authenticator attached to your Battle.net account with a World of Warcraft license and then buy StarCraft II, you will use the same authenticator to log into StarCraft II.
Q. Are there plans to clean up or enhance the look of the replay function?
A. We are cleaning up the replay list UI and eventually replays will be able to be saved to Battle.net (after launch). However, there are no specific changes to the replay play/fast forward UI. If you have any specific features you would like to see, please post them in our Suggestions Forum.
Q. Is there a way to report abuse/innapropriate behavior in beta? I had some issues and couldn't find a way to report...
A. There is a way to "Report Abuse" by right-clicking on players' names when in chat with them or in a lobby. However, the usual time you want to do this (during a game) is not properly supported. Currently, if you want to report someone you just played a game with you must:
1. "Add Friend" from the score screen.
2. Right-click on their name from your friends list and click the "More . . ."
3. Choose "Report Abuse" and follow the directions.
4. Remove them from your friends list.
We will be addressing this in our upcoming content patch which we hope to release in mid-April.
Q. Will you be able to host and share replays via Battle.net?
A. This is definitely our long-term goal. This will not be ready at ship, but we do intend to release functionality that allows you to share your replays in a patch sometime after ship.
Q. Any plans to allow games to be watched by a LOT of people through battle.net? Like a built-in stream to watch tournament finals?
A. This is a feature that we've talked about for a while and do intend to implement at some point in the future. It's quite a lot of work to put together and will likely correspond with one of the future expansions.
Q. Will more than one user profile per account be allowed?
A. At ship we intend to have only a single profile per user. This encourages better player behavior and allows us to do better match-making between players. It obviously causes a number of issues. For example I may want to try a new race as a player but I'm afraid of losing rating, what do I do? We are looking to fix these types of issues for launch.
Galaxy Editor
Q. Can we expect to have new maps or the map editor in the beta soon?
A. Yes. We will be adding a few new maps as we continue to release patches including a few 3v3 and 4v4 maps. Additionally, we are hoping to release the map editor to the community sometime in April.
Q. Are you guys still working on the Map Editor; and if so, what features are you planning to incorporate into the final piece?
A. Yes. We're still working on the Map Editor and currently working on the publishing system. We intend to release an early version of the editor during the beta so the map-making community can get a head start creating their own maps. This is going to be a stretch for us to pull off, but our hope is to get it out before the end of April.
Q. Is there support to build symmetrical maps in the editor, if so, does it include rotational symmetry and odd player numbers?
A. You can build whatever types of maps you want in the editor but there are no methods of auto-mirroring parts of the map.
Q. Will units that have been cut from the game still be in the Galaxy Editor, or higher tier units from original StarCraft?
A. Units that have been cut from the game completely will NOT be in the editor. However, there are many units that make an appearance in the single-player campaign that WILL be available to use in the editor, such as the Medic, Firebat, and Goliath.
Q. Will it be technically possible to recreate a Defense of the Ancients custom map complete with ladder and matchmaking?
A. You will be able to recreate the map and we are looking at different ways for community maps to become part of the ladder and matchmaking.
Q. Does map publishing also store any extra resources (sounds, graphics, etc.) specific to the map, or is this a limitation?
A. Yes. If you add art or sound to a map, it's stored in the map and is therefore downloaded with the map once it's published. Long-term we will be adding support for custom mods where other maps can depend on a single mod pack. For example, if the community wanted to build a "Classic StarCraft" mod, they could do that and share it online and then many maps could be built that depend on that mod.
Q. Can we expect to have new maps and/or the map editor in the beta soon?
A. We are going to release some new maps for 2v2 specifically pretty soon. We are seeing problems with terran+terran teams on some of our maps and we are interested in testing a fix that involves changing the map pool. We will release the editor during the beta if we get it ready in time.
General
Q. StarCraft: Brood War counters were more about inherent abilities (speed, size, spells, etc.), while StarCraft II emphasizes a hard counter damage system. Why the change?
A. Brood War also had many hard counters (Firebats vs. Zerglings). We also have many ability-based relationships. Stalkers for example are easily beaten by Zealots unless the Stalkers use their speed and mobility to their advantage. Banelings will easily kill Marines unless Stim or Marauders are used to defend the Marines. Battles at choke-points favor certain units that could easily be killed in the open. I guess I don't agree that there was a change, but if we are going too "hard counter," we will learn that in the beta and scale it back.
Q. Mac beta please! Any information?
A. We are currently working on a Mac version of the beta and hope to release it sometime in April. Hang in there!!
Q. Do you plan to open the Beta to everyone? If yes, when?
A. We have no plans to make an open Beta at this time.
Q. What race are the developers least happy about as far as balance goes? Who needs the most work or a major change?
A. Terrans are currently losing more games than they are winning at gold and platinum skill levels. We are going to be looking to address some of these issues in future patches.
Q. What is your overall opinion about the beta right now? Have you already achieved what you were looking for?
A. The beta has been a great success so far. We're extremely happy with the information we've been getting back from the community and are reacting each week to all the information we're seeing. We definitely have NOT achieved our final goals and are continuing to work on balance, stability, our patching process, and more. We intend to release a patch next week that helps with readability of the zerg on creep, protoss team color with regards to Warp In, and other issues raised by the community.
Beyond that we have plans to release a major content patch in approximately mid-April that will add in a few example achievements, improved Voice Chat, and a whole lot more. We're definitely reading and listening to the feedback from our community and will continue to do so until the beta ends.
Q. Will we see any familiar characters from the novel in the campaign? Michael Liberty, Nova, Rosemary Dahl, etc?
A. You'll have to wait and see, but we did look to the greater StarCraft universe lore in creating the story for StarCraft II: Wings of Liberty.
Q. In the campaign mode, will players who do not have much experience with Real-Time-Strategy games have a chance to play a tutorial?
A. Definitely. We have a more integrated tutorial experience than any of our previous games. There is a hands on tutorial and new video tutorials that allows you to reference game play information in case you've forgotten basic controls as you start playing the campaign itself.
Q. Playing StarCraft II before beta and playing StarCraft II today do you think balance between races is better?
A. The race balance has improved greatly since before BlizzCon of last year and has continued to improve during the beta. Though really we don't even know yet how good the balance really is since the community has been playing for such a short time. =)
We are currently looking at the protoss vs. protoss matchup as well as terrans. Terrans are losing a little too frequently in almost every match up and the protoss vs protoss game is currently a little stale with a few strategies dominating both the early and the end game.
Q. What is your overall opinion about the beta right now? Have you already achieved what you were looking for?
A. We have not begun to achieve our goals for the beta. For the first week we watched as the community learned the game. As the beta went forward we began to see a lot of the Pylon, Photon Cannon and Gateway rushes. Now we we are starting to see lots of "single unit" strategies. We have a ways to go with the beta before we are satisfied.
Q. Are you still confident about releasing the game in mid-summer?
A. Yes. We are still on target to release the game in the middle part of this year.
Q. Before implementing patch ideas, how do you test them? Do you just crunch numbers or does a player like David Kim do the testing?
A. We crunch numbers as well as play internally. In many cases in the beta we are shipping patches with only a few days of testing. That is not something we will be able to do once we launch the game, but in beta we can still be a little more aggresive with our patches.
Q. Have there been any strategies that the community has come up with that have surprised you guys? Examples would be nice!
A. We were surprised by some of the proxy Pylon stuff in the first few days. We had seen it internally, but not nearly as often or as aggresive once the game went live. Also the triple Gateway strategies in protoss vs. protoss games were a surprise. The Planetary Fortress rush was a good one. =)
I still think there are lots more surprises waiting for us in the months to come.
Q. How come you didnt attempt to add a fourth race?
A. Several reasons; a) we felt like we had a lot more left to do with the three we had; B ) each race and each unit in StarCraft needs to feel as different as possible from every other race and unit, and we felt that with four races we would likely start repeating roles and game mechanics, and we would lose some of the diversity that makes the game so great.
Q. Why are the load times (loading screen) for StarCraft II so long, will we be able to get in games quicker?
A. We are always looking at performance and load times and seeing what we can do to improve them.
Q. Are there any specific units that you are unsatisfied with that you plan on changing but have not yet changed? Which?
A. We are still working on the Infestor (see today's patch) and we will continue to evaluate every unit until we ship. We have a "watch list" for units which means we are concerned about their balance and we are looking for data that will prove the unit has issues or prove that it is okay. The Roach and the Reaper are currently on our watch list.
Q. How many hours do you estimate the single player campaign will be?
A. We don't know for sure. I'm guessing 20-30 hours depending on your skill level, though I imagine if you are very good and playing on an easy setting you could finish much faster than that.
Q. Besides the protoss Mothership, in your original designs, did the designers create any super weapons for the terran or zerg?
A. We did talk about a massive zerg flier at one point, but it didn't feel right. The Queen at one point was a "hero" style unit, but that also didn't feel right.
Q. Are the voices and effects present in the beta finalized, or are they subject to change?
A. We are mostly done with the voice and effects. However, based on feedback we are taking a look at a few of the attack and hit sound effects to ensure they have the right "umph" to be noticeable during frantic gameplay.
Q. Do you agree with players about the zerg voice, or are you happy with it?
A. We are looking at pulling some different takes for the zerg Queen that change the personality of her voice (a little bit).
Q. Static defenses are very weak at the moment. It is more interesting to use the minerals on mobile units instead. Do you have any thoughts about this?
A. Static defenses have always been vulnerable in StarCraft. They are used primarily to defend against raids, not to stop frontal assaults. The biggest current weakness in defenses in StarCraft II is not the weaknesses of the defenses themselves but the mobility of the armies that allow them to bypass the defenses in the first place. We have introduced several counters to increased mobility including Sensor Towers, Bunker Salvage, Spine and Spore Crawler movement as well as Warp-In which allow each race to have some answers to a sudden enemy attack.
Q. There is an issue with people wanting to try a new race but not wanting to lose ladder placements due to inexperience. What are your thoughts on this?
A. We are very aware of this issue and we are actively looking for a solution. Thanks for the great question!
Q. Will there be an option that allows you to choose between different customized hotkey configurations?
A. We are in the process of adding a few hotkey templates for ship which include left and right-handed "name-based" options. Grid based left and right-hand templates. Finally, we also intend to add a "Classic" hot key template which will, as best as possible, attempt to mimic the hotkey settings from the original game. We'll default to "name-based" right-handed for ship, but the end user can then choose from any of the other four templates.
Long term we're exploring allowing fully customizable hot keys. Assuming we can solve the many user interface challenges to make this work we will either release it in a patch or in the upcoming expansion.
Q. Will you be adding additional zoom-out levels since it was suggested by a lot of players?
A. No, we will not be adding zoom-out levels. StarCraft II plays well only at a very specific camera height. Too close and you cannot see what is going on, too far and you cannot effectively micro your units. We have picked a camera position that maximizes the tension between the player's need to see a lot of space as well as micro units. There are also game perfomance implications of a zoomed out camera. If we zoom out more, we are drawing more units on screen at one time and game perfomance will suffer.
Terran
Q. Have you considered moving the Terran scan ability to the sensor tower? Other improvements to that building would be welcome.
A. The Sensor Tower has some uses but is not required for every match. We do not want to move Scan to the Sensor Tower since that would take off a lot of the energy tension that exists between Scan and MULE.
Q. Great job with terran. Mech seems weaker and less reliable than a bio build at the moment. Any plans to buff mech?
A. We are looking at the terran mech build now. Actually right now. The balance guys are currently testing some fixes we tried this morning. We will get something to you guys as soon as we can.
Protoss
Q. The Mothership feels like a slow useless arbiter. What are your plans for this unit? Are you happy with it?
A. We will continue to evaluate the Mothership. I do not agree that it is useless but we can make fixes if we need to in the future.
Q. Are there any potential balance tweaks to Phoenixes and/or Mutalisks being considered? Do you consider these units balanced?
A. We are happy with the current relationship between Mutalisks and Phoenixes. That doesn't mean we won't see problems in the future or there may even be current problems that have not yet come to our attention. We don't consider anything "balanced" yet. =)
Q. Do you feel that the High Templar and Colossus fill the same role in the protoss army?
A. The Colossus and the High Templar both attack small units with a powerful attack, but there are some key differences. The High Templar is effective against ground and air but is also very vulnerable to certain types of counter-attacks (snipe and EMP for example). The Colossus can take a ton more damage but is very vulnerable to air-to-air attacks. Since the protoss have to make some more hard choices about how to tech than some of the other races, we feel that having splash in several places is important for the race.
Q. It was previously mentioned that the balance team feels Archons were underused. Is this still the case?
A. The Archon is intended to be a unit you can use when your High Templar run out of energy. It is not meant in StarCraft II to be a core counter to a variety of threats. Currently it is functioning reasonably well in that role but we are always looking for additional data that will prove our assumptions wrong.
Q. The protoss templar line seems much less reliable to use than a robo build. Same for terran mech builds. What are your plans?
A. We are looking hard at the terran mech builds and will hopefully bring out some fixes in the next patch. I don't know that I agree that Templars not useful. We are certainly seeing that at some skill levels, but other skill levels are getting quite a bit out of High Templars. We will continue to evaluate as we go forward in the beta.
Q. High and Dark Templars have split into two techs. Are you seeing a lot of people just going for other tech options now?
A. High Templars are not a given in every game, nor are Dark Templar, but we are certainly seeing these units get a lot of use
Zerg
Q. Do you agree that the zerg currently suffers from a lack of diverse army composition, and if so what are your plans to fix it?
A. Yes, we are looking at the zerg diversity issue. We are working to make the Infestor a more core part of more match-ups. We will continue to moniter the use of Banelings, Roaches, Hydras, Zerglings, Mutalisks and Corruptors to make sure the zerg army remains diverse in each match-up.
Q. Zerg seem to be missing one more ground unit to really diversify the race. Is this something you have considered?
A. We think the zerg have plenty of ground units. If we have a need for a specific unit later on in the beta, we will add one.
Q. Obvious concerns about the Roach and how it "fits in" with the zerg. What role was it created to fill? Does the zerg need it?
A. We have heard this concern many times from many sources. There is no way to add units to StarCraft without changing the nature of these races. Since we are adding new units the personality of the races will alter.
The Roach was created to be an early game assault unit. We also wanted a unit that could maintain constant contact with the enemy. Not just through speed but through sheer durability. Looking at our inspiration for the zerg (a variety of hollywood, comic book and role-playing game aliens) this kind of "kit" seemed appropriate for the zerg.
Other
Q. Do you really use beers to balance units? And do you really use that rubber gun to make a decision??
A. I'm drunk now!
Seriously the Jace Hall show was fun to do, but we take our jobs pretty seriously when it comes to the actual work. =)
Q. Who would win in a fight, Greg Street or Dustin Browder?
A. The battle would be close, but both parties would suffer TERRIBLE, TERRIBLE DAMAGE!
Q. Will there be an achievement or something similiar that labels a player who has participated in the beta?
A. There are no plans to have a "beta" achievement. But I love the idea. =)
Q. I was wondering when you were going to introduce the 2 new races in the upcoming StarCraft II expansion sets?
A. We are not doing new races in the expansions. Each expansion will feature a new 20-30 mission campaign as well as new units and abilities for all three races in each expansion pack.
Q. How much does Dustin Browder get paid each year?
A. Over a hundred dollars a year. I also get free WoW accounts (I get banned a lot).
Q. Where are the critters?!
A. There are a few critters in the beta, but more are on the way. Critters were not a high priority item for us in getting the beta to the community.
Q. Just want to say thanks to you guys for all the hard work. I'm not yet in the beta but am enjoying watching streams. =)
A. Thanks for the thanks!
We definitely will be adding a lot more people to the beta over the next several weeks so stay tuned. If you haven't opted-in to participate in future betas, now is the time to do so!!
Q. Will we ever be able to play as the Xel'naga?
A. "Ever" is a long time, but there are no plans currently to introduce a fourth race.
Blue Posts
Quote
Mobile Authenticator Warning Message (Source)
After installing the most recent Battle.net Mobile Authenticator iPhone/iPod touch update (v1.1.0), all players will be prompted with a one-time warning that states:
Running a “jailbroken” iPhone OS device may compromise the security of the Battle.net Mobile Authenticator.
This warning message is being issued by Blizzard Entertainment as a reminder that running the Battle.net Mobile Authenticator on a “jailbroken” iPhone or iPod touch could potentially compromise the security of the Mobile Authenticator application. If your iPhone or iPod touch has not been “jailbroken” or modified to bypass software restrictions, please click “OK” and you will no longer receive the warning.
Please note that this message will appear on all iPhone & iPod touch devices and is not meant to indicate that your Apple device has been modified.
Frozen Orbs changed to Greed only (Source)
Especially with the changes to Frozen Orbs and what they will soon allow you to purchase (http://forums.wow-europe.com/thread.html?topicId=12680047996), in patch 3.3.3 Frozen Orbs will no longer be something we can choose for Need or Greed. Instead, they will be subject to an automatic Greed roll.
Relics balanced around 100% uptime (Source)
We actually don't like procs that are up 100% of the time and in 3.3.3 we changed several of the group buffs to just be passives.
Sometimes the mechanic is necessary so that a damage rotation requires some ramp-up instead of just being at 100% from the first swing. So we can't get rid of every single case.
The idols (and all similar pieces) are in a weird spot. Once upon a time they used to change your rotation ad little bit in order to maximize the bonus, but these days they are really balanced around being up 100% of the time and if we end up putting the proc on a spell or ability that isn't used often, well then the idol just sucks for that tier.
We're not sure yet what we're going to do with these items. The current implementation doesn't feel that successful. They could just be stat sticks not tied to a particular ability, though that's not super exciting either.
Just get rid of dodge and parry (Source)
I think the way you end up with conclusions like this is by following a chain of logic such as:
1) I am a tank. It is my job to survive (among other things).
2) It makes it easier to survive if I avoid spike damage and otherwise make it easier on my healers.
3) I can avoid spike damage by emphasizing health and armor over avoidance.
4) Therefore I should look for health and armor wherever possible.
5) Since I don't really want avoidance, Blizzard should stop putting it on my gear or even in the game.
That last step is where you go astray. You make a leap from thinking like a player ("How can I survive better?") to designing like a player ("I can survive better if Blizzard changes the game to make it easier for me to survive better").
You'd be bored if there was no avoidance mechanic in combat. Bosses would hit you like a metronome for say 30K every swing. You'd be bored if there was no avoidance on gear because you'd only be choosing among say hit and expertise and maybe armor pen.
Random numbers are an important component for keeping the game exciting. I get that they can be a thorn in your side. That's largely why they are exciting. Without them, you'd be a better tank, but you'd also be a bored tank.
What we can do, and what we plan on doing, are making dodge, parry and block more attractive than they are today. I doubt they will ever be as attractive as armor and Stamina, but that's okay because we're never going to make a full set of gear that is just armor and Stamina. (And even if you assembled such a set, your healers would run out of mana trying to keep you up.)
After installing the most recent Battle.net Mobile Authenticator iPhone/iPod touch update (v1.1.0), all players will be prompted with a one-time warning that states:
Running a “jailbroken” iPhone OS device may compromise the security of the Battle.net Mobile Authenticator.
This warning message is being issued by Blizzard Entertainment as a reminder that running the Battle.net Mobile Authenticator on a “jailbroken” iPhone or iPod touch could potentially compromise the security of the Mobile Authenticator application. If your iPhone or iPod touch has not been “jailbroken” or modified to bypass software restrictions, please click “OK” and you will no longer receive the warning.
Please note that this message will appear on all iPhone & iPod touch devices and is not meant to indicate that your Apple device has been modified.
Frozen Orbs changed to Greed only (Source)
Especially with the changes to Frozen Orbs and what they will soon allow you to purchase (http://forums.wow-europe.com/thread.html?topicId=12680047996), in patch 3.3.3 Frozen Orbs will no longer be something we can choose for Need or Greed. Instead, they will be subject to an automatic Greed roll.
Relics balanced around 100% uptime (Source)
We actually don't like procs that are up 100% of the time and in 3.3.3 we changed several of the group buffs to just be passives.
Sometimes the mechanic is necessary so that a damage rotation requires some ramp-up instead of just being at 100% from the first swing. So we can't get rid of every single case.
The idols (and all similar pieces) are in a weird spot. Once upon a time they used to change your rotation ad little bit in order to maximize the bonus, but these days they are really balanced around being up 100% of the time and if we end up putting the proc on a spell or ability that isn't used often, well then the idol just sucks for that tier.
We're not sure yet what we're going to do with these items. The current implementation doesn't feel that successful. They could just be stat sticks not tied to a particular ability, though that's not super exciting either.
Just get rid of dodge and parry (Source)
I think the way you end up with conclusions like this is by following a chain of logic such as:
1) I am a tank. It is my job to survive (among other things).
2) It makes it easier to survive if I avoid spike damage and otherwise make it easier on my healers.
3) I can avoid spike damage by emphasizing health and armor over avoidance.
4) Therefore I should look for health and armor wherever possible.
5) Since I don't really want avoidance, Blizzard should stop putting it on my gear or even in the game.
That last step is where you go astray. You make a leap from thinking like a player ("How can I survive better?") to designing like a player ("I can survive better if Blizzard changes the game to make it easier for me to survive better").
You'd be bored if there was no avoidance mechanic in combat. Bosses would hit you like a metronome for say 30K every swing. You'd be bored if there was no avoidance on gear because you'd only be choosing among say hit and expertise and maybe armor pen.
Random numbers are an important component for keeping the game exciting. I get that they can be a thorn in your side. That's largely why they are exciting. Without them, you'd be a better tank, but you'd also be a bored tank.
What we can do, and what we plan on doing, are making dodge, parry and block more attractive than they are today. I doubt they will ever be as attractive as armor and Stamina, but that's okay because we're never going to make a full set of gear that is just armor and Stamina. (And even if you assembled such a set, your healers would run out of mana trying to keep you up.)
Creative Creations - Tales of the Past & Mantle of the Betrayer
Yesterday, 07:07 PM |
Zuelu 
View Thread (1 Comments)
Hey! Here's an article which (arguably) is right up my alley. Most of you know that I, in the days of 2008 and 9, was a creative writer myself. Now that I have had my time in the limelight, I think it only fair for me to bring other writers, stories, and movies to the get the same.
This article will be focused on a Machinima and one story, but the format can be changed to what I see.
Tales of the Past
This machinima, while old and on a little bit of a creative licence spree, I still saw as a really great story and a compelling one no less. Martin Falch of Denmark brought this great creation to life and I believe all 3 parts are in need of view. It is quite a long movie, so grab a bag of popcorn and hold on, for the story of Yimo, Blazer, and the Lich King. Receiving a 4.99/5 on WarcraftMovies.com as well as a proud and tearful expression from yours truly, this is definitely 3 hours of your life you can afford to waste.
Episode 1
The other two episodes of the series are also posted on youtube in sections as well as available for download on Warcraftmovies.com
Mantle of the Betrayer
Our other mention this week is Mantle of the Betrayer by ScottyB, posted in our own Creative Writing, Machinima & Lore forum.
Bringing to life the story of Achali, a druid turned demon hunter, Scotty really takes the story of Illidan to another level. Not only showing us a perspective of Illidan from one of his close friends and followers, but showing Achali that while a creature may be seen as evil, his intentions may be true. Of course, I cannot do this story justice on my own. Go over and take a look at what he cooked up.
Please feel free to contact me about your own stories, Machinimas or ones you find. I will be glad to take a look at them.
This article will be focused on a Machinima and one story, but the format can be changed to what I see.
Tales of the Past
This machinima, while old and on a little bit of a creative licence spree, I still saw as a really great story and a compelling one no less. Martin Falch of Denmark brought this great creation to life and I believe all 3 parts are in need of view. It is quite a long movie, so grab a bag of popcorn and hold on, for the story of Yimo, Blazer, and the Lich King. Receiving a 4.99/5 on WarcraftMovies.com as well as a proud and tearful expression from yours truly, this is definitely 3 hours of your life you can afford to waste.
Episode 1
The other two episodes of the series are also posted on youtube in sections as well as available for download on Warcraftmovies.com
Mantle of the Betrayer
Our other mention this week is Mantle of the Betrayer by ScottyB, posted in our own Creative Writing, Machinima & Lore forum.
Bringing to life the story of Achali, a druid turned demon hunter, Scotty really takes the story of Illidan to another level. Not only showing us a perspective of Illidan from one of his close friends and followers, but showing Achali that while a creature may be seen as evil, his intentions may be true. Of course, I cannot do this story justice on my own. Go over and take a look at what he cooked up.
Quote
Hello all,
I'm a guy who wants to improve his writing. I went to college and learned how to write screenplays, but now that I'm in the real world, I'm realizing that it's never a bad thing to broaden your horizons. So I decided to participate in the Creative Writing Contest Blizzard just had; and in doing so, practice writing in literary format.
Problem is, unless I win (fingers crossed), I'm pretty sure Blizzard wont be sending me any feedback on how good it is. So, I was wondering, if anyone here gets bored during the the next server restart, I would really appreciate some feedback. It's a pretty quick read, just let me know if its good, great, or a rotten nugget of horse dung. - Don't worry, I've got thick skin, I interned in Beverly Hills.
Basically, its a short story about an apprentice trained by Illidan after he is freed from his prison in Barrow Deeps.
Thanks for your time, and enjoy!
I'm a guy who wants to improve his writing. I went to college and learned how to write screenplays, but now that I'm in the real world, I'm realizing that it's never a bad thing to broaden your horizons. So I decided to participate in the Creative Writing Contest Blizzard just had; and in doing so, practice writing in literary format.
Problem is, unless I win (fingers crossed), I'm pretty sure Blizzard wont be sending me any feedback on how good it is. So, I was wondering, if anyone here gets bored during the the next server restart, I would really appreciate some feedback. It's a pretty quick read, just let me know if its good, great, or a rotten nugget of horse dung. - Don't worry, I've got thick skin, I interned in Beverly Hills.
Basically, its a short story about an apprentice trained by Illidan after he is freed from his prison in Barrow Deeps.
Thanks for your time, and enjoy!
Please feel free to contact me about your own stories, Machinimas or ones you find. I will be glad to take a look at them.
Hey guys and gals! For the vets out there, you may remember me as the resident creative corner poster. For those who aren't familiar with me, go ahead and check out my stories in the Machinima, Creative Writing and Lore board. Now I'm a content writer for the site! As a rule of thumb you can all expect tanking articles from me and some machinima and creative writing spotlights. This time around, I will give a quick perspective on the differences (or similarities) between the tanking classes.
Generally speaking, my tank articles will be pointed towards 10-mans, because that is what I am doing mostly now, but the principles can be applied to 25-man version.
The Tank
As most raiders know, being the tank is one of the three most stressful jobs in raiding. It requires preparation, patience and above all, teamwork. Having three amazing tanks doesn't do you much good if they don't talk at all and don't coordinate their movements. What is least understood about tanks by the general raid community is the strengths and weaknesses of having two or three class combinations for your tanks.
For this article, think of the Death Knight and Paladin as the "Spell Tank", considering the fact that a major portion of their threat is dealt by spell damage. Warriors and Druids fall into the "Physical Tank" category.
Generally speaking, in a raid setting, your tank setup does not matter (like Auriaya, Thorim, Twin Valkyr, and Gunship Battle). However, for certain fights, using a certain tank class (for fights such as General Vezax, Lord Jaraxxus, and Lady Deathwhisper (10)) can cause wipes for what seems to be no reason at all. In truth, these wipes are generally caused by Tank Synergy issues.
Synergy
"Professor? What is Tank Synergy?!"
Good question. As the name implies, Tank synergy is how, on the base level, certain tank classes work together, or are affected by boss mechanics. Tank synergy factors in the Tanks in question's gear, talent choice, proficiency in tanking using that class, and obviously, the class' abilities. Sometimes on certain boss encounters, using a certain combination can be fatal. In 10-mans, using a warrior+paladin setup or a druid+DK setup would be the ideal. (See chart below) But the ideal does not always happen. Sometimes you are stuck with Warrior+DK, DK+DK, Druid+Druid, etc. Each class has their strengths and weaknesses, displayed in the chart below.
For those unaware, there is a difference between a fixate and a taunt. I purposefully made the distinction. A fixate is any "taunt" that contains the words "forces the target to attack you" in it's tooltip. This means that you need to build threat on it manually.
As you can see, each tank has at least one line of symmetry or is the polar opposite of another. Learning what each player who plays a tank can do is nearly as important as learning what their class can do. More often than not, each class can transcend their base, for lack of a better term, designation with the abilities and practice of the player.
That concludes the first issue of Tank Talk with Zuelu. Next time around, I will talk about the stat changes in Cataclysm and how they affect tanks!
Generally speaking, my tank articles will be pointed towards 10-mans, because that is what I am doing mostly now, but the principles can be applied to 25-man version.
The Tank
As most raiders know, being the tank is one of the three most stressful jobs in raiding. It requires preparation, patience and above all, teamwork. Having three amazing tanks doesn't do you much good if they don't talk at all and don't coordinate their movements. What is least understood about tanks by the general raid community is the strengths and weaknesses of having two or three class combinations for your tanks.
For this article, think of the Death Knight and Paladin as the "Spell Tank", considering the fact that a major portion of their threat is dealt by spell damage. Warriors and Druids fall into the "Physical Tank" category.
Generally speaking, in a raid setting, your tank setup does not matter (like Auriaya, Thorim, Twin Valkyr, and Gunship Battle). However, for certain fights, using a certain tank class (for fights such as General Vezax, Lord Jaraxxus, and Lady Deathwhisper (10)) can cause wipes for what seems to be no reason at all. In truth, these wipes are generally caused by Tank Synergy issues.
Synergy
"Professor? What is Tank Synergy?!"
Good question. As the name implies, Tank synergy is how, on the base level, certain tank classes work together, or are affected by boss mechanics. Tank synergy factors in the Tanks in question's gear, talent choice, proficiency in tanking using that class, and obviously, the class' abilities. Sometimes on certain boss encounters, using a certain combination can be fatal. In 10-mans, using a warrior+paladin setup or a druid+DK setup would be the ideal. (See chart below) But the ideal does not always happen. Sometimes you are stuck with Warrior+DK, DK+DK, Druid+Druid, etc. Each class has their strengths and weaknesses, displayed in the chart below.
Strengths |
Weaknesses |
|
|---|---|---|
| Death Knight |
able to tank with any talent tree (ideally)
many well meshed, powerful survival cooldowns abnormally strong against casters able to switch to dps quickly and easily good AoE threat many ways to heal self large visible health pool |
unique and clunky resource system tagged by community as weak tanks raid buff severely time limited, but quickly refreshable unable to block two single target taunts (AoD takes a bit of time to cast, and is not considered)
|
| Druid |
abnormally large visible health pool able to switch to other forms (utility) able to heal self and others(although sparingly) powerful raid buff curse removal (while not being hit) battle resurrection capability (while not being hit) Fear Removal Tool |
race limited (now and Cataclysm) fewer survivablity cooldowns unable to block or parry(Savage Defense is considered a "block") weak(er) against casters one single target taunt and one long cooldown AoE fixate |
| Paladin |
diverse raid buffs
short CD multi-target and single target taunts able to heal self multiple survival cooldowns debuff removal solid AoE Threat |
some survival cooldowns are not chain-able
weak against large groups of casters low(er) visible health pool race restricted on Horde (PRE-CATACLYSM) |
| Warrior |
benefits significantly from block value vs pallys large visible health pool many utility abilities
powerful and chain-able survival cooldowns race-selection non-issue fear removal from self strong against casters |
controlling resources requires discipline
weak(er) AoE Threat buffs are severely time limited long cooldown heal self ability one fixate, one single target taunt and long cooldown AoE fixate |
For those unaware, there is a difference between a fixate and a taunt. I purposefully made the distinction. A fixate is any "taunt" that contains the words "forces the target to attack you" in it's tooltip. This means that you need to build threat on it manually.
As you can see, each tank has at least one line of symmetry or is the polar opposite of another. Learning what each player who plays a tank can do is nearly as important as learning what their class can do. More often than not, each class can transcend their base, for lack of a better term, designation with the abilities and practice of the player.
That concludes the first issue of Tank Talk with Zuelu. Next time around, I will talk about the stat changes in Cataclysm and how they affect tanks!
The PTR notes have been updated again today. There were no new models or textures and the size of the build was for music that will be used in Ruby Sanctum and the Echo Isles event.
Quote
Classes
Glyphs
- Hunter
- Pet Talents
- Heart of the Phoenix: Cooldown reduced to 8 minutes, down from 10 minutes.
- Warrior
- Thunderclap: This ability now counts as a ranged attack, granting it double damage on critical strikes instead of 150% and ranged miss chance, and still cannot be dodged or parried.
- Talents
- Arms
- Bladestorm: Warriors can now be Disarmed while under the effects of this ability.
Glyphs
- Druid
- Glyph of Focus: Now increases the damage done by Starfall by 10%, down from 20%.
"We started using discipline priests in Ulduar. The discipline fight was Freya hard mode where Power Word: Shield would provide an effective health increase versus Ground Tremor. Before that, I can't even remember a discipline priest in a raid that wasn't someone who was too lazy to change from their PvP spec," says Nokaru, guild master of the US guild Deus Vox.
Discipline used to be the PvP spec for priests, a spec with no real place in PvE. That has changed. Somewhere in between tough Ulduar encounters, a Circle of Healing cooldown and the Soul Warding talent, discipline priests have become a staple of 25-man end game raiding, even threatening the holy hegemony.
Insane coefficient
Deus Vox has one full-time discipline priest, and one priest that alternates between disc and holy depending on the fight. So does the US guild Premonition. "We have two players who can swing holy or disc, and basically use both in almost every encounter. I think Vezax is when we started using discipline priests. Now, the hardest encounter in the game requires them," says Xav, officer and warrior in the guild.
The strength and niche of the discipline priest is their damage prevention. Power Word: Shield is spammable and scales extremely well. By shielding the raid, discipline priests increase the effective health of each player. A well-geared disc priest is able to pump out shields that absorb 9000 damage or more. Needless to say, this is particularly strong in fights with heavy, predictable burst damage.
"Power Word: Shield has an insane coefficient," says Lawliepop of the US guild Blood Legion. Playing a holy priest with a shadow offspec, the guild officer has two additional priests in her ranks, one full time discipline and one holy/discipline. About a month ago, they tested the Power Word: Shield coefficient. Their result was that the effective coefficient was 1,512803004. For those not into theorycrafting, this means that for every point of spellpower a discipline priest has, Power Word: Shield will gain 1,51 damage absorption.
WoW's best kept secret
Blood Legion has been using discipline priests for quite some time. While doing Sartharion with three drakes up, they had a discipline priest as tank healer. At the beginning of Ulduar, they got a full time disc priest. "I think having only one holy paladin sparked it. Honestly, I kind of had a something of a negative view on them. My previous experience with disc was mostly in the Wrath of the Lich King Beta at very low gear levels," Lawliepop explains.
Even as a holy priest, she recognises discipline as a very strong spec. "The priests in Blood Legion like to constantly joke about how disc is WoW's best kept secret, and we are scared that they are going to be nerfed. What they do is to stabilise the raid in a way no other class can. In 95 percent of the fights, you want at least one dedicated disc."
Because of the strength of discipline priests, it is fairly common for main spec holy priests to have a discipline offspec. Ensidia priest Poptisse used to play holy more or less exclusively. That has changed. She now has a discipline dual spec that she has to use quite frequently. "You are a fool if you don't use a disc priest. In fights where we only use one priest, it is a disc one rather than a holy. The burst damage in Icecrown Citadel can be so insane that people having 9000 more hit points is more important than getting a 4000 heal from Circle of Healing. It sucks, because holy is by far the most fun spec to play. But a disc priest brings something no one else can, and I think that is why they are the 'Flavour of the Instance'," she says.
Ensidia currently has two priests that can play both disc and holy. They started using discipline in Ulduar on encounters like Freya, but with Icecrown Citadel, it became a staple in their raids. "I like their utility, but whenever we use a disc priest it is for the sole purpose of spamming shields or getting the crit buff on tanks. It gets really boring to play. I only need one keybind and it makes me want to fall asleep rather than keep me awake. I hated having to play it, and I still do!" she reveals.
Required for Lich King
Right now, a lot of top guilds are working towards the last fight in the game that hasn't been done yet: The 25-man Lich King hard mode. Interestingly enough, this fight apparently requires multiple discipline priests in the raid. With Infest hitting for around 15 000 damage, shields seem to be the way most guilds choose to handle it. "I don't like the fact that this completely negates the 'Bring the player, not the class.' No one can do LK 25 hard mode without shields," Poptisse says.
With the strength of discipline discovered by more and more players, holy priests seem to be less desirable in raids. Until now, it is holy that has been nerfed, first with the cooldown added to Circle of Healing, then the effectiveness of Prayer of Healing took a hit. The question is if discipline will suffer the same fate. Poptisse doesn't think so.
"I don't think disc needs a nerf, I think holy needs a little boost - something that is not Lightwell or a 3 minute Guardian Spirit that never procs anyway. We need some kind of powerful tool to boost burst HPS a bit more, or maybe they could remove the cooldown on Circle of Healing! But really, Prayer of Healing is way too annoying. Circle of Healing has a cooldown. Renew can't even compare to Rejuvenation, and haste stacking shamans are laughing at holy priests at the moment. Even paladins do."
Discipline used to be the PvP spec for priests, a spec with no real place in PvE. That has changed. Somewhere in between tough Ulduar encounters, a Circle of Healing cooldown and the Soul Warding talent, discipline priests have become a staple of 25-man end game raiding, even threatening the holy hegemony.
Insane coefficient
Deus Vox has one full-time discipline priest, and one priest that alternates between disc and holy depending on the fight. So does the US guild Premonition. "We have two players who can swing holy or disc, and basically use both in almost every encounter. I think Vezax is when we started using discipline priests. Now, the hardest encounter in the game requires them," says Xav, officer and warrior in the guild.
The strength and niche of the discipline priest is their damage prevention. Power Word: Shield is spammable and scales extremely well. By shielding the raid, discipline priests increase the effective health of each player. A well-geared disc priest is able to pump out shields that absorb 9000 damage or more. Needless to say, this is particularly strong in fights with heavy, predictable burst damage.
"Power Word: Shield has an insane coefficient," says Lawliepop of the US guild Blood Legion. Playing a holy priest with a shadow offspec, the guild officer has two additional priests in her ranks, one full time discipline and one holy/discipline. About a month ago, they tested the Power Word: Shield coefficient. Their result was that the effective coefficient was 1,512803004. For those not into theorycrafting, this means that for every point of spellpower a discipline priest has, Power Word: Shield will gain 1,51 damage absorption.
WoW's best kept secret
Blood Legion has been using discipline priests for quite some time. While doing Sartharion with three drakes up, they had a discipline priest as tank healer. At the beginning of Ulduar, they got a full time disc priest. "I think having only one holy paladin sparked it. Honestly, I kind of had a something of a negative view on them. My previous experience with disc was mostly in the Wrath of the Lich King Beta at very low gear levels," Lawliepop explains.
Even as a holy priest, she recognises discipline as a very strong spec. "The priests in Blood Legion like to constantly joke about how disc is WoW's best kept secret, and we are scared that they are going to be nerfed. What they do is to stabilise the raid in a way no other class can. In 95 percent of the fights, you want at least one dedicated disc."
Because of the strength of discipline priests, it is fairly common for main spec holy priests to have a discipline offspec. Ensidia priest Poptisse used to play holy more or less exclusively. That has changed. She now has a discipline dual spec that she has to use quite frequently. "You are a fool if you don't use a disc priest. In fights where we only use one priest, it is a disc one rather than a holy. The burst damage in Icecrown Citadel can be so insane that people having 9000 more hit points is more important than getting a 4000 heal from Circle of Healing. It sucks, because holy is by far the most fun spec to play. But a disc priest brings something no one else can, and I think that is why they are the 'Flavour of the Instance'," she says.
Ensidia currently has two priests that can play both disc and holy. They started using discipline in Ulduar on encounters like Freya, but with Icecrown Citadel, it became a staple in their raids. "I like their utility, but whenever we use a disc priest it is for the sole purpose of spamming shields or getting the crit buff on tanks. It gets really boring to play. I only need one keybind and it makes me want to fall asleep rather than keep me awake. I hated having to play it, and I still do!" she reveals.
Required for Lich King
Right now, a lot of top guilds are working towards the last fight in the game that hasn't been done yet: The 25-man Lich King hard mode. Interestingly enough, this fight apparently requires multiple discipline priests in the raid. With Infest hitting for around 15 000 damage, shields seem to be the way most guilds choose to handle it. "I don't like the fact that this completely negates the 'Bring the player, not the class.' No one can do LK 25 hard mode without shields," Poptisse says.
With the strength of discipline discovered by more and more players, holy priests seem to be less desirable in raids. Until now, it is holy that has been nerfed, first with the cooldown added to Circle of Healing, then the effectiveness of Prayer of Healing took a hit. The question is if discipline will suffer the same fate. Poptisse doesn't think so.
"I don't think disc needs a nerf, I think holy needs a little boost - something that is not Lightwell or a 3 minute Guardian Spirit that never procs anyway. We need some kind of powerful tool to boost burst HPS a bit more, or maybe they could remove the cooldown on Circle of Healing! But really, Prayer of Healing is way too annoying. Circle of Healing has a cooldown. Renew can't even compare to Rejuvenation, and haste stacking shamans are laughing at holy priests at the moment. Even paladins do."
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