Latest Starcraft 2 patch toughens up Zerg

starcraft 2 patch

Blizzard have been busy prodding Starcraft 2's soft insides with the balancing stick, releasing the second patch for the game in a month. Read on for a summary of the changes.

Are you a Zerg player? Do you like having lots of life? Well it's time to do the happy dance, because almost all of the Zerg's buildings have received a welcome health boost. The Hatchery, Lair, Spawning Pool, Spire and Ultralisk Cavern have all become significantly tougher. The Hatchery health buff is particularly important, making it that much easier for Zerg players to cling on to their expansions. On the offensive side of things, Roaches have gained a range boost, and the Infestor's immobilising Fungal Growth attack now prevents Protoss units from using their Blink ability.

Terran players are likely to be more disappointed with the changes. Barracks now require the player to build a Supply Depot first, a problem for players who like to strike out and throw an early barracks down near the enemy base for cheeky early rush attacks. Combine this with the increase in Supply Depot health and the clear message seems to be that Blizzard think Terrans are too expansive, and would rather they stayed at home, safe and secure behind a walled-off ramp. To further hamper the Terran rush, the Reaper speed boost upgrade will now require a Factory, and the speed of Medivac troop transports has been reduced.

The Protoss remain relatively untouched, but a Zerg-like boost to Nexus health is good news for the space-elves. Void Rays have been rebalanced to be more threatening early on. Their power at Damage level 1 has been increased, but their Damage level 2 upgrade has been significantly reduced, making Void Rays less effective against armoured units.

You check out the full list of changes over at the Starcraft 2 blog , but it looks as though the Zerg are tougher, the Terrans are slower and the Protoss escape relatively unscathed. What do you think of the changes?

Tom Senior

Part of the UK team, Tom was with PC Gamer at the very beginning of the website's launch—first as a news writer, and then as online editor until his departure in 2020. His specialties are strategy games, action RPGs, hack ‘n slash games, digital card games… basically anything that he can fit on a hard drive. His final boss form is Deckard Cain.

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