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By Starym
A truly major patch has arrived to StarCraft 2, focusing almost exclusively on versus changes, and boy is there a lot of them. All three races get a ton of tweaks, with the biggest Terran changes coming to the Cyclone and the Battlecruiser now being able to move while shooting, while the Zerg get separate burrow and unburrow buttons and the Infestor gets a through looking at and the Protoss get almost their whole fleet tuned.
Patch 4.7.1 (source)
Today marks the beginning of Season 4 of 2018, as well as the debut of all the new balance changes that we’ve been working on for the last few months. Thank you again to the pros and to the community that gave us the feedback we needed—we couldn’t have done it without you!
General
New Hydralisk Trophy Top for Season 4. Versus
TERRAN
Widow Mine The Drilling Claws upgrade now permanently cloaks Widow Mines when they're burrowed. If Drilling Claws is researched, the Widow Mine will have a visual indicator to show that the unit has the upgrade. Cyclone Now requires a Tech Lab to be built at the Factory. Health decreased from 180 to 120. Movement speed increased from 4.13 to 4.73. Tornado Blaster weapon changed to the Typhoon Missile Pod weapon: Damage changed from 3 (+2 vs Armored) to 18. Can target air and ground units. Weapon speed changed from 0.1 to 0.71. Range decreased from 6 to 5. Weapon upgrades changed from +1 to +2 to account for the new damage value. Lock On ability changed: Ability can auto cast. Can now target ground and flying units and structures. Damage changed from 160 to 400 damage over 14 seconds. Rapid Fire Launchers upgrade removed. Added Mag-Field Accelerator upgrade: After researching Mag-Field Accelerator upgrade, Lock On will deal 400 (+400 vs Armored) over 14 seconds to ground and flying targets. Thor Armor reduced from 2 to 1. Explosive Payload AoE radius reduced from 0.6 to 0.5. 250mm Punisher Cannons damage changed from 35 (+15 vs Armored) to 40 (+15 vs Massive). Vehicle Weapons upgrade bonuses for 250mm Punisher Cannons changed from +3 (+2 vs Armored) to +4 (+2 vs Massive). 250mm Punisher Cannons weapon speed changed from 2.14 to 1.71. Medivac High Capacity Fuel Tanks upgrade name changed to Rapid Reignition System. Rapid Reignition System upgrade no longer increases Ignite Afterburners duration from 4.29 seconds to 6.43 seconds. Now, it decreases its cooldown duration from 8.57 seconds to 6.43 seconds. Medivacs can now heal units Graviton'd by Phoenix. Banshee Hyperflight Rotors upgrade cost decreased from 200/200 to 150/150. Raven Anti-Armor splash damage decreased from 15 to 0. In addition to armor reduction, Anti-Armor Missile will also reduce Protoss shield armor by 3. Battlecruiser Removed random delay between shots. ATA Laser Battery damage decreased from 6 to 5. Can now move while shooting. Yamato Cannon damage decreased from 300 to 240. Engineering Bay Neosteel Frame and Structure Armor upgrades merged. The new upgrade is called Neosteel Armor and will retain the functionality of both upgrades combined. It will cost 150/150 and take 100 seconds to research. Barracks, Factory, Starport - Tech Lab If a player tries to lift a structure when there is an upgrade being researched in an attached Tech Lab, they will not be able to do so and will receive a red text error message. Sensor Tower The structure's pre-placement selection display will now show a range indicator on the mini-map. ZERG
Queen Transfusion no longer restores 125 health instantly. Now, it restores 75 health instantly plus an additional 50 health over the next 7.14 seconds. Creep Tumor, Nydus Worm Time in between creep growth increased from 0.3 to 0.45. Overlord Time between Generate Creep growth periods increased from 0.36 to 0.45. Zergling Unburrow speed decreased from 0.71 to 0.36. Unburrow random delay decreased from 0.36 to 0.08. Roach Tunneling Claws cost decreased from 150/150 to 100/100. Tunneling Claws no longer increases the health regeneration rate of Roaches from 7 HP/second to 14 HP/second. Hydralisk Unburrow speed decreased from 0.71 to 0.36. Unburrow random delay decreased from 0.36 to 0.08. Needle Spines attack speed changed from 0.54 to 0.59. Infestor Unit radius decreased from 0.75 to 0.625. Model scale decreased from 0.85 to 0.75. Burrowed unit radius now matches the new unborrowed unit radius. Infestors can now move through units while burrowed. Fungal Growth no longer allows affected units to Blink, Tactical Jump, or load into transport sand buildings. Infested Terran cast range increased from 7 to 8. Ultralisk New upgrade added: Evolve Anabolic Synthesis Cost: 150 Minerals/150 Gas/42.85 second research time Increases Ultralisk speed when off creep from 4.13 to 4.55. The Ultralisk on-creep speed will remain the same at 5.36. If Anabolic Synthesis is researched, Ultralisks will have visual indicators to show that they have the upgrade. Nydus Network/Nydus Worm Nydus Network cost decreased from 150/200 to 150/150. Nydus Worm cost decreased from 100/100 to 50/50. Nydus Worm are no longer be invincible when emerging. Now, they have 6 armor while emerging from the ground. Burrow/Unburrow Burrow and Unburrow have been separated into two separate buttons. Burrowed and Unburrowed Zerg unit types will now be on the same tab-select, and both will be selected when double clicking on units. PROTOSS
Nexus Mass Recall renamed to Strategic Recall. Strategic Recall radius decreased from 6.5 to 2.5. Strategic Recall cooldown decreased from 130 to 85 seconds. Chrono Boost will now display a visual status on boosted structures. Sentry Hallucination energy cost decreased from 100 to 75. Guardian Shield radius increased from 4 to 4.5. High Templar Feedback now deals 0.5 damage per point of energy drained, down from 1 damage per point of energy drained. Dark Templar Shadow Stride research time decreased from 121 to 100 seconds. Shadow Stride cooldown decreased from 21 to 14 seconds. Robotics Bay Cost decreased from 200/200 to 150/150. Colossus Colossus weapons now have turret tracking. Disruptor Purification Nova changed back to pre-4.0 state. Purification Nova deploys a ball of energy that will detonate after 2 seconds, dealing 155 damage and an additional 55 shield damage to all ground units in its radius. Purification Nova no longer detonates on contact with enemy units. Purification Nova now sends a threat signal to the opponent on detonation instead of during the launch phase. Void Ray Prismatic Alignment speed reduction decreased from 40% to 25%. Tempest Cost decreased from 300/200 to 250/175. Supply cost decreased from 6 to 5. HP/Shields decreased from 300/150 to 150/125. Movement speed increased from 2.63 to 3.5. Acceleration increased from 1.49 to 2.8. Carrier Build time decreased from 86 seconds to 64 seconds. HP/Shields increased from 250/150 to 300/150. Interceptor build time increased from 6 seconds to 11 seconds. Graviton Catapult upgrade removed from the Fleet Beacon. Interceptor release period changed from 0.36 to 0.27. Mothership Strategic Recall name changed to Mass Recall. In addition to slowing unit movement speed by 50%, Time Warp now also reduces unit and structure attack speed by 50%. Assimilator HP/Shields decreased from 450/450 to 300/300. Shield Battery HP/Shields decreased from 200/200 to 150/150. Shield Battery can now regenerate shields of units Graviton'd by Phoenix. Gateway Transform to Warp Gate will now be an auto-cast ability.
Bug Fixes
Maps
Stats LE: Fixed an issue that allowed melee units to attack destructible debris from the low ground. Kairos Junction LE: The lighting status is no longer out of date. Multiprocessor LE: Fixed an issue that allowed flying units to clip into certain doodads. Emerald City LE: Fixed an issue that slightly restricted the pathing of ground units on certain ramps. Versus
Battlecruiser The upper turrets will no longer track its last target through the fog of war. The bottom turrets will now track their target. -
By Starym
There a gigantic balance patch coming to StarCraft 2 multiplayer later this year, affecting all races and focusing on late game power, unit composition variety, interesting upgrades and discouraging turtle play. The patch will arrive "soon" after BlizzCon, so somewhere in November, ad the design notes we got today are massive and contain detailed explanations on the tuning decisions.
Upcoming Balance Update (source)
Last year, we released an update containing design changes aimed at improving StarCraft II multiplayer. This year, we plan to release another design patch soon after the WCS Global Finals at BlizzCon. Our main goals for this patch include balancing the late-game power of each race while discouraging turtle play, ensuring upgrades present non-trivial decisions, and broadening the unit composition options in a number of matchups. This includes looking at each race’s massive units and making improvements to give them a clearer role or to make them more interesting to play with.
Terran
Battlecruiser
Removed random delay between shots for both ATS Laser Batter and ATA Laser Battery ATA Laser Battery damage reduced from 6 to 5 Yamato Cannon damage reduced from 300 to 240 Can move while shooting
The mighty Battlecruiser has always occupied a strange place in StarCraft II. With very high damage per second, but slow speed and a medium attack range, it can deal a ton of damage—but only if its target allows it to. It also has some odd unit relationships. At maximum upgrades, few units can stand up to a Battlecruiser, but when first produced without upgrades, basic ground units like Marines and Hydralisks can effectively counter it. Air units like Void Rays and Corruptors can also counter Battlecruisers, but they’re in turn vulnerable to being one-shot by the Yamato Cannon.
Removing the random delay on Battlecruiser auto attacks is perhaps the most unusual change we’ve implemented here. While virtually all units in StarCraft II have a random delay, the Battlecruiser’s high random delay ratio to the auto-attack cooldown could cause moments where the Battlecruiser would do less damage than expected. By removing it, we’re increasing Battlecruiser damage per second by roughly 20% and making its damage consistent. However, while we want the Battlecruiser to be stronger against ground targets, we don’t want to make it the best all-around unit, so we’re reducing its anti-air attack by 1, which maintains its current vulnerability to airborne threats.
Lowering Yamato Cannon damage to 240 is actually a throwback to its Brood War damage value. This mainly affects Void Rays, as it will now heavily damage them rather than outright destroy them in a single shot, while still keeping it at a similar power level versus Corruptors and Carriers.
Moving while shooting is an experimental and often requested change. While Battlecruisers are slow, being able to pursue targets that have to stop to fire back makes the Battlecruiser much more maneuverable in combat and dangerous to kite unless you use units that greatly outrange it, such as Tempests or Vikings. Thus, this change mitigates the medium range weakness of the Battlecruiser without changing its relation to static defenses and long-range units.
Widow Mine
Drilling Claws upgrade now also permanently cloaks the Widow Mine while burrowed. A new visual effect will be applied to the Widow Mine to indicate this. This change restores the Widow Mine, post-upgrade, to its state prior to patch 4.0. This aligns with our previous goal of making early game Widow Mines feel fairer to both attacker and defender, while also improving the value of the Widow Mine upgrade. This should allow Terrans to utilize Widow Mines late-game more effectively in TvZ against Zergling/Baneling packs and achieve better passive scouting and zone control through well-placed mines.
Cyclone
Base armor reduced from 1 to 0 Currently in TvT, Cyclones can trade very efficiently against most other early-game options. Removing 1 armor makes Reapers and Marines much stronger against Cyclones while not affecting Cyclone strength against units like Marauders and Siege Tanks. This should make them less effective to mass early on, but they’ll still have value if mixed with other units. Cyclone effectiveness versus Zerglings and Queens will also move in the Zerg player’s favor, so we’ll be watching closely.
Thor
250mm Punisher Cannons weapon speed changed from 3 to 2.5 250mm Punisher Cannons damage changed from 35 (+15 Armored) to 40 (+10 Massive) Javelin Missile Launchers area-of-effect radius reduced from 0.6 to 0.5 Base armor reduced from 2 to 1
Our goal with the Thor is to push its role away from being strong all-around and into being a giant that slays other giants. In turn, it should be weak when swarmed by smaller units. Changing its armor allows units with fast attack speed but low damage like Marines and Zerglings to have an easier time against Thors. The reduction in anti-air radius is to address feedback that it heavily contributed towards making Mutalisks weak in the mid-to-late game against Terran. Since we want to promote more Mutalisk play, we’re reducing the power of this counter.
Increasing its attack rate against massive targets makes the Thor very dangerous to units like as the new Tempest and Carrier in straight-up fights. Additionally, Brood Lords can be killed much more quickly, so Terrans opting to use multiple Thors pose a greater threat in head-on fights by denying Broodlings from being created. This should make the Thor a strong option when fighting massive air units, and reduce overlap with Vikings when it comes to fighting armored air in general.
Medivac
High-Capacity Fuel Tanks no longer increase the duration of Ignite Afterburners. Now it reduces the cooldown of Ignite Afterburners from 14 to 9. Medivac Heal will now work on units under the effect of the Phoenix Graviton Beam This keeps the uptime of Ignite Afterburners the same as before, but now players will have greater control over when they want to trigger it. Additionally, reducing cooldown makes it easier to move between multiple attack locations rather than having a longer duration, which encourages one-way attacks into a base. Overall, this should make the upgrade more attractive to players who value micro control for their Medivacs.
The change to Medivac Heal makes it consistent with our change to Shield Batteries.
Banshee
Hyperflight Rotors upgrade cost reduced from 200/200 to 150/150 While speedy Banshees are very threatening, this upgrade is quite rare at high-level play. We wanted to give this Banshee upgrade a slight boost by reducing the price to make it more attractive to get in the mid or late game.
Raven
Anti-Armor missile damage reduced from 15 to 0 Anti-Armor missile will now reduce Protoss shields as well as armor While we have reduced the Raven’s damage on the Anti-Armor Missile a few times now, it still sees use as a strong area-of-effect damage ability in the late-game during TvT matchups. Since the intent is for Anti-Armor missile to be used as a debuff and not for its damage, we want to emphasize this purity of purpose. Thus, we’re removing the damage and making it affect all types of armor upgrades in the game. Other changes might be required to make this spell sharper in its purpose, so we’ll be monitoring how things go during testing.
Engineering Bay
Neosteel Frame and Structure Armor are being combined into Neosteel Armor, which combines their upgrades. It will cost 150/150 and take 100 seconds to research—the same as Structure Armor. Neosteel Frame improvements are often requested by various Neosteel enthusiasts in the community. This change aims to make it more attractive by combining it with an existing structure upgrade.
Zerg
Zergling & Hydralisk
Unburrow speed changed from 0.71 to 0.36 Unburrow random delay reduced from 0.36 to 0.08 Increasing Unburrow speed should allow for more tactical and sneaky Zerg plays—for example, using Hydralisks to catch Warp Prisms or Medivacs unaware as they fly towards a mineral line, or using Zerglings to ambush reinforcements as they walk across the map.
Hydralisk
Health decreased from 90 to 85 In the past, we set out to make the Hydralisk more of a core unit. This has perhaps been too successful, to the point where it crowds out other strategies. Altering the Hydralisks’ health reduces their ability to be massed by making them more vulnerable to area-of-effect damage. Since altering the health of core units is always a big change, we will be watching to make sure Zerg still has the Hydralisk as an option, although perhaps not the best option for every matchup.
Infestor
Infested Terran cast range increased from 7 to 8 At 8 range, Infestors will be better able to cast Infested Terrans outside the range of static defenses and further away from enemy armies, allowing them to more effectively break siege lines or threaten massed enemy forces.
Ultralisk
New upgrade added: Anabolic Synthesis Cost: 150 minerals/150 gas Research time: 79 seconds Ultralisk off-creep speed increased by 10% (4.13 to 4.55). On-creep speed is unaffected.
This makes the Ultralisk a much stronger and more responsive option off-creep without support. Due to their previous speed off-creep, they were sometimes a questionable choice against Terran Bio, with high-level players being able to defeat them with Marauders. Post-upgrade, they can better pressure Terran Bio forces, as their new speed is very close to Stim Marine/Marauder speed. Against Protoss, they can also be used to better pressure Carrier/High Templar compositions by quickly engaging the High Templars while shrugging off Carrier Interceptor damage.
Nydus Network/Nydus Worm
Nydus Network cost increased from 150/200 to 200/250 Nydus Worm cost decreased from 100/100 to 50/50 While Nydus Worm is emerging, it will no longer be invincible. Instead, it has 6 armor.
Nydus Worms have been used historically for all-in strategies. We want to encourage more late game usage as a transport/harass tool. We’ve heard consistent high-level feedback to the effect that their lack of use late-game was due to the cost of the Worms themselves. Additionally, we wanted to increase the counterplay of Nydus Worms being placed directly in front of an opponent’s units, so we’re removing their invincibility during their emerging phase. However, its armor will be increased while emerging, so stopping a Nydus Worm will require more commitment than just swarming it with worker units or attacking with a few basic units.
Burrow/Unburrow
Burrow and Unburrow have been separated into two separate keys Burrowed and Unburrowed Zerg unit types will now be on the same tab-select, and both will be selected when double clicking on units This is a more experimental change. We have gotten requests over the years to separate the Burrow and Unburrow buttons for Zerg to give greater control over units, similar to how Terran controls the transforming of their Siege Tanks or Liberators. We are looking for feedback on how this feature feels in players’ hands, as it requires a bit of getting used to.
Protoss
Nexus
Nexus Mass Recall renamed to Strategic Recall Mothership’s Strategic Recall renamed to Mass Recall Nexus Strategic Recall cooldown reduced from 130 second to 85 seconds Nexus Strategic Recall radius reduced from 6.5 to 2.5 We want to make Mass Recall a more useful tool for Protoss players to be able to attack early on with small groups of units without necessarily committing to an all-in attack. The greatly lowered radius makes it much less attractive for bringing back large armies, thus making positioning more important when moving with lots of units.
Sentry
Hallucination energy cost reduced from 100 to 75 Guardian Shield radius increased from 4 to 4.5 Currently, Protoss players often rely on Stargate units or Adepts to scout their opponents. Hallucination was more heavily used in the past, before Adepts existed, due to the opening phases of the game being faster and the window to build up energy on a Sentry being much lower. Therefore, decreasing the energy cost for Hallucination should help make it a more attractive scouting option.
Increasing the radius of Guardian Shield is aimed at supporting more modern playstyles. Zealots are a more popular choice now as a core unit, but their Charge often places them outside of a Sentry’s Guardian Shield. This aims to slightly reduce that gap so they more effectively cover larger Gateway-centric armies.
High Templar
Feedback damage reduced from 1 per point of energy drained to 0.5 per point of energy drained When the Ghost’s Snipe ability was changed to Steady Shot, the Ghost lost the ability to instantly kill a High Templar, but Templars remained very lethal to Ghosts. This change should move this relationship to focus more on energy denial/casting rather than outright lethality. Reducing Feedback’s damage also means that Medivacs will also no longer be instantly destroyed, which promotes more multipronged play in late-game scenarios. Against Zerg, this makes Vipers slightly less fragile, which should allow Zerg a few more chances to try and pull apart a Protoss player’s late-game armies.
Robotics Facility
Cost reduced from 200/100 to 150/100 Ideally, this change will reduce the strain on Robotics Facility unit build time. Currently, their cost and position in the Protoss tech tree makes it tricky to afford two of them early on, which is an issue since the four units it can produce are all very important to Protoss mid-game strategies. Since Robotics Facilities are sometimes used in proxy strategies, we will be monitoring this change to see if it makes holding proxies improbable.
Colossus
Added turret tracking
Units with turret tracking functionality continue to face their targets even when not firing. The Siege Tank and Immortal are two examples of units that demonstrate this behavior. With turret tracking, microing a Colossus in battle should feel more rewarding for players and increase the unit’s skill ceiling.
Disruptor
Purification Nova changed back to pre-4.0 state. Purification Nova deploys a ball of energy that will detonate after 2 seconds, dealing 155 damage and an additional 55 shield damage to all ground units in its radius. Purification Nova no longer detonates on contact with enemy units Purification Nova now sends a threat signal to the opponent on detonation instead of during the launch phase Last year, we made a change to the Disruptor to see if it could work better at chipping away at armies over time. The change created a new way to use Purification Nova, but the new Disruptor was less effective at dealing damage to backline units such as Lurkers, as the ability would detonate on melee units screening for them. In some ways, the Disruptor became harder to use, since the possibility of friendly fire was very high once combat with either Zealots or Zerglings was underway. For these reasons, we are reverting to the older version of the Disruptor.
We are also adding one change—the “your units are under attack” signal will happen after Purification Nova detonates on units instead of when it’s deployed. Before, this signal would cause units to immediately attack the Disruptor, which made it appear that your units were walking towards the undetonated Purification Nova, and their own death. This change also brings Purification Nova more in line with other splash effects like Siege Tank attacks and Psionic Storm.
Tempest
Cost reduced from 300/200 to 250/175 Supply reduced from 6 to 5 Hit Points and Shields reduced from 300/150 to 150/125 Speed increased from 2.632 to 3.5 Acceleration increased from 1.4875 to 2.8
We want to keep the Tempest’s identity as a mobile long range weapons platform but give it a number of changes to make it both more interesting to fight against as well as more desirable in maxed-out army situations. At 450 total health, the previous Tempest had one of the highest health-to-cost ratios of all air units. By reducing its overall health, we can emphasize the weakness of the Tempest—overrunning it with numerous smaller units—as well as freeing up design space to make its strengths more interesting.
Increasing speed without reducing damage or range will allow Tempest players to better position their units. This is designed around the idea that the Tempest is a large warship that trades durability for range and speed. Reduction of cost and supply is aimed at feedback we have gotten over time that in late-game scenarios against Zerg, Tempests are not desirable due to their supply and low effectiveness for cost versus targets other than Brood Lords. Against Terrans, Tempests already have a place fighting Battlecruisers, or more commonly, Liberators. After these changes, Tempests will match up well against these targets but will have to be extra careful around Vikings and Thors due to their decreased health pool.
Carrier
Graviton Catapult upgrade removed Hit Points and Shields increased from 250/150 to 300/150 Build time decreased from 86 to 64 seconds Interceptor build time increased from 6 to 11 seconds Interceptor damage decreased from 5x2 to 8x1 Interceptors will get +1x1 per Air Attack upgrade instead of +1x2 For the Carrier, we want to make changes that allow players to show their skill in controlling this powerful capital ship. One of the main pain points with Carrier power is that it is very front-loaded in terms of burst damage. Currently, the Graviton Catapult upgrade allows the Carrier to deploy Interceptors to easily overwhelm the sorts of rapid-firing units that could soft counter it, like Hydralisks and Marines. This makes the interaction between Carrier groups and opponents highly lethal—either kill the Carriers quickly, or be quickly destroyed. By removing the Graviton Catapult upgrade, reducing Interceptor damage, and increasing Carrier hit points, we hope to reduce how immediately lethal Carrier encounters are for both sides.
Increasing Interceptor build time is aimed at making one of the soft counters to Carriers, killing their Interceptors, more reliable. We’re also reducing the Carrier’s build time, partly to offset the increased time it takes for them to come up to full power, since Carriers will still start with four out of eight Interceptors available. Also, since the burst damage of the Carrier is reduced, we have more room to allow them to be produced faster as opponents should be under less pressure to quickly amass their counters.
Mothership
Time Warp now also reduces the attack speed of enemy units and structures by 50% in addition to slowing by 50% Time Warp has remained unchanged since the removal of the Mothership Core. Since the old Time Warp was balanced around being on an early game unit, we wanted to increase the power of this ability to make it better fitting for a high-tech unit. By reducing attack speed this reinforces the ability’s zoning potential. It can also be especially effective against entrenched enemy positions by weakening static defenses without outright killing them.
Shield Battery
Shield Battery Restore will now work on units under the effect of the Phoenix Graviton Beam This will allow Shield Batteries to be more effective against low numbers of Phoenix harass. As a result, Phoenix play will need to be more of a commitment if the opponent builds Shield Batteries.
Assimilator
Health and Shields reduced from 450/450 to 300/300 Lowering the overall life of the Assimilator brings it more in line with Refineries and Extractors.
Gateway
Once Warp Gate research is complete, newly built Gateways will automatically transform into Warp Gates on completion Ideally, once Warp Gate research is done, newly built Gateways are always transformed into Warp Gates. This isn’t the most strategic or mechanics-intensive decision, so we are testing out making it automated.
General
New countdown timer added to the start of matches played in the Testing Matchmaking queue We’ve received feedback that players would like to test the addition of a countdown timer at the beginning of matches. This could help players have a smoother transition from the loading screen to the start of a match by reducing uncertainty about when the game starts. Thus, we’ll be feeling out this change in the Testing Tab.
This is our first pass of changes for our post-BlizzCon update coming in November. As with previous design updates, these changes are balanced towards being more noticeable, with new changes being added or some being removed over the testing period—but that’s where you come in! Starting on Tuesday, you’ll be able to hop into the Testing Matchmaking queue, try out the changes, and let us know what you think. Good luck and have fun!
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By Starym
This patch brings preparations for the War Chest: BlizzCon 2018, which will be available on August 9th and feature a whole lot of new skins, banners and bonus items for other Blizzard games. You can check out the preview of the chest and the rest of the patch notes, which feature a lot of bug fixes focused primarily on co-op, below:
War Chest Season 3 (source)
The next War Chest is arriving soon. Check out the skin trailer we debuted at GSL vs the World.
Below is a collection of all the new loot you can expect for each of the three races.
New Cosmetic: Banners
The third season of the War Chest brings with it a new cosmetic item: banners. Banners are a new way to customize your look in StarCraft II, and are displayed whenever you load into a game in Versus or Co-op. Each War Chest you purchase comes with its own race-specific banner, and if you pick up all three, you’ll also receive the exclusive “random” banner for those that let fate choose their race..
Co-op Boost
Along with all these new items, the War Chest also includes a 50% boost to experience earned when playing Co-op. Unlike previous War Chests, this boost will not be limited to 30 days—it will be active for the entire duration of the War Chest event. This means you’ll have from August 9 until December 6 to level up your favorite commanders.
Bonus Items
Those who purchase the bundle will receive the “random” banner as well as the following items claimable in other Blizzard games.
War Chest: BlizzCon 2018 will be available for purchase starting August 9. You can purchase the race of your choice for $9.99 each, or you can buy the bundle for $24.99.
4.5.0 Patch Notes (source)
General
The War Chest: BlizzCon 2018 has been added in preparation for its global launch on August 9. Over 70 new items will be available including new skins, portraits, sprays, emoticons, and a new cosmetic: banners. Learn more in our preview blog. Bug Fixes
General
The In-game music that plays while not in a match will no longer play over campaign cinematics and cutscenes. Versus
Fixed an issue that caused the Mass Recall and Strategic Recall targeting cursor to not match the actual size of the affected area. Fixed an issue that caused the Anti-Armor timer to appear on the info panel of friendly units. 16-Bit – Increased the brightness of certain areas that appeared too dark on Low graphics settings. Fracture LE – Fixed an issue that caused certain doodads to appear as placeholder spheres in the Editor and missing in the game client. Blueshift LE – Fixed terrain textures that were not aligned with certain mineral deposits. Co-op Missions
Kerrigan – The Hydralisk Den can no longer morph into a Lurker den while it is evolving an upgrade. Nova – Fixed an issue where attempting to immediately unload units after using Tactical Airlift would cause the units to be dropped off in their original location. Cradle of Death Fixed the mineral arrangement for the left main base. Added lights to the ramps leading outside of the center bases to help guide players to the next objective. Fixed more doodads where units could be teleported to and become stuck. Malwarfare – The UI Minimap Icons for Kill Bots and Suppression Towers are no longer the same. Miner Evacuation – Replaced missing environment art. Part and Parcel – Fixed an area of the map where units could be dropped and become stuck. Campaign
Nova Covert Ops Replaced missing environment art on the mission “Night Terrors.” Troopers now benefit from infantry upgrades. The Blazefire Gunblade’s damage is now shown correctly in the info panel. Legacy of the Void – The Swarm Queen now has the correct unit model on the mission “Amon’s Fall.” UI
Zerg melee attack upgrade no longer displays as a blank icon when looking at the Upgrade info panel during a replay. Known Issue
Player Portraits can appear blank or missing when loading a replay. Previous patch notes.
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By Starym
It's time for another anniversary, and this time it's StarCraft 2 that's celebrating with in-game goodies! We're getting a cake profile portrait, double the co-op XP and, most importantly, fireworks and banners upon command center/nexus/hatchery completion! So happy birthday to SC2 and let's get in there and get those great rewards and harvest that XP bonus until July 30th!
8th Anniversary (source)
It’s hard to believe that it’s already been eight years since the release of Wings of Liberty. Eight years of the most amazing esports moments. Eight years of the most passionate and hardest working gamers in the world.
To celebrate our anniversary, we’re giving away a yummy cake portrait to every player who plays one game during the promotion. StarCraft II demands a lot of brainpower so enjoy some sugar while earning ladder points.
In-game, the workers are joining in on the celebration, but instead of wearing hats or stuffing their bodies with glitter, they will proudly fly banners and launch fireworks every time they complete a base structure. Party supply rental fees are costly in the future, however, so the signs will come down after some time.
And finally, as a thank you for everyone who has continued to support StarCraft II, we’re activating a 100% bonus to the base experience gained in Co-op commanders and for leveling up individual races in Versus. Now is a great time to max out Commanders or earn levels for your off races.
The celebration begins today and lasts until July 30 so don’t wait to jump in and celebrate StarCraft II’s birthday. As always, thank you for your continued passion and love for the game.
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By Starym
Not much to say here, as this minor patch changes Kerrigan's Mutalisk upgrade and adds a bunch of bug fixes for co-op missions and versus mode.
4.4.1 (source)
Co-op Missions
Kerrigan’s Mutalisk upgrade Severing Glave has been reworked. Will now remove the damage penalty from each bounce but will no longer increase its damage. No longer provides 100% bonus damage to armored units. Bug Fixes
Co-op Missions
Nova: Fixed the Nuke and Holo Decoy Cooldown Mastery tooltip to correctly read it decreases cooldowns by 3 seconds per point. Raynor: Fixed an issue that caused the Research Resource Cost Mastery to not function correctly. Zagara Fixed an issue that caused Banelings from the Baneling nest and Banelings morphed from Zerglings to not benefit from the Baneling Attack Damage Mastery. Fixed an issue that caused the Scourge’s Virulent Spores upgrade to not function. Dead of Night: Chokers will once again use their choking ability. Cradle of Death Fixed an exploit that allowed Alarak to be unkillable on Cradle of Death. Fixed an issue where units could get transported under Stone’s Transport Compound and become trapped. Stone’s Transport Compound can no longer be cloaked. Fixed several incorrect icons for Co-op units. Versus
The Renegade Missile Turret now has a burning animation. Fixed an issue that sometimes caused Widow Mines using the Special Forces skin to display a slower than normal burrow animation. Removed the ‘Attack’ and ‘Stop’ commands from Pylons in the hotkeys menu. The Anion Pulse Crystals upgrade no longer shows an internal string when using the Wings of Liberty expansion level. A Widow Mine using the Mira’s Marauders skin now shows the burrow particle effect. Previous patch notes.
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