Note: As of Nov 3, 2024, there are further updates to the 1.11 PTR. They will be tested through the coming weekend, and be pushed to the official live version before the SEL Fall Championship. Please see just below the introductory paragraph for the latest changes.

Evo Complete Extension Update 1.11 PTR

Hello to all SC: Evo Complete fans,

We have a small but ambitious patch to alleviate some balance concerns and diversify the options of the Brood War races.

This update is planned to be finalized and made official ahead of the upcoming $1,100 SEL Fall Championship 2024.

As this is a PTR, many of these changes are experimental. Please reach out to us in the #extension-feedback channel on the Project Koprulu Discord server to share your thoughts on the balance of the changes, as well as whether or not they achieve the goals described herein.

Before we proceed with the changes, we once again would like thank our generous sponsors to enabling our work here. If you would like to support us, you can give us a one-time donation on PayPal or a recurring contribution on Patreon:

Balance Changes - Part 2 (Nov 3, 2024)

Additional goals for this patch:

• Adjust the Medic buffs from the first part of 1.11 PTR
• Slightly tone down the Battlecruiser
• Revert changes from previous patches to the overtuned Hydralisk
• Further alleviate BW Protoss weakness against SC2 Protoss

Please note: these changes are IN ADDITION TO the changes from the first part of the 1.11 PTR. Except where stated otherwise, none of those changes have been reverted.

Medic

• Decreased Medic Heal range: 4 -> 3
• Decreased Caduceus Reactor research time: 80 -> 65

The Medic changes appear to have had the intended effect, but perhaps overly so. Stimpack timings became too easy to execute with the new Heal range. However, we still think BW Terran Biological armies need some help.

To fix this, we are reverting the Heal range increase. We are also trying to introduce more opening variety by hastening the Caduceus Reactor upgrade.

Battlecruiser

• Increased Battlecruiser attack period: 1.125 -> 1.175

Unlike the SC2 Battlecruiser, the BW Battlecruiser is more effective against high-armor units like the Corruptor and the Ultralisk due to its higher damage per hit. This appears to be a little too strong, so we would like to compensate by slightly reducing the Battlecruiser’s attack speed.

• Increased Sunken Colony attack period: 2 -> 2.125
• Decreased Sunken Colony HP: 350 -> 325
• Decreased Spore Colony attack range: 8.5 -> 8

Hydralisk

• Decreased Hydralisk attack period: 0.938 -> 1.0312

In previous patches, BW Zerg received numerous buffs to shore up its earlygame defense, which included combat buffs to the Hydralisk, Sunken Colony, and Spore Colony. We think that these changes were highly successful. Even recently, the Hydralisk received a QoL/design rework in the form of a hitscan attack more closely resembling its original counterpart.

Unfortunately, these changes were too effective in hindsight. In particular, they turned the Hydralisk into an overwhelming generalist that is too strong and too easy to use in almost any situation.

BW Zerg earlygame optimization and midgame tech (namely, Spire and Lurkers) have come a long way since the days of the Chzzk Cup. Therefore, we think these changes are warranted to help reintroduce some weakness into the BW Zerg earlygame. (In particular, we chose to nerf the attack period and HP of the Sunken Colony because its damage-per-hit and range are essential to defending against Banelings and cannon rushes, respectively.)

These changes will also limit the Hydralisk’s aggressive potential. We are aware that the Hydralisk will likely remain one of the most versatile units in the game, and will continue to keep an eye on it as we also look for ways to adjust BW Zerg elsewhere.

Reaver

• Reaver attack damage: 100 -> 105 (+50 vs Shields)
• Scarab Damage upgrade damage bonus: 25 -> 20 (+35 vs Shields)

While we think that the Stargate changes previously implemented in this PTR cycle were woefully needed, we also think they are not enough to fix the matchup on their own. Overall, a lack of mobility forces BW Protoss to play passively against SC2 Protoss, biding time in the midgame while amassing a powerful lategame army. However, being relegated to defense is tough for them, because losing or retreating from a single large fight near an expansion almost assuredly means losing the expansion. Therefore, they need more power in frontal engagements.

The new Reaver damage is intended to be much more effective against SC2 Protoss against all stages of the game.

• Before Scarab Damage research, most SC2 Gateway units will die in 1 direct hit and Stalkers can be finished off by an attack from any other combat unit.
• After Scarab Damage research, Stalkers and Disruptors will die in 1 direct hit, Archons (and Immortals with Barrier on cooldown) will die in 2 direct hits, and Immortals and Colossi will die in 3 direct hits (assuming the Immortal’s Barrier absorbs the first hit).

The Reaver’s base damage was also slightly increased to help overcome base armor on SC2 Protoss units. This ensures that the Reaver maintains the same number of attacks to kill SC2 Protoss units throughout the game, even after Level 3 Ground Armor and Shields research. The additional 5 base damage should not meaningfully affect damage the number of hits to kill units in other matchups, and this amount was subtracted from the Scarab Damage base damage bonus to avoid one-shotting units like unstimmed Marauders.

Balance Changes - Part 1 (Oct 30, 2024)

Please note: All time values are in Normal Speed

Goals for this patch:

• Improve BW Terran’s defense against SC2 Protoss Stargate builds, especially against very forward proxy Stargates
• Improve the strength of BW Terran Biological play against SC2 Zerg
• Alleviate the impotence of lategame BW Zerg armies
• Generally, make the Stargate a more viable alternative or secondary opening tech option in all matchups
• Specifically, address numerous BW Protoss weaknesses against SC2 Protoss by enabling the Stargate to be useful through each phase of the game

• Decreased Engineering Bay build time: 35 -> 30
• Decreased Armory build time: 55 -> 50

This is expected to slightly ease defending against Stargate builds by hastening access to Missile Turrets and Goliaths.

Medic

• Decreased Caduceus Reactor research cost: 100/100 -> 50/50
• Increased Heal HP per energy: 2 -> 2.5
• Increased Heal range: 3 -> 4

We noticed that BW Terran Biological armies tend to require a very large number of Medics, not only to fight but also to safely retreat.

These changes are aimed at ensuring Biological armies deplete their healing more slowly. Alternatively, one can opt to produce fewer Medics and more Marines. This is especially useful for timing attacks.

Increased Heal range further increases the forgiveness of using Medics; in niche circumstances, Medics can help bodyblock against Roaches while staying in range to heal Marines attacking those Roaches.

Dropship

• Decreased cost: 100/75 -> 100/25

Currently, BW Terran Biological armies are reliant on large numbers of Siege Tanks to defend against almost any SC2 Zerg ground force, especially masses of Roaches. The sheer cost of such forces, as well as the expensive transition into Science Vessels, spare little Vespene gas to be used elsewhere.

This buff aims to utilize spare Starport production time, allowing BW Terran to generate additional threats on the map. This should be the most impactful against SC2 Zerg, as they typically have little need to defend against early-midgame drops and multi-prong aggression otherwise. The mere possibility of Dropship play should be enough to force the production of a few Spore Crawlers when they would otherwise be ommitted.

Although the new Dropship costs practically no Vespene gas, it is still a rather sluggish unit, and large armies trapped in Dropships are prone to camping units underneath and being shot out of the sky outright. Moreover, BW Terran must eventually transition into Science Vessels in this matchup. Therefore, as mass Dropship play is highly committal, we expect no more than 1-2 to be used at a time in most games.

Devourer

• Increased armor: 2 -> 3
• Increased base damage: 20.25 {+1.5/upgrade} -> 22.5 {+2.25/upgrade}
  • Damage vs Armored: 27 {+2/upgrade} -> 30 {+3/upgrade}
• Increased HP: 250 -> 275

Lategame BW Zerg armies are somewhat impotent. The combination of Guardians, Queens, Defilers, and Lurkers is sufficient against ground forces, but Devourers are pitifully underwhelming for leading the charge against airborne adversaries.

These buffs are intended to improve the Devourer’s effectiveness, without altering its identity as a medium-speed, debuffer-tank support unit. In particular, it is now able to survive 2 uses of the SC2 Ghost’s Steady Targeting.

Its new damage-per-hit also aids it in hit-and-run maneuvers; these changes mean that 10 Devourers, just 1 more than is needed to apply the maximum level of Acid Spores in one attack, are now able to kill a Tempest in one attack, down from 12 (assuming Level 2 upgrades all around).

• Decreased Stargate cost: 150/150 -> 150/100
• Decreased Fleet Beacon cost: 250/200 -> 200/150
• Increased Arbiter Tribunal cost: 200/150 -> 250/200

Scout

• Increased Scout anti-ground attack period: 1.6875 -> 1.875
• Increased Scout anti-ground damage: 9 {+1/upgrade} -> 10 {+1/upgrade} (+5 vs Shields)

Carrier

• Increased Carrier Capacity research cost: 100/100 -> 250/250

Currently, BW Protoss has a few problems in the SC2 Protoss matchup:

• BW Protoss lacks a good way to deal with Warp Prisms.
  • It is too difficult to know if a Warp Prism is empty or full, since reliable scouting info can only be acquired from the Observer. However, Robotics Facility production time is at a premium, and the Observatory is an inconvenient prerequisite, however cheap it is.
  • A couple Dragoons are insufficient to fight a single Warp Prism with full cargo, but a hasty rotation of more Dragoons can be brutally punished by Force Fields.
• SC2 Protoss has better scouting and worker harassment options.
  • BW Protoss can respond with Reaver drops, but they are often too important for defense, and a lack of Recall makes such harassment highly committal.
• After enduring earlygame aggression, BW Protoss needs tools to take better engagements against SC2 Protoss.

These sweeping changes are intended to improve the overall viability of Stargate play, and particularly address the above weaknesses:

• The new Scout is now able to kill Probes in 3 hits, rather than 5. This should be enough to force the production of Shield Batteries on the side of SC2 Protoss where they were previously not needed.
  • The Scout can be used to hunt down Warp Prisms. It is also a bit stronger against the ground forces which could be dropped by a Warp Prism.
• The cheaper Fleet Beacon enables easier access to Disruption Web research, allowing Corsairs to come into play in the midgame.
  • Disruption Web is ideal for use against SC2 Protoss armies, which are more sensitive to losing their concaves than their Terran and Zerg counterparts. Stalkers which Blink forward to avoid Disruption Webs are susceptible to being annihilated by Dragoons and Reavers.
• The cost increases to the Arbiter Tribunal and the Carrier Capacity upgrade compensate for cheaper Stargates to ensure Arbiter and Carrier transitions are not significantly less expensive.