StarCraft 2 is getting a new update in November 2024

Key conclusions

• StarCraft 2 gets a community update after 9 months, maintaining a continuous competitive scene for 14 years.
• The new update focuses on multiplayer balancing, making changes to all three races to improve gameplay.

Hit strategy in real time Starcraft 2 received a new update almost 9 months after the last balance changes. Starcraft 2 has received constant support from its community and developer Blizzard for almost 14 years, since the game was first released in 2010.

With an active scene stretching back to the original title in 1998, StarCraft is arguably one of the longest-running major competitive gaming communities. StarCraft's community has endured several re-releases of the game over the years, and in the process became one of the pioneers of the competitive esports gaming scene. Meanwhile, support for Starcraft 2 is turning 14 StarCraft 2: Wings of Freedom launched in July 2010. Despite the fact that developer Blizzard has officially stopped developing content Starcraft 2 in 2020, the game received regular balance adjustments and bug fixes, in part led by a community-driven board dedicated to keeping the game's current competitive scene healthy.

This Community Balance Council just released a new patch for the game. Wrapping up after several weeks of testing via public test servers, the latest patch notes for Starcraft 2 changes in the details of the game as it is updated to version 5.0.14. Completely focused on multiplayer and does not affect the story campaign Starcraft 2 custom campaigns, the patch notes cover adjustments that affect all three playable factions in the game.

The new StarCraft 2 update brings changes to all 3 races

New Starcraft 2 The 5.0.14 patch notes discuss a series of balance-related changes. The changes affect units in all three StarCraft game races, potentially changing the quality of various matches. Of particular concern is the competitiveness of the popular Starcraft 2 Zerg vs. Protoss units that got a general buff. However, the Council noted that the “extensive testing” needed to fully assess the impact of the changes on Protoss would significantly delay the release of the patch. As a result, the Council has decided not to continue with the “experimental” changes to the Zerg and will instead monitor Zerg vs. Protoss matchups going forward.

Other changes are more divisive, notably the increase in the supply cost of iconic Terran ghosts StarCraft special forces unit. According to the patch notes, the members of the Balance Council were not “in full agreement” about the changes, but since the changes were “desired by the community” they will move forward despite complaints from Terran pro players. Terran vs. Zerg vs. Protoss encounters will be closely monitored in competitive environments after 5.0.14.

It's nice to see long-standing support for the same old community-driven game Starcraft 2. In an age where games with a live service component can shut down months or even weeks after launch, it's nice to know that developers and community members can be committed to keeping a game going for more than a decade. Support also serves as a good omen Starcraft 2potential future prospects, especially in light of rumors of a new StarCraft shooter in development.

StarCraft 2 Update 5.0.14 Patch Notes

Protoss vs Terran early game

Community Board Comment: We feel that the Energy Recharge ability has found its place in protoss builds and has been very useful for scouting and defense in a variety of scenarios. With a few minor tweaks below, we believe the current set of Protoss and Terran changes is an overall improvement in early game stability for Protoss compared to the previous patch.

Nexus

• Shield Battery range from full power increased from 10 to 12 (max distance to nearest Nexus).
• Energy Recharge range increased from 10 to 12 (maximum distance to nearest Nexus).

Community Board Comment: The increased range will allow protoss players to be more flexible in placing their shield batteries while defending their bases and expanding into new locations without increasing the offensive capabilities of the shield batteries.

Other changes

Mother ship

• Model size returned (increased) to patch 5.0.11 values.

Ultralisk

• Model size returned (increased) to patch 5.0.10 values.

Community Board Comment: We would like to continue to monitor the community's feedback on the identity of these powerful units. The Mothership is back to its original power level, and its size increase to 5.0.11 fits this change perfectly. This tweak may also help a bit with the focus of unit fire in Zerg vs Protoss matchups where Abduct is no longer a counter. For the Ultralisk, the original idea behind reducing its size was to minimize the instances where it would lag behind other allied units, this issue has now been addressed with the hit priority change included in this patch.

Deleted changes

• Thor Explosive Payload weapon changes removed.

Community Board Comment: We've received feedback from both Terran and non-racial players that they didn't feel positive about this change, as it didn't open up any new playstyles, but negatively affected existing ones. While we still see potential in Thor's tweaks, this block will remain unchanged from 5.0.13 in a future patch.

Late game concern

Ghost nerf

Community Council Comment: We heard serious concerns from many Terran pro players about the Ghost nerf, and the Balance Council members did not reach full agreement on this change. However, we also believe it was the community's desire to continue with these changes, so we'd like to move forward with the Ghost supply nerf for 5.0.14 while continuing to closely monitor its effects in both Terran vs. Zerg and Terran vs. Protoss matchups.

Zerg vs Protoss

Community Council Comment: With the mothership no longer able to be hijacked and the overall late game protoss army being boosted after the Tempest change, we are concerned about the potential late game state of zerg vs protoss at various levels of the game. We have received suggestions for some experimental changes to address this issue, but they will require extensive testing, which will significantly delay the release of the patch. Therefore, we will not be pursuing any experimental changes at this time and will be closely monitoring the state of this matchup in the future.

Full updated changelog

shuffled

Nexus

• Shield Battery max range starting at full energy increased from 10 to 12.
• Battery overcharge removed.
• New Ability: Energy Recharge (50 energy / 60 second cooldown)
• Recharges 100 energy to any unit or structure within 12 radius of Nexus.

Shield battery

• Shields/HP increased from 150/150 to 200/200.

Stalker

• Train time from Gateway reduced from 30 seconds to 27 seconds.

Colossus

• Shields/HP changed from 150/200 to 100/250.

A storm

• Supply cost reduced from 5 to 4.
• vs air attack reduced from 14 to 13.

Immortal

• Price reduced from 275/100 to 250/100.
• Weapon reload time increased from 1.04 to 1.14.

Destroyer

• Radius of Purification Nova increased from 1.375 to 1.5.
• Purification Nova damage reduced from 145 (200 vs. shields) to 100 (200 vs. shields).

Mother ship

• Price increased from 300/300 to 400/400.
• Delivery cost increased from 6 to 8.
• Mothership can now no longer be targeted by Abduct.
• Damage increased from 6×6 to 6x4x4 (36 damage against 1 target to 24 damage against 4 targets each).
• Model size returned (increased) to patch 5.0.11 values.

Terran

Cyclone

• Reverted to patch 5.0.11 Cyclone.

Salvation

• Damage now cancels the save process.
• The save timer is now visible to enemies.

Planetary Fortress

• Armor reduced from 3 to 2.

Sensory tower

• Price reduced from 125/100 to 100/50.
• Radar range reduced from 27 to 22.
• Now you can save.

Orbital command

• Summons: Additional supplies increase the current/max health of the target supply depot to 500.

Ghost

• Shipping cost increased from 2 to 3.

Zerg

Queen

• Price increased from 150/0 to 175/0.

Incubation shop

• Price reduced from 300/0 to 275/0.

Spore Crawler

• Damage increased from 15 to 20.
• Health reduced from 400 to 300.

Hydrolisk

• Crawl speed bonus reduced from 1.03 to 0.74.
• New Research: Nanomuscle Swelling (Explores New Lunge Ability)
• Cost: 100/100, 64 seconds. Requires Hive.
• Dash ability (previously known as Rush) increases movement speed by 100% for 0.71 seconds.

Infector

• Microbial Shour now lasts 3.6 seconds on units leaving the Savannah.

Ultralisk

• Ally push priority increased from 0 to 1 (now pushes allies out of the way when moving).
• Anabolic Synthesis movement speed bonus reduced from 0.82 to 0.57.
• Model size returned (increased) to patch 5.0.10 values.

Correcting errors and changing the quality of life

• The Orbital Command Scanner Sweep visual now uses the command color.
• The Command Center, Nexus, and Hatchery now automatically move to mineral deposits.
• Workers waiting for a refinery, extractor, or assimilator to finish are not considered idle.
• Random SCV delay between traffic during construction adjusted from 3.57-7.14 to 4.64-6.07 (same average).
• Added an icon to the command card for Infestor, Hellion, Hellbat that shows passive upgrades that have not been updated.
• Siege Tank and Immortal tracking change from previous patch is reversed due to unintentional retargeting.
• Fixed an issue where the blinding cloud caused some melee units to cancel attacks more easily.
• Fixed an issue where the Blinding Cloud could cause Planetaries to not attack with melee units at certain angles.
• Fixed an issue with issuing orders for certain types of rocks in the fog.
• Fixed an issue with the animation speed of Changeling fans moving.
• Changed Hydralisk's movement animation speed to match its actual movement speed.
• Fixed an issue where Gravaton Beam could be canceled within 0.04 seconds of being applied by teleport/transport abilities.
• Fixed an issue where Lurker's attack could be canceled if the target leaves range/dies and there are no other units in attack range.
• Fixed an issue with Cyclone's maximum block range.