Enter Pulsar Beam, Time Warp and Envision: the new toys in the protoss arsenal, aimed to make aforementioned spellcasters even more versatile.
Protoss
Oracle
The Phase Shield and Entomb abilities have been removed.
This unit has a new ability called Pulsar Beam.
- The Oracle channels a beam at an enemy structure that deals 25 damage every second.
- 2 mana is drained per second from the Oracle while this ability is channeled.
- This ability has a range of 5.
This unit has a new ability called Time Warp.
- The Oracle creates a temporal field that slows all ground units’ movement speed within a 3.5 radius by 50%.
- This ability costs 75 energy to cast
- This ability can be cast from 9 range.
Oracle build time has decreased from 60 to 35 seconds.
Tempest
Damage has been increased from 25 to 30.
The +massive damage bonus no longer requires an upgrade at the Fleet Beacon.
+Massive damage has been decreased from 35 to 30.
Mothership Core
This unit has a new ability called Envision.
- This ability grants the Mothership Core detection for 30 seconds.
- This ability costs 50 energy to cast.
- This ability grants detection within the Mothership Core’s sight range (14).
The Purify ability no longer grants detection to the Nexus.
The Purify ability has been renamed to “Photon Overcharge”.
Zerg
Ultralisk
The speed of Burrow Charge has been increased from 2.25 to 3.75.
Viper
The duration of Blinding Cloud has been increased from 10 to 14 seconds.
Spine Crawler
This unit now completely blocks pathing when placed next to other structures, including other Spine Crawlers.
Zerglings and other small units can no longer squeeze in between Spine Crawlers.
The scale of this unit has been increased from 0.85 to 0.95.
Terran
Hellion
Transformation to Hellbat no longer requires an upgrade and is enabled once an Armory is built.
The reasons behind those changes? In his regular after-patch forum post, David Kim gives detailed explanation about the thought process behind the new abilities and how they are designed to make a unit interesting and difficult to use (Oracle) or introduce build order diversity (Mothership Core as additional detector option).
We’ve received a lot of community and pro-player feedback on the Oracle, some of which we totally agree with. In particular, we felt that the following feedback was spot on:
1. The Oracle was a unit that didn’t allow players to show much differentiation in skill. Entomb was its main spell, and it made little difference whether it was a Silver or Master level player casting this ability.
2. Entomb wasn’t a fun spectator spell because there were no varying degrees of success; it was either cast or not cast.
3. The Oracle didn’t add much to the army when it was done harassing the enemy’s base.
In response, we’re taking a different direction with the Oracle. We’ve tried many different abilities for this unit and have come up with two that we think are a step in the right direction – Pulsar Beam and Time Warp.
We believe that Pulsar Beam solves issues 1 and 2. Even in internal testing, we’re seeing a crystal clear difference when a Master level player uses it versus when a platinum player uses it, and there are always different degrees of success depending on how well the player uses it and how well the opponent counters it. For the last ability, we want a spell that does two main things: allows the Oracle to join the army and affect the battle, and help improve Pulsar Beam harassment. We feel Time Warp does both of these things.
1. The Oracle was a unit that didn’t allow players to show much differentiation in skill. Entomb was its main spell, and it made little difference whether it was a Silver or Master level player casting this ability.
2. Entomb wasn’t a fun spectator spell because there were no varying degrees of success; it was either cast or not cast.
3. The Oracle didn’t add much to the army when it was done harassing the enemy’s base.
In response, we’re taking a different direction with the Oracle. We’ve tried many different abilities for this unit and have come up with two that we think are a step in the right direction – Pulsar Beam and Time Warp.
We believe that Pulsar Beam solves issues 1 and 2. Even in internal testing, we’re seeing a crystal clear difference when a Master level player uses it versus when a platinum player uses it, and there are always different degrees of success depending on how well the player uses it and how well the opponent counters it. For the last ability, we want a spell that does two main things: allows the Oracle to join the army and affect the battle, and help improve Pulsar Beam harassment. We feel Time Warp does both of these things.
Source: Battle.net
