7/1 Patch 14 Notes and Analysis

Patch notes are at the bottom of this post.

Overall, this patch only really affected zerg, and in a small (but not insignificant) way.

The changes to archons makes them easier to warp in in battle, but still doesn't make them a viable unit in anything other than an emergency situation.

The nerf to viking ground damage was to prevent a lot of hard to counter viking play- for example, going into ground form and target firing a hatchery or nexus. 14 straight damage at a high rate of fire is pretty vicious, even for the relatively high viking cost.

The zerg changes really nice (of course! I play zerg... :-) ) and needed in my opinion. The corruptor change wasn't necessary, but the burrowed infestor speed increase (removing the upgrade and giving it to them innately) increases their survivability and promotes more infestor usage.

The combination of tunneling claws with organic carapace is the biggest change by far, turning roaches into a very survivable and cost efficient unit for zerg. Giving them the ability to move while burrowed while increasing their health regen at the same time is huge.

Ultralisks, in the same theme as infestors, were given their upgraded speed for free and had their health increased. Ultralisks with 2.9531 are now the same speed as unupgraded zerglings (2.95), which makes them pretty dangerous on creep. Will this make them viable? Still probably not, but it's a step in the right direction. I just wish Blizzard made it clear exactly what they wanted us to do with ultralisks. They're too expensive to be used as cannon fodder and don't do enough damage and have too large a collision size to make for good DPS. I can see them being used in flanking maneuvers with even more effectiveness because of the speed boost (bonus damage to structures and AoE damage will make killing workers and expansions a quick job, not to mention being able to beat out most units in the same in small numbers) but that's a huge gas and time investment for something that can be done really well by a small pack of speedlings.

A friend of mine pointed out that you can use ultralisks to realistically bust forcefields now with their speed upgrade and the recent massive unit patch, which is something I'm considering trying. Force fields in the late game are brutal.

Balance Changes

• PROTOSS
  • Archon
    • Build time decreased from 17 to 12.

• TERRAN
  • Viking
    • Ground damage decreased from 14 to 12.

• ZERG
  • Corruptor
    • Corruption energy cost decreased from 100 to 75.
  • Infestor
    • Burrowed move speed increased from 1 to 2.
    • Peristalsis upgrade removed.
  • Overlord/Overseer
    • Pneumatized Carapace cost increased from 50/50 to 100/100.
  • Overseer
    • Infested Terran energy cost decreased from 125 to 100.
  • Roach
    • Organic Carapace upgrade removed.
    • Tunneling Claws now also increases burrowed regeneration rate from 5 to 10.
  • Ultralisk
    • Anabolic Synthesis upgrade removed.
    • Health increased from 450 to 500.
    • Speed increased from 2.25 to 2.9531.