There's been a new patch for StarCraft 2 from Blizzard, and you might think after 16 years there isn't much the studio can do to truly disrupt the game or its community. Well, you'd be wrong, because a tweak in the latest update is sending shockwave through the player base right now.
The alterations listed are based around both Proton and Terran against Zerg, and there aren't all that many. "We are making changes based on player data and feedback," writes Blizzard in the intro. And right at the top of the Terran list is the biggie: Command Centers now cost 300 minerals instead of 400.
This is rather significant, because it's the main strategic hub of the Terran forces, presenting quite a lot of strategic value for a comparatively low price. The immediate comparison is to Supply Depots, which are 100 minerals, because although Command Centers are still three times more, you get 15 supply. Building one much earlier in a round is a no-brainer, and you can make a bunch of them later with considerable ease.
"This is the most impactful change that we've had in StarCraft 2 since Legacy of the Void," StarCraft 2 YouTuber Harstem says in a video going through the patch. "This is such an insanely big buff to Terran."
To him, this will impact the early, middle and late stages of any confrontation, because of how it subsumes Supply Depots as a choice now. He echoes the sentiments of many fans. "Might be a way to fix Terran early game economy but ultra late game will be even more broken," one Redditor observes.
"Holy [fuck] what are they doing in Anaheim," another incredulously asks. "I feel like this was an accident," a third commenter on Reddit says.
This is very much the kind of change that gets tempered post-rollout, because it's either an error, or the impact is greater than the devs anticipated. One player tells the community to make use of it while it's available. "That shit is 100% getting reverted. Gotta abuse it while you can!" they exclaim. I don't think they're wrong.
