PC StarCraft II: Heart of the Swarm

[Setzer Gabbiani]

StarCraft II: Heart of the Swarm Details

Announced planets and characters

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Blizzard Entertainment unveiled two planets from their upcoming StarCraft II expansion pack together with a list of characters who will appear within a story of the expansion pack.

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Planet Char

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Char is one of those planets that are still hosts to a vast number of zerg hives. Kerrigan has to return to Char to reunite and lead the force of Swarm. For beggining, she needs to gather all of the hidden eggs and return them to the spawning pools so her army quickly grows in numbers. But as always, Kerrigan has problem since she needs to face a rogue queen that tries to do same as Kerrigan does and unite the hive under her own.

Planet Kaldir

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Kaldir is one of those planets that can wear a tag of being the one of most extreme environments in the galaxy. It is an extremely cold place with frequent flash freezes that make this place one of the most inhospitable worlds in the Koprulu sector. Desipite all these facts, zergs did infest it and Kerrigan aims to send her Swarm to Kaldir so they learn how to deal with extreme cold. Together with learning how to adapt to the extreme conditions, Swarm has a goal to find out what happened to the lost brood.

Characters of StarCraft II: Heart of the Swarm Expansion

Kerrigan

The former Queen of Blades has lost her powers, and without her guidance, the zerg Swarm is in disarray. Kerrigan must find a way to restore her strength and regain control of the Swarm.

Jim Raynor

He risked everything to bring back the woman he loved, and against all odds, Raynor succeeded. However, Jim Raynor’s trials and tribulations are far from over.

Arcturus Mengsk

The emperor of the Terran Dominion almost succeeded in eliminating his greatest enemy. Now that Kerrigan has been weakened, Mengsk is sure to try to tie up this loose end once and for all.

Izsha

In earlier times, the Queen of Blades stored her thoughts and plans in the zerg creature called Izsha. Now the creature serves as an advisor and a source of information to Sarah Kerrigan.

Abathur

A one-of-a-kind zerg creature, cobbled together from different genetics, Abathur is a genius at manipulating DNA and mutagen to modify the Swarm.

Za’gara

A very intelligent type of queen known as a Brood Mother, Za'gara seeks to take over the Swarm in the absence of the Queen of Blades.

http://www.gamersbook.com/scene/news/starcraft-ii-heart-of-the-swarm-details/

 

[Noize]

Oho? And here i was thinking Kerrigan's role was over when Raynor rescued her.

This exp should be awesome, The zerg always were a pretty resourceful race to play!

 

[Setzer Gabbiani]

StarCraft II: Heart of the Swarm Evolution Chamber And Battle Focus Details

An introduction to Evolution Chamber and Battle Focus and all the features those mechaics have to offer in the upcoming StarCraft II expansion pack.

Evolution Chamber

In case you have played StarCraft II: Wings of Liberty, then you are introduced to the mechanics of armory. In Heart of the Swarm expansion pack, Zerg version of armory will be called Evolution Chamber where new units will be unlocked during the campaign play and upgraded with various of bonus features. Currency that is spent in the evolution chamber is mutagen and is acquired during the missions by completing various goals and objectives. In the current version of the game, 6 mutagens are required to fully upgrade a unit while there are total of three upgrades available for each of them.

Zergling

Metabolic Boost – Movement speed increased by 33%.
Posthumous Mitosis – A 20% chance of after dying to spawn 2 broodlings.
Rapid Genesis – Zerglings are trained instantly.

Evolution:

Swarmling – Hatches three swarmlings instead of two zerglings, the third comes at no extra cost.
Raptor - +10 HP, and leaps into battle.

Notes: While the swarmling does not cost extra minerals, it does take up food. A raptor’s leap is similar to a zealot charge, and while it does not explicitly state a cooldown, it does in fact have an internal cooldown. The wings attained through metabolic boost are smaller and less visible, only after evolution does it appear completely. The swarmling’s wings are a slight neon green, while a raptor changes its whole body color to a purple/pink texture.

Roach

Chitinous Plating - +1 armor.
Bile Ducts – +2 damage.
Organic Carapace – Health regeneration increased by 2

Evolution:

Prowler – Enables burrow movement.
Leech – Every unit killed gains the leech 10 HP (up to a maximum of 60). Also, Health regeneration increased.

Notes:The prowler is no different than a fully upgraded roach in WoL. Take note that each second evolved unit listed here is a recolor of the first. A leech has a purple tint to the regular brown of a roach.

Baneling

Viscous Discharge – Upon impact, slows the target by 25%.
Centrifugal Hooks – Movement speed is increased by 25%.
Rupture – Splash radius increased by 25%.

Evolution:

Splitterling – The baneling now splits into smaller explosive units when killed.
Gorgeling – After exploding, the gorgeling returns a sum of minerals and gas on the floor.

Notes: The splitterling breaks into two twice in its lifetime. Big (40HP/20dmg) becomes Medium (20HP/10dmg), and then becomes Small (10HP/5dmg). The gorgeling is basically a purple/pink baneling, and the minerals/gas are automatically granted through impact.

Battle Focus

Battle Focus is the main menu screen where player can customize Kerrigan's abilities. This is a place where all the mentioned RPG elements of HotS that were announced by Blizzard Entertainment can be seen. You can see Kerrigan's stats, specialization, skills and other. Player gains skills and stats by obtatining an infestation level. Once Kerrigan obtains enough points, she levelups and gains extra HP, energy, armor and additional damage. Two various battle focuses are currently available to Kerrigan, Spec Ops and Corruption.

Spec Ops (+50 Energy)

Pulse
Energy Cost: 50
Cooldown: 10 seconds
Description: Deals light damage to all targets in a 2.5 tiles radius. Also stuns the units for 3 seconds.

Psionic Shadow
Energy Cost: 50
Cooldown: 30 seconds
Description: Kerrigan creates a Psionic Shadow of herself that deals half damage.

Infested Cortex (Unlockable)
Energy Cost: Passive
Description: Grants Kerrigan an additional maximum of 50 energy.

Corruption (+3 Armor)

Corrosive Spores
Energy Cost: 50
Cooldown: 10 seconds
Description: Target all units in a 2.5 tiles radius, all units receive an additional 3 damage. Lasts 15 seconds.

Spawn Broodlings
Energy Cost: 50
Cooldown: 10 seconds
Description: Kills the target. The target spawns 5 broodlings upon death. Massive/Heroic units are immune.

http://www.gamersbook.com/scene/new...m-evolution-chamber-and-battle-focus-details/

StarCraft II: Heart of the Swarm Gameplay Trailer Easter Egg

Within the trailer, this hidden screenshot was caught around 10-11 second of the movie.

Hello everyone, something very strange and odd I noticed today while watching official StarCraft II: Heart of the Swarm gameplay video. As it seems, once you get yourself to the link submitted above, click to play a movie and start hitting space to pause frame by frame (around 10-11 second) within the trailer.

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In case you have some video editing software to export frames it will be even easier. Anyway, once you do so, you will find one easter eggish-frame where you can see face of two Blizzard Entertainment employees. Are they trying to reveal something and is something else hidden within the movie? To be honest I didn' check yet, but if you find something, please let us know!

http://www.gamersbook.com/scene/news/starcraft-ii-heart-of-the-swarm-gameplay-trailer-easter-egg/

 

[DyingBreed]

I am really waiting forward to this. I actually preordered it from Gamestop as soon as it was possible.

I loved the single player campaign in Wings Of Liberty. It was great to be able to choose which mission to take and try to predict what new unit would come most handy in future missions. But the best part was the money and upgrade system. In most RTS games I've played there is no use to do the side quests and missions because only thing you would get was "mission 100% completed". In SC2 you would gain money and be able to buy upgrades to help you out to beat the game on BRUTAL! Also I actually enjoyed the story!

Something about Heart Of The Swarm: Zerg is my favourite race and I enjoy playing them online. I'm actually better with Protoss and Terran but Zerg are still my favourite. Entire Zerg campaign must be really interesting and new upgrades sound pretty neat. I'm wondering if HotS will change the multiplayer in any way. Adding even one new unit to the mix would mean thousands of hours of testing to get it balanced with old units.

Hopefully they won't upgrade the graphics because my computer can barely run Wings Of Liberty

 

[Setzer Gabbiani]

BlizzCon 2011: SCII: Heart of the Swarm panels reveal new and existing unit changes

During a StarCraft II panel at BlizzCon, game director Dustin Browder, balance designer David Kim, and senior designer Josh Menke discussed some of the new units included in the expansion, as well as changes being implemented to existing units, and revealed which units would be retired from service.

New units, balancing

Browder started the panel off discussing online balance as well as the aforementioned new multiplayer units in Heart of the Swarm.

When the team looked at balancing, it took many things into consideration, such as the differences between light and heavy play, and which style was most prevalent in certain regions. For example, in Korea, the Terran has an advantage over Protoss, while in Europe, it’s the Zerg which has the advantage.

As far as the Zerg’s concerned, Kim said the Zerg have trouble countering a well-entrenched players early in the game. With this, the team decided to retire the Overseer and replace it with the Viper, which is basically a Zerg spellcaster unit.

With the new units, Browder started off discussing the Terran faction units, along with voicing his disappointment with the performance of the Thor, and there not being an option to counter a Protoss late Zealot rush when the charge ability is being used.

However, he said since the Terrans have enough gameplay options, the team didn’t want to give them any extras. So instead, the Hellion will gain a transformation ability.

When the ability is used, the Hellion transforms from fast and lithe, into a slow and tough Battle Hellion.

Shredders, will put out radiation which will cause continuous damage to units near it, but will shut off when an ally is within radiation distance. Warhounds are a faster, smaller version of the Thor which operates as an anti-mech unit. It can be put to best use against Terran or Protoss vehicles in the air or on the ground, and will allow the Thor to become more of a role unit with better damage output.

Players will also be limited to one Thor at a time.
Here is a list of the unit changes coming with Heart of the Swarm, courtesy of GameFront:

• Shredder – When deployed will deal 20 damage per second to anything with it’s range. If any of your units (other than shredders) are near this unit, the field will not be deployed. In mobile form, the Shredder has no attack, but when set to stationary mode, it channels area-effect damage to both the air and ground. If a friendly unit enters the range of the Shredder, the weapon shuts off.

• Hellion Battle Mode -When transformed, the Hellion will gain in hit points and get a stronger flame attack that covers a short arc in front of it. This makes the Hellion more effective in late-game fights against large clusters of light units such as Zealots

• Warhound – A small, walking ground mech that wields an effective anti-air weapon with splash damage, much like the Thor from Wings of Liberty. The Warhound is smaller and much more nimble, though it gives up some range on its anti-air missiles in exchange for this mobility. The Warhound also wields a small ground attack weapon that does additional damage to mechanical units, making it particularly well suited to taking out enemy Siege Tanks. It’s not particularly effective against non-mechanical units.

• Viper – An armored, biological flying unit with three unique abilities. Blinding Cloud temporarily reduces the attack range of all ground units inside the cloud to melee range, and prevents energy-based abilities from being used. Abduct allows the Viper to physically pull a unit to the Viper’s location. Finally, the Viper has a one-time ability called Ocular Parasite, which allows it to detach its eye stalk and meld it onto any friendly, non-massive unit, turning that unit into a detector.

• Swarm Host – Slow moving, armored biological ground unit without a standard attack. When burrowed, the Swarm Host spawns a continuous stream of slow-moving melee units called Locusts (limited lifespan) that can be used to lay siege and pressure entrenched enemy positions.

• Locust – This light biological unit is tougher than Boodlings or Zerglings, and can help tank damage from siege tanks to prepare for a Zerg attack.

• Replicant – The Replicate ability allows it to permanently transform into any non-massive unit in range. They’re expensive, so cloning a Zergling would not be very cost effective, but transforming into a specialized unit like a Raven, Infestor, or Siege Tank make for strategic options for the Protoss.

• Oracle – A Psionic warship, built from a Stargate, that uses several unique abilities to raid and harass the enemy. The first is Entomb, which can temporarily block mineral fields from being harvested. Another ability, Preordain, grants vision of a targeted enemy building, allowing the protoss to see which units or technologies are being researched. Rounding out its kit is Phase Shift, which phases a target building, preventing it from being attacked, using its abilities, or granting technology. Not only can structures like missile turrets be prevented from attacking, but using this ability on a zerg Spire would block the production of Mutalisks, Corruptors, and air upgrades.

• Tempest – A new capital ship that deals massive area-of-effect damage to air units. It also has a standard ground attack, but its chief role is to help gain air superiority.

Changes to multiplayer units

With new units and balancing in mind, Chris Metzen, VP of creative development, detailed changes coming with the expansion during a multiplayer panel, and one of the biggest changes is the ability for Banelings to move while burrowed.

Reapers will be able to regen health, Battlecruisers are getting a speed boost for short periods of time, and the Hyrdras are getting a speed upraded as well.

The addition of a Corrupter spell which can be cast onto buildings to gather resources called Siphon was announced as well. So now, when a player needs minerals, the won’t necessarily have to build a hatchery.
New Nexus abilities are on the way for Protoss buildings, one of which is Recall which can pull back a units in trouble. This will allow the Protoss players to be more assertive, and if they find they are getting in over their heads – warp. A new defensive ability which will turn a structure into a photon cannon is also on the way.

Cloaked Ghost will no longer lose energy while cloaked. Instead, a one-time cost will be charged to stay cloaked for a certain amount of time – the cost and duration has yet to be announced, but when cloaked, Ghosts will now regain energy.

With Warhounds as the new anti-air unit, Thors will no longer be used for air-attacks. As mentioned above, players will only be able to have one at a time now.

Below, you will find a highlight video of the multiplayer panel from the event, as well as some screenshots and art.
Still no exact date for Heart of the Swarm.

Information on the StarCraft II panel was gleaned from the following websites, with out humble thanks: D’toid, Gamespot, PC Gamer, and GameFront.

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http://www.vg247.com/2011/10/23/bli...-panels-reveal-new-and-existing-unit-changes/

 

[Setzer Gabbiani]

StarCraft II Patch 1.5 inbound, adds Arcade, social features

A major patch for Starcraft II: Wings of Liberty is on the way, ahead of the first expansion.

As detailed on Battle.net, the update is Starcraft II’s “most feature-laden patch to date”, and prepares the game for Heart of the Swarm, expected later this year.

Patch 1.5 will finally add in some of the Arcade features Blizzard last seen at Blizzcon 2011, but originally expected to arrive with the core game.

Blizzard notes that the mod suite has been overhauled again, and made no mention of plans to enable monetisation of mods. Instead, the patch brings improved custom game visibility, ratings, reviews, game instructions and screenshot support.

Mod creation capacities will also be expanded with the release of Blizzard’s own art creation tools and tweaks to the existing editing suite.

Blizzard also wants to up the social side of things. players will be able to resize and save chat windows, log back into the last chat channel used, and connect with others nearby based on IP address. This last feature may not make it to patch 1.5 but is expected before Heart of the Swarm is released.

The patch has not been dated as yet.

Thanks, CVG.

http://www.vg247.com/2012/03/15/sta...ound-adds-arcade-social-features/#more-243197

 

[Setzer Gabbiani]

Starcraft II: Heart of The Swarm multiplayer updates – Shredder and Replicant axed

Starcraft II’s first expansion, Heart of the Swarm, has undergone some serious tinkering since players last got a good look at it during last year’s Blizzcon.

Writing on the Starcraft II developer blog, Blizzard’s David Browder said Heart of the Swarm will hopefully be playable somewhere soon, so players can check out all these changes themselves.

The shredder, a Terran unit, has been axed because it wasn’t being used as intended and turned out to be a little cheap, and Blizzard is thinking of cutting the warhound, too. Browder noted that the Terrans’ flexibility and effectiveness makes them hard to develop for.

On the Protoss side, the Oracle is safe but the Replicant is gone as players reacted to it by giving up on other kinds of unit. the Tempest air unit has been modified from a splash damage attack to a ranged siege weapon with ground and aerial attacks. Blizzard is trying out a “mass recall” tool for the slower-expanding Protoss, too.

The Zerg haven’t seen much tinkering, although the Viper is going to become a pure caster, meaning the Overseer needs an overhaul, and Blizzard has some neat ideas for Nydus Worms.

Heart of the Swarm has not been dated.

Thanks, Talkar!

http://www.vg247.com/2012/04/12/sta...ates-shredder-and-replicant-axed/#more-250320

 

[Setzer Gabbiani]

[h=1]MLG Spring Championship attendees get a beta sneak peek of StarCraft II: Heart of the Swarm[/h] Blizzard has announced it will offer a beta sneak peek of StarCraft II: Heart of the Swarm to those attending Major League Gaming’s Pro Circuit Spring Championship event. Taking place June 8-10 at the Anaheim Convention Center, public demo stations will allow attendees to try out the latest multiplayer build of the upcoming beta test. During the event, StarCraft II pro-gamers will battle for $76,000 in prize money with the first place finisher taking home $25,000. In addition, the USA national finals for the StarCraft II World Championship Series will take place. Participants will be competing for $30,000 as well as invitations to the North America continental finals. The top finishers in that event will represent their countries at the Battle.net World Championship event in Asia. For more information, hit up the links.

http://www.vg247.com/2012/04/27/mlg...neak-peek-of-starcraft-ii-heart-of-the-swarm/

 

[Setzer Gabbiani]

Starcraft II to introduce global play, multiplayer replays, more

Blizzard will bring a much-requested feature to Starcraft II at or around the launch of Heart of the Swarm, allowing players from different territories to play together.

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Global play was announced for Diablo III last week, with Blizzard confirming the feature is on the way to Starcraft II in a new developer blog.

The post also outed a number of other eSports (or eSports training)-friendly features including resume from replay for multiplayer matches, multiplayer replay viewing and a clan or group system.

Additionally, Blizzard intends to allow unranked matchmaking, and to add in support for multiple languages.

Zerg-centric expansion Heart of the Swarm is expected later this year; you can get a sneak preview at the MLG Spring Championship in June, and those who participate in Blizzard’s Arcade testing will have a better chance at getting into the beta.

http://www.vg247.com/2012/05/08/sta...al-play-multiplayer-replays-more/#more-256722

 

[Davey Gaga]

Has anyone picked this game up yet? I've completed the campaign on Normal difficulty and I'm currently just trundling back through it to try and grab the rest of the achievements on Brutal. Still sinfully bad at the multiplayer, though.

For anyone interested but who hasn't picked up the game yet, here's two trailers posted just before release day:

1) Opening Cinematic: Kerrigan and the Swarm assault Korhal
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MVbeoSPqRs4

2) "Vengeance" - a cinematic trailer encompassing the most exciting parts of the campaign.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vCsGTP3-Jlw

Just make a film, already, Blizzard!

As you can tell by my username, I'm obsessed with this game. Again.

EDIT:
First MLG of 2013 was awesome. Life beat Flash 4-2 in an incredibly exciting set of games.

 

[Setzer Gabbiani]

StarCraft II is getting another expansion, titled Legacy of the Void, at some unannounced point in the future. To hold players over, developer Blizzard is making a free prologue for it.

Called Whispers of Oblivion, this prologue will have three missions, including the first focusing on Zeratul since the Wings of Liberty expansion. According to the developer, Whispers of Oblivion is meant to bridge the story gap between the last expansion, called Heart of the Swarm, and the upcoming Legacy of the Void.

As a blog post explains, "In Whispers of Oblivion, players will join Zeratul for the first time since Wings of Liberty to unravel the final piece of the Xel'naga prophecy."

More details will be shared in July.

Additionally, Blizzard announced that the expansion is getting another beta test in July. Keep an eye on GameSpot for more news about the beta, the prologue, and the expansion as it becomes available.

http://www.gamespot.com/articles/starcraft-2-legacy-of-the-void-gets-a-free-prologu/1100-6428270/