Balance Changes

• TERRAN
  • Battlecruiser
    • The build time has been decreased from 110 to 90.
  • Fusion Core
    • The build time has been decreased from 80 to 65.
  • Hellion
    • The range has been increased from 5 to 6.
  • Planetary Fortress
    • The splash damage now originates from the center of the target, rather than the impact location near the unit in order to maintain more reliable splash damage.
  • Raven
    • Seeker Missile range has been decreased from 9 to 6.
    • Seeker Missile splash radius has been decreased from 2.4 to 2.
    • Seeker Missile upgrade no longer requires Fusion Core.
  • Siege Tank
    • Life increased from 150 to 160.
    • Siege Mode splash damage now originates from the center of the target, rather than the impact location near the unit in order to maintain more reliable splash damage.
  • Thor
    • Ground damage decreased from 45 to 30.
    • Ground rate of fire improved from 1.93 to 1.28.
    • Air damage changed from 8 (+4 Light) to 6 (+6 Light).
    • 250mm Strike Cannons are now an upgrade at the Factory Tech Lab.
    • 250mm Strike Cannons research now costs 150/150 and 110 seconds.
    • 250mm Strike Cannons energy cost increased from 100 to 150.
    • Anti-Air splash damage now originates from the center of the target, rather than the impact location near the unit in order to maintain more reliable splash damage.
• PROTOSS
  • Archon
    • The splash radius has been increased from 0.8 to 1.
    • Splash damage now originates from the center of the target, rather than the impact location near the unit in order to maintain more reliable splash damage.
  • Colossus
    • The damage has been decreased from 20 to 15.
    • The rate of fire has been improved from 2.2 to 1.65.
  • Phoenix
    • Can now attack while moving.
  • Sentry
    • The damage has been decreased from 8 to 6.
• ZERG
  • Brood Lord
    • Life has been decreased from 275 to 225.
    • Armor has been decreased from 2 to 1.
  • Corruptor
    • Corruptor damage changed from 12 (+10 Massive) to 14 (+6 Massive).
    • Corruptor speed increased from 2.75 to 2.9531
    • Corruption ability redesigned:
      • Single target.
      • Increases damage taken by 20%.
      • Lasts 30 seconds.
      • Costs 100 energy.
      • Range 6.
      • Cannot target structures.
  • Infestor
    • Neural Parasite is now an upgrade at the Infestation Pit.
    • Neural Parasite research costs 150/150 and 110 seconds.
    • Neural Parasite can now target Air units.
    • Neural Parasite energy cost increased from 50 to 100.
  • Spine Crawler
    • The root time has been increased from 6 to 12.
  • Spore Crawler
    • The root time has been increased from 6 to 12.
  • Ultralisk
    • Damage has been increased from 18 to 25.

Hotkey Changes

• General
  • In order to resolve a conflict with building multiple Forges with the Shift Key we have made the following changes:
    • Changed Center Camera from Shift+F to Ctrl+F.
• Standard
  • To prevent the accidental research of Ventral Sacs when trying to train an Overlord with no Larva available, the hotkey has been changed from V to E.
  • View Own Health Bars functionality added to the Backslash key
• Standard for Lefties
  • Due to a conflict with research Banshee Cloak, research Seeker Missile has been changed from L to K.
  • To correct a conflict with the Attack command on Planetary Fortress, train SCV has been changed from K to J.
  • In order to prevent the accidental training of Zerglings when using the Select Larva hotkey,train Zergling has been changed from L to J.
  • To prevent the accidental training of a Queen, train Ultralisk has been changed from U to T.
  • To prevent the accidental research of Pneumatized Carapace when trying to train a corruptor with no Larva available, research Pneumatized Carapace has been changed from P to C.
  • View All Status Bars has been changed from Q to the Alt key.
  • View own Status Bars functionality has been added to the Q key.
• Grid for Lefties
  • Attack Move and all other buttons in the 0,4 position should now function correctly.
  • View Own Status Bars functionality added to Q.
  • View Enemy Status Bars moved to W.
  • View Ally Status Bars moved to E.
• Classic
  • Changed build Nydus Canal from P to N.
  • Changed Place Nydus Canal ability from P to N.
  • Terran Infantry Weapon researches have been changed from E to W.
  • Terran Vehicle Weapon researches have been changed from E to W.
  • Train Thor hotkey has been changed from O to G.
  • Train Viking hotkey has been changed from Y to W.
  • View Own Status Bars functionality has been added to the Backslash key.

Icon Position Changes

• To put all race gas extractors in the same icon position, the positions of the Supply Depot/Refinery and Pylon/Assimilator have been swapped.
• In order to make transforming multiple Gateways easier for players using Grid key sets, Transform to Gateway has been moved to a separate icon position (2,1).

Bug Fixes

• Corrected an issue that was causing the Polish language client to crash when receiving the “player is no longer being revealed” message.
• Corrected incorrect battle.net links on multiple language clients pages.
• Corrected an issue where the Zealot was using an US English voice over in the Korean language client.
• Corrected an issue where a player is unable to build any structures that require pylon power when their protoss ally leaves.
• Units can no longer be healed or repaired while in transports.
• Corrected an issue where the Creep Tumor targeting circle was visible to opponents through Fog of War.
• Corrected an issue in which selecting a Starport under construction and a completed Starport would display the select builder command in the Viking slot.
• Corrected the Broodling weapon icon.

General

• The StarCraft II Editor is now available!
  • Players will now be able to begin creating trigger maps in preparation for map publishing which will be made available in an upcoming beta patch.
• Achievements & Decals are now live!
  • Players will now be able to earn achievements, browse the list of available achievements, and view achievements earned by friends.
  • Players will be able to highlight favorite achievements in their Showcase.
  • Earning certain achievements will unlock portrait and decal rewards.
• The updated Homepage now includes a Recent Broadcasts panel and a News & Community panel.
• A new Match History page is now available which will allow players to browse and filter their last 1,000 games played.
• A new Community page is now available which features an in-game version of RSS news feeds.
• A new Friends-of-Friends feature has been added, which allows players to easily find and connect with more real life friends on Battle.net through existing friends.
• Additional friends’ presence details are now available from the Friends’ list.
• Improvements have been made on the Voice Chat system in game.
  • Please use the new voice chat and provide feedback via the StarCraft II beta forums.
• The score screen now features a new graph tab.
• The art for many parts of the user interface has been updated.
• Hotkey templates have been added.
• In the gameplay options menu select from standard name based hotkeys for right and left-handed players, grid based hotkeys for right, and left-handed players, and classic StarCraft keys.
• Several hotkeys have been changed to avoid conflicts with the “Select All Warpgates” UI button:
  • The Set Worker Rally Point has been changed from W to R.
  • Build Sensor Tower has been changed from W to N.
  • Terran Infantry Weapons have been changed from W to E.
  • Terran Vehicle Weapons have been changed from W to E.
  • Weapon Refit has been changed from W to R.
  • Burrow has been changed from W to R.
  • Spawn Larva has been changed from R to V.
  • Neural Parasite has been changed from R to E.

Balance Changes

• TERRAN
  • Marauder
    • Concussive Shells research cost decreased from 100/100 80 seconds to 50/50 60 seconds.
• PROTOSS
  • Immortal
    • Build time increased from 40 to 55.
• ZERG
  • Infested Terran
    • Damage increased from 5 to 8.
    • Speed decreased from 1.5 to 0.9375.
  • Queen
    • Speed off creep decreased from 1.5 to 0.938. (Speed on creep unchanged.)
  • Spine Crawler
    • Attack period decreased from 1.6 to 1.85.
  • Infestor
    • Neural Parasite range increased from 7 to 9.
    • Fungal Growth projectile removed; Units in the target area are now instantly hit.

Maps

• We’ve made a change to the (2)ScrapStation map to make the natural expansion easier to defend.
• New maps have been added to the ladder rotation while others have been removed as follows:
  • 1v1
    • Added (2)IncinerationZone
  • 2v2
    • Removed (4)LostTemple
    • Removed (4)Metalopolis
    • Added (4)AridWastes
    • Added (4)Coalition
    • Added (4)Decena
    • Added (4)ScorchedHaven
  • 1v1 (Novice)
    • Removed (4)NoviceKulasRavine
  • 2v2 (Novice)
    • Removed (4)NoviceKulasRavine
    • Removed (4)NoviceShakurasPlateau
    • Added (4)NoviceDecena
    • Added (4)NoviceScorchedHaven
    • Added (4)NoviceTwilightFortress

Starcraft 2 from PC gaming magazine unit preview
Zealot: Zealots are the standard infantry unit of the portoss from starcraft. Still equipped with a pair of glowing psionic blades for melee combat, the zealot will now charge the enemy to close distance with ranged units quicker than before.

Stalker: Stalkers are a new type of dark dragoon. They’re fast moving and lightly armored with a powerful anti-air and anti-infantry weapon, but their secret weapon is there “blink” ability that will allow them to teleport anywhere in visual range in an instant

Immortal: A new type of heavy dragoon, the immortals will be equipped with a shield that activates only when hit by heavy weapons like siege tanks, making them excellent for assaulting heavily defended positions but weak against raiding parties with light weapons.

Observer: The invisible flying eyes of the Protoss are back. We can confirm they’ll be in the game, but further details are shrouded in secrecy.

Colossus: True to it’s name, the colossus is an enormous four-legged walker that rakes the ground with a heavy beam weapon. They will be extremely effective against small swarming units like zerglings or marines-their beams target one unit at a time, and instantly sweep to a new target when the first is destroyed. Using their long legs, they can step up and down ledges with ease.

Phoenix: When its standard fighter weapon wont do the job, the phoenix will be able to activate its overload ability to damage all enemy air units nearby, which also disables the phoenix itself for a few moments. If the overload doesn’t demolish the enemy you’ll be a sitting duck

Phase prism: .The new phase prism will act as both a troop transport and a mobile power pylon allowing you to restore functionality to a base when your pylons are destroyed by raiders or when you build away from your base. Combined with the warp-in tech. Youll be able to use them to crate and army anywhere on the map.

Warp ray: These flying weapons inflict additional damage the longer they fire on a single target as they bring as they bring more beams online, which will make them extremely powerful against large targets like battle cruisers and structures. Their focused fire makes them vulnerable against small anti-air units like marines.

High templar: The high templar is back and he’ll bring his powerful psionic storm area attack with him. But he’s gotten a handy new power he’ll be able to create a force field to trap enemy units temporarily or create barriers. Blizzard testing has revealed some extremely effective bottlenecks tactics using him. The ability to say you can’t go there anymore will be very powerful.
Dark templar: Just like in the first game the dark templar is a stealth unit that wreaks havoc to any force foolish enough to leave home without a detector. any new special abilities have yet to be revealed