We wanted to share our thoughts and start a discussion about the Swarm Host because, like many of you, we were watching along on Saturday during Lone Star Clash 3 where there was an abnormally long ZvZ stalemate game. The potential for such with Swarm Hosts has been a consistent topic of conversation, and I assure you weve heard what you had to say about it. We dont feel this type of play is healthy for the game or exciting for spectators.
Over the last few months, weve been internally playtesting a variety of design changes to the Swarm Host. Weve come to believe that, in the long term, a change to overall Swarm Host design could be a good thing, but in the short term, wed prefer to not disrupt the interesting non-stalemate Swarm Host play we currently see. Therefore, we dont believe in removing the unit or completely redesigning it at this time. Drastic changes to the way the Swarm Host currently works could affect the game negatively, as the unit plays a key role in various matchups.
Weve also regularly seen feedback from players who want fewer balance changes and more time for strategies to adapt to playstyles like this one. We definitely respect that opinion, but with issues like this, we do more than just listen.
Here are the main thoughts were working from:
1. Of course, we don't want there to ever be 1+ hour long games that are nothing except Locusts vs. Locusts.
2. Weve only seen this a handful of times at the highest level of play.
3. As we look down the ladder, we dont see a significant percentage of games that last more than 25 minutes, especially in the leagues below Master.
4. This playstyle is clearly not a requirement in ZvZ, and that raises questions:
1. How much do we risk negatively impacting Zerg styles and strategies (that are also fun and entertaining to watch)?
2. Are we seeing any shift (even a very slow shift) in how players answer this playstyle?
3. How do potential changes to the unit play out?
5. Because ZvZ is a mirror matchup, it doesnt impact balance. That means we can target any changes we might make the way we did with the Spore Crawler vs. Mutalisks.
At this point, were taking public our discussion about finding the best adjustments that address the issue without affecting the ZvP and ZvT matchups in negative ways.
Were thinking along these lines:
- Revert spore buff and buff hydralisk anti-air vs. biological units only.
o With this, even if Broodlords are Abducted by Vipers, they would still be great against base Defenses.
o The Mutalisk strength in ZvZ could possibly be countered a bit better by Hydralisks.
o The effect on ZvZ would be acceptable, and the potential effects on ZvP and ZvT are minor.
- Change the Vipers Abduct ability to make massive units immune to it.
o By making Brood Lords immune to Abduct, wed solve the stalemate. Late game ZvZ would be mostly about who wins in the air.
o There are downsides -- Abduct is a really cool ability, and it is something Zerg needs vs. Colossi in PvZ.
o To address that, wed consider a potential buff to Blinding Cloud so that Vipers would still be a valuable utility unit in the ZvP matchup.
As always, please remember that what were doing here is talking -- not yet playing publicly on a balance test map. Wed really love to hear and evaluate your thoughts on these and other changes before taking further steps. Please try to keep in mind that Swarm Hosts are needed in other places in the game (such as vs. Mech), so we dont have an option to just remove the unit.
Thank you very much, and were be looking forward to your feedback.
