Playtest 215: Casting Modes, New Gem Collectors, Balance Adjustments for Large Green Units
Treisk
Member, Administrator
Playtest 215: Casting Modes, New Gem Collectors, Balance Adjustments for Large Green Units!
Please note that bots are still disabled, and bot allies will not replace players that have disconnected. We apologize for the inconvenience.
General Gameplay
- Gem collectors have been replaced by Gem Collector Cube Bots (working name)!
- A small Gem Collector Cube Bot will follow your Hero, collecting nearby gems it walks near!
- Each player that collects a gem will have a small Gem Collector Cube Bot channeling near the gem as it's collecting.
- Functionality not dramatically changed; your hero will still automatically collect nearby gems over the course of 40 seconds, as it worked previously.
- Upgrades now take significantly longer across the board, and this upgrade time is tied to the tech level at which it becomes available. The one exception to this rule is Detection Wards, which still take 40 seconds to research.
- Tech level 1: 120 seconds
- Tech level 2: 150 seconds
- Tech level 3: 180 seconds
- Tech level 4: 210 seconds
- Fixed a bug that caused all periodic damage to do full damage, ignoring damage/armor type rules.
- The primary ability affected by this fix is Eris's Volley.
Pathing & Collision
- Units should now find it easier to get past units blocking one another, both in motion and while idle.
Controls
- Two modes of quick-cast have been added to the game, and can be enabled under Keyboard settings!
- Default casting mode is, as you might assume, still the default casting mode. Pressing and releasing the key will show any reticles or indicators, and clicking will activate the ability.
- Quick-cast will cast abilities when the key is pressed down
- Quick-cast with indicators will show any reticles or indicators on key-down, and cast the ability when the key is released
- A hotkey that quick-casts "Attack" has been added under Keyboard settings, and has no default assignment.
Units
Green
- Bramblethorn Goliath
- Stock cost: 8 ⇒ 12
- Attack splash radius: 3.9 ⇒ 3.3
- Rustborn Rhino
- Stock cost: 7 ⇒ 8
- Abominable Sludge
- Stock cost: 8 ⇒ 16
- Movement speed: 3.8 ⇒ 3.2
Comments
I had quick cast with indicators; it will take some getting used to but it worked well. After using it for a while I started getting surprised because it doesn't apply to warp-in.
My unit composition is being largely determined by available scrap. T3 units are defining battles; I have no idea what do about goliths; apocolytes skyrocketed my kill count in a bot game, but I was stinking too hard to afford many in PVP.
Still trying to figure out resource management. Delayed collection creates a disconnect between action and reward, and my generators tend to get backed up and out of sync with what I need. I kind of what to see queued resources next to current resources so it's easier to see when I'm building up something I have enough of.
So I'm a big fan of quick cast and have used it for years in HotS. Quick cast (with indicators) now in Atlas feels great, exactly what I was hoping for! Really makes the ability heavy comps like AP Vex work for me now.
Gem Collection Time
(1.1) - I like the increased Gem collector time. Slows the pace of the game down a bit, like it feels slower, but the increased back and forth around them seems kind of compelling. It felt a little repetitious, but I think that goes away if this stayed in, as more time on the pseudo-mechanic would lead to more strategic decisions around them, as opposed to just micro.
Upgrades
(2.1) - I didn't really notice the increased upgrade time tonight. No real comment.
Controls
Quick Cast
(3.1) - I played games with quick-cast with indicator tonight (and some normal for comparison). Some of the abilities seem a little janky with quick-cast. For example, Grow Sapling. The response doesn't seem consistent with quick-cast. I'm not entirely sure what effect seems to be at play, but it seems like not all of the key press triggers make it through. Maybe an issue with cursor proximity to previous cast point? Really just a guess, but that's kind of what it feels like. Hydros' heals caused me a little difficulty with quick cast, as well. On that one, there isn't anything besides player tendency at work, but I bet I would probably turn it off for Hydros games.
We actually deliberately filtered out a few things that felt particularly odd/awkward with quick-cast, with warp-in being one of them. I'll confess I didn't actually remember every exception well enough to list them in the patch notes, haha.
In my experience both with our quick-cast and in other games, quick-cast tends to feel weirdest (and take the longest to get used to) on single-target abilities. Let me know if you still find this to be particularly difficult after a few more games!
Just wanted to make an additional comment about this test, more anecdotal, because the topic has come up before. One game, playing Hydros, we spawned without discussing where we were going, and so it ended up dps-Vela top with two damage sponges bottom (Hydros, Alder). I ended up spawning my units top to tank for Vela, while staying bottom to single-target tank with Hydros.
I don't know whether it was the correct decision, and I'm pretty sure I executed it poorly and our team was the worse for it, but still, it was the first time in a long while that I'd intentionally split my primary army when both halves needed micro. Was fun, though sped the pace of the game up a ton.