[Discussion] The Necessity for Hellbats

Heart of The Swarm has definitely changed the TvT landscape (amongst the other 2 matchups), for better or worse. The addition of new units, namely the Widow Mines and Hellbats, has forced Terrans to adopt new build orders and counter build orders to accommodate the changes we see in the current TvT metagame. Not only that, the HotS Medivac with its temporary bursts of speed has made the Hellbat/Medivac combination a terror to face especially in the TvZ matchup.

Blizzard, more specifically David Kim, has acknowledged the strength of Hellbats and said himself that Hellbat drops are “Too easy to execute”. This article is not about balance per se, rather it is a discussion on the pros and cons of the new units (specifically the Hellbats) in the eyes of both spectator and pro gamer alike.

So, what do the new units bring to the table?

Variety

For those who have seen TvT games in Wings of Liberty, they know that there are 2 main compositions that Terrans generally use; namely the Bio (aka MMM) and Mech compositions. With the addition of the 3 new units (including the Medivac Boost) we can now see more variety. For example funky Hellbat / Medivac + Mech combos are seen even in TvT pro games, where pro players are experimenting with different unit combinations and trying to find the most optimal combination revolving around the new units.

Terran compositions in TvZ have completely changed too; nowadays Terrans usually go for Marine, Medivac, and Widow Mines. Again, this gives Terrans more options to go for rather than the standard Marine, Medivac, Siege Tank combo or the lesser used Mech composition.

Granted, TvP has not changed as much compared to the other 2 matchups, however we do see the occasional Hellbat / Widow Mine drop here and there. Overall, I do not think Hellbats and Widow Mines has affected the matchup a lot. The Medivac Boost, however, has been utilised to the point where defending drops have become much more difficult to do without losing any important units.

This can go the other way too however. TvT now seem to be a race between who can kill the opponent’s workers faster using Hellbats. If both players can stabilise after the initial drop(s), it can turn into a ‘turtle’ game where the 2 players sit back and try to mass up a 200/200 Mech army faster than the other. This is of course a negative side effect caused by the ability of the Hellbats being able to destroy worker lines swiftly. A stagnating metagame will be bad for a game that revolved around strategy.

Pace of Gameplay

Thanks to the Widow Mine, it replaces the Siege Tank’s use and does the job even better. It is mobile, is cloaked, and has a considerably short cooldown for its single attack. Terrans can now move around more freely, especially in TvZ, due to the Widow Mine’s burrow duration being much less compared to the Siege Tank’s siege mode (especially after the upgrade researched). As a result, chaotic games are seen to be ‘normal’ today. This of course, makes the game more fun to watch and play, as you have to keep up with the action that can take place in many locations at once.

Due to the Medivac Boost, the game demands faster reaction times in order for you to protect your workers from Widow Mine / Hellbat drops. As a result, APM (Actions per Minute) is valued highly in HotS compared to WoL. The gap between those with high and low APM can now be witnessed more clearly. Those with high APM are rewarded more than they were back in WoL.

A setback can be that games can end more quickly, as the Widow Mine and Hellbat destroy units at a  very quick rate. Therefore if the opponent forgets or is unable to prevent a single drop, the game may be over then and there as a whole mineral line can be lost in the span of a few seconds. This, as mentioned before, can already be seen in a lot of TvT games we see today (including pro play).

Balancing Issues

Undoubtedly, the past few weeks and months have stirred up discussion on whether the Hellbat (and to an extent Medivacs) is too strong. Even some pro players have chimed in to the discussion that can be seen in various forums, some of them are Terrans too.

Those of you who have followed the scene for a long time know that Hellions had a similar response after one particular MLG. Of course, the MLG I am talking about was where the SlayerS (now defunct) team had exploited Blue Flame Hellions up to the point where they were nerfed almost directly after that MLG due to the community outcry of the obvious imbalance witnessed.

Heart of the Swarm has only been released a couple of months ago. It is to be expected that some issues would arise as players become more proficient in using the new units and coming with strategies involving them. Still, balance is a delicate subject to touch upon and Blizzard’s stance right now (something I like to call the let’s wait and give time for players to have the chance to come up with new strategies before nerfing units to the ground approach) is good, especially given the balance strategy they had followed back in Wings of Liberty.

 

Conclusion

I believe these are the 3 major points that surround the new Terran units. Of course, there may be other points that I might have missed. But in the end, the new Terran units do seem to be good for the game and that the direction in which Blizzard is going with the game seems to be correct.

No longer do we see the dreaded Infestor/Brood Lord composition that were so dominant as the WoL era reached a close. On the other hand, if left too long, stagnation could also arise in HotS if Blizzard does nothing to fix any imbalance in the game. In the end, Blizzard is doing whatever they think is best for the game; and as fans and players of the game, we should try and do the same.

What do you think?