Last month, we requested your help in playtesting a variety of potential balance changes for Heart of the Swarm. After two iterations of potential changes, two brand new versions of the test map, and a community-driven balance test tournament, we're pleased to announce that we're ready to move forward with a balance update as we begin ladder play during the World Championship Series off-season.

Today, we'll be making the following balance changes for StarCraft II: Heart of the Swarm multiplayer:

Protoss

Oracle

• Movement speed increased from 3.375 to 4.
• Acceleration increased from 2 to 3.
• Units that burrow or cloak while under the effects of Revelation will once again be revealed after unburrowing or uncloaking.

Terran

Armory

• Vehicle and Ship Weapon upgrades have been combined.

Siege Tank

• Siege Mode attack period decreased from 3.0 to 2.8.

Widow Mine

• Sentinel Missiles now deal reduced damage to units caught within its splash radius based on their distance from the target:
  • 40 damage within 1.25 radius.
  • 20 damage from 1.25 to 1.5.
  • 10 damage from 1.5 to 1.75.

Zerg

Roach Warren

• The Tunneling Claws upgrade now increases burrowed Roach movement speed from 1.41 to 2.

Thank you very much for taking the time to playtest each of the changes throughout the last month. The vast amount of feedback that you, pro players, and the StarCraft II Community at-large offered during this testing period has been instrumental in our decision to move forward with the changes above. We'll share more of our thoughts on StarCraft II balance in the future, but for now, let us know what you think in the comments section below